Any first hand kills or reports here by you guys in Canada?

Bullet used/range/shot placement/results appreciated if you have any. Thanks.

Yes id like to report that people that hunt grizzlys with a 6.5x55 have big balls. Ive seen a couple too close for comfort while trout fishing un armed in Alberta and it was very unsettling, and if I had my choice of calibers that day id pick something really big and bad.

I think the 6.5x55 is an excellent cal but I was not aware people hunted grizzlys with them.

I think you should drop down to a 22 long rifle. after all our biggest grizzly on record was shot with one. When you're nose to nose with a big bear all you can think is "I should have brought a bigger gun" At least that's what I think when I have my longbow in my hand.

How's that for a "non-answer?"

the chef....just taking up bandwith.

Now a longbow in hand MUST be offset w/big balls to tote that

WOW, yes. Just looking for reports. No doubt a 22 has killed alot of game, but I do believe that record bear was killed out of self defence by a little indian lady IIRC.

I put a 6.5 above a 22 and a Longbow. Certainly not the same as a midbore magnum by any means.

Yes, that "little Indian lady" was actually a teen-aged girl who remained calm, without the bear aware of her presence and that of her young friend, and put that little bullet (solid) into the brain thru the ear-hole, using her single-shot.

My son has killed many warthog in Africa with a single-shot .22 LR using the same method... thru the ear-hole into the brain. The warthog were unaware of his presence in a tree while they drank at a waterhole. He killed MANY of them in that fashion for some protein.

BUT, I wouldn't advise someone without a LOT of experience (and God's grace)to try and make that work for them! That would be "tempting God", I'm quite sure! And I wouldn't attempt that either for warthog or grizz with a .22 LR. A 6.5 for the Warthog? Yes!

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

I worked for the Alberta Ministry of Environment in the Lesser Slave Lake region, Alberta Forest Service, in 1993. The aboriginal people there are Slavey Indians and the Twin family is wellknown in the area.

Bella Twin, was an Indian lady in her 60s, about my age now and she responded to a situaion in the only way she could; this does not mean that the .22Rimfire is an adequate Grizzly cartridge and should not be interpreted as a typical Grizzly defence scenario.

Jack Turner, shot a huge Grizzly in May, 1965 and with a .30-.30 that, as he wrote, he carried because it was light and handy and what he HAD. Jack was badly mauled by four yearling Grizzlies about four years ago, in the evening, outside of his cabin at Hagensborg, BC and this can happen to anyone, even the most experienced mountainman, which he certainly is.

I have never met Jack, but, knew his brother-in-law, the late Stan Edwards, over 40 years ago and his family is wellknown on the BC coast. His father-in-law, was "The Crusoe of Lonesome Lake", the late Ralph Edwards, O.C. and his life was quite the adventure.

I was raised by men of this kind, who started in the BC wilderness before WWI and, in a couple of cases, before 1900 and NONE of these guys would EVER use anything but the most powerful rifle they had where Grizzlies were concerned. I prefer to carry at least a .30-06 and bigger is better, if you can handle it, IMHO.

My son killed a large Grizzly bear with one shot from a Rem.6.8 so 6.5 would have no problem kiling a Grizzly but one would need a much larger and stronger caliber to go after a Grizzly that is wounded or one that is charging.
All large animal are much harder to kill if the first shot is not well placed
joe

Using the 6.5 on grizz. is compared to a peddle car at the Daytona 500. In most cases (99.9%) you are going to get killed.

Good posts guys, that 99.9% I am not sure about, but no doubt the odds are more in favor of stronger rounds when facing a charge.

Thanks all.

MY uncle got 740lb brown bear in croatia with 6.5x55SSE with no problem one shot from 40 meters ,i would use 6.5x55 any time one bear ,with proper bullet placement 6.5,is better than miss with 375,right bullet in right place

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
MY uncle got 740lb brown bear in croatia with 6.5x55SSE with no problem one shot from 40 meters ,i would use 6.5x55 any time one bear ,with proper bullet placement 6.5,is better than miss with 375,right bullet in right place

Good, if it works for you, but not the ticket, if the shit hits the fan.

Grizz

Not Canadian, but born and raised in Montana. Familiar with the big bears, and even more familiar with rifles of all calibers. Anything can be killed with most any rifle, IF CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, and if bullet placement is right, but often they are not right, and it is then that you need the right tool for the job at hand, but even the largest caliber; heaviest bullet will not give a good kill, if not placed in right place. Using a 6.5x55 on the big bears is foolishness; you would be asking only for big trouble. If you don't connect properly with that first shot or two, and the adrenalin starts to flow, it can take many, many good shots to kill a big animal such as this, and he could easily kill you during the exchange, believe me. Get a .416 Rigby or some such caliber, and you will be much safer, believe me again!

6.5 is better killer than amrican icon 30-06any day any time

quote:

Originally posted by doubleriflejack:
Not Canadian, but born and raised in Montana. Familiar with the big bears, and even more familiar with rifles of all calibers. Anything can be killed with most any rifle, IF CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, and if bullet placement is right, but often they are not right, and it is then that you need the right tool for the job at hand, but even the largest caliber; heaviest bullet will not give a good kill, if not placed in right place. Using a 6.5x55 on the big bears is foolishness; you would be asking only for big trouble. If you don't connect properly with that first shot or two, and the adrenalin starts to flow, it can take many, many good shots to kill a big animal such as this, and he could easily kill you during the exchange, believe me. Get a .416 Rigby or some such caliber, and you will be much safer, believe me again!

Good post and sound point, but, I was born, raised and started wilderness solo working just north of the Can.-Am. border, spent my first BCFS L/O season in the Flathead, 90 days without a break and there are a few Grizz there as you know.

I have a LOT of rifles and the problem with a .416 and such is that they are just too heavy to carry regularly in most Grizzly country. Also, a lot of guys cannot shoot them well and thus I think that there are better options...the immortal .30-06 loaded with the 220 NP is a FINE choice and easy to shoot in a 7-7.5 lb. rifle.

I personally use a custom P-64 .375H&H with a 20" stiff tube and 300NPs and it is hard to beat this as it is fast handling and not bad to shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
6.5 is better killer than amrican icon 30-06any day any time

Bullshit, you wouldn't know a Grizzly from a gargoyle.

quote:

Originally posted by Dewey:

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
6.5 is better killer than amrican icon 30-06any day any time

Bullshit, you wouldn't know a Grizzly from a gargoyle.

for some europeans 6.5x55 is the same what is 30-06 for amricans,30-06 is ameircan answer on 8x57is

So what, that does not make the 6.5x55 superior to or an equal of the .30-06; the 8x57js is also not quite equal to the .06. I owned a Mannlicher-Schoenaure 1961MCA carbine in 6.5x55 and currently own a Husquvarna 1640 in 8mm Mauser, like them both and wish I had not sold the M-S for college funds. However, I have an identical M-S in .30-06 and it gives more power than either of the others, end of story.

Europeans do not have the game we do here and also do not have the wilderness-Grizzly experience that we do. No rational bushman would choose a 6.5 Scandahoovian over a .30-06 for use in Grizzly country, that would be simply idiotic.

My 338-06 with 225 gr Accubond's is what I will likely be taking next spring. Still debating the 9.3x74 double with 286 gr Partition's though.

Hunting dangerous game in North America or Africa with small calibers is a serious risk. Whether or not it is a foolish risk depends on the perspective. When trackers and other humans are involved, it is at least negligent in my view. If you are alone or are receiving quick and capable back up from an experienced guide/outfitter with a large (plus forty) caliber who shoots it regularly and has experience stopping charges, then you may only be risking yourself and your guide/outfitter.

Now you can sneak up on a shoot a grizzly or brown bear like a grazing elk, but why? Leave the smaller calibers for the grass eaters and use a serious caliber for serious game. When you need deep, straight line penetration in the correct spot, nothing short of the right tool will do and someone will pay dearly for this experiment in small calibers.

iam not talking about kodiak bear or kamchatka bear, not all canadian or american grizzly are bigget than european brown bears, i saw many bears pushing 400 kg in europebrown bears,people from scandinavia used 6.5 for past 100 years and is hard to convience to get rid of good old 6.5 and try some american magnum caliber, just let u know that this cartridge dispactches many polar bear, i agree that 6.5 is not best choice but once up a time 6.5 was more than enough,i rather use 6.5 with 160 grain and shoot properly that 300 win mag, because i dont safer from american MAGNUMITIS DESEASE

i didnt say that 6.5 is superior than 30-06 ,30-06 is american comerical cartidge,like hollywood overrated,i dont suffer from MAGNUMITIS LIKE ALL USA DOES

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
i didnt say that 6.5 is superior than 30-06 ,30-06 is american comerical cartidge,like hollywood overrated,i dont suffer from MAGNUMITIS LIKE ALL USA DOES

How many Grizz you shot in Niagra Falls???

Grizz

Lickilovac, I believe you should use any caliber you wish for Grizz. If you choose a 6.5 mm, maybe you'll be lucky. The U.S. Forest Service does not recommend that caliber for Grizz, and does not permit their personnel to carry it in grizzly country. You are entitled to your own opinion, which I do not at all share.

This guy is not from Niagara Falls and has been here before; he is an immigrant from eastern Europe and usually spews this same anti-American bullshit.....he is best ignored by anyone with any real interest in big game hunting or Grizzly protection.

I like, own, use and enjoy the older Erupean rounds, the 6.5 Scandahoovian, the 7x57, 8x57 and 9.3x62 Sqvarehead and so forth. I particularly enjoy my original Oberndorf Mauser Type B and Brno ZG-47 both factory chambered in 9.3x62 and the ZG customized by Ralf Martini.

Both of these rifles will put both the 286NP and the 286 Hornady into the same .75" groups at 100M, using 4x scopes, consistently and will probably be what I use if I get a Grizzly draw for spring 2011. I could choose a .338WM and, btw, there is no discernible difference in "kick" between these two rounds that I can feel and they will both bump off a bear with no problem.

For a Black Bear, I might well use a 6.5x55 with a 140NP at 2700, but, this is a very marginal round where Grizzlies are concerned, as I have seem in 46 years of hunting in BC.

In "Yurp", I might just choose a Solothurn 20mm and that should work on the huge bears that roam and ravenously consume various Euros....damm miracle anyone ever survives there......

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
6.5 is better killer than amrican icon 30-06any day any time

30-06 hands down

lickilovac, Have you ever shot a bear? Or did you just fall off a turnip truck. For sure you have little or no hunting experience.

quote:

Originally posted by lickilovac:
iam not talking about kodiak bear or kamchatka bear, not all canadian or american grizzly are bigget than european brown bears, i saw many bears pushing 400 kg in europebrown bears,people from scandinavia used 6.5 for past 100 years and is hard to convience to get rid of good old 6.5 and try some american magnum caliber, just let u know that this cartridge dispactches many polar bear, i agree that 6.5 is not best choice but once up a time 6.5 was more than enough,i rather use 6.5 with 160 grain and shoot properly that 300 win mag, because i dont safer from american MAGNUMITIS DESEASE

Then use a 9.3x62 if you are so worried about magnumitis.

This does not really answer the original question, but I'd certainly advice against using the 6,5x55 for any bear.

I know that the caliber most commonly used in Finland to take brown bear (Ursus Arctos) has been the 7,62x53R.
Today, the most common caliber is the 9,3x62 which is a sound choice, indeed. Some also use the .45/70 as the quarters tend to be very close.
Quite few are also taken with the .308 and .30-06, them being the choice of gun for more than half the moose hunters. The .375 H&H is also getting ground when it comes to bear.

Asking a very experienced bear hunter about caliber he chewed on his bun, swallowed a mouthful of coffee and said: "Let me put it this way: if you have a .308 and intend to buy a bear rifle, by all means don't look at anything smaller."
To put things in perspective, the biggest male brown bear shot here weighted 301.5 kg, i.e. 664 lbs. If my memory serves me right, the biggest female weighted 240 kg, i.e. 529 lbs.

For grizzly, I think one is not very well advised to use anything less than a .338 mag or .35 Whelen class of gun.

As a sidenote, I think the closest call Europeans have to the .30-06 is rather the 7x64 Brenneke. If one wants to see that as the equivalent of the .280 Rem or .270 Win, I won't argue. In that case the pitch would be the 8x57mm Mauser for sure.
Having said that, the .30-06 is so commonplace everywhere (except in France where it is prohibited) that any discussions regarding the European equivalent is quite pointless.
But to say that the 6,5x55 would be the European equivalent of the .30-06... I have a hard time, indeed, believing that anyone would make a claim like that! Used for the same game, for sure, but yet admitted that it lies in a lower power class.

- Lars/Finland

Likein finland most Swedish dedicated bear rifles are cal. from 3006,8*57js,358nm 9,3*62 45-70 and like. In my area 330kg female is the biggest.
Bears here are hunted with one or two dogs and most are shot at a distance less than 20m.

In the early 1900 6,5*55 was common for norwegian pelthunters inkluding polarbear. Its still used well for polarbear protection in Svalbard.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
In the early 1900 6,5*55 was common for norwegian pelthunters inkluding polarbear. Its still used well for polarbear protection in Svalbard.

Jeepers!!!

I just recently saw mounted bears in a museum. They had polar bear also, and even though I have always known it's big I daresay that what I saw was beyond my wildest expectations.

- Lars/Finland

I would take a 6.5x55 with 156gr/160gr ammo over nothing any time. Maybe not my primary choice. I would be better served by a 9.3x something.

yes iam emigrant like 300 milion americans,so what,native american are indians, and where they are?no one can be more ignorant than americans period!USE 50 CALIBER FOR GRIZZLY,
DEWEY what nationallity are u?dont tell me american because there is bunch of americans, africans, filipinos, mexicans hmmm,use 50 caliber

i have no comment any more ,use your cheap lever actions,wild cats, every month u invent other caliber ,like the burger on the menu,before yuor 30 06 we had 9.3x62,8x67,6.5, british had 375,but wild west could only offer 30 06 because u dont know for better,compare yuor cars with europeans,benz audi versus lincoln ford chevy, same with caliber,good luck cowboys,yes i shoot a bear, not hthe one more than u will ever imagine, my primary rifles are 6.5 and double rifle in 9.3x74r,9.3x74r was taking game in africa and all over when your 338 so POPULAR WINCHESTER MAGNUM WAS INVENTED,same as germany had bettter infrastracture after ww2 better than USA HAVE TODAY,merkel krieghoff heym, berreta ,guns from ferlach, british guns u can just dream about ,and offer plastic version of cheap henry arms

I am a native-born Canadian, of a founding pioneer family (1622) and Nordic ancestry. I am not an immigrant and Canadians are not immigrants; however, as you so clearly demonstrate here and have in the past, we have been far too accepting of immigrants.

I own and use guns from Europe, the USA, Britain, Japan and Canada; these include an original Mauser sporter in 9.3x62, several Brno 21/22 and ZG rifles in 7x57, 8x57, .30-06 and 9.3x62, a Mannlicher-Shoenauer carbine and a Merkel drilling in 9.3x74R. I sold my English rifle by George Gibbs and my shotgun by Wm. Powell as I had so many guns I could never shoot all of them, still do.

You are, not surprisingly, wrong about the .30-06, which actually PRECEDED Bock's introduction of the 9.3x62 and is as old as the 74R version. The .30-06 also preceded the .375 H&H and the .404 Jeffrey, .416 Rigby and most German sporting bolt action rounds.The .338WM, my favourite round is based on a belted cartridge case, first used in Germany and the UK and, sorry old boy,developed in the USA......need more facts?

Europeans have and do make some superb guns, so do the Japanese and so do the British; no question. However, there are more really fine gunmakers in the USA than in any other nation on Earth; just because an ignorant DP like you does not know of them means nothing.

So, kindly go back to "Dracula land" and STFU, you are a total pita and know nothing about anything, other than being a dickhead.

...germany have better infrastracture after wwII than USA HAVE TODAY....

Really, old chap? Perhaps, that is why we and the Brits and the Yanks had to send massive food aid, assist with rebuilding the German cities and also station our soldiers there to keep the Slavic hordes from eastern Europe and their Soviet masters from taking over?

"The Berlin Airlift" WHO did that?

WHY did so MANY Germans risk everything even death by commie goons to escape to the west and the freedom the USA protected?

BTW, was your daddy a Nazi or a Commie?

It's a good thing Dewey has restraint when replying to some posters.

quote:

Originally posted by Dewey:
However, there are more really fine gunmakers in the USA than in any other nation on Earth; .

I don't think too many share that opinion....Ferlach, Austria....Brescia, Italy.......Suhl, Germany...just to name a few. Unless of course you classify Jarrett, Rifles Inc., McMillan and the like as makers of really fine guns.

(Sorry Dewey, I haven't posted in a while and figured it was time to increase your heart rate a bit. Happy New Year )

Good stuff guys.

I do think a 338/06, 350 Rem Mag (short action fan - 225 TSX/NP should do) or a 9.3x62 would be to my liking, probably the latter w/286s.

If I do get on a hunt, I will have a back up/guide so that's 'in the equation.

I do agree on using a rifle that is shootable, as I for one have fired a 416 RM once, and swore never to light one off again! A 375 would be a possiblity though in 338s I don't need the range past the '06 version. The 375 does offer a nice bit of mass and frontal area.

As to what the Europeans use, I say one cannot argue w/success, no matter where you hunt, what game you hunt, or choice of rifles. Success is success. Surely the Euro hunters would not continue using something that did not work, so whatever is common for their hunting needs surely has a track record else something would have replaced it. That's just my thinking.

No doubt, strong consensus against a small bore on big bear.

Thanks guys.