Damn right that cartridge will stop a grizzly bear. I have shot grizzlies with my .30-30AI and my family along the lines of time have as well. This day and age bullets are very good and will do the job SO LONG AS YOU DO YOURS! I tend to think so much smoke has been blowing around here with large bores that the reality of the shot taking is not the key factor anymore. Have you ever planted your feet for a fist fight and was determined to win? It is applied to a bear as well. If you are unsure of taking down a bear stay away from them as they are everywhere here in the state. I could care less about the scary stories but I do have one last thing to say--when you pull that trigger you had better finish the job.
good day.

Grizz, I hear ya but this fella in the above article too has killed many grizzly as well as many browns. Every once in a while I imagine you cross the wrong bear under the wrong circumstances and anything shy of a 50 BMG will not seem like enough gun. I have seen this bear as it was done in a full standing mount , over 10 ft squared and a head that is quite impressive. No doubt though that you must be ready for the fight if you go looking for it , or it comes looking for you!

AlaskaCub, I have carried many calibers into the brush for whatever reasons, convenience or for a particular hunt albeit moose or bear. I came to a conclusion for as long as I have lived and that now is not quite 50yrs but almost that life is a gift-you got to open it to enjoy it. When we go we do not know but how we go makes the difference-I try always to be wise. The risk of living off the land as I do has and been the best place for me and when my time comes I don't want a bed, I want a rifle in my hands and the wind in my face. But trust me it sure feels better with my .375 RUM in my hands
good day.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom1911:
p dog shooter,

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Actually, I'd prefer a .458 bullet as well, but it is the weapon more than the caliber that I want. In other words, I'd rather have a tactical 870 with 5 slugs than a bolt action .458 Win. Not only can I shoot 5 rounds in an 870 very quickly, but I can reload it in my sleep!

BTW, with an 870 it is more putting the front bead on target than aligning sights as in rifle aiming.

There are very few weapons like an 870. It is the absolute best tactical weapon to which I've been exposed for 95%> of all tactical applications.


Happy New Year,

Tom

I gotta side with Tom, I've got a 416Rem available to me, but against a charging bear?

Yes, you've gotta aim a 12ga slug gun, but an 870 is a pump gun and cycling the action is a near reflex reaction to control recoil....

With a fairly small ammount of practice
you can have three AIMED shots off before a
guy with a bolt rifle can eject his first fired case.

And if you are using a rifled bore 12ga you can shoot sabot slugs which have all the energy and penetration of the hottest 45-70 loads
and some have the ability to penetate as a 458Winchester.

With the old Wasp waisted BRI Sabor slugs later copied by both Federal and Winchester you are launching a 492gr 50cal projectile at 2000fps
and that is solidly into 458Winchester territory.

Winchester curently loads a 385gr partition sabot in a 12ga shell that's kinda mildly loaded at 2000fps

Got a bear you want dead? Bring it on....
Better bring a mop and a basket for the bear chunks....

Write this down: other than a double rifle NOTHING has a faster followup shot with control
than a 12ga pump! no, not even a semi-auto.

My rifled 12ga wears an Aimpoint 2000 that is "Scout mounted" and the high comb stock is PERFECTLY fitted to me...

AllanD

Two points, in a real close in bear charge, you can only expect to get off one shot, so what round do you think is up to the task? Actual on bear performance of the 12 ga has been less than ideal from field reports. Just because there is a big hole in the barrel and you get a nudge on the shoulder when it goes off does not make it a bear gun.

I don't care how big the magazine, or how many follow shots a 12 ga offers, it is not the best choice for stopping a big bear. Stoppers start at the 375 H&H and go up from there.

Last fall I took a 7' 600lb problem bear with a 200 gr bullet in my 15" Encore .358 Winchester. This is a small bear here. When I put the crosshairs on the shoulder at 200 yards I felt undergunned. So it was in the ear or nothing. He was up a very steep incline and at the shot the head went down between the front paws and he rolled straight at me. He ended up thirty yards away in brush so thick I could not see anything. Since this was an unplanned encounter I did not have my 416 Taylor or my .358 STA as backups. Both of these were built as backups for me and guys I hunt with.

A friend last fall shot his bear in heavy brush with a .338 Win at thirty feet using Nosler 250's.
He happened upon the bear by himself while it was in its bed. AT the afore mentioned range he put the first bullet high/center chest as it was facing him. Two hours later while following blood and one mile from the first encounter the bear charged. The second shot was nearly as close as the first and this time he put the bullet between the shoulders in the hump breaking the back.

I could go on with similar stories but the common denominater is shot placement. You must
break him down. If the super juice gets going
you must keep shooting until he stops moving.
ANd they take a lot of killing once the juice
gets cranked up.

ANother case in point is two friends using a poor bullet shot a 1200 pound brownie with 2 .338 Win nine times.

I own a .458 Win Mag now, after a guy decided
to shoot a 10'4" brownie at 30 yards, broadside
looking down the hill at him. At the second shot
he had to step back as the huge head hit the ground where his foot was. Shot placement,shot placement, shot PLACEMENT. Use the horsepower you can comfortably shoot!

Will let you know as I am heading down to the Peninsula this spring. Ruger 338 with Swift 250 grain A-Frames flying 2650 FPS will be my medicine.

I would appreciate hearing about the hunt. The .338 is what I would call a true bear gun. I have friends that do not go anywhere without
it. The hunt everything with the Nosler partition 210 grain.

Good luck

Again, I have no personal experience on this matter.

On paper it sure looks good. Factory Weatherby ammo using a 250g Nosler Partition pushes this bullet at the muzzle at 2963 fps and 4873 ft-lbs of energy. At 100 yards it's 2745 and 4182. At 200 yards it's 2537 and 3572.

Looks to me like it's more than enough of a stopper. But as we read on that link, nothing's guranteed. Shot placement is everything. How many stories have we read or heard about these bruins being taken with non-magnum .30s?

i am probably one of few guys in this thread that have actually shot a 10'+ (read 11') b.b. with a .340 wthby and 250 gr. n.p. factory ammo. so maybe someone can explain to me, because i can't understand why guys like to use relatively light for caliber bullets like the 210 gr. when they could use the 250 gr. or the smarter guys are hand loading 275 n.f. or even 300 gr. bullets? it defeats the purpose to a large degree of using a large caliber.

if you are shooting elk at 400 yds. then great, hit them with the 210 gr. if you are hunting b.b. in thick cover (where they live) and shooting 125 yds. and less. then why not use a heavy bullet when shooting close range at dangerous game. guys can shoot 200 and 220 gr. bullets from a .300 mag. yes, the caliber is smaller (read wound channel) but, you get the point....

I'll tell you what we have been discussing what a 340 weatherby will do to bears and the most interesting thing I have found over the years is how affective an arrow with a broadhead is on all animals. I have personally shot several bears with my bow and have videoed and witnessed griz killed with a broadhead and let me tell you if you are a good enough hunter to execute the shot without the bear busting you there is no quicker killing tool. They dont have the noise associating the pain they feel and the adrenaline doesn't kick in because there isn't the shock thats associated with the energy of bullet impact and they dont know what to do but die! Its cool as hell.

I like Cold zero's attitude and agree with him
totally. I also agree with AlaskaCub. I have tried the new tripleshock Barnes for accuracy and it appears I may have a combined solution
for the above two posts. The Barnes is famous for 8 razor sharp pedels when the bullet makes contact. Put some weight behind the bullet and launch it hard from the .338 or .340 and everything will be fine. Personally I shoot a 225 gr Nosler partition in a .358 STA and I have to shoot end to end on an elk to retrieve the bullet. I hit one at the point of the tail
breaking the back and taking out most of the back bone above the pelvis. I retrieved the bullet under the skin at the point of the brisket. SInce I do not hunt with rifles any more with the exception of backing up friends
I have had to make some adjustments to my thinking. The small bear I shot with a .358 Win and 200 grain bullet (7')was just to foolish. A week later I re-chambered to 35 Whelan Ack. Imp shooting the 200 Barnes Triple SHock for everything except bear hunting and I will shoot either the Barnes or the Nosler 250.

For big game, I subscribe to the heavy for caliber bullets also. When contemplating the .340, I was thinking 250 - 275 gr. bullets. I decided to go with the .358 STA based on a bit more frontal area and speed, and a trajectory similar to the .300 Jarrett I have shot for years. ncooper, I don't find a 250 gr Barnes bullet in 35 cal. I think it would be a hell of a bullet in the STA if they offered one. I am planning to use the 270 gr. Northfork or 280 gr. Swift A-Frame bullets in my STA assuming good accuracy. Might have to try those 225 Barnes TSX's for elk though. I shot a cow at 293 yds last fall with a .30 cal 168 gr. TSX at 2900 chrono'ed fps. Complete penetration through both shoulders. She dropped in her tracks, which was the objective as she was just a jump away from a tangle of blow down aspen trees that I couldn't get my horses into. Like Alaskacub, my experience has been that my bow shot elk went no farther than my rifle shot ones, when it was heart/lung shots, but the rifle shot elk usually go 50 - 100 yds unless its a CNS hit, or significant bones are broken. I guess if elk were dangerous, I don't feel the 30 cal mags would be "stoppers" any more than my old '06 was. I expect the STA to put the hurts to one faster by virtue of larger wound channel. My original question was whether the .340 could be classed as a bear "stopper". My feeling, based on my own experiences with .300 and .338 mags on elk, and the experiences of other posters, is that it is probably a real good killer and has a greater likely hood of stopping than a .30 cal, if bullet placement is good. It seems from this, and other sites and threads, that many experienced DG hunters generally consider stoppers as starting at .40 cal, (and not 45-70's!) My .458 Winny is supposed to get off the brown truck this afternoon, so I'll get a chance to see what a real stopper is about.

Guys we all have good points in what our perceptions are on calibers but the one thing that we havent talked in depth about is todays modern bullets. There is a big difference between the partition which has been a big game bullet of choice for many years for many hunters but when you are talking about losing 20-40% of bullet weight on impact with the big bones, consider what kind of destruction a A-Frame or Trophy Bonded Bear Claw or Barnes TSX does when it hits the same shoulder at the same speed as the Partition and retains 90+% of the bullets weight as it blasts through bones and organs. This Brown Bear hunt I am going on I have researched a lot more than most of my other hunts as everything else in this state is pretty easy to kill with an adequate caliber and bullet but there arent any bears in the interior that I know of that weigh 1000+ lbs and built with the same muscles and bone as our local 400-500lb (on the big side) bears. I talked to a couple brown bear guides that see multiple bears that are killed each season and they clearly stated that its unbelievable the destruction these new bonded bullets do on the big bears with well placed shots in comparison to the partitions which so many guides have recommended for years for their clients. I know a guy that killed two brown bears last year (him and a friend) they used barnes TSX and their plan was to hit the bear in the shoulders with hunter #1's first shot then almost simultaneously hunter #2 will hit the bear in the hips and take out the running gear completely and none of their bears (they got two) went anywhere but straight down. Pretty cool idea. If your cool with your buddy helping you and you helping him.Needless to say there was no nasty tracking duties in the alders.I think with any caliber you choose the bullets of today can do more than the heavier bullet of yesteryear.

Hi Cobrad
Barnes manual page 442 cat#35835 250 X bullet.
I do not know however if they have added the TripleShock 250 to the lineup yet.

Well then I stand corrected. I looked on their web site and didn't find such a bullet. With their high BC's and SD's that should be a real long-range killer. Too bad they don't offer it in the TSX, but I'll try it anyway.

They brought out the 250 TX this year, I've yet to of seen them or tried them.

Mark D

FYI

I have been ordering mine straight from Barnes.
My outlets are not carrying much till they sell out the X bullet. SO far this new breed of Barnes bullets sure do shoot well. ABout time.

I too really do not understand the point of shooting a .338, be it the Win Mag variety, 06 variety or even the Weatherby variety, and choosing 210gr bullets.

Logically 225gr is the minimum and 250gr is optimal for bears.

If you want to shoot lighter bullets then go with a .30 caliber.

I have been very happy with the TSX's in my .300. Very accurate and seriously deadly. I like the ability to break bone and still get the extra leakage of exit wounds. I will most certainly give the .358 250 gr. TSX's a go. I think the combination of bullet weight, weight retention, and frontal area of this bullet in my STA is going to make for some serious killing power. Markino, I am in agreement with your reasoning on .338 bullet weights. For years I have shoot 200 gr bullets out of my .300. Great SD and high BC. This combination has been very effective on elk and other critters from close to long range for me. I think that until bullets weights of 250 gr or more are used in the .338's, there is nothing appreciable gained over the .300's. As far as elk go, I've killed and been in on the taking of a boat load of them. IMO there is no need for anything larger than a .30 cal. I am going to .358 and .458 for a planned move to AK.

i just like to note here that the new Norma manual has loading data for the great .340 with Bullets up to 300 grain Woodleigh Soft and solid.

MY only hunting experiences are with Black Bear.
OLD ADDAGE I was taught by some serious woodfolks who taught me the woods as I was growing...
"always remember, the closer the bear, the smaller the rifle becomes."
which they explained meant less bleed out time and less time for the bear to stop or die.
and
strangely enough it all seemed VERY true on that one afternoon, when...
all of a sudden, a 500 pound black bear at 5 feet seemed like waaaayyyy to big and waaay to close for even the 45-70 with HEAVY loads.
So
a 900 pound Brown close enough to smell the salmon on it's breath MUST be impressive.
plan accordingly.

its a very versatile round is capable of the most game thats walks upon this earth. With a good 250 grs bullet and higher it will be a smaher on bears. Norma has a load for it with a 300 grain Woodleigh soft and solid.

quote:

Originally posted by mr rigby:
i just like to note here that the new Norma manual has loading data for the great .340 with Bullets up to 300 grain Woodleigh Soft and solid.

thanks for posting that info. good to know. i have been using the wthby 250 gr. n.p. factory ammo.

glad to help cold zero.get a copy of the bookits superb, ill dig it out tomorrow and post the load for it if youre interrested

I've read a lot of different opinions but to be absolutely sure I'd say you need a Barrett 50 BMG Sniper Rifle shooting at least a 760gr bullet to stop ursus in his tracks.:>

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mr rigby:
glad to help cold zero.get a copy of the bookits superb, ill dig it out tomorrow and post the load for it if youre interrested[/QUOTE

currently, i do not handload. i would like to see the #'s, so post away if you please. now that woodleigh is commmercially available, i can get it if i need it. good to know.

in ak. i would/have used my .340 for b.b., g.b., moose. everything else gets the .300 w.m. and a 180-200 gr. n.p.

I killed a 9ft 8" Brown with my .340 at 210 yards with a .240 gr North Fork and it flattened him like a panckae. Shot the top of his heart off and some lung. He did'nt go 5 feet.

quote:

Originally posted by dakor:
Well if 458win says a 30/06 with 200 partitions or a 7mm mag with a 175 partition will stop a Brown Bear charge if the guy holding it knows how to use it. I would hope to God a 340 Weatherby with 225's or 250's would get the job done. I think bearonia is running wild and free on the Alaska hunting site. Just to add something many people have shot Elephants with a 340 Weatherby and a 7x57 and 8x57. You will have no problems if you can shoot the rifle.

I know a guy who has killed a charging brown bear with a 7mm mag. I was a bit incredulous until I asked him how he did it. He said that by the time he got the gun up and pulled the trigger the bear was all but on him. He shot it probably within 2 feet of the muzzle, probably less and in the head. Close enough it burned all the hair off the front of the face.