My 458 deal fell through.
How would my 300 win mag do with a premium bullet. I shoot it great.
Or, should I meet in the middle and get a .375 HH
Your opinions are much appreciated.
Thanks,
W.

a 300 will kill fine, provided you put it in the right spot.


Personally, I would opt for a little more, as I tend to hunt by myself, but as you'll have a competent guide backing you up, I think you'd be fine.


However, I do hunt with a 300 WSM, and if that was all I had, I'd have no fear of engaging a bear with it.

300 and 338 win mag's are probably the most common bear rifles in Kodiak, with 375 H&H and 30/06 close behind. You will be fine, just know how to shoot it well.

ok, I'm going to expand on things just a little. Please forgive me if I come across as patrenizing (I certainly don't mean too). But I know what brown bear hunts costs up here, heck the only way I can afford to hunt Alaska is to live in Alaska. So, that being said, I would not recommend you go and buy a new rifle if you already have one that will work (please don't let my wife know I have said this), and a 300 win mag will kill everything coastal Alaska has to offfer. I shoot a .375 H&H but it more for nastalgia than anything else.
Something you might want to have that exrta cash on hand for is unexpected weather delays, always count on a couple of extra days, it won't be too expensive in say anchorage, but if you get stuck in say cold bay, or yakatat, you are going to be shelling out some cash, because most villages are not cheap, and it's not fun sleeping on the airport floor eating ketsup packets.
Just something to think about, I don't want you to spend that kind of money to come up here only to leave broke and disgruntled.

This subject has been heavely (and hotley) covered here in the past.
You will find a number of highly expireanced Alaskans who will tell you the 30 cals are very effective and I for one agree with that and others who just don't feel it is enough.
Bottom line is that the smaller bore you choose to hunt with the more carefull you will need to be about placeing your shot and thinking about your follow up shots.
Thats not to say you should not concern yourself with proper shooting no matter how big you go because good shooting and proper shot placement count for much more than shear horsepower.

At some point you can get too small in caliber and energy to be reasonably effective and I don't recall anyone here ever suggesting anything less than a 30-06 as effective. That is about where I draw the line based on my expireance.
One time when a hunter from Sweden arrived in my camp with a 6.5x55 for a brown bear hunt. I quickly saw to it that he had a .375 H&H to see him through the hunt. His bear as I recal was 9'3" and I assume in the end the fellow saw the logic in our insistance that he use the larger rifle.
The short answer to the question though is that I have seen many brown bears taken with a .300 win mag.

I wouldn't sweat the .300 Win Mag at all.

That's what I used on Kodiak on 9'1" bear and it did the job just fine.

And it you shoot it well, why the heck would you want to change?

Good luck and shoot straight!

Sounds like a tailor made job for a 200 grain TSX.

Brett

My advise take Bretts advise
300 will kill anything in north america
Larry

I agree use the 300 mag.
I would use a 180 or 200gr Premium bullet like a Nosler Partition, Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, Swift A Frame, etc.
If you reload take a look at the North Fork bullets.

Where r u going to hunt bear?

Sorry. I just Had to ask. (-:

It will get the job done, I wouls stoke it with 200 Gr. Nosler Partition.

I've only hunted Brown Bears once, in 1985 at Deadman Bay on Kodiak. I used a .338 win mag, shooting 250 grain nosler partitions. I had the biggest gun in camp. The other hunter shot his bear with a .30-06. Of our two guides, Lynn Castle carried a .300 Weatherby and Max Schwab carried a .30-06.

Those weren't ideal backup rifles by any stretch of imagination, but both of those very experienced bear guides staked everyone's lives on those guns, so I'd be very comfortable as a client hunter using any .30 caliber from .30-06 on up.

BTW, that 250 grain nosler knocked the snot out of a 9 foot bear at 300 yards, across a canyon. He didn't go 25 yards from where I shot him.

A 300 mag is enough with the right bullet and accurate placement.

AKMATT

more than enough,

I have seen a couple coastal grizzlies taken with 7MM Rem Mags...I saw another taken with a 270 WSM...

I think most folks are over gunned, but as it has been stated here many times. Good bullet, good shot placement, shot what you can shoot well.
Now, if we are talking about going into close cover with a wounded bear, that's when I start to see the benefit of the really big hitters.

I think you should use a 243. I know of a couple brown bear that have been cleanly killed with those. ..

Glen a 243 might be pushing it but it has been done by skilled hunters, an Inupiat trapper out of Anatuvik Pass killed a big for the Brooks Range grizzly a few weeks ago with a 243. That might be pushing it for a hunter from outside who is after a brown bear and may have to take a less than ideal shot,but my wife killed 2 brown bears with her 284. 140gr Barnes x through both lungs,1 went 50 yds the other not quite so far.

I took a nice grizzly last April in west central Alaska. The largest gun a guide had was a 308. A few 223 out there. These guys ( natives ) were great hunters. I made sure my 340 did the job. Was a little anxious about those 223's backing me up. It does not matter what you shoot them with if you brain them.
Bears up there not quite coastal variety but mine squared 8'. skull 22 3/4. In my mind a little large for a 223...

quote:

Originally posted by woodsie:
My 458 deal fell through.
How would my 300 win mag do with a premium bullet. I shoot it great.
Or, should I meet in the middle and get a .375 HH
Your opinions are much appreciated.
Thanks,
W.

300 WM; no brainer!

I'd be more concerned with what scope to have on there. No HIGH power versions. A nice VX3 in 1.5-5, 1.75-6 or maybe a 2.5-8 would work quite well.

Alan

You guys are missing it...

An opportunity to get a new gun and you are all saying no??!!!

Of course, a .300 can kill the bear, but come on... new gun time!

lets talk about bullet placement
find a rock about the size of the 19 inch black an white tv you had as a kid growing up, now im not talking soapstone but a good solid rock. take a few shots with your big 30cal go down an look at the grease spots on the rock. now go and shoot it with some cheap bullets out of a 416
4 shots an you will have some homemade gravel
no big boomers dont make up for lousy shootin
but there is a difference

S.E. Alaska The bear wounding and lost bear capital of the State!! Yes you guy's better be more safe than sorry.

Sad but true. But that's because the bears were shot with small guns. . Or they were shot from too far away.or they were shot by some Jack ass going by on a seiner. No doubt plenty of the bears shot with the little guns died. But they couldn't be found ..

I think a major starting point in these discussions should be.
Where the hunt will take place. !!!

If it will be in central or northern Alaska then the 8mm on down are fine.
If in the rain forests from PWS south. Where th shots should be a lot closer, then 338 on up are absolutely recommended.

A brown bear is a brown bear. Wether your in Walker Cove or St.Marie's. But the thickness of the vegitation. And difficulty in getting around are the difference ..

anyboby smart nuff to figure out why
lots more bears for starters
the AR15 and 243 are as popular as the 338
probably more so
for the shot placement guys
the story you hear ever year "i shot it and it ran off." usually from the hip or so close they could touch it
and a bears leg bones will blow up any fast bullet and the leg is located outside the body cavity of all places
but if you are on a guided hunt and not deer hunting alone then use whatever you want you have a backup

Wow,
This is kinda scary reading these post's. Sure a 300 WM will kill a brown bear and yes, many are killed with even smaller caliber's. But you never hear about the wounded ones that get away, die or maul some other sorry hunter/outdoor person in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It only takes once and you'll know what I am talking about, and if you live here you hear about it more often that not. Shooting a bear at 300 yards, sure no big deal, try getting up closer to 100 yards or less to hunt brown bears with a 30 caliber bullet. I wouldn't do it as my first choice, but then again I have multiple big bores that I use and I don't shoot any bear further out than 100 yards. My preference is less than 50 yards or bow range, that'll get your blood pumping.

Good luck, share the story...

I've got a Remington 700, Custom shop for sale in .458 if you just need a new gun and an excuse. Or I've got a Safari model 700 in .416 as well. You don't have to settle.