there seems to be two schools here, one says penetration but if you dont hit vitals in a defensive situation you might be bear poop the other expansion but you might not penetrate enough your bear poop. i like hunting with my guide gun but when you shoot around big bears the dinner bell rings and you might be defending your kill. should i have both in the tube? alternate? or stay at home and live a long and boring life but as i say, there is no shame in being old but there is in not being able to tell good stories. thanks! i have also posted this in big game hunting

If I was hunting bears I would use the North Forks. If I was carrying the rifle for bear protection I would use the Hammerheads, as I would be shooting the bear in the head at very close range, any shots that missed the head or hit it around the fringes would still drive deep into the body.
If hunting brown bears, depending on how far apart the two different loads hit, I might load two rounds of the softs to be fired first followed up by the rest of the Magazine full of hammerheads.
If their POI was vastly different at 100 yards I just might carry some hammerheads to load up with if going in to the thick alders after a shot bear on the follow up.
Kinda like the same soft/solid technique used in Africa on Buff.

would you hunt big bears with the north forks in a guide gun???

The North Forks probably make the guide gun into about as good of a bear gun as it can be. Personally on a $25,000 hunt I would probably not use a 45-70.

If you are talking about large Black bear the 350 Hornady FN is perfect for hunting over bait in the 450 marlin or 45-70. I use this bullet with great success in my Guide Gun here in alaska. The PMC factory load using the Hornady bullet is excellent and does not cost a fortune.
If you handload then a good charge 50.0 of Reloader 7 will get you close to 2000 FPS in the 18.5" barrel in the 45-70 Marlin. Excellent bear, moose, deer, elk load.

boom stick
If I was a "lever action kind of guy" I would not hesitate to hunt big bears with the proper bullet in a 45/70.

Neither.

First of all, you need to stay in the 400'ish grain range with the 45-70. Secondly, there's no need for a super-hard bullet.

There's no up close difference in momentum between a .375H&H (270gr Soft Point @2700fps) and a 45-70 (405gr JSP @1800fps). The 45-70 will penetrate further and carve a slightly larger wound channel.

A hardcast bullet will allow you shoot the bear head-on thru the skull with bullet exiting the pooper-hole. The 405gr JSP will lodge in the prostate. Dead is dead.

I would use a North Fork. I just do not have confidence in cast lead bullets on game, no matter how they are constructed.

Last year I shot a nice 500lb black bear. Hit him at a distance of 27ft high in the thick part of the shoulder. The bullet passed through breaking the opposite shoulder bone on the way out. The wound channel was huge! All this from a Barnes 300gr XFN. This bullet really impressed me and would be my choice for all critters large and small. This bullet seems to have qualites that are somewhere in between a lead core expander and a solid.!
Just think, no core, no jacket, no problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Gurn:
Last year I shot a nice 500lb black bear. Hit him at a distance of 27ft high in the thick part of the shoulder. The bullet passed through breaking the opposite shoulder bone on the way out. The wound channel was huge! All this from a Barnes 300gr XFN. This bullet really impressed me and would be my choice for all critters large and small. This bullet seems to have qualites that are somewhere in between a lead core expander and a solid.!
Just think, no core, no jacket, no problem.

I have to agree with this "New Guy".I also shot a nice Bull Elk with the Barnes 300 grain XFN and it was an instant kill.Going in just in front of the left rear quarter and exciting just in front of the right front shoulder.90% of the Bulls body in penetration and he dropped like a balloon..

Jayco