30/30 for NY black bear?

[butcherboy]

i have a marlin 336 30/30. on the box is a picture of a target, deer, and a bear.

people i have talked to said the 30/30 will work for bear hunting.

is this true, and does anyone have any experience hunting bear with a 30/30?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I've never hunted black bear, though I've wanted too. Don't know why I haven't. We have a black bear season here in Arkansas.
As far as the gun, from what I've heard pretty much any caliber suitable for hunting whitetails is sufficient for black bear. You should be fine with the .30-30. I'd go with 170 grain bullets, but the 150s would likely do the trick as well. I'll bet there's been a lot of em killed with that classic round.

 

[bpl]

Lots of people hunt black bear here in PA with the 30-30. I recently read in one of the hunting rags thatfFive of the top ten largest black bears listed by Boone & Crocket were shot here in PA, including number two. I'd use the 170gr myself.

 

[375shooter]

I also agree that the .30-30 in sufficient for black bear, especially with the 170 gr bullets. Shot placement is the most important factor for a quick kill, followed by bullet weight and bullet construction.

 

[Old Shooter]

If it's got a picture of a bear on the box it should be good to go.

Seriously, the 30-30 has been a North Country deer and bear rifle combo since day one and I know a lot of hunters that have bagged them with no problems related to the gun or cartridge.

I do recall one or two hunters that missed and it didn't do 'em any good, but they were the exceptions.

Happy hunting.

 

[FTSESQ]

Um... Yeah. the 30-30 will put down just about anything in North America if you do your part. I've hunted in northern NY state and most shots are under 75 yards. My gunsmith hunts there with a Ruger .44mag carbine and has never had any issues. The 30-30 generates about 1800-1900 ft/lbs of energy. Not much that that won't take down.

 

[Zeke/PA]

I heartily agree with the 170GR. Bullet suggestion and the most important of all, SHOT PLACEMENT.

 

[T.R.]

My 30-30 took down this amazing animal. Live weight was approx 400 lbs.

SUGGESTION: practice levering and aligning your sights quickly for a second or third shot. There is no shame shooting an animal more than once.

Good hunting to you.

TR

 

[Glamdring]

It will work fine. You can use 150 DPX (all copper HP) or Federal 170 Nosler Partition if you want max penetration for premium factory ammo. There is also a new load out from Buffalo Bore with a 190 grain Hawk bullet, but that is very new and expensive. And it doesn't have a history yet. The DPX & Nosler Partition loads have been out for some time and we know they work in the 30-30.

 

[Millwright]

The 'thuty-thuty has worked on NA game for over a century...Don't think the breed has grown bulletproof in that time.... >MW

 

[CATAMOUNT KID]

30-30 is all around great gun.short barrel is good for brush and stalking. Lever action nice for follow up shots.

 

[ColeK]

.30-30 170 gr Win Power points work great on eastern black bear. I've been there and done a few times.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

The only way I would shoot a BB with a .30-30 is from a tree stand. I laughed when I saw this thread because today a blacky stole some garbage bags I had in the back of my truck[1 ton Ford]. I did not see him get in the bed but I saw him get out and the back of the truck went up 5 inchs. Unbelivably fat bear, 600+ lbs easy and I have seen a lot of bears, brown and black. Perfect shot calm bear broadside .30-30 sure. Any quartering shot that has to get through all that lard-no.

 

[336A]

Yes the 30WCF will put down a Northern NY black bear quite easily. Lets take a minute and put things in perspective. When the 30WCF (.30-30) first made it's debut it was launching a 160gr JSP bullet at 1970fps from a 26" barrel at the time. This loading killed hundreds upon hundreds of game animals to the point that a lot places in the U.S. had non-eistent deer poulations. Here in N.Y. it was so bad that there was no hunting until around the 1920s' IIRC.

Today from a 20"carbine we can expect to get 2050fps from 170gr factory ammo, and around 2200fps for the 150gr factory ammo. As T.R. has shown as long as you put the bullet where it needs to go the 30WCF will not let you down. You do not need a premium factory offering either to put down a black bear. At the velocities that the 30WCF operates at the various 170gr bullets perform and behave just like premium bullets in more modern cartridges. Just look at the recovered bullet that T.R. posted, it didn't shed it's jacket or core. It expanded yet has a good portion of the shank left for deep penetration to the vitals what more could one want.

Black bears here in N.Y. aren't huge monsters either. Ft. Drum along with Cornell university did a study not long ago on the bears up here. Of all the bears on the instilation the biggest one that was tagged and collard weighed 350LBS. Most of the bears that you will encounter here will be more in the 150lbs to 250lbs weight range.

Read through this thread here. It is very thurough test of various 170gr bullets shot from the 30WCF both premium and conventional bullets. The results may suprise you. Good luck with the bear hunting.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29563

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29565

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29567

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29569