BIG BEAR RIFLE

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kimbernut

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My nephew lives in Alaska and will be visiting soon. Wants to get into big bear hunting up there and wants me to help him choose a rifle suitable for the job. I've always been inclined to skip the magnums and go with a good .308 or .30-06 but he's got a .300 WinMag in mind. I'm going to have him fire both at the range just to make sure he knows what he's getting into with the WinMag. Some of you guys with experience in this department please give me a few of your thoughts on the subject.
 
what ranges will he be taking bear at??? if shorter something like a 45-70 is a nice take down gun... I would think a .300 would do the job, with a little heavier bullet. what about a .338??? just me $0.02
 
I never hesitate to recommend the .375 H&H when someone mentions Big Toothy Creature shooting.

Most don't find the recoil any worse than the big .30's and I think a bigger, heavier projectile at a more reasonable velocity will have more chance of impressing the bears.
 
Ditto the .375. Also consider the big Marlin lever actions if range will be short. 45-70, .444, etc.
 
Kimber;

I do believe that if you do some research, you'll find that the .338 Winchester magnum has been regarded as thecaliber by choice of a very large fraction of guides & locals in Alaska.

While it does recoil more than my .30-06, I don't find it to be objectionable. I've also been told by people who've owned both, that the .300 Winchester magnum is nastier than the .338. with what loads though, I don't know. I'm launching a 225 grain bullet right at 2900 fps with mine. I did have a Pachmyer Decelerator pad put on it though. I don't want to do 40 rounds of bench work all at once, mind you, but 20 rounds, not a problem.

900F
 
Being able to shoot it well are a lot more important than horsepower. I personally have no hesitation whatsoever in going after bears with a .30-06. But I've been around a lot of them, and they don't intimidate me (I'm not a Treadwell). All the one's I've killed has been with a shotgun, I've yet to take a crack at one with a rifle. They seem to disappear when you buy a tag, but I digress.
A lot of bears drop to '06s up here.
However, I do load mine with Federal High Energy load w/ 180 gr Nosler Partitions. I think an accurate load using a premium bullet is a must.

Another suitable choice would be the .35 Whelen if you want to avoid magnums.

If he must use a magnum there is certainly nothing wrong with a .300 Win. It's real advantage is pushing heavier bullets a little faster to whack a little farther out. If I were to recommend a magnum it would be the .375. It has enough power for anything walking the earth and the recoil doesn't knock you out from under your hat like .338 Win.

Now for the bears, it depends on where he is hunting as there is a major size difference.
Interior bears tend to be smaller, but their attitudes more than make up for it. The salmon stuffed fatties out here are certainly a lot bigger, but more docile.

There is also a difference in terrain and vegetation. Out here on the AK Pen and Aleutians the terrain is open and mountainous. Vegetation is scrub alder and tundra grasses. In the interior it's varied with dense forest. The SE and islands heavily timbered mountains.
 
i just talked to a guy who took a 300 winmag stainless wetherby and a browning a bolt in 375 h&h mag to Alaska, to hunt bear. hew said if you run into a polar, or a big brown, or a griz, he told me point blank, you really need that 375, that after a couple of encounters, his faith in the 300 went way down, as opposed to his 375.
 
i seem to remember Ray Ordorica in his article "Use a big Rifle" he carried a
.470 NE double as grizzly insurance up there in AK.

You guys have fun with that bear, im gonna stay here where the fauna isnt so likely to strike back :neener:
 
My ucle is a bear hunting nut. He has shot griz with everything form 30-06 to 458. After about 25 griz what does he say is best???? 375 H&H Mag.
 
You can't beat the .375 for covering all your bases and then some. It's overkill at close ranges for all but the very largest brown bear, but it gives you the extra ft. lbs. you need if you're going for griz in wider country. Just mind you get the right bullets for it. A lot of the African safari ammo is set up with bullets for THICK SKINNED game, and nothing in this state qualifies. Use lion medicine for bear, not cape buf medicine.

That said, you really don't need anything that potent for most bear in this state. A .30'06 with 200 or 220 grain slugs is more than sufficient. Old timers have taken griz with .32-20's! The old Newman/Savage cartridges and the .35 Remington Autos used to be considered ample for brown bear, and in those days the bear were even bigger than today.

And there's something to be said for choosing a firearm that won't make you OVERconfident. A .375 in the wrong place isn't goint to kill a bear any more than a .30'06 in the wrong place. And if you're more comfortable with the smaller firearm, go for it.
 
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if I was going into bear country tomorrow I would reach into the safe and grab my marlin 45/70 first.not saying the 375 is a bad choice but wouldn't be my first.
reason...
with the reciever sight you can get on target very fast and follow up shots are very easy.the marlin is a tack driver and if needed a follow up shot is a snap in thick cover.
the main thing is practice,practice and then do some more.you must be 100% confident in your marksmanship and your ability with the rifle being used.
remember a bear isn't good company when they are really pissed:)
pete
 
I shot a Brownie with a .375H&H 20 years back and it worked as planned. Shot thru heart he swatted at entry and tore up alders for 30 seconds before slowly laying down. Guide wouldn't let me shoot second time, just stayed ready, as he didn't want bear to know where we were!:eek: I was 80 yards away which is 5 seconds in bear talk:what:
The 300 grain Coreloktd Rem ( I think) drove clean thru and out the far ribs, put an inch hole thru top of heart after breaking a shoulder!The hides self seal pretty good on bears so although there was a lot of blood, NO hose effect like I have seen on buffalo ect.:uhoh:
I also have seen a bear on an earlier trip shot with 250 grain bullets from a .358 Norma and .338win with the same effect.I personally find the .375 more pushy in recoil than those faster number which punch you pretty good in light rifles at least.
 
Heck, I would head north either a 375 H&H or a 45-70 GG and not feel that I was lacking...

Especially that 45-70 with some Garrett loads in the tube...


D
 
There is IMO no such thing as too much gun for big bear! I`ve only hunted blacks twice but a big bear first spotted at 30 ft in the thick stuff can rattle you, and they always look bigger then they are.
I`d go with the largest caliber you can shoot well. The `06 and 30-30 have killed alot of bear, it`s true. The `06 is IMO fine for blacks but go for the browns and I want more. The first time though one plans to poke a bullet in one, the cartridge no matter how big, is going to look awful small........After one has some experiance under their belt a smaller rifle might be OK but to go after my first I want a big hole, and in my opinion a 1/2" hole in a 9 ft bear isn`t big!
 
just adding a quick question in. is it better to have a round heavy bullet like the 444 or 45-70 for knock down and stopping power? or is it preferable to have a pointed fast bullet like th 300 winmag or .338?

I mean, the pointed faster bullet would be good if your aiming and had time to shoot. but if a bear comes out charging and you have to draw and fire, would the extra "umph" of a heavy bullet be preferable?

I dont mean to hijack the thread, Im just curious. i have no experience thats why Im asking.
 
The 9.3x62 Mauser would be in the same class as the .30'06, with a slight edge due to its heavier bullets. The 9.3x64 Brenneke would give you more than enough power.

As far as the .45-70's, the big drawback is RANGE. They're fine for hunting bear in heavy timber, but for open ground griz they just don't have the needed power over range. Plus, they fire in a serious rainbow which makes hitting anything difficult. For killing there is no real advantage to using big hardcast slugs in the .45 caliber range over using smaller SP bullets of good quality. The advantage comes when compared with cheap expanding bullets, which may not function properly. But it's an easy matter these days to get high-quality hunting bullets that will expand.
 
I want a Marlin Guide gun! As for short range, that would be a good choice. If the shots are going to be much further, I think the .300 WM would be a good choice.
 
i would recomend the 12 guage rifle from hell... but i dont think those are easy to come by:rolleyes:

375 h&h magnum is probably the best bet. people take cape buffalo with it, those are big ass animals
 
+1 on the .338

I'm from Alaska and would venture to say that most people up there use .338 win mags for bears and moose. A .300 win mag will do the job too, and is probably the most popular all-around cartridge in Alaska, but if you had a 1000 lb. dangerous charging bear situation something with a heavier bullet might be nice, a .375 H&H will do the job, but that round can get expensive to shoot and is quite a bit more punishing at the range. 30-06 wouldn't be my first choice for brown bears, but is well suited for black bears. The big remington ultra mags would work nicely, but ammo is harder to find and more expensive. Big-bore lever actions are just about worthless over 200 yards (shorter barrel, significant bullet drop, etc.). Just my opinion.
 
300 win mag

What a joke, all that extra recoil for a measly extra 200 fps. I dont think so. .338 win mag is the way to go. My former boss swore by the 300 win, but he was an idiot! They are cheaper to buy as well. The 338 mag I mean.

~ Steve
 
Up north for big bears, I would rather have a 375 in my hands than anything. I would consider a 338, but would want to have backup in a larger caliber.
 
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