Black bear hunting with a .45 Colt...need a load

[esheato]

Hello all,

I'm planning on doing some California black bear hunting this fall and would like to do it with my Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt. I have another 2 people going with me with rifles so I feel pretty safe about it. What I want to do is make sure I have an effective load to work with.

I was considering Sierra SportsMaster 300 grn JSP, Speer 300 grn Uni-Cor SP or possibly the Nosler Partition-HG Protected Point in 300 grn. I have 4 pounds of W-W 296 sitting around here that I was hoping to use up. I'm staying away from the JHPs and the FMJ. I was thinking a JSP was probably my best option for the penetration I would need. I've hunted before, but never with a handgun. My pistol experience is quite a bit above average and I shoot IDPA regularly.

I'm looking for some recommendations on bullet type/weight and maybe some pet loads. What's your suggestions?

esheato...

 

[critter]

On bear, as I understand it, you need PENETRATION! Most folks recommend a stiff load under a HEAVY (300->) hard cast lead bullets with large flat noses. Next on my list would be some sort of jacketed flat nose soft point of STRONG construction. What you do not want is a bullet that expands quickly and stops way too soon! Best wishes.

 

[444]

300 Grain WFN

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm?category=22&id=

 

[one-shot-one]

if your interested in buying loaded cartridges instead of reloading take a look at www.buffalobore.com. they have some of what you are looking for.
bought from them for my 45-70 seem to be good quailty hot loads.

 

[Frohickey]

ditto on the 300gr WFN from Beartooth.

You want hard cast, with as wide a meplat as possible.

 

[Dr.Rob]

A good soft point will do, provided you get enough oomf behind it.

 

[MCNETT]

I buy my Beartooth bullets by the thousands, because you might have to wait up to a YEAR to receive your order! Great bullets, bad wait. www.castperformance.com makes an excellent and similar bullet that I also shoot a lot of out of my revolvers in .45 Colt and .454 Casull. A load that I have really liked using jacketed bullets is the 300JSP Sierra over 23.5gr. It gets 1300fps from a 7.5" bbl and is devastating!
-Mike

 

[esheato]

A load that I have really liked using jacketed bullets is the 300JSP Sierra over 23.5gr. It gets 1300fps from a 7.5" bbl and is devastating!

23.5 grn of what? I'm curious. The Sierra 300 JSP was actually one of my considerations. Thanks for all the replies.

esheato...

 

[MCNETT]

296 or H110. they are the same powder.

 

[Steve Smith]

Back off that load and work up!!!

First of all we're asuming you are using a Ruger or Freedom Arms gun.

I suggest a 325 grain LBT-WFN from Cast Performance, with a heavy dose of H110. Start at 21.5 grains and progress slowly while watching for presure signs. 23 -23.5 is all you could ever need and is still controllable if you have a Bisley grip frame.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Guys,
I was part owner of a outfit down in NM which specializes in bear and lion hunting. Over the years I've seen dozens of bears shot with all sorts of pistols. On a blackbear you don't want a hard cast bullet.

Blackbears are not all that massive and they are thin skinned. I've killed several with 158gr soft point factory remington .357 loads and got full penetration. I've shot many more with 240gr remington soft points out of my .44 mag. Never had a problem killing a bear with that load.

In the .45 colt I'd go with a 250 gr Hornandy XTP loaded to about 1100 or 1200 FPS. or even a 300gr XTP at around 1000 or so.

The most problems we've had over the years have been with guys shooting some unbelivable hot load using hard cast bullets.

Here's why.
A. Guys that load hot for the hunt usually can't shoot the pistol very well because they can't handle the recoil and develope an evil flinch.
B. Hard cast bullets tend to sail through a blackbear like a blowtorch through butter and unless you hit spine they don't tend to have any knock down at all. I watched a good friend of mine hit a lion three times through the ribs with a .500 linebaugh using some 420gr hard cast. The damn lion didn't even hardly flinch though he was hit through the lungs each time then he just ran out of the tree and went a LONG way before he figured out he was dead.

Soft points at moderate velocity are the trick on blackbears or cats. My old partner has been a houndsman and guide for nearly 40 years and all he's ever shot is a S&W 6" patrolman in .357 using 158gr softpoints. And he's killed some mighty large bears with it.

I always carried a 629 in .44mag or blackhawk in .45LC using either 240gr remington soft points or 250 gr XTP's. I'm here to tell you they will stop a bear right now a hard cast won't unless you hit brain or spine.

 

[Mannlicher]

I have to agree with H&H here. Black bears are not as tough as many think. I took several black bears in North Florida with an old Ruger Flat Top, three screw 71/2 inch barrel, and the 240 grain Speer JSP, using 19 grains of 2400. That load worked well on hogs too.

In my Blackhawk .45 Colt, the load I like these days for hunting is a 250 grain Hornady JHP with 15 grains of BlueDot.

 

[MCNETT]

I agree that black bears are not elephants. I have one-shot-one-kill on two different 200+lb black bears with my Glock 20. On the other hand, I think that a 300gr JSP @ 1300+ would be an excellent choice from your Ruger.
-Mike