There are...
factories...that make ammunition? Whoa...
Federal loads TSX's, Partitions and Bear Claws. Hard to go wrong. TSX would be my choice, were I shooting a .338 Win Mag, which is not likely. But that's your friend's issue, not mine.
Factories that make ammo...hmmm...
.
Dennis
MD: Never hunted browns, but who knows what the future holds.
If I did would probably use my .300WM, but a .338WM purchase would be thought about. Why not? Not enough or not necessary? Interested in observed-first or second hand- vs internet opinions.
Thanks,
Battue
Addition: I think that any reasonable bullet/caliber placed right will work. However, I tend to like a buffer when hunting.
Lots of people have successfully hunted brown bears with .300 mags, and .30-'06's. I don't hunt bears, but when I carried a rifle on the job for bear protection, it was my .35 Whelen with 250-gr bullets. That was a situation where I would only be shooting at biting range, so heavier is better.
I would never advise anyone to pass up a plausible reason to buy another rifle, so I think you really do need a .338 Mag
. I am biased toward medium bores for bigger animals, whether they bite or not, so I think rifles from about .325 WSM/.338 RCM up through .375 Ruger make good choices. Even my 8-lb .375 Ruger Hawkeye African is very shootable to anyone with experience, and the .35 Whelen/9.3x62 are, IMHO, easier to shoot than a .300 win Mag.
Roundabout way of getting to one of my signature lines. Breaking important body parts is the crux of bear shooting, and bigger better bullets break body parts more reliably.
Buy a new rifle -- you have lots of great medium-bore choices these days
.
Dennis
