I've never shot or hunted black bear. I have shot a bunch of farel hogs with my 45-70. I hand load 405 grain hardcast lead
to 1600fps. Have taken several hogs in the 350-400lb range at close to 100 yards. Never takes more than one shot through the front end. Never found a slug. All pass-thru shots.Pound for pound I can't imagine black bear being any harder to kill than an old wild hog. But I could be wrong about that. People hunt bear with bows all the time. If you can kill it with a bow, a 45-70 should have no problem doing the same.
Rabbitdog
