Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 6.5 Swede for black bear in California

Hello Gents,
I just got done reading a fascinating old thread here about 6.5x55 use for hunting grizzly, and it got me wondering. The general consensus from the thread seemed to be that although 6.5x55 (and similar) calibers have been used all over the world for hunting brown bear, it is far from the ideal caliber. That makes total sense to me. I'm a believer in using the right tool for the job.

But then I started thinking about how the Swede would perform on black bears in California. Not to purposely go hunting them, but more as a survival tool. If I take up hunting, my 6.5x55 is likely going to be my go-to rifle (it beats my Tavor). If I were out hunting deer with my California legal 140 grain, lead free Lapua Naturalis, and had to defend myself against a black bear, would it be a poor choice?

My other rifle is a Yugo M48, and a nice, hot 8x57 IS would probably be an outstanding round for black bear, but the rifle itself is far less accurate, weighs more, and has only the horrible v-notch sights.

I understand there is a big difference between a calm, well-placed hunting shot and a self-defense type of adrenalin-filled shot. That's why I'm asking the question. Would the 6.5x55 with a hot 140 grain solid be under-gunned for that scenario?

Black bears are by and large pretty easy to kill, I personally feel like they usually have less will to live than your average whitetail buck.

My wife has killed two now with simple Sierra Gamekings in her 270 which is somewhat comparable to your 6.5. Put a bullet in the vital organs and they will die like any other animal.

Also your odds of needing to "defend" yourself from a black bear are very slim unless you make it a habit of sleeping in the garbage dump or using bacon grease as sunscreen.

Black bears are easy....anything that will kill your basic deer will work on black bear. And as for a self-defense scenario...it happens with black bear almost as often as it happens with deer. No need to dwell on it.

We have used the 6.5x55 and 260 Rem for black bear using mostly the 140 gr Partition and discontinued 140 gr Speer G.S. and have no complaints.

Since you are in California I would look at either the 120 gr TTSX or 120 gr E Tip instead. No need for a heavier bullet than either one of those, they should penetrate as far as either of the 140 gr lead core bullets I mentioned earlier.

gerrygoat;
Top of the morning to you sir and Happy Canada Day to you all.

As previously mentioned our eldest daughter has had wonderful success with the 130gr TSX on I believe 7 local whitetail and mulie bucks - who despite being hit at different angles never stopped on.

In the process the little bullet did some mighty impressive damage to major bones on the bucks.

Anyway even though I'm using the 120gr TTSX in my 6.5x55 again this fall - have some 120gr GMX but just didn't have the time to play with them this year - I'd toss out the recommendation for the 130gr TSX too.

Oh to the OP, I pack my 6.5 in bear country - the very odd grizzly and lots and lots and then some more black bears in our part of BC and I don't feel inadequately protected in the least.

Hope that helps someone out there. All the best to you folks up north this Canada Day again gerrygoat.

Dwayne

Thanks you guys, I appreciate the info. I've solo backpacked in the Sierra for a number of years now and never once even seen a bear. But I've always given credit for that to the fact that all my backpacking has been done with my female Malinois. I understand that bears do not like dogs, and will try to stay away from them. This will be the first year I go truly solo, as my pup is getting too old to go. That's what has me thinking about bears for the first time.

PS-Happy Canada Day to both of you gents!

Jedi, thanks for the kind wishes. With those 120-130 gr bullets mentioned you will be well armed. I really like the 6.5x55 and have had a couple in the past, right now my wife has a nice LH Tikka T3 that she really likes as well. It's light and accurate with not much recoil.

Thanks Dwayne and I hope you had a great Canada day too. I almost included the 130 gr TSX in my post but didn't since I believe the tipped mono bullets are a better design. That said I shot 5 deer with as many shots with the 130 gr TSX in a 264 Win Mag with results like your daughters 6.5x55 load by the sounds of it. I also forget about the GMX which I have never used but would be another good option.

That 8X57 will over-penetrate....

Not many whitetails will drag themselves 200 yards with only the use of their front legs, after taking two 20 gauge slugs one through the lungs and another catching some spine and the liver. Like one I had the privilege of helping recover this spring.
I agree most bears tend to die as easily as most deer, bears just try harder to hide, leave poorer blood trails and will go a little further.
Now a 6.5x55 is certainly capable of sorting out any bear alive, even in a defensive situation. The question is really can you drive it well enough.
My one "defensive" bear shooting was with a .223. It was what I had in my hands when I stumbled across a young boar, probably first fall without mama, and he was not giving up the lamb he was eating with out a fight. So while he was snapping his jaws and trying, successfully, to make me want to be someplace else. I beginning was backing away I considered his proximity to my neighbors farm, the kids in the area and the fact this bear seemed to have learned live stock were easy prey. I decided he needed to be dispatched and put a bullet in between his eyes from about 30-40 yards away. I was a touch off on where I should have held at that range but things worked out (neck shot, died before he made it 10 yards heading a way) and I used my bear tag and have a great story to tell about an encounter with an aggressive bear that didn't fear humans. Until I admit he wasn't much larger than big dog.
Sometimes we're lucky and sometimes we're good. I was good and lucky, until I tried to eat him. Worst tasting bear I ever had.

In the book, Hunters Of The Great North by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Harcourt, Brace, and Co., © 1922, the explorer and anthropologist, Stefansson writes of the many Polar bears he killed over the years while living with the Eskimos on the north shores of Canada and Alaska.

His rifle was a 6.5x55 Mannlicher Gibbs. I imagine if it worked quite well on Polar bears, it would do for a Black bear with alacrity and dispatch.

Good luck on your hunt.

L.W.

Hard to imagine a better cal than the Swede. Major mojo points.

All those Inuits shooting 22s dream of one day owning a 6.5 Swede during those long winter hours spent scraping polar bear hides ...

No solids. 140 Barnes TSX or Partition with IMR 4831 or IMR 4350 and you've got a rug!

Last black bear hunt I did I used a .350 mag. Buddies wife used a .243. Both of us got our bear with one well placed shot, both died about the same. (Her's was bigger.)

Jedi

No issues with using the Swede--but do not use 'solids'. Use a Partition, Accubond, TTSX, GS, or other similar bullet and you will have your bear.

WN

I was going to post something like that, but yours is waaaay better!

I would not hesitate to poke a black bear with my Rem. 725SA rebarreled from original .244 to .260. (It only likes 140 gr of most any flavor with this barrel), and intend to take a moose with it one day if I can (meaning finding a shootable moose!). It has taken a half-dozen caribou from @200 to 400 yards or so, an elk at @ 150, and a wolf at @ 40 yards. Easy to carry, easy to shoot, and accurate.

Killing with any decent rifle is never really the correct question on this topic whenever I see it.

It's finding the bear after the shot, and the associated tracking that comes with it. Bears are probably the worst bleeders of all big game when shot with a sub 30 caliber bullet.

Sure plenty have poured out blood shot with small calibers, but over all they are usually a problem for getting blood to the ground. Without an exit wound all you have is that little bore diameter entry hole. With long hair and plenty of fat, a hole will close up and your now looking for an animal with all the tools to ruin your day, and no evidence to speak of knowing where it went. Those big soft feet leave nothing in the way of tracks in the forest either.

When shot a great distance away, it's even difficult to find the location of the impact point at times. Now what? I have heard way too many times from the guys involved that they " must have missed" because there is just no blood. I say they absolutely hit the bear and contemplated the next steps as not really fun any more.

Wounded, or missing bears tend to change the outlook of recreational sport hunters much quicker then a deer, elk, antelope, etc.