Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A Close-In Black Bear Rifle

the .444 Marlin would be ideal for this application

That is why I think a bigger holes= more blood on the ground.

Perfect world, shot placement that breaks the bear down immediately would be best. Like a CNS or high shoulder shot. Unfortunately in the real world, pinpoint shot placement does not happen all the time.

Not as sexy as many of those mentioned, but a Savage 220 20ga slug gun should work well under 100 yards.

okie, In my previous post, I failed to mention that as we have a few bears…..my next will be taken with my S&W 460 XVR using my 400 grain cast bullets, or my Marlin GG 45-70 using my 430 grain cast bullets!

Either will give exits from any angle, and break, shatter, or puncture anything they contact during their quick passage through the bear……any bear! 😉 memtb

I've taken a few over the years. For the rifle, I used bolt actions. For the cartridge, I've killed them with a 270win and 150gr corelokts, 150gr partitions. I'd use the same today if that's what I had. Any of the larger calibers would also work well. I'd wait for a broadside shot and shoot for the lungs. No special training needed. Just put the bullet through both lungs. Black bears are not hard to kill Ime. Ymmv.

Google Cutting Edge and Hunter bullets. Lots of internal damage on critters. I like Hammer a bit more than CEB’s due to their design. Both have impressive terminal performance and are perfect .358 Win bullet choices for such animals.

DF

More about bullet then guns of cartridges.
I have killed them with handguns in 357 mag ,44 mag and 45 Colt
I have killed them with rifles in 270 Winchester, 30-06, 35 Remington, 375H&H and 45-70
I killed 1 with a 58 caliber muzzleloader and a round ball.
I have seen a lot more killed with all kinds of guns and cartridges.


My opinion is that any "deer caliber" with a bullet that doesn't break up badly is just fine.

Anything deer worthy works on black bears.

Most likely 270win and 308win are the least expensive hunting cartridges you can find. If I were limited to factory ammo for these I'd be just fine with Federal blue box I've seen a lot of things killed with it.

350 Legend in an AR

I’d be real happy with a .350 legend slinging a 180 grain PowerPoint, that’s what I’m planning on the boy using in 2025, I’ll keep using my #45 longbow. Bear have never struck me as particularly hard to kill if hit remotely well.

Well, the title of the thread was. A close in rifle for Black bear." Being a rather cowardly sort when it comes to animals with teeth that bite and claws that scratch I take sort of a dim view of guns that are potentially lightweight for the job at hand. My experience with bears of any sort come down an incident of one. Gun used was a .38 Spl. and as it was the only gun in camp it worked well enough. FWIW, the gun was an S&W 8/44 Outdoorsman loaded with 38/44 level ammo so is actually close to a .357 magnum. I'm very sorry I ever sold it but was lucky enough to find a replacement which I will never sell.

On a rifle for up close and personal, probably a Savage or BLR in .358 as I have both. My .35 Whelens are a bit too long for close in work and I have no plan to cut one down anytime soon. I could go with a .308 or 30-06 using heavy for caliber bullets. Close in to me is 50 or so yards or less so very flat trajectories mean little in this situation. Frankly, my favorite hunting rifles are my Ruger #1s and I've practice with them enough times that I can get off a second shot fairly quickly shot that be necessary. That leaves the choice quite open from 7x57 to .416 Rigby, although going from the lower to the upper on the list would be going from the sublime to the ridiculous. I do have a #1 in 45-70 and have a 330 gr. HP, 405 gr. flat nose and 510 gr. round nose, flat point in cast bullet molds and loads worked up. Probably anyone of the three would flatten a bear quickly. Then again I have a lightweight Ruger M77 chambered to the .375 Taylor. Same power level as the .375 H&H in a light package.
Back up gun roy be either Ruger 4 5/8s Super Blackhawk or Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley 5.5" using John Linebaugh's load data.

Biggest problem would be which one to choose. Somehow, I don't think eanie, meanie, miney moe is gonna work.
PJ

I’d go with the 458 SOCOM if using an AR platform. I’m not knocking the capabilities of the 350 legend.

.35 Whelen has worked for me. Where I hunted bears in Canada, the bear get into a swamp really quick, and tend not to leave blood trails.

180 Barnes ttsx in the 358 btw.

The 160 TTSX was the best shooting Barnes in my .358 Win.

DF

Ammo as cheap for the Socom?

I just put together a Kimber Montana in .338 Federal for doing exactly this.
Short and light for easy maneuvering through the thick stuff, but capable for longer shots if needed.

Close-in bear rifle? This Marlin 1895 45-70 would fit the bill. All though I could have have dropped it on this little guy and killed it. 😁

Didn’t know they made a 160 grain 35 caliber bullet. They do for .338

You're right, my bad.

It was the best shooting Barnes in my .338-06. Senior moment??

The 178 gr. Shock Hammer is my best .358 Win bullet yet, both accuracy and terminal performance. Expensive but worth it.

DF