Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game most penetration from a .308

what bullet would you guys load in a .308 when heading into bear country on a camping/hunting trip. My gun hates partitions so thats out was thinkin maybe trophy bonded or ttsx 180 grain. thanks

I would stick with 150 gr. bullets out of the .308 if you want to use TTSX bullets go even lower and load hot, say 130's or 140's

Are you actually hunting for bruins if so what kind and in what country?

If not, then I'd just load my trusty lil 30 with the same bullet I use day in and day out and wouldn't be for doing anything special.

Personally I don't worry much about the big bad bear though...grin

Dober

Yup, they're seldom armed!

If you never have to deal with Griz or PBs then a decently worked up 130 grain TTSX in .308 is a tough load to beat for everything else on the continent. If you are intending to kill a griz a .308 Win is probably not my first choice.

Griz scare me, but they seem to be easy enough to avoid, I'm like Dober, don't worry about things with four legs in the woods...
Ingwe

What kinda bears- blacks, or grizzly?

Never worried that much about Brown Bears or Griz for that matter. Now Black is a different story, I had a few over the years snope around my camp. And I spend a lot of years in field camps flying in Alaska. Any 165 to 180 gr bullet will do. And as for Accuracy, I will clue you in on something 2 to 2.5 inches is plenty accurate.

I used various .308/180 grain loads in Africa, and the FailSafe gave the best penetration. I expect the current Trophy Bonded will do what you want since the FS is discontinued. You could try Winchester's current bullet too.

jim

i am not going to be hunting bears, just want some decent back up in the slim to no chance that i need it. grizzlies and black bear inhabit the terrain we will be camping in. I wouldnt hunt grizzlies with a .308 and even though i know its a fine cartridge for black bears i hunt them with a .375 just because im not interested in trailing a wounded bear at night and usually alone.

3 words............

Teeeeee

Essssss

Exxxxxx

I think you might have had better luck using just one word, TSX, not TXS...

Where is this bear country that has you concerned?

mountains 3 hours from radium in B.C. we like to camp fairly close to a humongous wild blueberry field where bears frequent

Gotchya. I'd load up any old 180 and be done with it. If the Partition doesn't work look at the Speer Hotcore.

Ha your right...I fixed it.

try a swift a frame...see if they shoot for ya, the TBBC is a fine choice as you stated also

If you're missing with ammo that is 3 MOA or even 4, then that bear is certainly not a threat. IOW even a Partition (that your rifle doesn't like) will work. You have to remember that most bears want nothing to do with you. Those few which might usually don't have a great deal to life experience - wisdom- to draw from, so they tend to be younger and smaller. Chances of not shooting even and ordinary 180 completely through one of them is small. If you feel more confidence in paying the dime, then a 165 A-Frame or TSX would be "top shelf" for this purpose I would think.

If your not hunting them, I'd just pack a 12ga with some foster slugs...He won't shake them off...

im going to have to respectfully disagree with everything you are saying here. first of all a partition is not that much better if any better than the other premium bullets of its type that i could justify using it at say 3 or 4 moa when i can get other bullets that are just as good to shoot around 1 moa. second any good expanding .308 of any weight will more often than not be recovered against the far hide of even small bears