Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .375 bullet considerations for bear

All this talk of shot placement on Brown bear a few threads down got me to thinking what bullet I should use in my. 375 this fall for a interior grizzly hunt. About 15 years ago I took a brown bear with a .338 and a 250 gr. partition. Three years ago used a .300 Win. mag with a 200TSX. Both bears were shot about the same distance through the chest. Brown bear was pretty much a bang flop....Grizzly was a different matter and took three more shots. The internal damage of the first shot behind the front shoulder was minimal, (the bear would have died from this shot but we didn't know it) The shot that hit bone when he was facing us blew out 2" a exit hole. The Brown bears lungs and everything around them was mush and the bullet exited.
I am leaning real hard towards a .300 partition in the .375, or possible a 270gr. TSX. Have friends that swear by Hornaday interlocks as well. Pretty sure any of the bullets in the right spot will work well, just would like to hear some comments.

Lefty C.

Sir you can't go wrong with the Barnes TSX 270grn or the 300tsx.I guide up there close to 6 months a year.Will be on Kodiak/Rasbery on April 7 for bear then down onto the unit 9 for bear also.Been using the Woodleigh 350grn pp,with outstanding results.But you have to remember i'm there to stop a bear only if things don't go right.The TSX I used with great results also.You won't go wrong with either of your choice see what your rifle shoots best.Best of luck..BBH

I have been having great results in my .325 with 200 grain AccuBonds and am planning on working up a 260 grain load for them in my in my .375, any thoughts on those bullets?
I am planning on a black bear hunt this June.

I only recommend what has worked for me without any problems and only use the same for myself and the folks I load for. I recommend the Woodleigh bullets without any draw back, other brands I have had failures with on bear. I have not tried the 350 grain Woodleighs yet but I'm hoping to this next time I go out after big brown bear. If they work as well as the 270 grain and 300 grain Woodleighs I've used they should be just wonderful.

I've used Nosler Partitions 300gr and the 260 Accubond, Barnes TSX and XLC both in 270gr and Hornady Interbonds 300gr(discontinued?), they all put big bears in the dirt and I'd use any without a second thought. My favorite big bear bullet is no longer made-Winchester Fail Safe 270gr-in case you have a stash of them. I've seen bears killed with the Swift A-Frame and Scirroco and they are outstanding bullets as well. I'd suspect the North Forks and Woodleighs would perform admirably, the North Fork is high on my list for future big bear hunts.

In short, if you favor the Partition then I'd waste no more time pondering bullet selection and use it.

[quote=Grizzly1]

In short, if you favor the Partition then I'd waste no more time pondering bullet selection and use it. [/quote

I'll second that.

300 gr Nosler Partition knocks'em dead.

I like the 300 gr. Nosler partitions, The 300 gr. Woodleighs, GS customs 270 gr. monolithic bullets, the NOrthforks,..but my favorite .375 soft point bullet is the 350 gr. Woodleigh PP, but I have only used it in Africa on Buffalo and all the plainsgame including the big Eland, so I would not hesitate to use it on Brown Bear or Moose..

The most massive exit holes and [almost grooss] internal damage I have ever seen came from heavy for cal. partitions. One was a 250 gr NP on a broadside elk at 100 yards 338 win mag. The other was a 175 gr NP on a whitetail 100 yrds 7mm weatherby.

So, you use the Woodleighs because they're the best, but the other kind is plenty good enough for the hunter.

Uh huh.

No flames intended. I just thought it was funny.

I think the point is that guides have different bullet priorities than hunters. A guide's #1 firearm-related priority is to be able to stop a close bear charge. For that, they want bigger, slower bullets designed for optimum penetration at close range. That's why some guides will carry 12ga slugs, a 45-70, or another rifle that is not ideally suited to hunting where you might make a longer shot in the wind, especially if, like me, you want to be able to shoot other game (say wolf or wolverine) at longer range in the same hunt.

The funny thing is, I've recovered 3 of the .338/250gr partitions from Sitka deer shot a close range. They all died, but I don't consider this a deep penetrator.

Yes, you're right. I should have kept my mouth shut. No flames intended, really.

I thought you asked a legit question. And my response might be incomplete, but that's what I was thinking.

I am thinking the priorities are quite different from your vision of same. Far more often than stopping charges guides need to stop fleeing game, including bears. For that job the 45-70 is close to worthless and only slightly better than a Foster slug.

I also disagree pretty thoroughly on the big slow bullets for exactly the same reasons. They do not bring anything extra to the dance and leave a lot on the table if a shot needs to be taken to the next ridgetop or turn of the beach.

Several years ago I took the time to bone a Kodiak bear shoulder and take a picture of it with a knife behind it in the sunshine. The outline of the knife was clearly visible through the scapula. Bears are delicately boned compared to ungulates.
art

Okay. I mostly agree with you. First off, the only rifles I hunt with are a .223, 300 Win Mag, a 340 Wby, and a 375 Wby--so I'm not one of the slow bullet crowd. I don't necessarily agree that you need a slow bullet, and I should have made that clear, but it is a somewhat prevalent opinion--thus the principle may be one of perception than reality. But bullet momentum times sectional density is one of the best predictors of penetration. And heavy-for-caliber bullets generally penetrate more than light-for-caliber ones.

I also agree, and almost said, that a contrary view is that a guide also should be able to hit a wounded bear at 350 yds or so. But, I still maintain that his PRIMARY (i.e. #1) firearm-related mission is to stop a close bear charge quickly. If that fails, death is imminent. While also highly-important, if a guide fails to kill a wounded bear at 350 yards, it might be very troublesome, but not immediately lethal.

Yes, brown bears are not as hard to kill as many people may think, but the consequences of failing to do so can be pretty nasty. Col. Craig Boddington has killed about 50,000 of them alone (only slightly exaggerating), and he thinks something the .375 H&H & .375 Wby kill them, even with good shot placement, better than anything smaller. Others, of course, disagree (including my own guide; but he's never shot anything bigger than a .338 WM). The debate rages on.

Cheers.

I kind of like the .375 H&H .300 NP. --- Mel

Not too many bullets in the 375 I'd choose before the 300 Partition. Of course, with a 375, you're generally going to need a pretty big bear or a really tough angle to stop any bullet of suitable weight in the 375. I haven't recovered even the GameKings or Interlocks when I've used them in 35 cal and larger.

Art, I'd readily take exception to comparing a 45-70 to a Foster slug - or any 12 gauge loading. About the only way they could be considered similar is in the fact that both require more trajectory compensation than does a 7 Mag or other flat-shooting rifle. I'd wager that a 45-70 is far more effective at any distance inside 300 yards than just about any 12 gauge loading, and those which might give it competition are still certainly lacking in the distancing capabilities that the 45-70 has. That said, a 338 or 375 is still a much better all-around type choice for all-purpose bear use. Kind of hard to argue with the evidence.

Mel
Have to admit yours was the single most amazing NP shot I have ever witnessed...

But as long as I said something nice... How about the one you had the perfectly exposed back on and failed to shoot because you did not get the warm fuzzies from the angle? Remember that exposed back climbing the steep bank? A 270gr TSX might have kilt a bar and a Chinaman with a single bullet!
art

Klik
Reductio ad absurdum... Neither a Foster slug nor a 45-70 is acceptable for any sane guide IMO&E. I only used them as they were the examples referenced by Marinehawk.

I am obligated to admit the 300gr NP is an acceptable bullet... The lighter NPs fail to earn similar praise. I have a huge problem calling them premium bullets though. While not quite a cup and core they are little more than a couple Siamese twin C&C bullets joined at the ass. They still waste weight...

The last time I tried to catch a 270gr X in a bear it took out a shoulder at an oblique angle, several ribs, and a femur before continuing into another whole other reality... There were a lot of feet between enter and exit, too. I have caught a lot of NPs with a lot less obstruction...

I have put quite a few NPs and X iterations in bears with 375 caliber rifles and the differences between the X and the NP has been stark...
art