Taking the wife bear hunting this fall. Plenty of rifles to choose from. Just curious what your guys favorite bullet is for black bear? I have a 260 shooting the 138 scenars really well not sure if that's the best bullet for bear or not. Just curious what you guys have good luck with as I have time to do some load testing.

250gr Grand Slam in .350 mag.

30-30 170gr Partition.

Have a whelen shooting 225 trophy bonded stuff really well. Was figuring on using something smaller though

As far as rifles 260,270,280,7mm08,7mag,300wm and the whelen.

Any of the above should work fine. As far as bullet selection, hard to go wrong with a partition. I've killed 3 bears with the 200 gr partition out of my 8mm mag but I'd bet the outcome would be the same with any of the cartridges you listed. Dober, who no longer posts here was mighty fond of the 6mm-06 for bears and from what I understand, he was in on the killing of quite a few.

Slight variation on the theme. My rifle likes the Hornady 170 FP, but since they've seen fit to stop production of that bullet, I have stocked up on the Partition.

2100 fps and some change, dead bear.

I really liked reading Dober's post.

We have used the 260 Rem and 6.5x55 on bears and done just fine with bullets like the 140 gr G.S. and Partition. There are a lot of different bullets that will work just fine for bears in the 260 Rem.

My favorite black bear rifle is the 35 Whelen with 200 gr Accubonds.

Earlier this month I used my new 270 Win with 160 gr Partitions for this bear, my wife is holding a Tikka 6.5x55 with 140 gr Partitions, I wanted her to shoot but being a new hunter she was a bit to nervous to try this time Maybe next time she will pull the trigger......

Should add quickly I can think of at least 6 different blackies that have gone down quickly shot with the 260 Rem and 6.5x55. Bottom line if your wife puts the bullet where it counts the bear will die quick......

In my 7-08 I run 140 Partitions and 154gr Horn RN's and my .280 get's a steady diet of 150 Partitions and BT's.

I may fool around with my 280 some more but so far it hates partitions

Have any H4831?

partitions all the way in 260, love mine

Yes and 4831sc.



What weight?

Shot a blackie last spring with my 700 mtn. rifle using 160 NPT over 54 grs. of H4350. I have 3 boxes of 175 gr. partitions so I'm using them over 51 gr. of H4350 this year. Both loads shoot sub m.o.a.

Jerr-Just make sure they are fast opening, "hard" bullets = lost bears. USE a partition-Muddy

As far as cartridges, I like the 45/70 and the 35 Whelan, although I have killed a couple with my 257 Roberts.
As far as bullets for those.
Rem 405gr. for the 45/70
Speer 220 gr. for the 35 Whelan
Nosler 100gr. Ballistic tip for the 257 Roberts.
Your 260 will work fine.
As always, where you hit them is way more important than what you hit them with.

The last two bears I killed were with the 139 scenar, both decent boars. Add that to a pile of deer, a few antelope, a couple elk, a mountain goat, and I hunt it with confidence.

I thought I was going back to the 30-30, but the deal fell through. As mentioned already I would use the 170gr Partition in the 30-30.

I'll use the 250gr Barnes in the muzzy for all game. At my closer ranges it puts the smack on everything I hunt.

My black bear caliber of choice is the 358 Winchester loaded with the 200 gr Hornady.

I like Hornady Interlocks. There's nothing fancy about them and they work. I wouldn't hesitate to use them in a smaller caliber on black bears. Tougher than they look.

Dan

I have killed a few bears with my 260 Remington and most recently, 260AI. I have used the 140 Sierra game king and the 140 TBBC. The Sierra is a better bear bullet in my eyes. Push them to 3000 and I might be proven wrong.

I also really like the Norma Oryx bullet for black bears. A decent expanding bullet seems to be the best killer.

Did the TBBC not expand enough for you Dennis?

+1.

We hunt "spot and stalk" in Washington, and the shots tend to be longer than many think of when contemplating bear hunting. Usually 150 - 350 yards.

My son usually uses his ancient .30-06 with 165 gr Nosler Partitions.

I've had an absolute blast using a .375 H&H Ruger Number One with 260 gr Nosler Accubonds.

Both have been very effective.

Regards, Guy

A gang of friends and I used to hunt black bears in northern Maine annually.Between what we killed there,and others bumped into during deer seasons in Maine, NH and Vermont we killed quite few.

Cartridges ranged from 257 Roberts to 375 H&H.A bunch of 270,30/06,and 7 mag and a 300 an 340 Weatherby tossed in here and there. Most guys shot various Partitions. Everything worked if they were hit right...We didn't recover many bullets.

The longest tracking jobs were one hit with the Roberts,and another with the 340 Weatherby. Both were hit a bit far back on the fringes.

I mostly used the 270, 280,and 30/06.Those hit with the 270-130 NPT went no where,even one through the shoulders at about 20 feet. The bullet exited.

Another hit through the lungs with a 140 Bitterroot from a 280 collapsed on the spot, twitched a couple times, and died.

I never used a 6.5 on anything but wouldn't hesitate to shoot a black bear with a 260 loaded with a 125 or 140 Partition. They seem to take as much killing as a big buck,but they are fatter and have longer hair that soaks up blood....not that I ever had any long trailing jobs. They aren't hard to kill.

My favorite is a 210 Nosler Partition in my 338-06. Have also used the 200 gr Speer Hot Core in that cartridge for bear. My first bear was with a 160gr A-Frame 7mm Rem Mag. Know one hunter that has taken 18 bear. His long time choice is a 140gr NPT in 264 Win Mag. Helped skin one that he took through the quartering shoulder. The knife went clink on the bullet under the skin on the offside rear ham. Enough penetration?

I have only killed 3, so my sample size is statistically insignificant. These were all taken stand hunting.

1 was killed with a .257 Roy and a 110 Accubond
1 was killed with a .308 and a 130 gr TTSX
and one was killed with a .350 mag and a 200 gr TSX.

My opinion: about anything will do assuming good shot placement.

I have only killed one Bear in Canada and it when down without moving . 280 Ack Imp with Speer 160 gr FB Hot Cor and Hod4831