My buddy is wanting to get a larger caliber rifle for brown bear hunt in his future, also would be used for elk hunting 500yards and less I'd guess.

What would you guys recommend? 35whelen came to mind,338wm? I doubt that I ever get to hunt big brown bears but if I had to go tomorrow I suppose I'd just use my 300wm shooting 200gr Partitions since that's as big as I have

Let see what you guys have to say. Thanks

If you restrict your inquiry to folks who are actually qualified to offer input on this question, we'll have no fun here at all. So I'll start by being a total buzzkill, suitably enabled by my qualifications of being able to type and work the internet.

If your buddy has a 30-06, use that. And hit the bear where and when the guide says to.

He does not have a 30/06

I have a hankering for a 375 H&H -not saying it would be the "best" but I'd haul one on a hunt for Brownies or 500 yard elk .

338wm sounds like a great option to me also ..

.358 Norma mag

.338 RUM

.340 Wby

There was a pretty long discussion on the "Ask the Gunwriters" forum not too long ago about hunting big bears with a 7Mag. You might get some ideas from that thread.

That said, I've personally always thought the 375 H&H is a cool old round, I just have no use for one hunting our smallish local whitetails. If I ever got the opportunity to hunt brown bears, that would be a good excuse to try one out. However, many on here who have actually hunted them, and guided others, seem to be of the opinion that a 30-06 or similar with premium bullets that a person shoots well is far preferable to a big magnum that a person shoots poorly.

What does he have?

338 WM with a good 225 is a great setup for brown bears and pretty much anything else.

Tanner

This ^^

Really though a 30-06 would cover the bases well.

I would base my choice on how much recoil he can absorb and still shoot accurately....

^^^^^^^^^^^^
This.

^^^^^^
Agreed sir.

Oh c'mon! Stop being so practical so early on in the discussion . If a guy is eager enough to learn you would be surprised how rock solid he can shoot a 340 after the first 400 rounds

[/quote]

Oh c'mon! Stop being so practical so early on in the discussion . If a guy is eager enough to learn you would be surprised how rock solid he can shoot a 340 after the first 400 rounds [/quote]

I learnt my lesson early on with a lightweight 7mm STW 😀

Since you have a 500 yard requirement.

1. 338 Win Mag
2. 300 Win Mag
3. 300 ____ Mag

If you didn't have a 500 yard requirement then I'd vote 9.3x62.

What does he have and is he a handloader?

I agree. I also wonder what his recoil threshold is too. Personally, I'd go 338 win mag and not look back...

338 Win Mag

This is my advice as well. I carried a .338WM in Alaska for 23 years as my primary rifle.

Ed

My insurance man just killed a huge brown with a .300 Win. He has a .375 H & H, but the 300 did just fine.. He only used 180 part.
If I am leaving my .300, I go directly to my .375..

. Sounds like a lousy insurance man, not only did he not have a middle policy (338 Win Mag), he didn't take the 375 for extra insurance! Musta been Jake from State Farm

wyoc hates the 338WM smallfry..... No sense in trying to figure him out... . I however, would take a 338WM over the 300 any day of the week and twice on sunday.... It's just a better mouse trap...

NP 200 Gr. in the 3006 pretty hard combo to beat

I have killed elk with the 338-06 pushing the 185 TSX and the 210 gr Partition, the 35 Whelen with the 225 TSX and, last year, the 140 gr TXS via the 270 Win. All were a zero issue, hit proper and dropped within yards of the thump. That written, two others just came to mind, dropped to the 260 gr Partition via a Remington Custom Shop KS throwing the 260 gr Partition long before the AB existed. Both bang flop in steps.

That is true. I mostly used my 338WM or my 375 H&H. My 338 was Stainless. My 375 H&H was a blue Sako that I put in a McMillan. I shot my brown bear with the 375, not sure it did any more than the 338 would have. Also there are alot of people that just aren't cut out for magnum cartridges. How much experience does he have with them? That's important. If he doesn't have a fair amount of experience I think he should get a 30-06 and go with that. I have 5 right now and it's just flat a good cartridge. I usually had 2 338's at any time, took one to Africa with me. I could sit at the bench and shoot two boxes of 375 H&H and it was no big deal. Not every one feels that way. Accuracy over power for bears, up to a point.

This. .338 has a lot going for it. It's the 30-06 of mid-bores.

I'd grab a 375 H&H or Ruger or a 338.

Personally, if I want more than a 308/270/30-06 (which I don't) I prefer the 300 WSM on the M70 platform. All the elk I've pointed it at were flattened decisively. It's an easy round to shoot that still gets 3,000 fps with a 180. For Brown Bear that combo would be outstanding, though I'd probably just load up a 200 gr Partition.

I tried for four years to draw a Brown Bear tag for AfognaK Island. I never drew, but my would be guide recommended a .300 WSM with 180gr Barnes TTSX.

I probably would have taken a .338 Win Mag with 210 gr Barnes TSX, which I have shot a lot.

donsm70

Jarred, .338 Win Mag. As good as the Whelen is, it can't hold a candle to the .338(using proper bullets) if ranges go out to 500. memtb

Yep. That's probably how I'd roll too.

It would depend some on if your talking about interior grizzly or coastal. Barren ground or mountain any of the 30's would be good. Coastal or river hunting the 33's to .375 would give added confidence. I have not had to shoot one but have been close enough to smell them on several occasions.

The up to 500 yards part is what limits selection and favors the magnums. A light weight 9.3x62 would be a nice carrying rifle but not ideal for longer shots. The 30-06 and 375 H&H have almost the same trajectory and are good to 300 yards for most hunters but some can extend that range much further.

Curious too.

338 WM

340 WM

338 RUM

As other have said the combo of brown bear (which I assume to be coastal vs interior griz) and 500 yds leaves the 338s as optimal.

That having been said I have a 300 Weatherby that shoots 168 TTSXs beautifully & wouldn't hesitate to carry that for either...

There are many cartridges that would fit the bill but your friend is as big or a bigger part of the equation as the cartridge-rifle combo is; his experience, and his motivation to learn and practice with his chosen firearm and cartridge are key factors.

I asked this very question about 28 years ago and it led me to the 340 Wby, a very fine cartridge with which I've taken some thirteen elk including eleven bulls at up to five hundred yards, bear and caribou.

But I would not readily recommend it to any but the most experienced rifleman because it takes some work to master it. There are other in its class but they present the same issue. There are quite a number from the some of the 6.5's to the medium magnums that are suitable for elk with good bullets and marksmanship. Brown bear are another story though the medium magnums with good bullets again will work for them. The resident brown bear guide on the 'fire here states with good and long experience the '06 with the right bullet is fine for them. A "big" gun paired with a flinch always equals disaster; I've seen it even with cartridges we would not consider big which is why the shooter is such an important aspect of this search..

Actually, the 375 H&H is a fine cartridge and with the relatively new Barnes 250-gr TTSX will shoot pretty darn flat and is elk-capable to 500 yards if the shooter is up to it. And in my experience (and rifles) it was easier to handle than the 340 Wby.

So, there are many cartridge choices and as important is the rifle which is why I built my 340 as the available OTC choices did not offer the features I wanted.

Didn't mean to muddy the water quite so much but it goes to the point that there are many options for the game mentioned.