I have all kinds of guns that would be good for killing black bears, but I want to use the 45-70 Levergun for bears over bait at close range (25-50 yards).
I want something that will break both shoulders of a really big bear and still leave a good blood trail.
Thanks for the responses though.
BH63
As previously stated don't underestimate the penetration of a good cast bullet at moderate velocity...A cast 405 gr bullet would easily do what you require with energy to spare.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ALL THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I saw a guy shoot a 1100 lb Bison/Buffalo in the chest with a 45-70 Sharps with a 500 gr cast lead bullet loafing along at 1240 fps, the bull turned a half circle and fell dead, the skinners found the bullet in the bulls pelvis, that's near six and a half feet of penetration.
Were I to hunt black bear with a 45-70, it'd be with either my original 1886 Winchester or Sharps rifle, both rifles would be firing the 500 grain Jerry Dean flat nosed cast bullet at 1235 fps, any black bear that ever lived wouldn't hold that bullet from any conceivable angle to the vitals.
