Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Brown Bear with a 7 Rem Mag questions

Hey Phil,

Are you going to answer my question?

The quote pulled from the AK F&G regulations, reference to the .270Win/30-06, is a defining statement for many of us to remember.

in the past 37 years that I have been guiding bear hunters here in Alaska I have found the biggest problem, by far, is hunters bringing magnum rifles that they can't shoot. Which means a tracking job for me at best and occasionally a lost bear.
And the quickest kills are from hunters using rifles that they are familiar with and can shoot well. I had one hunter kill a brown bear with his 257 Weatherby with Nosler partitions and a couple others use 270's.
I am not obsessed with the size of the hole in the barrel, but rather the ability of the shooter.

So there you have it. Between Finn, Phil and Mule Deer, not much more to say.

My Dad blew ones lungs all over a berry patch with 160 Partitions in his 7RSAUM a few years ago. He put one through the chest from each side and the bear made it maybe 25 yards.

Wasn't a huge bear, 7' inland grizzly, but dead from a well placed shot with what is arguably not even a magnum 7mm.

Know a guy who has a grizzly in the record books he killed with a 308 and I think CoreLokts. Another fellow who killed a 9'er with one chest shot from his 16" barreled 30/30 with a factory Silvertip.

They can be hard to kill at times but in the end they are made of blood and organs like anything else. Make a good first shot and prepare for sticker shock when you hear what they're charging to make a rug these days.

The outfit I hunted brown bears with recommended nothing smaller than a 375, with 416 being preferable. I used my 33 G&A and did just fine but they were skeptical about it, being as they had seen poor results with the 338. They also preferred soft bullets, namely Hornady round nosed type.

Very interesting Phil, thanks for your reply.

Very, very light. Not even in the same Zip Code. A brown bear's scapula is light enough I fleshed one out shot by OlBlue (8'+ older bear as I recall) and took a photo of it with an orange handled knife behind it on a gorgeous Kodiak spring day.

You can clearly see the color and shape of the handle THROUGH the scapula!

Materials science weights a lot of materials in very specific ways and the bb scapula is an ultimate example. Clearly they are designed to the ultimate needs of brown bears, but heft appears to be unimportant. I suspect shock-absorption and strength in virtually every other dimension is the real test of a brown bear skeleton.

They say the world's great predators are built well muscled and light boned.

Failed to mention I have posted that photo here many times and it should still be here.

"Guide" and "Knowledgeable about guns" are far from synonymous...

I get a kick out of stuff like that. Back in the day I remember Jim Carmichael writing about how the .338 impressed him on Cape Buffalo.......

I thought it was a bit over the top, but they have their reasons. They don't seem to hurt for clients😉

I see no camo. But I suppose that must be the entire point.

My cousin took both of his big bears with a 270 and 150 grain Bronze points.

My cousin talked about a guy he'd met who had shot a grizzly in British Columbia with a 22-250...DRT...

I've got a baited brown bear hunt scheduled for june 2017. I asked the question. I've got either a 30/06 or 375 Ruger. I was told either would be good. 375 would be better but the 06 will work. I'm leaning towards the 06--I can drive tacks with it. Ask Ingwe, he saw the head shot on the dink pig on the 24 hour Hog hunt.

Cindy Rhodes shot a Kodiak bear that remains in the top 10, All-Time B&C.

The 7x57 piled him up with a single shot...

Dang it, Now you've gone & done it !!

Let the cat out of The bag ! !

Don't tell Inger !


Jerry

The 270 Bronze Points only came in 130 gr, 150 Bronze Points were 30 cal.

Having said that, I have killed quite a few "big" bears with a 270, including one that fell at my feet, literally close enough to touch with the muzzle of the rifle.

Don't tell Ingwe that either,

Ted

Ted
And Riley "managed" to kill a modest brown bear with a 25-06 spitting 80gr TTSX... It took two shots, but either was 100% lethal and quickly so.
art