Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 35 cal. bullets v. black bears

Keep on eye on SPS. Thats the only way I buy Nosler bullets. Also, the 225 Sierra isn't a bad choice either. I haven't shot bears with it, but loaded out of my 350 it has killed 4 elk. 3 hit the dirt and one made it about 25 feet.

Good luck to ya.

Anyone have experience with the 180 & 220 FP Speers? From what I've "read" they are quite a bit tougher than the typical C&C's.

Here's couple of 200 TTSX's I pulled out of a moose last month. The long shanked one is 198.6 gr (99.3%) and the shorter one is 193.0 (96.5%). The longer one was just under 100 yds, slightly quartering away and the shorter one was the Coup de gras in the neck. MV = 2,840 fps out of my 22" barreled Whelen.

Nice looking bull! Those bullets opened up nicely............

7 bears and no tracking. 130 gr ttsx .308, 200 gr tsx. 350 mag, 110 gr accubond .257 bee, 180 gr corlock .30-06.

All neck shot. I don't like to track on my hands and knees where we hunt. Biggest bear went 350. A few were over 250.

In my 700 350 Rem Mag the 200 ttsx is still too long. The ogive is inside the case mouth when seated to just barely fit inside the mag box. The 200gr tsx fits fine, as well as the 220gr Speer and 225gr partition. However I could only get the 200gr tsx shooting 2700fps. The 225gr partition shot the same speed, and was a bit more accurate for me, so that's where I settled.

Unfortunately I have, and the 25cal 100g partition kills the little ones just fine. It also kills 280 pounders just fine too. I have also used 200sp from a 358 on two and 225nps on one. I can say that I haven't noticed much difference between the terminal performance between them. all five bullets exited just fine and 4 of the bears were DRT the other went maybe 15 yds. Other than the yearling, the bears were 175-280lbs so no monsters.

If you can put it in the bear's chest, probably nothing would kill faster than a Berger.

Pls. note that "blood trail" and "exit hole" were not qualifiers in the above sentence.

I shot my only black bear with a .35 Whelen and 225 gr. Sierra SP handloads. Bear was about 250 lbs or so. It was DRT but when we cleaned the bear, the jacket and lead had completely separated. I have used the 225 grain Partition and 225 TBBC in the Whelen as well, so if doing any tougher game than deer, I will be using one of those bullets.

If you want "leakage" I'd go TTSXs. This one fell to one shot from a 35 Wheelen at 65 yards and 225gr Swift A Frames. Great bullet, but nowhere near the penetration of the Barnes. My best bear. Bowlin Camps was a beautiful place, but between the weird Mainers, getting constantly harassed by that C U N T who use to own Burt's Bees, and the irritatingly complicated regulations, we sold the business in 2009.

250 Gr bullet in my Whelen usually gets 2 holes in moose and bear. Last black bear I shot with it looked like some one threw a paint bucket of blood. Bear went about 25 ft. Some times works to well it deflated my wife,s bear.

I have never shot a bear, so take what I say as just another guy with 35 cal experience. I have only killed game with the 35 Whelen Ackley ( though I have played with .35 Rem, .357 rifle,.358 win, .350 mag and 358NM) and I killed all kinds of Plains game with the original 250X and 200X from the AI. I only shot one Eurasian hog ( up in your town! Raging Russians! :)) with a 310 Woodleigh rn going 2400fps. It was perfect, 40cal hole in, 75 cal hole out, soup in between. I sent some 225 Woodleigh round nose to a friend in Texas who used them in his standard Whelen on hogs with outstanding results. IF I was going to use the 350 mag, I think I'd try the 225 Woodleigh round nose or even the 225 round nose Hawk Precision bullet. I shot bookoo fireforming loads with the Speer 220FN in that AI and some loads in that 350mag, it too would be a good candidate, in my "lack of bear experience" mind, ha. I loved the UP! Except for a few plants differences, it looked just like the East Texas I grew up in! Of course, I wasn't there during cold, snowy winter, but early spring. have a ball Pard!

In my Whelen I've used the 225 Accubond on 5 bears now, and 4 of these required no tracking. One 300 lb bear went 70 meters (according to my Canadian guide's GPS). I'm almost out of these bullets, and can't find more lately. I do have a stash of 250 partitions that I can switch to. I expect they will do the job.
I hope Nosler gets back into making .35 cal bullets soon.

This came from a 200lb Idaho bear from my Whelen at 2740’ish. Shot the boar at about 50 yards.

Of course 250gr Partitions launched from a Whelen work on black bears too


15 year old fall sow





18 year old spring boar

Great bears. Dig the Whelen with 250 PTs.

I've killed 4 bears with the Whelen, only one ever moved (not counting rolling down a hill). A few with a 30/06, one with the 250AI and one with a 257 Weatherby.

Seen them killed with everything from 243 up to a 375.

never shot a black bear with a gun always used my bow in the past tp kill my bears . but I do enjoy handloading rifle ammo and shooting my ruger # 1`s I own. I have thought about really smoke`n a black bear once with a rifle and reloading ammo to use too ,I have been considering using my 375 HH just because I can or my 458 lott ?

I used a 358 Winchester with a 200 grain Hornady Interlock at 2450 fps. Opened up nice with a great blood trail...all of 15 feet.



Dan