Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 30-06 220 Round nose?(Black Bears)

I was wondering if a 220 grain was over kill for black bears. Or should I just shoot 180’s instead? Your thoughts?

A 220 is more than needed, but use what you like. With a 30-06 I'd use the same loads I'd use on deer for black bear.

Agreed. They aren't any harder to kill than a deer. There is a saying: "A well hit bear won't go as far as a well hit deer, but a poorly hit bear will go much farther than a poorly hit deer". That's been my experience. Concentrate on your shot placement, not necessarily the power of the cartridge.

A person could make a case that anything more powerful than 30-30 was over kill. I used 220 gr RN for years for elk.I sure would change up even if if I thought they were over kill for a bear. What's it going to pencil thru and not kill them?

Use the 180's or if you want a 200 grain bullet. The black bear won't know the difference.

I have some Remington Factory 30-06 loaded with 220s. It’s absolutely miserable to shoot out of my HVA Lightweight. I imagine this must be what rabbit hunting is like for ElkhunterNM. There should be a CTE warning on the box.

Let me know if you want to buy them. I’ve probably got a half a dozen boxes.

They work well and I would have no hesitation to use them if that is what I had on hand. If I already had the 220s I would use them but if not, I would use 180s instead. I had a pre-64 Win M-70 with receiver sight that shot 220 gr Core-Lokts pretty accurately. I took two black bears in the mid-200# range and a couple of deer with that combo before I sold the rifle.

No such thing as "overkill", just different length bloodtrails. If you can't find the start of a bloodtrail because the carcass is covering it you've found a perfect load.

I bought a BUNCH of Hornady 220s that were on sale. I have a dedicated 3006 "hog rifle" and they do penetrate, even on the largest hogs and I purposely aim for their "hog plate" on their shoulders.

Maybe.

I killed my 2 Colorado black bears with 180 grain Winchester "Power Points" out of my 30/06. The 1st was DRT. The 2nd went about 100 yards before piling up. Both were shot over bait @ 50 yards.

I used to read a lot of Petersen's Hunting magazines.
One of their featured staff writers wrote about going on a black bear hunt on Vancouver Island which is 1/2 open to bear hunting.
He used 180 grain bullets and needed 6 shots to bring down a black bear with a .308.
He had spotted it in the open and didn't want it to escape into the woods.
He was disappointed with the 180's and that tainted my opinion.
I don't think that the .30-06 is too much different than the .308.
In order to be prepared for the large black bears it's better to be safe than sorry.
I would load with the larger bullets and hope for a shot at the biggest bear in the woods.

I havent seen a black bear yet that I wouldnt shoot with my light loaded 150 grain in an '06...

Principle I work off of, is people like what they like. Use what you want, the bear won't care, nor know any difference.

I think the .270 Ingwe would work with a 130 grain bullet too.

The OP doesn't say where he's located or going to hunt.
Click this link if you want to see a couple of harvested Vancouver Island black bears.--->>> Vancouver Island Black Bears

agree 100% with that statement...

That being said, when I lived in MN and hunted up north near the Canadian border south of International Falls...always carried a 30/06, and the factory ammo in the magazine was ALWAYS a 220 grain Round Nose...that is one deep penetrating bullet, regardless of angle...

its still my favorite bullet for the 06....along with the 220 grain SMP Partition.

With modern bullet construction, there's no need for anything special to hunt black bears. Your deer load will work fine.

That being said..... I currently have an R700 set up to shoot 220s, and I carried it for bear last year. That's for my entertainment though not out of necessity.

-Jake

I would. I have Woodleigh's and Partitions on my shelf.
John