Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Griz Defense with Bergers

Don't change the subject.

I'll take a bullet that penetrates 3" then detonates over one that pencils any day.

There are no legal bullets that "detonate" for use in AK... if anywhere.

And that would show a deep failure to grasp the required parameters. I would always opt exactly opposite if those are the only two options.

The big bears are the kind of beasts I do not wanna play dik dik with by using inferior bullets.

Swift, northfoks, partitions, ETC....

It's an expression

Going on a black bear hunt in 2 weeks and I'm taking a .375 H&H with 300gr Np's,my wife said "That's to big and will tear up the hide" my reply was "Cheaper to sew up the bear's hide rather than mine."

There are two (at least) major misconceptions when it comes to guns in general, perhaps rifles specifically; one is that a large case somehow equates with majorly explosive results, the other is that heavy recoil on the back end will somehow translate into massive knockdown power. I suspect you wife was so influenced.

I would like to read an answer to that as well !!

I would like to see proof positive on the "penciling" that is so often claimed. I don't buy it

I am not aware of any of the top bear guides that prefer an explosive bullet over a traditional deep penetrating controlled expanding bullet

If forced to choose between those options I'd rather use a solid than something that penetrates 3" and "detonates".

Bea, you watched too much Tarzan like me growing up

OP - if ME, in heavy Grizz territory, I'd want a Partition or Barnes in chamber, of something very proven over time.

Cup cores can work, I'd prefer a bonded if so. A diff exists in HUNTING bear vs. concerns about an up close encounter. A 44-475 cal handgun with heavy casts will drive deaper than a BergerBomb but I'd prefer a rifle if I had time to get off a decent shot, vs. a handgun.

Defense is the key word.

Give me one of these ----






rather than death by Berger

Those'll work. One of my favorite loads for anything much larger than deer--and they even work great on deer!

Nicely Done!

I worked with a South African who told me that a long-heavy bullet at 2400fps was a lightning bolt on plains game, looks like it does okay on big bears, whoudda thunk it?

A .30-06 with a 180 gr Nosler Partition going 2750 fps is not to bad either.

I have worked up loads for two of my four "Keeper" 9,3x62 rifles, based on JB's published and posted data, using the 286 NP and in my first of the pair I feel VERY lucky to own, Brno ZG-47, original 9,3s, that load puts the 286 Horn.IL to the same POI at 100M as it does the NPs.

My chrono is a little "fast". I think, but, I am averaging 2400+ fps-mv., all of my rifles wear the 60mm Euro. barrels and this seems ideal for any uses I will ever have.

I have a newly and VERY nicely done,"custom" CZ-550, original AHR pattern stock, their safety/trigger, an old Lyman banded ramp holding a Marble's Sourdough and a Recknagel "peep". I have a Zeiss 4x Conquest for it, just need rings other than Talleys, which are fine on ZGs with these same scopes, but, that "FN style" handle on the CZs won't let the bolt move as it must.

So, once I have THAT little detail sorted, I should be able to load some of the Barnes bullets shown in Phil's photo as I have gobs of the "Privi" brass and want to play with it a bit.

Any suggestions, maybe RE-17?

assuming that's the 286 gr Barnes, QuickLoad puts Ramshot Big Game and IMR 4895 near the top for velocity and RE 15 is not far behind.

There you have it, just as I suspected