Old Time Grizzly Guns

MiG25

MiG25

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According to my long since passed Grandfather pretty much any gun bigger than a 22 is a good Grizzly Gun. He killed over 50 Grizzlies, the first with a 44-40, the last with the 243 Winchester, with stops at the 25-20, 32-20, 30-30, 9mm Luger, 30-06, and 7mm Weatherby. The only one he said was marginal was the 9mm. The 25-20, 32-20 and 44-40 were best suited to "bow and arrow range", the 30-30 was just fine for protection, and the 30-06 and the magnums only offered increased range, which he minimized by saying that one still has to cover the distance to skin them.

He would joke with George Landreth about how Grizzlies were supposed to be killed with a shell loaded into an empty gun with trembling fingers.

Anyways, I'll never match that and actual experience seems counter to what is commonly read.
 
Yeah, this should be good...

What was done "back in the day," was for back in the day... these days it behooves reaponsible sportsman to use cartridges and platforms that do more than "just get the job done."

Grizzly hunting is one bad PR rap away from being history.
 
I don't think the 30-30 is a suitable whitetail cartridge, let alone for Grizz. Hoyt's right. What happened back then isn't best practice today. If I had to defend myself against a grizz with a 30-30 or nothing, that would be the only time I would.
 
hoytcanon said:
Yeah, this should be good...

What was done "back in the day," was for back in the day... these days it behooves reaponsible sportsman to use cartridges and platforms that do more than "just get the job done."

Grizzly hunting is one bad PR rap away from being history.
Click to expand...

What will kill a grizzly is not the common concern with grizz hunting/hunting in grizz territory. The concern is killing the bear before it kills you if you get into a sticky situation. And in that situation, no old-school blackpowder cartridge is going to make me feel secure. 30-06 would be the absolute minimum for me to feel safe, and even then I'd feel better with a 338WM or bigger.

And Hoyt is right. Many people already want to shut down the BC Grizz hunt. Lets not give them any fuel for that fire...
 
"back in the day" people made do with what they had or they didn't eat. I'd also wager more dangerous game has been killed with sticks and stones in our brief human history then with firearms, probably 1000x more.
Hell there is still a tribe in Africa that survives by stealing kills from lion prides....run up with sticks and scare them away long enough to grab some meat lol.
[Youtube]QDubMeNlSxc[/YouTube]
 
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Actually, according to him, pre 1930 the small cartridges were used because game was scarce and they made less noise, not because they were what people had, he said there was peer pressure not to disturb the whole countryside with larger louder rifles. Then during the depression, the centerfires were replaced with 22's for hunting as centerfire cartridges were too expensive. And then post WWII game was much more abundant and larger rifles came into use.
 
Hitzy said:
"back in the day" people made do with what they had or they didn't eat. I'd also wager more dangerous game has been killed with sticks and stones in our brief human history then with firearms, probably 1000x more.
Hell there is still a tribe in Africa that survives by stealing kills from lion prides....run up with sticks and scare them away long enough to grab some meat lol.
[Youtube]QDubMeNlSxc[/YouTube]
Click to expand...

Now those guys have some fukkin' balls!!
 
Slooshark1 said:
I don't think the 30-30 is a suitable whitetail cartridge, let alone for Grizz. Hoyt's right. What happened back then isn't best practice today. If I had to defend myself against a grizz with a 30-30 or nothing, that would be the only time I would.
Click to expand...

Gee, a wonder what the ol 30 wcf is suitable for then?

Ultimately it was a different era and they used the tools they had. And they worked.
Given the same circumstances they would still work.
 
A well placed shot from a 30-06 at reasonable ranges with a 168 TSX at 2900 fps or 200 gr Partition at 2600 fps will get it done. But some don't feel safe doing so without something like a 33 cal or better with tons ft/lb of punch.
 
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hoytcanon said:
Yeah, this should be good...

What was done "back in the day," was for back in the day... these days it behooves reaponsible sportsman to use cartridges and platforms that do more than "just get the job done."

Grizzly hunting is one bad PR rap away from being history.
Click to expand...

I reely like dizz "reaponsible" werd.
Yer lern'in, ah tad slow mind yew, but yer kumm'in'lawn.
 
Ltbull01 said:
A well placed shot from a 30-06 at reasonable ranges with a 168 TSX at 2900 fps or 200 gr Partition at 2600 fps will get it done. But some don't feel safe doing so without something like a 33 cal or better with tons ft/lb or punch.
Click to expand...

Well placed shot... Not always an option when 700lbs of teeth and claws is closing fast.
 
MiG25 said:
Actually, according to him, pre 1930 the small cartridges were used because game was scarce and they made less noise, not because they were what people had, he said there was peer pressure not to disturb the whole countryside with larger louder rifles. Then during the depression, the centerfires were replaced with 22's for hunting as centerfire cartridges were too expensive. And then post WWII game was much more abundant and larger rifles came into use.
Click to expand...


Mig25, whoever told you all that stuff knew absolutely nothing about old time hunting, or else he was just "pulling your leg."
 
Slooshark1 said:
I don't think the 30-30 is a suitable whitetail cartridge, let alone for Grizz. Hoyt's right. What happened back then isn't best practice today. If I had to defend myself against a grizz with a 30-30 or nothing, that would be the only time I would.
Click to expand...
Boy o boy are you wrong. There isn't a whitetail alive tat would live with one well placed 170gr sierra from a 30 30. I'd just as soon have a 30 30 for deer out to 150 yards than my 7mm mag or 270. It's wonderful for deer. Penetrates very deep.
 
MiG25 said:
According to my long since passed Grandfather pretty much any gun bigger than a 22 is a good Grizzly Gun. He killed over 50 Grizzlies, the first with a 44-40, the last with the 243 Winchester, with stops at the 25-20, 32-20, 30-30, 9mm Luger, 30-06, and 7mm Weatherby. The only one he said was marginal was the 9mm. The 25-20, 32-20 and 44-40 were best suited to "bow and arrow range", the 30-30 was just fine for protection, and the 30-06 and the magnums only offered increased range, which he minimized by saying that one still has to cover the distance to skin them.

He would joke with George Landreth about how Grizzlies were supposed to be killed with a shell loaded into an empty gun with trembling fingers.

Anyways, I'll never match that and actual experience seems counter to what is commonly read.
Click to expand...

Mig25, would you send me a PM with the name of your grand father. I may have heard of him.
Bruce
 
I don't doubt there was more than a few fast and loose yarns, around the camp fires, from these ol'boys from back in the day and as time went along so did the yarns. . Sometimes a bit of a contest to who could spin the biggest yarn. . I remember as a young boy and a huge fan of Davy Crocket, him trying to "Grin Down a Bear", but the stumble bum major came along and broke Davy's concentrating and he had to use a knife to wrestle that critter to table meat.

Aside from all the yarns, this is what my Grandfather and Great Grandfather used as big medicine for fair to middl'n size critters.

1889, Winchester Model 1886 in 45-90



 
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I was fascinated with bear hunting long before the internet came along for sure .. I have read alot of the older magazines ,,, anything that had a bear hunting story in it .. I would say back 40-50 years ago according too the writers the gun of choice was the 45-70 for up close and personal .. in those days( according too the writers ) and I would think bullets have came a long way .. If a griz was shot with a 300 win mag at very close range the bullet would fragment and not retain a lot of bullet weight .. but at 150-200 yards would work a lot better ,, from what I could take from this is that the 300 was too fast at point blank too stay together with the bullets they had then anyway ,, the 30-06 was rated very high also for close and personal .. But it always stuck in my head that a 45-70 a very old cartridge was rated so high as too be one of the top choices for close and personal bear protection and followed by the 12 gauge loaded with slugs and SSG .. but no where did I see mention of small caliber guns
 
Is someone going to mention that Inuits shoot polar bears all the time with .223 so anything else is overboard? :)
 
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