New grizzly rifle .............

black bear, mule deer, elk, lame horse and coyote so far. Will be taking it for griz, thinhorn sheep, moose, and elk this fall. Damn Kimber is a shoulder pounder with that load.

Having said that, you cant go wrong packing a three seven five. The lighter rifle is nice when climbing mountains.
 
you CAN always wear a chicken plate to help with the recoil- i won't say nuthin if you don't
 
Dogleg said:
Winchester used to offer a 300 grain bullet, back in the day. So far mine seems to like 250 grain Nosler Partitions, and 225 gr TSXs but I'm going to try 275 grain A-Frames first chance I get.
I'm trying to pack power into a featherweight package, that is equally adept at clobbering close-range brownbear, then chargeing up a goat mountain on the same hunt.Doing it with one bullet might be a bit of a trick. Such a delima.
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The 225gr TSX or TTSX will do everything you need.
Your guide should be packing some horsepower for the bear anyway.

The 275 Swift might do the close bear stuff better (might), but I doubt the bullet will open on a thin broadside mountain goat some 300 yards away....Something to consider.
 
I was using a prone jacket and a bag of ice for the last round of load development. The jacket to keep the skin on my elbows, and the ice to cool the barrel. Recoil really isn't that bad, fast but it is over fast.
I've got mixed feeling about useing the lightest bullets. It's not that I don't think they will work, it's that I may as well use one of the 4 .300s that I already have and know. My Weatherby Ultralightweight rebarreled to .300 Win is plenty light enough for a backpack hunt.
I was impressed enough by the 270 grain A-frames in the .375, while shooting 3 buffalo, that I sold all my TSXs in that caliber. I'm hoping that a similar weight of the same bullet, at similar velocity in the .338 would have the same effect. Using two different bullets wouldn't be the end of the world, and if I can't get a 500 yard load built for it, it'll stay home.
 
Why not take all your rifles and ammo, hire a few dudes to pack them up the hill and make your decision based upon the shot presented?
 
Dogleg said:
There's a 50 pound limit for the bush plane, or there would be 2 rifles going. That would be easy, a .375 and a whatever. Taking only one rifle is killing me.;)
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Don't over-think it. There is nothing you can't manage with the .375 or the .338 with the appropriate handloads. Choose the one that is the easier to carry.
 
that 50 pound limit kind of bothers me - i wonder how he's coming up with that- to be that close on your weights that you can't afford another 7-10 pounds - i used to fly and usually did all the math and added at least 10 % in case someone was lying about his weight- they usually were- IF NOT , THERE WAS ROOM for the "quebec drop tank"
 
I seem to recall a thread last year by SRUPP. I believe he took a grizzly, with a .338WM and the 225TSX...
 
Boomer said:
Don't over-think it. There is nothing you can't manage with the .375 or the .338 with the appropriate handloads. Choose the one that is the easier to carry.
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That's basically where I'm at, the lightest/ bigger thing I have. Its mostly a creative way to keep buying rifles long after reason says its probably time to stop.;) Sometimes I think that playing, buying, shooting and brooding about these things is more fun than hunting.
Looking for little niches to fill is getting harder, but I didn't have a 7 pound brown bear rifle...........or strangley a brown bear hunt booked until I bought the Kimber.
 
Ardent said:
Agreed, I've hunted a range from coyote to cape buffalo with my .375 H&H. One gun can do everything, very well.
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Me too, even to the point of one critter the size of 2 or 3 buffalos, along with 3 actual buffalo. Past 300 yards though, wind and range like to beat it up real bad. One of mine just may end up taking taking a ride north with me yet, I'd like to lay into a BB with 270 gr A-frames. I just don't want to pack it up a goat mountain.
Mostly its just a excuse to split hairs, think about guns all day, and steal 'Boos thread. Serves him right, naming it "Grizzly rifle".:p
 
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