270, 280, 7x57 or 300 for black bears?
- Thread starter MD
- Start date
if it were me, I would pick the 7x57, only for the fact that I've never shot one before and would like to try it.
All that aside, if you like to carry the .270, I would go with the .270, unless you're a sucker for punishment, then you will need the 300wm.
All that aside, if you like to carry the .270, I would go with the .270, unless you're a sucker for punishment, then you will need the 300wm.
Good for you.... You also have a penchant for leaving perfectly good black bear meat to rot..... Your point is?.....
so good ....
None of the Above. You need to buy a .375 H& H.
Grizz
Yeah! For crying out loud he doesn't have enough guns. Get a 45-70 for Saturday while you're at it.
Have posted this before. This little lady and her husband are friends of my wife and I. Several years ago, the four of us went on a Spring bear hunt. It was her first big game hunt, and she was using a Rem 600 in 243 that we got from Rembo for her.
She decked this old black bear with a single 100 gr factory load.
Ted
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
All of the cartridges and loads you list fall well within the performance envelope necessary for black bear hunting, even if you encounter an exceptionally large one. The real question is whether or not the rifles those cartridges are chambered in, are appropriate for hunting in typical black bear habitat. The first step is to decide what kind of hunting you'll be doing. A rifle that is suitable for hunting from stand over bait, or still hunting in the bush, and the rifle you'd prefer for hunting in an agricultural situation might not be interchangeable in each circumstance. My rifle preference is made with respect to carrying the rifle while still hunting in typical Canadian Shield country, the black bear habitat I'm most familiar with. While shots will probably be short, a long poke along a lake shore, across a swamp, a burn, or a clear cut, or down a survey cut line, a fire break, or a power-line, cannot be discounted. My preference from your list is the 7X57 in a 20" carbine, mainly because the .270, .280, and the .300 are most likely full sized rifles with 24"-26" barrels. The carbine would be equipped with a suitable sling, ghost ring and rectangular post iron sights, and a low power variable scope in QD rings. The Hornady 139 gr is a suitable bullet, but there are many good choices in the 140-160 gr class, if you handload.
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