.270 + Black Bear = ???

I am ignorant of bear hunting, and will be going out rather late in the Fall season (i.e., Rememberance Day weekend) after bear with my Dad (as ignorant as I) and my uncle (who used to be an outfitter for this kind of thing).

My dad will shoot a pump-action .30-06 (I hate pump actions), and I was going to borrow my great uncle's 7mm something or other. Except that borrowing stuff is a pain, and I'd rather use one of our other rifles. We've got a bubba-ized .303 Lee Enfield and a nice Remington .270.

Outdoor Canada magazine (Hunting issue 2005) puts the .270 at the minimum recommended calibre, and says to use "well-constructed bullets designed for deep penetration and controlled expansion."

Questions: if it is indeed not plum crazy to go after black bear with a .270,

1. is there even such thing as .270 bullets in 180 grain or some such? (I stopped by Crappy Tire and, while nobody was around in the sporting section to ask questions, they didn't seem to have anything in the cases over 150 grain).

2. can anybody recommend an off-the-shelf brand of ammunition that is "designed for deep penetration and controlled expansion"? I will be passing through Edmonton on the way up to our hunting grounds, and so should be able to find a shop that will sell a pretty decent selection of ammo (I hope!).

Or maybe I oughtta use the .303? ;)

Any advice is welcome. Many thanks.
 
Outdoor canada is full of ####. bunch of weenies trying to seel the latest and greates to the masses. black bears really arn;t that hard to kill. a 130 or better yet, 150gr offering in the .270 will kill a bear JUST FINE. stop by wholesale sports in Edmonton an buy a box of Federal Premium 150gr Nosler partitions and worry not! a .27o is a fine black bear caliber.

(my fall bear this year was shot with a .270. bang flop)
 
outdoor canada has paid advertisers they have to please , the 270 is more than nuff firearm to kill a black bear , you can get great factory ammo now for the non reloader from federal and remington, anphib used a box of shells probably dated 1961 made by cil or dominion , made his black bears lungs and heart look like a jello pudding commercial on TV :lol: , alot of BIGBORE hype comes from guide/outfitters , they tell there clients to bring weapons of mass destruction to do a couple of things...1 make the animal out to be a huge killer of mankind and 2 make the trip seem to be the ultimate hunt of a lifetime , I know I did this for several years :lol: , a 30-30 kills a black bear dead @ 100 yards and so does a 270 and a 30-06 and a 6mm and a 243 the list is endless , as long as your comfortable with it and accurate no worries , have a great hunt :wink: :!:
 
270

My 14 year old son just shot his first black bear last weekend at 100 yards with his Win M70 in 270 with 130gr partitions, Blew his heart in half and the rest is history, shot placement and and well constructed bullets is what you need. I took a 250+ blackie with 100gr nosler BT this spring with my 25-06, neck shot it was all over. (Shot placement) you will be fine.
 
270

My 14 year old son just shot his first black bear last weekend at 100 yards with his Win M70 in 270 with 130gr partitions, Blew his heart in half and the rest is history, shot placement and and well constructed bullets is what you need. I took a 250+ blackie with 100gr nosler BT this spring with my 25-06, neck shot it was all over. (Shot placement) you will be fine. 270 is a great calibre use it.
 
Unless you get a new short magnum the bear will just ignore the hit . None of the old ones work anymore . My brother has clocked around 40 moose with his .270 but now that moose are reading gun rags he'll have to sell it and upgrade . :wink:
 
There are two schools of thought on caliber/bullet choices. You have the high velocity low bullet weight crowd and the medium velocity heavy bullet crowd. Both groups will argue their points to the end. My opinion is to match the caliber/bullet to the game. If a 130 gr 270 is good for deer I will usually choose something heavier for black bear or moose, I don't care if they are easy to put down with the light calibers, when there is heavier bone and mass to penetrate you are best advised to use enough gun, the 30-06 with 180gr bullets is a good compromise and has worked for many years. There is no such thing as too much gun but the opposite is not true, don't get caught up on the velocity hype there is no substitute for bullet mass,
bigbull
 
The 243 handloaded with 95 grn.Nos.Parts. works great for me.The 270 with 130 to 160 grn.almost anything is fine for Blackies.Dont be taken in by the bigunitis guys.
 
270 + Bear?

Amandil,

I don't know about you, but I like to sit close over a bear bait and watch. I've had spectacular results with both a 45-70 and a 358 Winchester because I was able to break the shoulders and put them down on the spot. This is a personal choice because I hunt alone in the evenings and don't like tracking bears after dark.

That being said, I still wouldn't think twice about using a 270. In my opinion it is still one of the most versatile and deadly cartridges you can use on big game. Especially today with the great factory bullets available. Just make sure you can drive a tack with that 270 and use tough bullets and that bear won't stand a chance. Good luck!!
 
I think a .270 loaded with a 150 Partition (or any good slug) is more than enough for black bear.... just put the shot where it counts.
 
please don;t #### around and shoot your bear in the shoulders. right behind the shoulder, smack the lungs :idea: bear won;t go far and you have a much greater target area, less meat loss etc. a hole in the lungs is a safe bet and a confirmed kill. I don't let my clients shoot shoulders for good reason.

I'd rather track a dead bear then a possibly crippled one :idea:
 
shoulder shots are kept best for dangerous game being grizz that can and will stalk you minus a lung, black bears are not thick skinned or thick boned animals and are easy to kill, like anphib said lung the sucker and he will die , and usualy in 10-20 yards from the shot or less , in most cases you can spit as far as they go , if its wounded or aggresive then thats a different story stop the momentum, but 99.9999% of black bears are buisy sniffing dandilions when they get ramrodded :lol:
 
.270+black bear= MEAT ON THE TABLE....
but i would prefer useing that .303 has more smack and hit in a good spot other wise they go for a long ways....
talk to ya all later
Riley
 
please don;t #### around and shoot your bear in the shoulders.

Here is a story why, from:

http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/inbush.html


Robbin Blakeley of Sheridan, Wyoming, shared a harrowing tale with us of his recent brown bear hun in Alaska, armed with a .475 Bisley loaded with heavy LBT cast bullets.

After stalking to 40 yards of the bear in a blue berry patch, Blakeley fired a 425 gr. .475 slug through both shoulders, unfortunately without hitting bone enough to stop it from heading into the bullrushes, mostly small patches of brush and berries. After a careful (and nervous) search in which Blakeley and his guide drifted apart, the bear rose out of the brush just 20 yards from Robbin, growling and shaking his head. The next quick shot didn’t phase the bear who charged without hesitation.Coming through the thick bear grass, the bobbing head of the bear didn’t present much of a target so the next shot at 15 yards didn’t connect effectively enough to stop the rush either. Blakeley had time for one last snap shot which, mercifully took down the bear....on top of Blakeley who scrambled up in time to join the guide for a couple more shots to the neck to finish the job for sure.Rest assured that this brief paraphrase of his letter does not justice to his full account which would get anybody’s sphincter in a clutch. Our congratulations to Robbin for a magnificent feat of arms and nerves.
 
death-junky said:
.270+black bear= MEAT ON THE TABLE....
but i would prefer useing that .303 has more smack and hit in a good spot other wise they go for a long ways....
talk to ya all later
Riley

huh????

.303 brit 174gr @ 2400fps = ME of 2225 ft.lbs

.270 win 150gr @ 2800fps = ME of 2611 ft.lbs



I'd say the .270 has more smack, but not by much....
 
I've killed bears with a .270. I used a 150gr Nosler Partiton and it worked fine.

Although I am sure you will have no problem with a regular ol' 130gr Power Point or similar, I liek the premiums for hunting for when things don't work out as well as they should.

I often take shoudler shots on big game, especially bears. At the very least, I'd like to take out the offside shoulder.

A PROPERLY executed shoudler shot (which is 1/3 up from the bottom of the chest, on the same line as the shoulder) will bring bears and just about anyting else down pretty damn quick.

What youwant to avoid in a shoudler shot is shootign for the point of the shoudler, which tends to be to hight o hit the vitals, especially on a bear.
 
My son killed his first bear with his 270, the first shot went through the lungs at abotu 50 yeards, thesecond same thing, the third he hit the front leg as it was turning. There he stood with an empty gun, the bear was still moving in his direction(not very quickly) I was off to the side with a 300 WSM and a Barnes TSX, I put one through the bear from back to front, he let out a big breath and that was it. We were all pretty surprised the bear was still moving after the first two very well placed shots that penetrated comepletely. Neither of us had ever shot a bear before, it was a pretty tough animal as it wasn't a very big bear, it squared about 4.5 feet.
I am pretty sure the bear was dead but didn't know it yet but I wasn't taking any chances having to explain to my wife that our son was mauled by a bear.
 
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