.270 winchester for Black Bear

Any well placed 130, 140, 150 or 160gr bullet designed for hunting will do just fine. For a low cost alternative I'd load up some 130 gr Remington Core-Lokts. If I wanted a bit more then maybe a 130gr Partition, A-Frame or TTSX, depending on which one shot better. In heavy brush? Perhaps a 160gr Partition. There are lots of good choices! FWIW I used mostly the Core-Lokt and TSX in 130gr, Hornady Spire Point in 140gr and played around with the 160gr Partition.
 
1899....

I have a good load with 140 sierras but I heard they're too soft.
So as of right now I'm hooked on Nosler Partitions, 130's and 150's.

I take it you took all type of shots, all angles and the Core lockt held up?
Also what's your take on Swift A- frame over Nosler partitions?
 
A-Frames are tougher, imo. They are bonded too, so they will retain more weight. The core-lokt holds up pretty well. That being said I haven't tried any bad angle shots with them. Remember that folks were using these types of bullets with great success +40 years ago. Jack O'Connor killed all sorts of game with the .270 and "regular" bullets.

I think you will be fine with the Sierra.
 
Have shot 3 bears with 150gr Sierra GameKings from a .270win. all died instantly at ranges from 60 to 270 yards. they did leave a helluva mess inside though. think explosive.

shot 2 black bears with Hornady Interlock 150gr SP in the 70 to 120yrd range, both went less then 40yrds.

Through guiding I have seen another 6-8 bears shot with 270's in a varied supply of loads, all went less then 40yrds when shot behind the shoulder.

the only "bad" 270 hit I've seen on bear was a 6'8" boar shot with a single 130gr Winchester powerpoint in the liver. he crawled about 60yrds, went under a fallen tree and was recovered about an hour later. not ONE speck of blood.


I've seen 6 moose (one of my own) fall to the .270 win, all went down very quickly. Mine went down instantly to a Imperial Factory 160gr RN load that chrony'd @ 2350fps MV

bears need neither a heavy caliber or super bullet. side one through the boiler room, wait 20mins, go collect dead bear. we won't be far. they die easy.
 
If loading the .270 especially for bear I would likely choose the 140 grain failsafe as they have a great reputation for cutting through lots of muscle and bone. I've usually either shot the 140 Hornady or 150 grain partitions in my .270 rifles and I have always been pleased. As said above, bears are not that difficult to kill as long as you hit them well. Just don't "nick" them so that the adrenaline gets pumping and then crowd them or you may be dissapointed!
 
I've used 150 gr Speer and Sierra Gamekings (both boattails) on bear, moose and caribou. They worked very well and could see no difference between them. Almost all shots were complete pass-throughs. Did have at least one black bear bang-flop with these as well. I'm currently getting back into the .270 and plan on going back to these 150's. Some reports, even from reloading manuals, that 150's tend to shoot more accurately than the lighter bullets.
 
I shot a nice 200lbs bear this Fall with my .270 using handloaded 150gr Hornaday roundnose bullets. I chronoed them at 2450fps. Bear was shot from around 20 yrds, shot was quartering towards me. Bullet entered the chest & never exited. The bear was knocked flat down, but jumped right up & ran 20 yards down the trail. No blood trail to speak of. Near side shoulder was totally smashed up. I was surprised she ran as far as she did. Bears are tough critters, not at all like deer IMHO.

George
 
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