Leverevolution Ammo VS. Bears

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Moose Country, Ontario
Howdy Folks,

Am considering jumping into the fray that is the Ontario spring black bear hunt!

One of my work buddies has a nice secluded acreage that he reports to be the home of quite a few black bears and has invited me to come along and help him take a couple. One bear is said to be at least 500 pounds, although typically I would expect this to be a bit of an embellishment.

Since his property is fairly brushed in, shots would not really get a chance to go over 100 m or so, and would most likely be made from either stand or blind. The rifle I intend to use is a Marlin 1895 45-70, which I have sighted in with Hornady Leverevolution 325 grain FTX ammo. I'm sure the 45-70 should deliver enough thump to take care of the bears, I'm just curious as to what kind of performance people are getting with the FTX projectile in that weight. If needed, I could always find some heavier weight ammo and sight-in with it if I must, but I have quite a bit of the Hornady stuff already, so it would just kind of be a pain.

Thanks for your input fellas! Post pics if you have them!
 
The leverevolution in 45/70 will be more than up for the task of taking your trophy Black Bear.
Do I have any experience with either the 45/70 or the ammo of your choice?
Nope, but have shot a couple with smaller Calibers and they all died.
Rob
 
I have a GG, and took a wild boar with it and LeverEvolutions. It was a bang-flop, and I was able to eat right up to the bullet !hole, as they say.

BTW, I was using the 325's.
 
Avoid the shoulders. Aim for the lungs and you shouldn't have any issues. Learn where the heart and lungs are.
The Remington 405 gr jacketed soft nose is a much better choice in factory ammo from my experience. I hand load all mine bug have loaded down to factory specs and done very well
 
Broadside shots should be OK, I shot a ~300lb bear in the chest at a range of about 10 feet with the 325gr leverevolution and the blood trail dried up under 100 yards. Never found the bear. After that, I read that the bullets will sometimes act as a varmint bullet at high velocities with a bone hit. You get a surface splash and the bullet comes apart, no penetration. Will it kill a bear? Absolutely, but for the task it is inferior to a hard cast bullet designed for pass through/penetration at any angle. I have since switched to Bufflobore magnum ammo, 350gr at 2150fps, almost 3600 fps muzzle energy, and will mushroom to .600" and pass through 4-5 feet of any game in northamerica, regardless of the angle of the shot. I would not steak another bear hunt on the hornady ammo. The hornady feels like reduced recoil loads compared to the heavy loads. They also make a 430gr and a 500gr, but the 350 is the best of velocity, muzzle energy, etc, if you get a chance at a shot that's a little further.

Seems a little overkill considering the last few bears were under 200lbs, but I feel a lot more confident.

To further answer your question, the issue is not bullet weight, but construction!
 
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The only caution I would throw in is that you should try them. My Guide Gun is extremely accurate with the 325 gr. factory LeverEvolution, and is a very useable 200 yd. gun, but I have not yet found another load, cast or jacketed, that even comes close to the Hornady stuff for accuracy. Even reloads using 325 gr. FTX are nowhere near as accurate.
 
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