bear bullet advice

[acnewman55]

sorry if this seems like a repeated post, but i spent about two hours reading through previous posts on the subject and didn't find what i was looking for. 

i'm gonna try to hunt me up some black bear in the east-cascades his year.  i will be shooting my .308

i'm wondering, in non-super-technical terms (i'm an ammo buyer, not reloader) what would be your brand/bullet weight of choice for black bear, keeping in mind that i will only be taking broadside shots under 100 yards.

thanks much.

[ASHQUACK]

Anything but Barnes!
I prefer the Sierra Grand Slam in the 175 grn bullet.

[RadSav]

I've lost track of how many bear we have killed with the 150 grain Core-Lokt from the .308.  Anything between 150 and 180 in Fusion, Inner-Lock or Core-Lokt should treat you just fine on bear.  No need to get crazy with black bear.  The 150 Core-Lokt has even proven quite impressive on elk.  Seems the velocity window on the .308 is just about perfect for this type of bullet.

Plus, all my .308's have loved the cheap stuff

[huntingfool7]

   x2

[BOWHUNTER45]

  x3 

[huntnnw]

I hope changes were made to them from the late 80's and early 90's..Those bullets were horrendous..I saw many of those bullets EXPLODE on bone! to where u couldnt find a piece bigger than end of a ball point pen.

[RadSav]

I hope changes were made to them from the late 80's and early 90's..Those bullets were horrendous..I saw many of those bullets EXPLODE on bone! to where u couldnt find a piece bigger than end of a ball point pen.

Guided through much of the 80's using the .308 as the guide loaner gun. Took dozens of bear personally with the .308 through the 90's as well.  Now the Core-Lokt might not be my first choice if using the fast 284 or 300 magnums, but I've never seen anything but perfection from them out of the 308Win velocity.  Literally hundreds of 308 Win kills in that time frame.

[blacktailcody]

What would you get for a 30/06?

[h20hunter]

I'd say whatever your gun shoots accurately. Most current production hunting bullets will kill Mr. Bear if you put it in the shoulder/vitals.

[jpharcher]

I took my bear in 06 with a 428 grain, muzzy tipped arrow from 28 yards.
Mr Bear only went 30 yards before going down.
I think a well placed shot from any legal hunting caliber rifle 270 and up or a well placed arrow makes short work of them.

[WSU]

sorry if this seems like a repeated post, but i spent about two hours reading through previous posts on the subject and didn't find what i was looking for. 

i'm gonna try to hunt me up some black bear in the east-cascades his year.  i will be shooting my .308

i'm wondering, in non-super-technical terms (i'm an ammo buyer, not reloader) what would be your brand/bullet weight of choice for black bear, keeping in mind that i will only be taking broadside shots under 100 yards.

thanks much.

What do you currently shoot?  It will probably work just fine.

[Ripper]

My personal favorite bullet is the accubond I shoot 160g out of my 7mm and 250 out of my 338 win mag. You should be able to find 150g or 180g for your 308

[blacktailcody]

Why no barnes?

[Killmore]

I vote for barns, you can buy loaded ammo, probably shoot length wise thru bear!!

[h20hunter]

Killmore.......if you don't get enough velocity some of the barnes won't open up all pretty. Look at the last few pages of my bear thread. Just cause they don't open up doesn't mean they wont get the job done. However, these were handloads.

What are you shooting now?

[blacktailcody]

I am shooting core lokt.
I want to get a round i can shoot a little further with though.

[h20hunter]

How far you looking to shoot? I'd bet those rounds would be plenty good.

[blacktailcody]

400 yards ish.

[Curly]

I hope changes were made to them from the late 80's and early 90's..Those bullets were horrendous..I saw many of those bullets EXPLODE on bone! to where u couldnt find a piece bigger than end of a ball point pen.

 

I can't say what CoreLokt does at .308 velocity, but at 30-06 velocity I can attest to them blowing up.  I shot a buck in the early 90's with a 150 gr corelokt out of a 30-06 at about 150 yards.  It was a running shot, quartering away and the bullet exploded when hitting a rib on the way in.  It made jello out of the lungs and heart, so it was a quick kill, but there was lead fragments all over the chest cavity.  I haven't used them since.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I hope changes were made to them from the late 80's and early 90's..Those bullets were horrendous..I saw many of those bullets EXPLODE on bone! to where u couldnt find a piece bigger than end of a ball point pen.

 

I can't say what CoreLokt does at .308 velocity, but at 30-06 velocity I can attest to them blowing up.  I shot a buck in the early 90's with a 150 gr corelokt out of a 30-06 at about 150 yards.  It was a running shot, quartering away and the bullet exploded when hitting a rib on the way in.  It made jello out of the lungs and heart, so it was a quick kill, but there was lead fragments all over the chest cavity.  I haven't used them since.

Yeah they do in a .270 too ...130 corelokt sinks in a .270 ! But the heavier cal. seem to be fine ..

[Fishaholic]

I use 180 gr.  Havent shot any animal with it that didnt drop.  Its a good bullet. Some say its to heavy but I rather have knockdown power then a straigher shooting bullet.

[Curly]

Midsouth has 2 types in stock that should be pretty good.  Barnes 150gr TTSX and Nosler Custom 168 gr.

Granted you don't really need either of those for killing black bears, but they should work well...........plus I looked at Midway and Midsouth and both have very few choices in stock.

[acnewman55]

sorry if this seems like a repeated post, but i spent about two hours reading through previous posts on the subject and didn't find what i was looking for. 

i'm gonna try to hunt me up some black bear in the east-cascades his year.  i will be shooting my .308

i'm wondering, in non-super-technical terms (i'm an ammo buyer, not reloader) what would be your brand/bullet weight of choice for black bear, keeping in mind that i will only be taking broadside shots under 100 yards.

thanks much.

What do you currently shoot?  It will probably work just fine.

Well right now I'm having plenty of trouble finding any .308 at all, but I am sitting on 40 rounds of Federal Premium Fusion 180 grains that I reckon will do the trick.  Just haven't shot them yet to see what my groups are like.  I've been shooting some ther federal 180 grans and groups are great so I assume the Fusions will shoot similar but at slightly higher velocity.

From reviews I've read, the Fusion will knock down a bear easily enough.  Especially at 180 grains - since I'm not planning on taking shots longer than 150 yards I'll probably stick with the 180s.

[WSU]

I would just shoot the bullets you have.  They will work fine.

[h20hunter]

Yep.....if they shoot at least decent.....you are good to go.

[fastdam]

Most all bullets will kill the bear, my main consideration when bear hunting is to get a good exit wound for tracking purposes. With no hooves and having soft feet, a wounded bear is not fun to track. Its very easy to lose a bear if you dont have a blood trail. My bear loads are accubonds and barnes tsx bullets, but i shoot magnums.  Wih the. 270 i would go with accubonds or partitions.   Barnes bullets are a little hard for anything operating under 3000 fps in my opinion.

[RadSav]

Well right now I'm having plenty of trouble finding any .308 at all, but I am sitting on 40 rounds of Federal Premium Fusion 180 grains that I reckon will do the trick.  Just haven't shot them yet to see what my groups are like.  I've been shooting some ther federal 180 grans and groups are great so I assume the Fusions will shoot similar but at slightly higher velocity.

From reviews I've read, the Fusion will knock down a bear easily enough.  Especially at 180 grains - since I'm not planning on taking shots longer than 150 yards I'll probably stick with the 180s.

I've got a few used 150 Fusions sitting on my desk.  For a bonded bullet out of the 308 velocities they look pretty impressive.  And the accuracy out of a 22" barrel was equally impressive.

I hear ya about finding 308 ammo.  Last trip to Canada taking the 308 I couldn't find any ammo and wanted more than two clips for the trip.  All I could find was Hornady SST which my gun doesn't particularly like.  Bought five boxes anyway just to have some.

[carpsniperg2]

Pretty much any solid bullet will work for you. Stay away from bullets like the sst and btips they expand way to much to quick for bigger game like bears. I would look at the accubonds or etips. I have killed bears with both and they have not let me down.

[duckmen1]

Ive shot three bears with a 270 with 150 gr fusions and all three went thirty yards or less. Really good bullets for bear in my opinion. Cant beat it for factory loads. I hand load now and still wish i could hand load those bullets. Shot many critters over the years with them and love them.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Factory ammo for bear?   Remington CoreLokt or Bronze Tip 180gn. 
 
-Steve

[X-Force]

Pretty much any solid bullet will work for you. Stay away from bullets like the sst and btips they expand way to much to quick for bigger game like bears. I would look at the accubonds or etips. I have killed bears with both and they have not let me down.

I have used SST and bst on all my bears and haven't had an issue 30- 110 yards. They do expand fast but proper shot placement is everything IMO.

Personally I would like to shoot an inter bond or accubond but no one makes those for a 280... I need to start reloading.

[huntingfool7]

Factory ammo for bear?   Remington CoreLokt or Bronze Tip 180gn. 
 
-Steve

Have you had good results with Bronze Tips?  We've used CoreLokt for years on everything from coyote to elk in traditional calibers (i.e. 30-06, 270) and never had a bad result.  My buddy used Bronze Tips (150's?) on an elk several years ago and most of the rounds didn't get through the shoulder muscle/bone.  I think there were 4 shots total on a very close range bull. 

My understanding of Bronze Tips is they are a hollow point with a wedge in the nose meant for longer distance shooting. 

[BULLBLASTER]

Bears aren't any harder to kill than any other animal. If a bullet works well for deer it will also work well for bear. I hunted with and killed deer, elk, and a bear with a 140 grain btip from my 7 mag. Just shoot them where it counts. Now my 7 uses both 140 btips and 140 accubond interchangeably. I prefer the abond for penetration and heavy bone shots. Last year i killed a bear with a Berger target bullet and had huge exit hole. Probably mentioned but take a look at the bears anatomy, they are slightly different than deer/elk.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Factory ammo for bear?   Remington CoreLokt or Bronze Tip 180gn. 
 
-Steve

Have you had good results with Bronze Tips?  We've used CoreLokt for years on everything from coyote to elk in traditional calibers (i.e. 30-06, 270) and never had a bad result.  My buddy used Bronze Tips (150's?) on an elk several years ago and most of the rounds didn't get through the shoulder muscle/bone.  I think there were 4 shots total on a very close range bull. 

My understanding of Bronze Tips is they are a hollow point with a wedge in the nose meant for longer distance shooting.

Well, my old '06 loves Rem Bronze tips. The most accurate factory loaded bullet I've run through the old girl.  I actually haven't taken game with the Bronze as they are hard to find. I've kilt enough with CoreLokt though.  No, the Bronze isn't a bone mashing bullet but a quality heart/lung shot should be perfect for that design. I wouldn't hesitate to use them on bear though.
 
Overview:Introduced by Remington® over 80 years ago, these were the first bullets to utilize a tipped design. Today Bronze Point still delivers exceptional long-range performance on medium-sized game. Sleek profile generates flat trajectory. On impact, the bronze tip is driven backward to create rapid, but controlled expansion.

[carpsniperg2]

Pretty much any solid bullet will work for you. Stay away from bullets like the sst and btips they expand way to much to quick for bigger game like bears. I would look at the accubonds or etips. I have killed bears with both and they have not let me down.

I have used SST and bst on all my bears and haven't had an issue 30- 110 yards. They do expand fast but proper shot placement is everything IMO.

Personally I would like to shoot an inter bond or accubond but no one makes those for a 280... I need to start reloading.

I just don't like if I catch a shoulder with a btip or sst the chances of getting the penetration that I need goes way down over say the accubond. Hunt with what ever works for you but if shopping for a bear bullet, a better penetrating bullet would win in my mind over a explosive bullet like the btip or sst.

[xXLojackXx]

The only time I've shot a bear with an SST it was a heart shot from 360ish yards and the bullet caused so much damage to the vitals it looked like strawberry jam.

This fall I'm taking my .243 with 115gr Dtac bullets. No problem punching through a shoulder and destroying lungs/heart/arteries.