WICH GUN TO USE FOR BEAR?

[BIGINNER]

OK,  I GOT ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT BEAR HUNTING,....  WICH GUN SHOULD I USE? I GOT A COUPLE OF RIFLES,  AND BUYING ANOTHER ONE IS DEFINATELY OUT OF THE QUESTION THIS YEAR,  SO WICH ONE TO USE?  I HAVE A .270 WIN.,  AND A 7.62x54R, (THESE ARE THE TWO I WOULD FEEL CONFORTABLE TO SHOOT OVER 200 YARDS.)  I ALSO GOT A 12GA, BUT THAT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION ALSO.  AND MY .357 IS ALWAYS ON MY HIP.    SO BASICALY ITS DOWN TO THESE TWO RIFLES,  I FEEL MORE CONFORTABLE SHOOTING WITH THE .270 WIN.  BUT NOT SURE IF IT GOT ENOUGH KNOCKDOWN POWER FOR A BEAR,    ENLIGHTEN ME PLEASE    

[Woodchuck]

.270 is plenty in this state, shot placement is king

[Timberstalker]

270 will work.  It may be a little light but put it where it is supposed to be and you will be fine.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Use the one you feel the most comfortable with that will shoot the most accurate heavy bullet you can.  Like others have said... .Lot's of Bears have been taken with 270win.

-Steve

[grundy53]

.270

[D-Rock425]

270 will work just fine.  I've shot 3 bears with my 7mm-08 and none have left my sight.

[rasbo]

remember the lungs on a bear are further up in side the chest.you run that bullet home, bear dead foresure..then have another round in him asap same place.try to nail him with the front leg foward

[Pathfinder101]

.270 will work just fine.  I took this bear with my .270 several years ago.  Sorry for the crappy pic, it is scanned...

[klickitat]

Both rounds are completely acceptable for black bear. Use the one that you shoot most accurately.

[NWBREW]

.270 is plenty in this state, shot placement is king

That's the name of the game right there. Good caliber and SHOT PLACEMENT.

[high country]

my 270win spittin speer hot cors has killed 3 good bears with 3 good shots from 50 to 250 yds. I have no problem at all saying the 270 is a good choice.

[whacker1]

270 for me helped me with my only bear - 3 shots from 30 yards.  I wanted to make sure that she didn't go anywhere..   It was Prince of Wales Island Alaska and you couldn't even walk down there trails, so the last shot broke his back 10 feet from a brushy trail. 

[machine]

More ammo choices with the 270 most the 7.62x54 I see is surplus.

[klickitat]

More ammo choices with the 270 most the 7.62x54 I see is surplus.

One of the guns I will be hunting with this year is my PSL in 7.62x54r I purchased 180 g. soft point from Winchester.

Sellier Bellot makes soft point ammo for it as well. Some others also come out of Europe, but with Winchester making it, I just bought 4 boxes and figured that was good enough for hunting rounds.

BTW: the 7.62x54r can basically be interchanged with .308 for ballistics.

[Bscman]

More than likely your .270 will have greater accuracy potential, given the choices of factory ammunition (assuming you don't reload, and you mention being on a tight budget). You'll also have a much broader spectrum of bullet weights and bullet types. Bullet construction should be a large factor...

A good quality modern bonded bullet or solid such as the Barnes will do a lot more damage to a bear coming from a .270 than many would expect--more than enough gun for the blackies you'll run into around here. On a side note, it always amazes me that so many people jump on the 30-06 bandwagon, yet throw the .270 under the bus. Stop and look at the ballistics between the two for a 150gr bullet...very similar. Sure the '06 can shoot a 180 or 200, but with modern bullet technology and most bears being shot around here being sub 230lbs...150 is plenty. 

Just about the only hunting rounds for the 7.62x54R that are regularly seen in my are are the Winchester Metrics and S&B. Not at all "bad" ammunition, but it's a very basic/non-bonded bullet that may not fare too well when it comes to expansion and weight retention...especially against, say, a direct shot to the leg/shoulder bones.The 200-210gr russian "junk" is not very accurate, and definitely below the S&B/WIN in terms of quality.

You also haven't  mentioned either of the rifles in you have to choose from. If you're using an M44 or M38 Mosin Nagant, don't forget to factor in the large amount of energy loss due to the short barrel. Recoil and blast is impressive, but theres a lot of wasted energy from that short barrel. The longer variants, say a 91/30 will be quite long and heavy to be packing through the woods...


FWIW, I'll likely be found on the mountain with my .270 most days this bear season. If I find my way into some more open country with opportunities  for longer shots I may choose something larger, but I have more than enough confidence in my .270 to at least 200-250yds...shooting a 150gr Barnes TSX handloads just under 1MOA.