.45 loads for black bear?

[littlejoe]

I wonder if any of you have used your smokeless .45 cal for black bear using sabots? Do you use deer loads or something heavier? Thanks Joe

[Deleted]

a 195 barnes bx pushed at about 2700+ will do a number on any blackie that swallows it...

[tar12]

Joe I Think the 195 Barnes would be a prime candidate for black Bear. I would not hestitate to use it. It shoots very well with N120,H4198. It shoots very well in the 60-63 grn range with either powder mentioned in my rifle and several members rifles.It would be my first and only choice for bear.

[littlejoe]

Thanks guys I kind of thought that. I just wanted to make sure. Would you say that the 195 Barnes could take any north american game? Is there a cartridge caliber comparable? 375H&H or 404 or 416 rigby etc.

[Deleted]

dont think i would do a show down with mr griz with the 195, think it would be a full form 290 tez as fast as I could stand it.would probably be a better moose pill as well but anything else on the continent would be fair game.

[12ptdroptine]

Jun 17, 2011 20:34:08 GMT -5 @hillbill said:

dont think i would do a show down with mr griz with the 195, think it would be a full form 290 tez as fast as I could stand it.would probably be a better moose pill as well but anything else on the continent would be fair game.

In My humble opinion..Mr.Griz deserves A LOT more respect than that.... as in something that reloads a whole lot faster...maybe?

[Deleted]

I for one would not be after mr griz with a front stuffer to begin with, or any other gun for that matter. dont think he would be very tasty. but ,would the 290 @ about 2450 do the job? think so.. but I will never find out...

[Jon]

Are we talking Mr. Griz or a black?

[dans]

I would shoot a black bear in a heart beat with a 195 Barnes at 2640 f/s out of my PacNor .45/Savage.

[tar12]

A griz is a entirely different ball game! He can and will soak up a lot of high powered lead and still eat your butt up! But they kill them every year with a stick and string...so shot placement would be vital.. ;D ;D

[mountainam]

A 195-200gr .40cal saboted bullet would definitely kill a black bear. To put it in perspective you would be hard pressed to get a .30/06 to 2600fps with stiff 200gr handloads and I don't think anyone would even give it a second thought to it's ability to cleanly kill a black bear. My cousin in Pennsylvania has taken 6 black bears to date. All with a .243 and 100gr bullet. Two of which were beyond 450lbs. You can use anything for a blackbear that you would use for a whitetail. Like any other game, shot placement is KEY.

[littlejoe]

Thanks for the input guys. I might be going to New Brunswick in the fall for black bear. If I do I will probably use the 195 Barnes/blue harvester 63grn 4198.

[sw]

Jun 18, 2011 6:25:33 GMT -5 mountainam said:

A 195-200gr .40cal saboted bullet would definitely kill a black bear. To put it in perspective you would be hard pressed to get a .30/06 to 2600fps with stiff 200gr handloads and I don't think anyone would even give it a second thought to it's ability to cleanly kill a black bear. My cousin in Pennsylvania has taken 6 black bears to date. All with a .243 and 100gr bullet. Two of which were beyond 450lbs. You can use anything for a blackbear that you would use for a whitetail. Like any other game, shot placement is KEY.

I'm in total agreement. I've seen numerous posts concerning 175-300+g bullets being shot at or often well above the same velocities of well respected CFs that are known to be very effective at killing large/dangerous game and then asking if these would be effective out of a MLer. The bullet nor the animal will neither know how that velocity was achieved.
As for a 243/100g bullet, I think this is an ideal combination for w/t and black bear. A 175/195 Barnes at anything >2,000'/sec, and likely even slower, should be highly adequate.
I've killed 3 Arkansas black bear, the most recent Oct 1, 2010, with arrows(2 compound and 1 x-bow); and I have found them as easy to kill as whitetails but have a little smaller, and harder to hit, boiler room. Neither are "easy to kill" but die quickly with double lung and/ or heart shots. My 2010 kill was unbelievably a double lung/ heart shot. 30 yards it was down. I still haven't figured out all 3 got hit centered on each.
I wouldn't hunt BB with Shockwaves/SST but expect, with good shots, they would likely work as well as on deer, if not better. Bear's sternums and shoulders are massive and should be avoided, IMO. However, the Barnes would likely be undeterred .
If I were hunting a black bear with a MLer , I would avoid shoulder shots and still go for the boiler room. The boiler room is very forward and low.