Caliber choice for PA black bear?

[TWIG69]

Looking to buy new rifle for my 12 yr old son. He currently has Sav 110 in 243 but wants to hunt bears as well. Was thinking along the lines of 7-08 ,308 or ' 06. Any suggestions will be appreciated!!! Just want some thing w/ alitte more " knock down" . He is average framed 5' + and about 105. He' s tough but don' t wanna overwhelm him w/ recoil???? HHHHEEEELLPP

[stubblejumper]

The 7mm-08 would be a fine choice.It would provide enough energy with minimal recoil.

[PAbearman]

I would say at the bare minimum a 270, but that might even be on the light size. I would recommend, if he can handle the recoil a 30 cal, but of course a 7mm is a qualifier as well.

[ELKampMaster]

Find some friends with various rifles. Get them together. Let him shoot them. Let him tell you what he can handle. Keep the bullet weights modest and don' t " plant" the " this one is gonna hurt you" -- " expect to be a little ' recoil sensitive' at your age/size" crappola in his head prior to the get together or prior to him shooting.

Explain it matter of fact, make a list of cartridges and recoil numbers, explain what they mean, teach him good technique (don' t hammer him at the benchrest) -- he might surprise you! The answer should lie somewhere between his 243 and a 30-06. (The latter you could load down a little and then grow the loads with the boy until at 16 he should be able to handle the standard stuff)

Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime,
EKM

[ArcticBowMan]

I think the .270 might be the best application for the job. I' m always partial to the -06, but my buddy recently bought his 11 year old girl a .270 and she recently shot her first sitka blacktail with it. They drove 2 days from Juneau, taking the barge to Canada, going through the borders just to try out a left handed .270 for her. She was grouping great at 50 yards, so they bought it, took it home and she practiced religiously with it and he felt she was ready to head out in the woods with it, so on her first hunt, she blasts a great buck from 120 yards right in the boiler room. Wendy weighs in around 80 pounds, and spent some good time at the range with the gun, which is when the recoil is really felt.

I agree with ELK, don' t start out by telling him it' s gonna hurt, just let him know that it is going to kick, and make sure he' s got the butt of the gun seated well into his shoulder. There are some great recoil elimination pads out there today, I' d look into getting one of those before he sends a bullet through. Sims vibration labs makes one for all applications of guns, and from experiencing the recoil dampning in archery equipment from them, I' d love to see what they have done for rifle and shotgun recoil.

[rem700man]

If you know someone that has a 280 rem. let him give that a whirl,,with the variety of loads you should find a combination that will work well for him & still have plenty of " knock down" power for Pa' s bear

[oldelkhunter]

Some of those PA bears are mini-grizzlies with tremendous body weights...I would say a 260 rem firing 140 grain whatever or a 7-08 shooting 140 grain..premium bullet X..Failsafe..Nosler partition etc etc would also do great .

[handloader1]

.308 Win. Good luck.

[Shortmag]

The .308 or 7mm-08 is plenty of weapon for black bear in PA.

[Christine B]

My personal choice.....30.06 with 180 grain soft points.