Which Gun
 

I'm heading out on a bear hunt in June to Quebec Canada. My question is I'm having a hard time deciding which gun I want to take so I thought I would let you all help me decide. Please give me your opinions, thanks!!

Here ar my choices:

.270 Win
.270 WSM
.280
7mm-08
7mmRem Mag
7mm Ultra Mag

RE: Which Gun
 

7mm Remington Magnum, hands down!

RE: Which Gun
 

I assume you will be hunting grizzly bear? I would err on the side of larger caliber and go 7mm Ultra Magor 7mm Mag.

RE: Which Gun
 

Any of those listed will work great. I'd pick the one I'm most comfortable.

RE: Which Gun
 

I take it that you are going on a spring black bear hunt? If so, any of the guns you mentioned should do the job adequately. Use the one you are most comfortable with. Although blacks can get quite large, they are not that difficult to kill.

RE: Which Gun
 

Pick which one your more comfortable with. Id rather go with one of the larger 7mm's but if your not comfortable with them than pick a smaller caliber.

RE: Which Gun
 

Agreed. I have only killed one black bear with a CF that was 270 win using 130gr NP- Double shoulder bang flop affair. The majorityhave beenshot with a bow but also took a couple with a ML, never had 1 cover more than 50 yards with double lung hit.

RE: Which Gun
 

I took mine in Canada with 6.5mm Norma Oryx 156gr in 1995. Have taken Blacks in Fl with .270 150gr NP and also have taken them with.30-30 Win. 170gr FN.

If you are not comfortable with the .270, go with the 7mm mag. That should satisfy your second thoughts about the Bear Claws.:D:D:D

RE: Which Gun
 

I would choose the .270wsm with 150 grain accutip from remington. Those are some great rounds and I dont like remington rounds.

RE: Which Gun
 

Somehow, that doesn't figure.

.270 WSM would work, it's just I wouldn't recommend it, because it hasn't been around for very long, and no one but God knows whether or not it's going to become a flop, or if it's going to stick, if it's going to flop, you don't want to end up with a gun that has a wildcat cartridge.

RE: Which Gun
 

I don't think the 270wsm is going anywhere, it hugely popular. I'd be so bold to say its outselling its very popular and highly regarded cousin the 270 win right now.

As to the Accutip, none other then a hornady SST, would not be my first choice. If you will be diligent enough to wait for the near leg to clear then maybe, if not pick a bullet that will get through one shoulder and take at least both lungs. It is preferable if you punch 2 holes in a bear as they don't leak well to begin with and 2 holes will leave better sign should you miss the shoulders! I like the shoulder shot with a firearm and bears. Break him down and hammer both lungs, lights out and no tense tracking moments necessary.

RE: Which Gun
 

Thanks for all the responses! It is a black bear hunt to clarify. I was leaning to the 7mm-08 with a 140 grain partition. By the sounds of the reply's the consensus is the 7mm-08 may be a bit light. Your thoughts?

RE: Which Gun
 

Pick the one you shoot the best. If there's one that feels like an extension of your body, one with which you neverhesitate anywhere in theshoulder-focus-shoot cycle, use THAT one.

If your 7mm-08 offers follow-up shots (not a single shot) and you can keep a good sight picture between shots, go ahead & use that one. 140 grain NP's oughta get the job done with style, providing you can reliably put 'em where they need to go.

RE: Which Gun
 

I dunno about that, on of the main reasons for missing animals was having a rapid action, with lots of shells in there, and when you have a fast, full of ammo gun, you never learn how to shoot, unless the gun recoils like heck.

He should geta bolt-action.

As for a 7mm-08, I was going to get one, but the lack of ammo availability made me decide to get a .308 instead. The .308 doesn't recoil bad at all, I personally have shot 180 grain .308 without any problems whatsoever, and those are the roundsmeant for elk, bear, moose, and hogs. I believe that 180-grain is the highest grain offered in factory ammo.
I saw no difference between 150-grain, and 180-grain as far as recoil was concerned. And that was out of my bolt-action.

RE: Which Gun
 

7mm 08 with a Nosler Part. or Barnes TSX sounds like a good combo to me. Both will have no problems getting through the heavy stucture of a large boar and will do their thing to the vitals whileachieving goodpentration, can't ask for much more IMHO. If this is your first bear hunt spend some time familarizing yourself with their anatomy.

Good Luck

RE: Which Gun
 

The only thing the 7 mag has over the 7-08 is distance, the ability to kill at fartherranges. And at close ranges the mags can actually penetrate less than the non mags.
For me I would go with the 280 or 7-08, but thats me.

RE: Which Gun
 

The 7mm-08 is NOT too light. Use a premium bullet. I personally would use a Nosler Partition 150-grain, because I have had good luck shooting black bear with 150 Nosler Partitions in a .270 Win. There's only .006" difference in diameter-in your favor!

RE: Which Gun
 

any of the rounds would work just fine but im parcial to the 7mm mag




good luck

RE: Which Gun
 

Two dead animals tied to your legs and a good sharpe knife - that's it.

RE: Which Gun
 

You are more of a man than I Primate!!:D:D

RE: Which Gun
 

As a hunting Canadian I have used a 7mm mag for everything from moose to deer to elk to bear. You can't match the 7mm mag's fire for effect.

RE: Which Gun
 

Ha ha, very true! I always get raves about the fire blast from others. I let someone else fire it once so I could see and it was very cool.

RE: Which Gun
 

Just about any of the deer rifles work fine on black bear.I wonder about a hunt in June ,won't the hides be a little rubbed?Although June is the mating season so your apt to see pairs.Here in Alberta I don't hunt bears past mid May because of the hide quality.Blacks come out in mid-late April and don't wander too far from the den just trying to get the plumbing working again.They drink lots of water and eat available greens to get rid of their fecal plug.It's nasty as I've found them!

RE: Which Gun
 

As another Canadian hunter .280 hands down.

RE: Which Gun
 

I have to admit I'm more of deer hunter so I'm not sure? I guess I'm going to find out. The company I work for set a sales goal and we hit so they are taking all of us on a week long fishing trip. We could add the bear hunt for $900. I've always wanted to do it but wanted to go on Whitetail hunts more and spent my money doing that. So I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do it. Fishing in the morning and hunting in the afternoon, does it get any better than that? I don't think so!!

RE: Which Gun
 

I would suggest selling one or two of those 7 MM rifles and getting a stud gun. A 338 or 300 mag, or maybe a Marlin 45-70 guide gun. The 7's are great but you got too many of them. A larger caliber bear gun would be cool. That 375 Ruger looks interesting too.

RE: Which Gun
 

Now why would I ever want to sell one of my guns?:D:D I'll just have to add to my collection!:D:D

A .30 cal is next on my list.