My father and I are thinking about going on a black bear hunting in the near future, probably in Quebec, Canada. I have a few rifles to choose from. One is a 444 Marlin. We'll definitely be bring that one. I also want to bring my 280 Rem. right now this rifles set up for deer hunting. I use factory ammo. For deer I use Remington 140 gr. Pointed Soft Point Core-Lokt (going to try Hornady's 139 gr. SST Light Mag.). I want to use something a little heavier for bear. I guess the bear range from 200 to 600 pounds in the area were going to go. I understand that the chances of seeing a 400 to 600 pound black bear are slim to none. I would rather be prepared!

I was looking at Remington's 165 gr. Soft Point Core-Lokt ammo. Also Federal's 150 gr. Nosler Partition and 160 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw ammo. Winchester's 140 gr. Failsafe seems a little light and I'd rather use something heavier that will penetrate deeper. What do you guys/gals think ?

I too shoot the 280. Any of the loads you've listed will work on black bear. Most use standard deer loads for black bear. I'm much like you and would rather be overloaded than under loaded. The bear claw and the failsafe will penetrate the most. The failsafe is much like an X bullet and will retain 95% or better of it weight. The bear claw is also made to retain a high percentage of weight but the mushroom size will keep it from penetrating as deeply as the failsafe. The Partition is designed for the front core to mushroom and many times it will wipe away leaving the shank to drive deeply. As I stated any of the bullets you listed will work well. I haven't had the best luck getting the failsafe's to group well. I've had good luck with the partitions and haven't used the bear claws. In general the 280 is a versatile cartridge and is capable of taking elk sized game with the proper loads.

The .280 Rem is a great cartridge. Given your situation, my preference would be Remington's "ultra" corelokt 165-gr; Trophy Bonded Bear Claw 160-gr, or Winchester's Failsafe 140-gr. Not necessarily in order of preference. But any one of those three should get the job done with authority.