Brown bear Rifle
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longgun505
Well-Known Member
I once had an opportunity to shoot an octagon double rifle in 375 H&H. It was an awesome piece. My drawbacks to them have always been cost and maintenance. I have work guns only, except for one highly customized Delta Elite. I would scar up a nice sxs on the first hunt and would never forgive myself. If I drop a work gun, I just pick it up and move on. I get rained on, no problem. I simply spray it down with a good gun oil, motor oil in a pinch, and wipe it clean. Good to go. Some of my guns could be described as down right ugly, but the target never gets a look at them
zeeman
Well-Known Member
Just got back on the thread! WOW! Thanks to all !! think I will research some of the guides mentioned also. I really would feel comfortable with my 300 WM and 220 Partitions but will reevaluate as I get nearer to hunt year
zeeman
Well-Known Member
Would be quite interested in your advice on guide services, was thinking about going to an SCI convention in 2022. Your opinion?
wwbrown
Well-Known Member
Not going to make a recommendation per se about appropriate caliber/cartridge for the big bears but wanted to pipe in about using brakes in hunting situations, I have only carried a gun in brown bear country for protection never hunted them. Although, I will admit to using a Ruger 375 as my primary black bear gun, two big holes is better than 1 or 2 smaller ones.
Yes, with proper ear protection brakes can make big boomers more comfortable to shoot but if the ear pro is not worn one shot of a braked rifle can cause permanent damage to your hearing and those around you. Once you lose you sustain hearing damage there is no fix other than hearing aids.
Some people worry about damage to a shoulder from heavy recoil but some of that can be mitigated like using a brake when sighting in and developing loads. Make sure you check for any zero change with and without a brake.
Shooting without a brake the worse case scenario (shoulder-wise) is you injure your shoulder, surgeons can do amazing things to fix up an injured shoulder. I have had 3 shouder reconstructions on my right side so I speak from experience, none of the damage was due to recoil. I can fire 20 rounds from my 375 Ruger with only a little soreness the next day.
Long story short, I would rather risk shoulder injury than hearing loss,
wade
Yes, with proper ear protection brakes can make big boomers more comfortable to shoot but if the ear pro is not worn one shot of a braked rifle can cause permanent damage to your hearing and those around you. Once you lose you sustain hearing damage there is no fix other than hearing aids.
Some people worry about damage to a shoulder from heavy recoil but some of that can be mitigated like using a brake when sighting in and developing loads. Make sure you check for any zero change with and without a brake.
Shooting without a brake the worse case scenario (shoulder-wise) is you injure your shoulder, surgeons can do amazing things to fix up an injured shoulder. I have had 3 shouder reconstructions on my right side so I speak from experience, none of the damage was due to recoil. I can fire 20 rounds from my 375 Ruger with only a little soreness the next day.
Long story short, I would rather risk shoulder injury than hearing loss,
wade
longgun505
Well-Known Member
One shot from a large cal weapon can cause permanent hearing loss of some degree. Hence the reason so many combat arms vets have H3's halfway thru their careers. Smart hearing serves two purposes. Enhance hearing/situational awareness, and protection from muzzle blast/excessive DB's.
xsn10s
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I like wearing plugs even with electronic muffs. I just turn the volume up all the way on the muffs. If I wear just the electronic muffs the amplification of even normal sounds makes my ears ring. It might be the high frequency sounds waves that cause that FOR ME. YMMV.
Great pic and mount! Thanks for sharing
USA_774
Well-Known Member
It's really not that hard. Especially in Texas. Check out the Silencer Shop. See if they have any dealers in your area.
What was your bullet and where did you hit it? We used my hand loaded 510 gr rounded soft points and two DRT. I always wanted to use a 405 or 450 Barnes X, but never went back to alaska for browns. They are both very impressive in africa.
You got all you need!
longgun505
Well-Known Member
Loads of brown bear have been killed with 30 cal's of just about all flavors. I'm not a fan of any cartridge, however I'm definitely a fan and longtime student of projectiles and terminal ballistics. It's hard to beat a projectile that's been anchoring the toughest animals on the planet for many decades. I'm completely confident you have enough cartridge and certainly a tough enough projectile for the brown bear task at hand. Just practice enough with the EXACT set up you will hunt with. Nothing beats repetitive training. Practice various shots/positions over and over until it's harder to do it wrong, than it is to do it right. And most importantly, share your photos after the hunt!
Remember reading about a grizzled old Guide/Scout on Kodiak - where they have the biggest Beown bears - up to 1,400 lbs - over 10 ft. - who when asked the same Q about what gun to use - said:
Well - that Six-Bits over there works pretty good. That being a .375 - used as the minimum Caliber in much of Africa for Dangerous game - and it is said to have a softer push/kick than a .338. Nice to have a 275 or 300 grain bullet when you need it.
Well - that Six-Bits over there works pretty good. That being a .375 - used as the minimum Caliber in much of Africa for Dangerous game - and it is said to have a softer push/kick than a .338. Nice to have a 275 or 300 grain bullet when you need it.
