valleysnyper
Well-Known Member
Just bought a 45-70 for an upcoming black bear hunt. Wondering what bullet would give good damage with a double lung shot. Any advice on weight also? I'm told shots will be about 30ft or so
What 45-70 bullet for baited bears
- Thread starter valleysnyper
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adam32+P
Well-Known Member
Swift 350gr A-Frame.
300 grain Hornady Soft point. 23 to 24 hundred feet per second. Kills at one end, hurts like the dickens on the other!
WoodPecker Hunter
Well-Known Member
Speer 400 gr
Anything jacketed. I used a 30-06 to great success. My wife used a .44 Magnum. Black bears are not hard to kill but you do need to get through inches of fat if you're going in the fall.
memtb
Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with the above advice….but, I'll use fairly heavy cast bullets. Cast bullets from my handgun worked quite well for me….the 45-70 should do so with more authority! memtb
Varmint Hunter
Well-Known Member
I've shot quite a few black bears with the 45-70. Virtually any bullet will work fine at short distances. My personal favorite is the Speer 400 JSP @ 1,700fps. The Speer 400 is relatively soft and easily expands on bears. They will all pass through on a broadside shot.
I caught one in a large hog (+300lb). It expanded to 90 cal but remained intact.
I caught one in a large hog (+300lb). It expanded to 90 cal but remained intact.
valleysnyper
Well-Known Member
Looks like out of stock everywhere, I'll have to keep an eye out
Varmint Hunter
Well-Known Member
In the absence of the Speer 400gr bullets, a good alternative would be the Hornady 350gr RN or FP. They both shoot well and have reliable terminal performance. They are similar to the tough Swift 350 A-Frame, but at a fraction of the cost. There's nothing wrong with the Swifts but they are expensive. The Hornadys would allow for much more practice.
Hornady 45cal 350gr RN #4502
Product Information Caliber: 45cal Bullet Diameter: 0.458” Bullet Weight: 350 Grains OAL: 0.935" Bullet Style: Interlock Round Nose Flat Base G1 BC: 0.189 Part Number:4502 Quantity: 50
www.bluecollarreloading.com
valleysnyper
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the help everyone, any feelings about a flat nosed bullet vs a round nose ?
I have used both 350 gr Hornady round nose and 350 or 300 gr Flat Point (can't remember exactly on the flat points) and the bears didn't seem to notice the difference.All fell within 20 feet of shot.
These will be my next bear bullet:
hammerbullets.com
They make a bigger bullet but I have not found that bears are all that hard to kill.
hammerbullets.com
These will be my next bear bullet:
.458 Cal-300gr Stone Hammer™ - Hammer Bullets
This Stone Hammer™ with it's 1/4" hollow point will be a heavy hitter in the 45-70 cartridge. Good weight with high vel will be tough to beat. This Stone Hammer™ should not be overlooked in the big .458's for dangerous game. Hard hitting without excess recoil.
hammerbullets.com
.458 Cal-447gr Stone Hammer™ - Hammer Bullets
This .458 caliber Stone Hammer™ has a 1/4" hollow point to give the nose profile enough taper to feed reliably and deform rapidly to a minimum full caliber with 90% retained weight. The large nose dia will allow these bullets to work well in lever actions with tube magazines. Qty-25
hammerbullets.com
memtb
Well-Known Member
At lower velocities…..hands down the flat nose! The greater the metplat….the mo-better! memtb
Right before it got cold my brand new Accurate Mold in 405 gr wide meplat came in but it's way too cold to cast in our garage.
More snow coming so it will be awhile before I get anything cast.
But I have had great success with wide flat nose lead bullets.
memtb
Well-Known Member
Waiting on warm here also. I need to cast a bunch of 400's for my 460 S&W, and some 430's for my 45-70. Also using an Accurate Mold…..pretty darn happy with those molds! memtb
