Whats the longest shot you would take on a brown bear

Pretty difficult to beat a Model 70 Win. If your heart is not set on a custom build…..used Stainless ( all metal components stainless) Steel rifles can be had. But, they come at a pretty high price. If you keep it at the factory weight…..you won't need to cut and brake. The factory weight, once scoped, loaded, and slung is heavy enough that recoil is pretty tame!

My wife has run 300 grainers through my old (vintage 1982 ish) Model 70….with no complaints. Said she was surprised at how little it kicked. Though, she shot from a sitting position and not from the bench! When I was younger…..40 rounds in a day from the bench was no bad at all. I don't know what another 35 years in age may have changed! 😉

Another stainless factory option would be a Kimber Talkeetna. memtb
How about a Hawkeye Alaskan?
 
I, personally, would use my .375 H&H Magnum, and would want to be within 200 yds., or less. The .375 H&H is zeroed at 200, with 270 gr. Hornaday Interlocks. I would shoot for a shoulder, waiting for a sure, broadside shot that would possibly break down both front shoulders, and when the bear was down and dead, shoot him again from 50 yds. or so, just to be sure. All the old African PHs, Selby, etc, said to shoot the big stuff twice, even if it was dead.
 
I never hunted bear with it but I shot a couple thousand rounds through a 338 Lapua (285 A-Maxs mostly) and I can't imagine it not being enough gun for any bear anywhere. Hey that rhymes!
 
I never hunted bear with it but I shot a couple thousand rounds through a 338 Lapua (285 A-Maxs mostly) and I can't imagine it not being enough gun for any bear anywhere. Hey that rhymes!
I agree. I dont have a .338 Lapua, but I do have a .338 Win Mag, and that calibration has and should kill anything with the right shot placement. The Lapua is just a big improvement on the Win Mag. Howsoever, without the proper shot placement, you might get a mightly teed off bear, with terrible results!
 
So if you were going to hunt Sitka Blacktail on Kodiak Island what caliber would you choose? Considering the bears think the sound of a shot is the dinner bell.
338 Win Mag fits the bill for me, or maybe the 375 Ruger I have as well. Of course my Rem 7600 pump in 35 Whelen would also work for me. The extra 10 round mag loaded with Nosler Partitions provides a lot of back up firepower. I find this pump action to be a very fast and accurate shooter at ranges appropriate for bears and deer.

Just how big is a minute of Grizzly bear anyway. The whole point is to use enough gun at a distance where you are completely accurate.
 
My interior grizzly that squared 8'2" was with a .338 Win. Mag. 250 Partitions. 140 yards and first shot killed it. Heading to Alaska in June for brown bear and am taking a .375 H&H just because I haven't killed anything but feral hogs with it. If I didn't own the .375, I'd be comfortable with the .338 again. Will report back assuming I get the bear and he doesn't get me!!
 
When I first went to BC Canada and hunted Grizzly and Kodiak bear way back in 1990, I had one rifle with me, a stainless Win Mod 70 in 338WM sighted in at 200 with Speer 275g semi spitzer, the outfitter was not happy with that choice, but it's what I used. One shot and my bear was down and unable to raise it's front end while it's behind was raised and was able to move in a half circle, another 275g pill placed between the shoulders finished him. The shot was fired at just over 200yrds.
Second and third time out in 1995, my buddy and I packed 2 rifles each, we both had 338's, I had my custom Win Mod 70 stainless in 375 Weatherby and my buddy had his Sako Finnbear in 375 H&H.
I was shooting 250g Partitions in the 338, my buddy shooting the same. In my 375 Bee, I had Woodleigh 300g PP doing 2850fps and my buddy had Woodleigh 270g PP doing 2700fps.
I shot mine on the third day at 70yrds, and my buddy took his on the fifth day just under 100yrds, his was a well placed shot but the bear charged us as if not hit, at roughly 30yrds a second shot dropped in it's tracks by the outfitter with a 375H&H using a 300g Partition.
So, my conclusion is that I would not be shooting them very far out at all, you just can't trust to put them down every time with the first shot.

Cheers.
 
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