The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Black bear hunting- tips and guns?

solo · August 5, 2001, 10:23 AM

The 7.62x54 will kill a black bear easily, but as previously stated since your firearm is deemed unreliable by both your observations and the gun store owners then you should look for another rifle.

If you look for another rifle then you should ask yourself what else will you be hunting, how far a shot does the terrain provide, if hunting more than one species what is a good all around caliber?

Your Mossberge 500 will work fine given anything under 75-80 yards with the regular smoothbore barrel and rifled slugs. If you are going to buy a rifled barrel for the Moss. 500 then I would suggest buying a new rifle all together. Take the $300 you would invest in the scope and barrel and put it in a new rifle all together.

A good all around caliber is 30-06 or .308. For $300 (or just a little over) you can get a good bolt action rifle such as a remington, ruger, or savage. Some people prefer larger calibers, so if you are in the bigger is better crowd the take a look at the Marlin Guide Gun in 45/70.

August 5, 2001, 10:23 AM	#3
solo Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 1999 Posts: 211	The 7.62x54 will kill a black bear easily, but as previously stated since your firearm is deemed unreliable by both your observations and the gun store owners then you should look for another rifle. If you look for another rifle then you should ask yourself what else will you be hunting, how far a shot does the terrain provide, if hunting more than one species what is a good all around caliber? Your Mossberge 500 will work fine given anything under 75-80 yards with the regular smoothbore barrel and rifled slugs. If you are going to buy a rifled barrel for the Moss. 500 then I would suggest buying a new rifle all together. Take the $300 you would invest in the scope and barrel and put it in a new rifle all together. A good all around caliber is 30-06 or .308. For $300 (or just a little over) you can get a good bolt action rifle such as a remington, ruger, or savage. Some people prefer larger calibers, so if you are in the bigger is better crowd the take a look at the Marlin Guide Gun in 45/70.