Bear rifle suggestions please!

[Colorado Redneck]

A 243 Winchester would do the trick. Federal 85 gr. Trophy Copper works in Ca. Hunting requires proficiency which requires practice. A decent entry level bolt action will be affordable. As RC20 said, shoot a 22 lr often for practice. Shoot the bear gun a couple rounds once a week. Be sure you can get a good sight picture if you use a scope. Even if the OP isn't recoil sensitive shooting something that is fun to shoot makes practice fun. Good luck!

[Rangerrich99]

Hey and welcome to the forum.

Given your relative inexperience, and physical limitations, my initial suggestion would be something like a Ruger 44 carbine. They don't make this gun anymore, but examples can be found on GB or elsewhere for around $800-$1000 or so I've seen.

The Ruger 44 carbine is a semi-auto (there's your fast follow-up shots) 4-rd rotary magazine, 18.5-inch barreled rifle. It's lightweight (relatively speaking, at about 6 lbs. I think), but as a rifle will easily absorb most of the recoil and can deliver a bullet potent enough to take the size of black bear you're talking about at the ranges you're talking about. Oh, and they make lead-free ammo for this gun.

I have fired my buddy's example, and can attest to the relatively light recoil and though it's loud (due to the short barrel), it accurate enough at 50 yards, and it shoots as fast as one can pull the trigger.

Of course, if you don't want an old gun, then it looks like you're looking at some kind of lever or bolt gun. Both can be relatively quick, but require a fair amount of constant practice to be quick. Most people I know learn to be quick faster with a lever as opposed to a bolt, but YMMV.

Good luck in your search.

[Dano4734]

45-70

[stagpanther]

What we internet folks can't do so well is pick a dog or a lover or the right gun for you.

Unless maybe she's a kinky werewolf packing twin 44 revolvers.

[Scorch]

(female, 5'8, 125lb.) so recoil is an issue.

I am gong to steer away from a 30-30 or a 308 and recommend a Ruger American or similar in 243 or 260. 30-30 can kick pretty hard for a 125 lbs lady, and a 308 would kick hard as well.

[fourbore]

Unlike the majority, i actually read all the preceding posts. 125lb female shooter in a lead free state.

I recommend 7mm-08 in a bolt. Or due to rifle selection, maybe 6.5cm.

here is some 7mm08 ammo

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/44...free-box-of-20

Hornady also has lead free, example in 6.5mm

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...free-box-of-20


Many of the other suggestions are obvious shameless pimping thier own personal favorite with little of no consideration to op.

Can you imagine, 260 rem near obsolete, 450 Bushmaster, 45/70, 44mag revolver! Some people have no shame at all.

[reinert]

RRookie,

I went to the range this morning to take a couple of sighters with three 30-30s I have. Two of them are vintage Marlin 336s (1953, and 1964 manufactured), and the other one is a pre-64 M94 (made in 1955). I shot my pet load in all three of them, of which uses a 150 grn. bullet.

One of my Marlins is straight stocked, with factory open barrel sights, and weighs 6lbs., 12.3ozs.

My other Marlin has the pistol grip along with a 4x Leupold compact scope (Standard 1" Weaver rings and alum. picatinny base), and weighs 8lbs., .02ozs.

The Winchester weighs 6lbs., 10.7ozs, and has open barrel sights.

The two open sighted rifles, though near identical in felt recoil (and amazingly close in weight), left the Winchester just slightly easier on the shoulder than the open-sighted Marlin. I would just say that the felt recoil on both rifles could be described as a sharp little buck; not anywhere near what I'd call harsh whatsoever (IMO). I shot all three of these rifles wearing just a hooded sweatshirt over a light weight fleece vest. None of these rifles had any kind of recoil pads on them, either; just the typical flat, factory, shotgun style butt plates. The Winchester has a metal butt plate, and the Marlins have the synthetic material type.

The 8 lb. scoped rifle had just a mild little buck, and no sharpness to it, either; could've shot that one all day, no problem. Actually, I found none of them offensive regarding recoil (BTW, I'm 5' 10" tall, and weigh 170 lbs., and for whatever that's worth...).

Marlin offers their M336 with a scope package. I have a good bud that bought one of those packages a couple of years ago and said it's a first rate, accurate 30-30. I think he got it for around 450 bucks, but that was a couple of years ago. Point here is, if you're shopping for a rifle, you may want to consider the scoped Marlin deal. I'm fairly sure that you'd find shooting that rifle with the 150 grn. bullet loading not bad on the shoulder. And at 50 yds. (and farther), you'd have a rifle quite adequate for a black bear (IMO).

Hope this might be of some help in your decision on a rifle purchase. Good Hunting!

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-...el-336w-wscope

If interested, and if you'd shop around, I believe you could get that rifle package for considerably less than the MSRP.

And for my handload using the 150 grn. bullet (Speer flat point) I use a charge of 34 grains of Varget propellent. That's 1/2 of a grain short of what Hodgdon's site shows for a max. charge in a 30-30 for that weight bullet. I would imagine the felt recoil from my reloads might compare with a factory loading's recoil (IMO). Only guessing, there...

[stagpanther]

30-30 might have a "bang flinch" factor--but no way it's going to kick like any 308 parent cartridge.

[fourbore]

Recoil is subjective and 30/30 and 7mm08 are both low as I maybe wrong here. It seemed my 5 pound Win m94 in 3030 had quite noticable more recoil than my feathery little Remington model 7 in 7mm08. The 6.5 is a so light kicking, its just nothing there. Step up to a 6 pound bolt rifle with a scope = 7 pounds. Creame puff.

One little twist on this is the lead free bullets. I dont know if it might be better to step up the diameter to 308 for those lighter bullets. Those tend to be light than comparable lead bullets. I also never heard of 30/30 lead free ammo? Did anyone find a good bear load in 3030 lead free?

Seriously anyone making a suggestion should link to the appropriate factory ammo. You will find this on the hornady ammo I suggested. FWIW, I cannot speak from experience

Fully California compatible and appropriate for use in other areas requiring the use of non-traditional bullets, GMX is ideal for any sized game, from antelope to moose. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable brass cases.

[stagpanther]

Seriously anyone making a suggestion should link to the appropriate factory ammo.

Good point--need to keep it within context of safe loading in a lever gun magazine.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

You know I think a 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge would work well for you Miss. Accurate and not having a whole lot of felt recoil would be right up your alley. 6.5 CM is available in two rifle versions I believe #1_Bolt action #2 _AR-15 semi-auto.
"There may be other versions I'm not aware of?"

For Black bear the 6.5 Creedmoor is quite capable to dispatch and anything else considered medium size Big Game out to 400 yrds. Beyond the 400 the cartridges Terminal Energy Factor falls off to where way-way-out-there the cartridge will likely wound than humanly dispatch.

BTW the little 30-30 cartridge shot thru a Win 94. I guarantee you'll feel its bruising recoil >rifle being in its stock original condition that is.

[flashhole]

Dano had a good suggestion but should have elaborated more on the 45-70. A Marlin 1895 shooting factory ammo is pretty mild in the recoil department and knocks the stuffing out of anything at the wrong end of the 405 grain bullet. At close ranges I would much prefer a large slower moving bullet over a small high velocity bullet. The shotgun with a slug is a good choice too.

[reinert]

From what I understand, it's not until July of 2019 that the statewide CA lead ammo ban goes into effect. If RRookie wants to shoot a bear this year, and she doesn't live in Condor country, she most likely will be ok with traditional, lead-core ammo.

If she want to find a lead-free 150 grn. box of 30-30 ammo, Buffalo Bore has them. Otherwise, this year, she's probably good to go with traditional stuff...depending; it's California.

http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php...t_detail&p=286

[emcon5]

The problem with any of these offerings is the Glorious Peoples Republic of California.

No lead ammo, and no mail order. Sadly her rifle choices may be limited to what legal hunting ammo is available locally.

[agtman]

I have 11 acres in Cali and in the past couple years, the bears have become a bit too comfy too close to my home so I've decided to get a tag. * * *
- I don't want to spend a fortune because I don't need to take out a 3000lb griz from a half-mile away....longest shot I would take on my property (only place I intend to hunt) would be 50ish yards to insure a clean shot.
- I want a big enough cal to drop a bear with a (reasonably) well-placed shot, but I'm no giant (female, 5'8, 125lb.) so recoil is an issue.
- I want to be able to get off follow-up shots fairly quickly if needed.

You want the most affordable and effective 'bear rifle' for Cali bruins?

That's easy-peasy ... It's a 10mm Glock 40 long-slide pistol. It's easier to carry and shoot than most so-called 'bear rifles,' or a 12ga shotgun with slugs.

Load up your G40 with 15+1 rds of heavy-n-fast 220gn hardcast loads from Buffalo Bore, DoubleTap, or Underwood, ... and any bear you pop will be stopped & dropped faster than shizznitz thru a goose.

[PatientWolf]

30-30 might have a "bang flinch" factor--but no way it's going to kick like any 308 parent cartridge.

I’m asking because I’ve never shot the two within many months of each other, but I’d expect the 6mm-08 (aka .243 Win) would not kick more than a 30-30.

[stagpanther]

I should modify my comment to say that I've never shot any cartridge based on 308 (and I own and shoot most of them) that didn't feel like it had more recoil than a 30 30--but that was compared to just a simple 336 lever gun. I think there's a "psychological" recoil from the 30 30 that seems bigger than it is due to being fired from an uncompensated muzzle. I wouldn't be poking a bear with a 243.

[ThomasT]

A little surprised no one else had mentioned this, but a 12 gauge for sure, even a 20 gauge slug I'd fully expect to down a 400 pound bear.

Snag a budget/used 870/500 for $200, drop in a slug barrel and have at it. Any of those are minute of bear capable at 50 yards, cheap, capable, proven. Upgrade and personalize it as budget allows and double as home defense.

Multi purpose, cheap, and if you have to, get the 20 gauge for reduced recoil. I bet you know someone who would let you test fire a 12 gauge slug. Recoil won't be so bad if you are wearing winter cloths.

Shotguns were mentioned in post #6 and post #10. Some here like to post without reading what was written before they posted.

I am going to agree with fourbore and suggest the 7-08. I let a 15 year old girl use my old model 7 in 7-08 for a youth hunt at school and she killed 4 deer with 4 shots. And she is tiny at 5'2" tall. I would recommend the Ruger American with just a red dot for the ranges the OP is talking about. Or just a low powered scope like a 2x7 of some sort. Hint: Leupold.

And speaking of the OP I think she has been scared off.

[PatientWolf]

One thing I would Point that others have less directly touched on is that recoil will be felt much more with a rifle that has a butt plate much more than one that has a good recoil pad. A good recoil pad can be installed on a rifle that doesn't have one and would make it more pleasant to shoot for someone who is recoil sensitive.

[Blindstitch]

I'm not a fan of suggesting the 30-30 and it's probably because of the same example of the other guys. Both of my Winchester 94's kick like a mule because they're so light. Yet I don't feel it so bad when I use my dads Henry 30-30, Marlin 336 or even Marlin 336 in 444. I ended up putting a slip on recoil pad on it and several other said it's not as bad. I also downgraded handloads but I wouldn't shoot them for bear.

My recommendation is a budget bolt action preferably for youth in 7mm08 or 308. She's going to zero, practice and probably set it and forget it. That day adrenaline will take over.

[Carmike]

Any thoughts to a 12 gauge slug? A friend who guides black bear hunts here in MN prefers his clients to use a 12 gauge. Just a thought if you're not settled on a rifle.

[Rifletom]

fourbore, not trying to start anything here, but, you've not seen lead-free 30-30 ammo?
Win, Rem, Barnes, BuffaloBore etc. Plenty out there. Haven't heard from OP since this all came up. Perhaps she already bought a rifle or something else.

[emcon5]

That's easy-peasy ... It's a 10mm Glock 40 long-slide pistol. It's easier to carry and shoot than most so-called 'bear rifles,' or a 12ga shotgun with slugs.

Again, California. Glock 40 is unsafe in the eyes of California, so it can't be purchased.

Load up your G40 with 15+1 rds of heavy-n-fast 220gn hardcast loads from Buffalo Bore, DoubleTap, or Underwood, ... and any bear you pop will be stopped & dropped faster than shizznitz thru a goose.

Again, California. Bullets have to be lead free. Hardcast is NOT lead free. And again, California, so even if she was somehow able to find the pistol, she can't use a 15 round magazine.

She also can't easily mail order ammo, nor can she drive to Cabela's in Reno and buy it legally, it would have to be shipped to a approved ammo dealer.

It is not ideal, and not something anywhere else in the country has to deal with. Her best bet is to find what legal hunting ammo is available locally, and make her rifle decision based on that.

[osbornk]

Our local bear hunting club use 30-30 rifles and Ruger 357 magnum revolvers (dogs chase the bears up a tree and they use revolvers to shoot them out of the tree).

[RC20]

Have had to laugh, going on and the OP thought CA had grizzly bears.

Impossible to take it seriously.

And no response after the 2nd one.