Thinking about getting a .300 Blackout upper, primarily for whitetail hunting.  I don't know much about the cartridge, but I was wondering if it would be enough gun for black bear.  Any opinions and experiences are appreciated.

No experience, but I do think people tend to underestimate Black Bears.

Not for a big bear.

No.

.45-70 is what you need.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/10/foghorn/big-black-bear-falls-300-aac-blackout/

eh, its a little weak. unless your giving it a head shot, i wouldnt. bears can run for a long time wounded, even with a lung shot.

i shot a large bear square in the chest at 25 feet with a 300 win mag and there was quite a bit of life in him for about 30 seconds.

I wouldn't use anything smaller  .308  for bear

Too much is always better than too little, or just barely enough.

I don't think I'd choose that cartridge for Black Bears. (or any other bear)

Thanks for the replies guys.  I'll probably just stick with my .35 Rem.

I think that 300blk is fine for black bears in the north east.  I have only shot a few of them mostly with 30-30's except my last one with a 300blk it was not the best shot either ended up a little far back and ended up hitting a small portion of lung and liver.  She was 365lbs (not gutted and NY early season) and only ran 7 - 10 yards I was using Remington hog hammers (awesome round for hunting).  I believe any 30 caliber will do the job for black bear around the northeast.

My last black bear which was a 6'1" bear took a 300 WSM ballistic tip through both lungs and took out a front quarter on the other side. He still made it 200 yards through the brush and moaned for a couple minutes before finally dying. You can kill one with a 300 BLK but probably not the most ethical caliber for it.

double tap

I have personally taken a bear with a 10.5" AR chambered in 5.56. Yes it worked, no I wouldn't do it again.

6.5 grendel probably the smallest I would go now, but 308 and up is a fine choice too.

Bear's skulls are incredibly tough, 300blk won't penetrate it. Spine shot in the back of the neck is the only way to get a sure 1 shot drop on them, and in nature, perfect shots don't often present themselves.

ETA: Please read through the thread and the rest of my statements before throwing out your opinion on what I said.

Prove me wrong.

Yeah, let me go grab that bear skull in my shop

Just so I got this straight, you are saying that under no circumstances will a 300blk penetrate the skull of an adult black bear?

You may in fact be more versed in the hardness of said skulls, and you may even be a better hunter, goodness you may even be a better man then me, but that does not mean you are incapable of making a goofy statement. 300blk may not be the "best" choice for Black bear, but it could be done.  Even as big of a fan as I am with 300blk, I doubt it would be my first choice.

If I was going to use 300blk, it would be 30 rounds of 247gr cast pushed as fast as I could get it, which would be about 1400-1500fps.  that puts it in the realm of .44mag ballistics.  and I don't see many saying .44 mag is not enough for black bear.

I hope I'm not coming off aggressive in my statements, I don't want to create controversy.

But based on my life experiences, I do not believe a 300blk will penetrate a bear skull while it's still attached to the bear. I would love to be proved wrong though, I love learning new things. But I shot a bear with a 64gr win power point bullet from about 20yds from a 10.5" 5.56, the bullet entered between his top teeth and his nostrils. The bear was approximately 10ft in elevation higher than me up the hill, walking from left to right. The bear turned to me and I attempted a head shot. He dropped and rolled down the hill toward me, got his feet under him less than 10yds from me and took off heading back to the left. I put 2 more in his ribcage, he dropped and rolled down the hill again before getting up and heading into the thick brush.

We catch up to him huffing and puffing laying in a dried up creek bed and anchor him with a 300wm. I get up to him and start looking for bullet entrances. I find the first one between his top teeth and nostrils, and find an exit wound where his Adams apple would be if bears had one. So this bullet went in, possibly fragmented or stayed whole, turned 90° downward and exited out the front of his neck. I have the hide/skull in my freezer still, probably going to get to it this winter.


Another short strory, my uncle is taking a kid from Norway bear hunting for the first time. Gives him a 270 and takes him to his private property (same place I shot the bear in the above story). They come across a bear less than 100yds away across a small creek. It doesn't know they are there because of the sound if the creek, so they get all set up and my uncle tells him to shoot the bear right in the forehead above the eyes. He shoots, the bear reacts, but is still up but not running for some reason, so he shoots it again. Same story, the bear reacts but doesn't drop or run away. Finally he says shoot him in the chest and that does the trick. They catch up with the bear after it dies and see that the 2 head shots did connect on the head but the angle of the head glanced the bullets and they didn't penetrate.

Unlike a cow, bears don't have a tall flat face, so unless you get perpendicular to the spot where you have a clean and flat entrance to the brain bucket, I don't see a 300blk knocking through a bear skull. But like I said, I love learning new things and would love to read a story making a case against mine. Everyone has different experiences hunting, that's what great about it. It's never the same.

I wouldn't go into bear country with anything less than a 45/70

A close encounter I highly doubt you'll get off more than one round ..... You definitely won't have time to place a shot where you really want it

ive shot more then a few black bears in the skull. yes a 300 blackout will certainly penetrate all depending on the distance. their skulls are not made of iron. a smaller black bears skull is no thicker then most large whitetail deer. i shot my last bear with a .44 mag to the skull. it dropped like a bucket of shit, but was still alive, although lifeless. my friend had a 125 gr solid in his .357 so i took a overhead skull shot and had a complete pass through from the top, through the lower jaw. .357 has less then half the velocity and energy of a 300.

my friends i bear hunt with have taken all of their bears with head shots with handguns . 41 mag and 357s. im the only one to use a 44

What was the distance with the 357? Point blank?

And it sounds like you got perpendicular to the top of the skull, that seems like the key.

about 25 feet. i set up on a log for the shot. all of us who bear hunt with hounds, mostly hunt with handguns and all take head shots. one of the old timers who hunts with us has never used another caliber other then 357 , and this guy has taken a ton of bear.  

i know of guys in Maine who have used 22 mag for bear. certainly wouldn't catch me trying it, but it can be done on a head shot .

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

if you were closer id say come along for a hunt and watch it in person. i was skeptical of bear hunting with anything less then a 300 win mag, until i saw a few bears taking with skull shots. its a tough shot, but they drop in a second.  

only problem is you usually cant keep the skull after a big impact like that

That would be my problem with it too, I'm getting started in skull cleaning and have a few coyote skulls done and want to get my bear done fairly soon. But that sounds like a very fun hunt, I'm curious what state you're located in?

Im in ct , bear hunt in New Hampshire and Maine

I can confirm 17hmr will penetrate the skull of a coyote at 135yds. Got this one yesterday.

DANM that is a fine shot!!

And I came to post that .300 BO is basically 30-30, and black bear was hunted for years with it, are there better rounds SURE(im a .30-06 man myself, classic and versatile), are there worse, SURE.  If guy is torn between not hunting and between using a .300 BO use the BO.

Thanks partner, I was driving around an alfalfa field yesterday and she poked her head up and all I could see was nose to ears. It worked out alright.

458 socom is what you seek.

I think bear hunting is a great excuse to own a 458, but what's even more intriguing to me is the 375 socom. I hope it gets more standard.

freaking awesome


.458 will be taken this upcoming year for bear. the season cant get here fast enough

375 would be even better but i have yet to dunk into that one yet.

That's probably the most sexy 458 I've ever seen. It seems like most guys cheap out on them for some reason. What barrel did you go with? Do you use an adjustable gas system, and what weight buffer weight?

this is the wilson combat 458 builders kit. comes with their barrel, adjustable gas block, BCG, buffer spring, gas tube, and flash hider. CMT upper with enlarged port, JT lower, geissele mk8 13 inch rail, geissele sd-e, leupold vx r patrol, adm recon qd . im used a rifle length buffer

the gas screw is backed almost all the way out, may try to find another. its not really any issued other than im afraid of loosing it.  other then that , its a tack driver

i don;t think any species of bear show me under-estimated. i am not a pro at bear hunting but i will recommend a high caliber rifle.

Its a great caliber for deer marginal for black bear. Personally I wouldn't hunt an animal that may have plans to eat me if I dont get the perfect hit with a marginal caliber. If you want a do all under 200yds in an AR platoform. I would look at 458 Socom, 50 buewolf, or 450 Bushmaster.

Put down another black bear this weekend with my AR in 556. thats 7 total in the last 3 years. Biggest was just under 7'. Granted I am over bait at 50 yards but have not had any run off or suffer or require a follow up shot. I shoot 64gr power points. Bears are pretty soft animals. their bones aren't magically thick and their skulls won't even deflect a 22lr. if you would like to try i have a few skulls in the freezer i will send your way just so you can see.

If I were hunting bears on the ground I would like something with more range than a 300BO, but i would feel perfectly fine with one.

That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I used the same bullet when I took my bear with a 5.56. I've since stepped up to a Grendel though and I'm pleased with it.

Wouldn't use a 300 blk on a bear hunt.  Its ok for Deer but your average whitetail is around 150 lbs.  Your average blk bear might be 200 but you can easily get into the 500 lb range and thats just to big for the blk in my opinion.  I would use a 6.8 spc or grendel.  308 would be better I don't think you need more than a 308 for any black bear.

In Wisconsin we can hunt bear with dogs. I have seen bear taken from 10 to 20 yards in a tree with shots to the back of the head, base of the spine and from the bottom of the jaw exiting through the top of the skull. We have seen everything from a 22-250 to a 300wm and larger. I have heard stories of bullets deflecting off the skull but have never seen it. A .300blk will penetrate a bears skull, maybe not at 400 yards but thats where a ballistics expert may correct me.

 Im still waiting for my permit after 10 years of waiting for a tag and I will be using a 6.8spc. A bear in a tree usually is an easy target for a head shot and Im have no issues with my selection.

Horse and steer are killed everyday with .22 long rifle skull shots....

I live on a farm, I'm well aware what will drop a cow, I've done it many many times. I said what I said based on my experiences.

I was wrong to say it won't do it, but I wouldn't try it.

maybe ill give it a try this year to test the theory. head shot on a bear with 300 blk .bear skulls aren't very tough, but there is a very small window of error with head shots. their brains are about the size of a tennis ball.  


gonna need to whip up an upper quick before the season though

I'm gonna go snag another bear or two tonight. I'll bring the 22lr and drop a shot in their done after the fact at 100yds and take pics after I skin it out. Will likely penetrate all the way through.

They don't have "armored skulls" and they are easy to put down. I shoot em just like you would a deer and haven't had one run off yet... With a 556.  Some people

Why don't you go all Davie Crockett on that bar with a knife and show us all how much of a bad ass you really are!

 

BS. If a .300BLK will penetrate the skull of a 300+lb hog, it will penetrate a bear's skull.

Please read through the thread before posting.