Bear Guns

Mike Leonard · Post by **Mike Leonard** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:45 pm

TRC,

That tactical rig should be awesome and cheap too I am sure. LOL! Shepherd scop cost more than most guys whole shooting rigs.

I did some work with some Shepherds one some rifles I was setting up for some African hunters. Pretty cool once you get the hang of them.

Anybody had expereince with Huskema optics?
www.thebestofthewest.net/ - 31k

Mt Goat · Post by **Mt Goat** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:29 pm

Hey Three Rivers Catahoulas

I also like the Marlin .444 for Bear.

Question are you reloading ? and if so what bullets are you using, now that most everywhere here in California is now manditory no lead. I'm going to start re-loading (never have before) so any advice would be great. I know Barnes makes the copper bullets everyones using. But havent looked to see if the 444 has many no-lead options on bullet grain size etc... or if they offer any different bullets types.

Anyway any advice would be great.

Larry Lowell

three rivers catahoulas · Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:52 pm

Larry,
The no lead thing is only in the CA Codor range, witch is right were your at LOL, But I talked to a rep for Barnes and they are going to start makeing the Bannded Solids in the .44 cal, when they start doing that I'm defently gonna use them. Right now I'm relaodin Hornady XTP's 300 Gr and a bullet made by Sierra and there 325 Gr JHP Tungston Core Bonds( there not good for shooting over dogs) There is 125 Gr of tungston bondedto a lead HP, when the lead HP expands the 125 Gr's of tungston just keeps on goin and dosen't deform on heavy bone, but it does go through & through. I have also relaoded 225Gr bullets but you have to load them down or the drift at any thing longer then 100 yds. Oh and if you want to relaod Hornady you'll need a Hornady crimper die I have RCBS but had to by a Hornady crim die, but if you load Win cases you dont need the third die. And Hornady cases are about .25" shorter then Winchster cases. The best powders have been H322, Reloader7,H2214 I think it was H2214 that we used to slow the lighter grain bullets down, I think it's a pistol powder.

And as for the Separd Scopes, I was lost trying to sight that dual rectical in until my cusin showed me how. But once it's in, It's in and the range finder is right on the money. And if I were to buy the rounds it's around $150.00/box, but I baught 1000 once fired cases and just reload them. The whole set up was around $8500.00

Cold Track · Post by **Cold Track** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:24 pm

A bow!

Mike Leonard · Post by **Mike Leonard** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:10 pm

TRC,

Ha! Ha! and some folks call me a gun nut! I love that stuff!

I like it all from long bows to long range.

Has anyone out there had any expereince with the 223 Ackley Improved?

The ballistics are very impressive , and I am having one built up on a heavy match grade shielen 22 inch short stiff barrel. Model 722 action, timney trigger. It will be a fun try on prairie dogs and such. It's no 22-250 but then again it's not far off with a lot less powder and tons of brass to go around.

I have a 25-06 AI on a pre-64 model 70 action over a 25" semi heavy match shielen stainless tube. Antelope beware! This will flip a dog coyote on his butt way out there. Last 10 shot group with 87 gr. Sierra's measured .368 center to center.

I like to mess with different stuff I guess. I was riding down a forest road one day with my hounds gathered around my horse. Guy stops and chats he is looking for a deer hunting place. He says what kind of rifle you got there in your scabbard. I said well just an old saddle gun, you want to look at it? He said sure do I like old guns. I pulled out my pristine Griffen & Howe sporterized Springfield 03-a3 O6 topped with a 2 1/2 Lyman Alaskan scope. I mean a sweet old rig, fancy patina wood and all. He said Mr. you gotta be nuts draggin this thing around these hills on a horse. I said yes I am crazy, but this thing was built to use and I am gonna use it. LOL!

three rivers catahoulas · Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:15 pm

My next toy is gonna be a Browning A-Bolt chambered in a .223 WSSM or a 22-250 WSSM, man those things looks like a carot with a pencel lead at the end. I want to built it off a A-bolt because you dont have to mill the bolt, it's already to match spec from the factory, with a full floatting 36" lija stainless barrel, Berrett Muzzle break, A-5 stock with a carbon fiber bed, and an acutrigger adjustable to .25 lbs-12 lbs,all topped off with a Leopold 12.5-24-56 or a Kimber Covert II 1911 easy carry. Any body out here have one of those TC I-Bolts? I'll tell ya another one I wouldn't mind havein is a Winchster M-70 chambered to a 25/06 or a 30-40 Kragg. I have a 32 Win Spec that I have never shot, it's in OK shape it was built in 1948, I cant get shells around here for it I have to order them from Cabelas or some other place like that. Hey Mike if ya wanna see somthing funny go onto U-Tube and look up 600 Nitro Express, this guy is shootin it out of a TC Encore, it's funny as heck, I just about pissed my self laughin.

Travis Stirek · Post by **Travis Stirek** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:26 am

I shoot a Remington 742 carbine in 30-06 and the wife shoots a Remington model 700 in 25-06,but she has probably killed somewhere between 200 and 250 bear with her old .243

R Severe · Post by **R Severe** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:57 am

Dang, wished you guys wouldn't talk guns. Gonna end up spending more money if I read this stuff.

Mike, my all time favorite saddle gun is a contender carbine in 7-30 waters. It's short enough when carried butt forward to not go under my leg and block my calf from cueing the horse.

With 140gr serria gamekings it works on most everything up to elk for me.
I'd love to have one of the win 94s in that cal. but would have to use the flat nose bullets then.
Don't want to get to far off topic, I have killed a couple bruins with it.

nmplott · Post by **nmplott** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:52 am

we have a 7.82 warbird made by lazzeroni that my dad is itching to use.

three rivers catahoulas · Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:00 am

A buddy of mine, his dad had one of the 7X30 Waters, thats a nice little round, it's just costs so much to shoot it, and the die's are hard to find, so is the brass. I've never looked up the ballistics on it, but it's pretty simular to a 22-250 isn't it?

R Severe · Post by **R Severe** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:31 am

Fedral sells 7-30 shells, used to have the nosler partition flat nose 120 gr bullet. Not sure that is still the case.
I'd rather buy the brass and load them, got enough brass to last me a lifetime and you can neck down 30-30.

It's not as fast as the 22-250 but does ok. With a 140 gr bullet it's as nice a deer rifle as I've ever owned. Real easy to load. I have a compact scope on it.
In the contender you get a real short compact carbine that is balanced and very easy to point, still has a respectable 21" barrel but is only 1/4" longer than the marlin guide gun.
I liked my 7-30 barrel so well I ordered a 45-70 barrel outta the custom shop. Once I put a kick eze recoil pad on I like it as well. I left a peep site on it, a carbine that light don't like scopes. RS

three rivers catahoulas · Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:59 pm

I had a TC Super 16 and it was a good little rifle. I had a .223, .44 mag, .22 mag, .17, .243. My brother had a contender with that 45-70 barrel on it, it wasn't even fun to shoot. But I sold that TC set up and baught my .444 marlin. It was minus the .44 mag barrel, that thing blew up in my face. CCI did end up replacing it but it was after I sold the rest of it. Ok I know your gonna ask...... What happined, dont ever shoot those CCI aluminum cases .44 mag shells out of a TC Contender or Encore, they have a tendency blow up. Mine did man it blew that breech open and bent the king pin, had powder blast hit my face, it scared the hell out of me, I had to look down and make sure my hand was still there LOL they split from rim to the end.And poped the primers out.

Mike Leonard · Post by **Mike Leonard** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 4:45 pm

I had a TC contender years back in 7x30 Waters. It was a good cartridge but for some of the hunting I was doing I gave up on the Contender.

My old hunting partner Pete Gill and I were in our winter lion camp, and there was some snow on the ground and it was really cold in the mornings. Pete carried one of the old Contenders with the octoganal barrel in 218 Bee. He had a ring in the grip of it and had a snap and some sash cord on it and he just hung it around his neck and stuffed the Contender in his bib overalls pocket. Well I had a custom full flap holster built for my Contender, by El Paso Saddlery. Well we were camped in one of those big green Army tents and we had a big wood stove int here and cots and it made a pretty comfortable winter camp. Well one morning when we rode out we handn't gone very far and the hounds picked up the running track of a lion. Well they didn't go far and jumped and treed the lion, but as I approached the lion bailed and the race was on down into a narrow rocky gorge with a few big pines in it. The lion ran up a sloping dead pine that was lodged in the fork of another tree. Well the snow in the bottom of this gorge was probalby 8-10 deep where the sun didn't hit it much. Well this was a good lion so Pete was going to shoot it. We had a pretty big pack of dogs back then and I would say maybe 8 or so. Well he levels off with that Bee and shoots. Well he is usually a pretty good shot but I found out later that he had trouble getting the trigger to pull and he yanked his shot and he hit the dang lion in the front leg just creasing the hide. Well this lion just quits that tree and it didn't go 40 feet and those dogs had it caught on the ground. WOW! what a war was going on and dogs were screaming and I ran in to the middle of the frackus and the lion had the best dog of the bunch bit right thru the throat a pinning him down. The other dogs were yanking on the lion and he whirled and let Brownie go , and then grabbed Twister by the top of the head. Well I jerked my Contender out, hammered back, and waded in to put an end to this crisis. I stuck it right up to the lion's chest and pulled the trigger. CLICK! she wouldn't fire, I pulled again Click Damn it was froze up inside. I looked to Pete and he was screaming kick him loose from Twister or he will kill him. Well smacked the lion over the head with the gun barrel and he whirled and just jumped right at me. Well I fell over backwards, and the dogs piled on him and I was down under dogs, and lions and snow flying and I was clawing to get away. I rolled away from the mess and yelled at Pete shoot the damn thing! He said I can't my gun is froze up! Oh boy we were in a mess. Well I had blood all over me, and I just knew I was cut up. the snow was just red with blood and between the blood and the cat piss and all it was smelling rank. Well the dogs got the better of the lion as he weakened running out of breath and they finally were able to stretch him out and get him choked to death. Pete's wife had accompanied us on that day and I looked over at her standing there and she was white as a ghost, she turned to take a step and just fainted dead out and fell over in the snow. We got her revived and then the smell hit her and she started barfing, it was not a good sight.
Well pretty long story just to tell you I won't trust a single shot contender again in that kind of a situation. They are great for some things but if I have to wade into a battle I am like the famous trophy jaguar hunter Tony De Almeada. Give me a model 66 4" Stanless Smith 357. Jungle , swamps, snow dirt, and it still goes boom when you pull the trigger. And that is very comforting to know when the chip are down.

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:01 pm

By the looks of that Pic. Dean must of shot that bear down here in Southern Arizona last month. I guess I will stick with my old 30-30 has not let me down yet.
Big John

broncobilly · Post by **broncobilly** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:22 am

Just a word of warning to any of you using leverevolutions. In at least some guns, that pointy bullet can jam between the wall of the mag tube and the base of the case in front of it, thus effectively turning your gun into an expensive (and not very effective) club. I stumbled across this interesting little factoid one day when I was about 15 feet from a 295 lb boar hog that thought he would be better off with me dead. You tend to remember lessons learned under those circumstance.

I'm not saying it will happen every time, or even very often, mine functioned flawlessly hundreds of times before it let me down, but I gaurantee you, hornady will have to redesign that sucker to be sure it doesn't happen again before I ever put another one of those rounds in the magazine of one of my guns.

Of the three guns listed, I would chose the 30-30. The gun I do carry most of the time is a .35 remington.

Bill

Bear Guns

Which gun would you use to kill a bear?

30-30