Gun for bear...is it big enough?

338375 said:
There are a lot of them on the big auction site. Also check pawnshops and gun shows, if you have any in your area. Sometimes they come up for sale here too, in the classifieds.
When I was still collecting guns, I would buy every Leupold 4 or 6 power scope I found, if it was in excellent condition. I don't think I ever paid more than about 60 for one
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What?! That's crazy. I would prefer a variable power, but could easily be swayed to a fixed if the price was right. I'll try to keep my eyes out..and if you happen to see one let me know lol (cause I dont see any pawn shops around here and rarely hear about a gun show)
 
bmilla35 said:
What?! That's crazy. I would prefer a variable power, but could easily be swayed to a fixed if the price was right. I'll try to keep my eyes out..and if you happen to see one let me know lol (cause I dont see any pawn shops around here and rarely hear about a gun show)
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I'll do some looking around the house tomorrow. I use to have so many of them, they were on rifles, in the closet and in drawers :D
I may still have one around that is not being used, but not certain.
The fixed power scopes are very durable. There is nothing to really go wrong with them. I called Leupold one time, to ask about a very early 4 power I had picked up. The guy I talked to said, they very rarely get any of the fixed power scopes in for warranty work.

Nothing wrong with variable power scopes, especially on quality made scopes. I did have a couple 338's that had Leupold VariX-3 1.5x6 scopes.
They are small, and ,light and being able to really turn down the magnification really helps when you are in thick timber
 
Gotcha. That would be very much appreciated! I guess 4 would be enough...but 6 or 7 would probably be better.
 
Well, I tried. I guess I did get rid of the extras, when I started downsizing my collection. You won't have any problem finding a good buy on one though, especially on the auction site.
Another thought too, is to look for an old Bausch & Lomb Balvar or the old K series Weaver scopes. Both are very solid scopes, have decent optics, and can also be found very reasonably. One nice thing about the old Weavers, is you can still send them in to be serviced. They have a seperate facility for old scopes.
 
Black bear? .308, 7mm, 30-06 act would be fine IMO. Looking at brown bear; I'd go 300 WIN-MAG, .338 or .375H&H. Again, shot placement is key.
 
338375 said:
Well, I tried. I guess I did get rid of the extras, when I started downsizing my collection. You won't have any problem finding a good buy on one though, especially on the auction site.
Another thought too, is to look for an old Bausch & Lomb Balvar or the old K series Weaver scopes. Both are very solid scopes, have decent optics, and can also be found very reasonably. One nice thing about the old Weavers, is you can still send them in to be serviced. They have a seperate facility for old scopes.
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Appreciate the effort. I'll keep out for those too, then.
 
I've killed plenty of deer in Pennsylvania. I've used 3-9x scopes but on 90% of my kills the power was set at 4x. You're talking about thick woods with the outside chance for a long shot.
I would recommend a fixed 6x of the best make you can afford. With a 7mm-08/7mm express, that is a fine PA. woods gun.
 
mossyhorn said:
I've killed plenty of deer in Pennsylvania. I've used 3-9x scopes but on 90% of my kills the power was set at 4x. You're talking about thick woods with the outside chance for a long shot.
I would recommend a fixed 6x of the best make you can afford. With a 7mm-08/7mm express, that is a fine PA. woods gun.
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Yes I agree. If I could find a nice fixed 6x that would be perfect. I'll check on that large online auction site.
 
bmilla35 said:
Yeahhh just black bear for me. We don't have to worry about their big angry cousins
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just lettin ya know that more folks are killed by black bears than grizz. more attacks as well. be careful peewee. sidearms are a dandy to have when hunting animals that can just as easy kill you
 
bmilla35 said:
Shots wouldn't be that far. I doubt they would even hit 100 yards.

I would hate to spend more money on another gun (just bought a handgun yesterday), but the place where I bought it has a special contract with Browning, and in the back there is a "dings and dents" section. They're perfect functionally, they have some minor cosmetic error or, more commonly, are used as demo's for the reps. Anyways, the gun I was interested in was a Browning X-Bolt Stalker in 300 win for $530. But then I would need a scope, too.
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thats a nice price. worth buying now and just using the irons until you get the funds to buy a scope. if you cant shoot irons out to 100yds with consistency your ass shouldnt be in the woods shooting animals. imo
 
hung-solo said:
thats a nice price. worth buying now and just using the irons until you get the funds to buy a scope. if you cant shoot irons out to 100yds with consistency your ass shouldnt be in the woods shooting animals. imo
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Lol well to be honest i've never really tried iron sites. I'd like to though. If I can go back out there sometime soon I think i'll pick it up.

Hey hung did you make it out to Ocracoke this year at all? Did the hurricane hit you hard?

ETA: What about the click noise the bold makes? Can that be easily fixed?
 
What ever you choose, rile the front sight off so it doesn't hurt as much when the bear shoves it up your butt. :D

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)
 
bmilla35 said:
Lol well to be honest i've never really tried iron sites. I'd like to though. If I can go back out there sometime soon I think i'll pick it up.

Hey hung did you make it out to Ocracoke this year at all? Did the hurricane hit you hard?

ETA: What about the click noise the bold makes? Can that be easily fixed?
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we are going late Oct and the first week of November. hoping they fix the roads by then. they should bc the fishing season is really when the OBX shines. we are going to fish Hatteras mostly.. sometimes we go over to Ocracoke Island. they got messed up pretty good when Irene came rumbling by.

i have no idea what click noise you are talking about
 
30-06 should be adequate for bear, my bro shot a nice sized bear in e.europe with a 30-06 and it dropped right where it stood.

i shot a med sized bear with a 9.3cz - a euro caliber, pretty big i'd say and slow moving, same thing, dropped the bear instantly.

obviously vital area shot is important and i've heard of people taking bear with .308 but i wouldn't go bear hunting with anything less than 30-06

i understand we're talking bear, but this little bear sized fellar took 7 .12 ga slugs to stop, last one hit the spine and that's when it finally tapped out...so i wouldn't recommend a .12 ga for hunting bear.

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hung-solo said:
we are going late Oct and the first week of November. hoping they fix the roads by then. they should bc the fishing season is really when the OBX shines. we are going to fish Hatteras mostly.. sometimes we go over to Ocracoke Island. they got messed up pretty good when Irene came rumbling by.

i have no idea what click noise you are talking about
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Very cool. Best of luck. Ocracoke does seem to get hit the hardest a majority of the time from what I hear.

The clicking noise occurs when opening and closing the bolt. It's especially loud when closing
 
From around 1894 to well into the 70's, the 30/30 was highly regarded as a woods rifle for deer/blackbear. I think that the 7/08 with modern ammo should perform much better. If i were to hunt anything, i would preferr a rifle that i am familiar with, as long as it was adequately powerful.

Well into world war 2, most military sniper rifles wore 4X or smaller scopes. I belive that the russian rifles had 2.5 or 3.5X scopes. Unless i was hunting in the wide open spaces, i would preferr a 4X scope.

I think that you will find that almost all of the Browning rifles, (excepting a couple .22 and their lever action) come with no iron sights. I think that the majority of modern center-fire rifles come with a slick barrel, not even tapped for sights.

The only person that i know who ever shot a bear, shot 2, in 2 consecutive hunts. The only rifle she ever shoots for anything is the .243 Winchester. regards Henry
 
Robino, great hog! I agree with you on slugs. They have good stopping power on soft skinned game, but a standard rifled lead slug doesn't hold together against big bones, hide, or cartilage. I guided a junior hunt a couple of years ago that was slug only. The kid I was guiding shot a fat 220 lb. sow a little far back. He went to dispatch her at point blank range with his 12 guage, hit her just left of the neck in the plate, and that slug fragmented into a hundred pieces and never penetrated the plate. After that, I started using a rifled barrel on my 12 gauge with Nosler sabots.
 
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