best black bear caliber for a youth

G

geode

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I'm going to take my son on a hunt next fall for bear. He has taken deer with both a .50 cal muzzleloader shooting 80 grains and a .243win. I also own a .270WSM which he has never shot.
He is currently 12 and will be 13 by next fall's hunt. He shoots alot of trap with a 20 gauge, and while I'm not extremely concerned about an adversion to the recoil of the .270WSM, it does pack quite a wallup and he may not enjoy it.
I would think the .243 would be on the light side for a good sized bear if we'd get lucky enough to see one.
I'm thinking this might be a good opportunity to add a rifle! Any recommendations on a caliber adequate for the possibility of a 400# black bear (likely less, but who knows!) that might be reasonable for a young man to shoot, recoil wise?
Off the top of my head, .308 is probably the obvious choice but I am open to something alittle more "exotic" just for the fun factor.

thanks
p.s. I do reload alittle
 
Good advice Rusty the 250 savage is one of the most under rated and unsung calibers goin. It will keep killin chit the critics say it shouldn't.


Take care, Willie
 
That .50 cal muzzleloader would work. But, since he really needs a new rifle
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, I'd lean towards the .308. While the .25s are nice, you don't gain that much over the .243, and you'd still probably end up needing a rifle of a larger bore later. Why not just fill that gap now with the tried and true .308? If recoil is a concern, start him out with some reduced recoil loads (factory or handloads) with 110 or 125 grain bullets. Then, when it's time to load for bear, move on up to a full load with premium 150 or 165 grain bullets and go bear hunting!
 
i would lean towards something bigger than a 25 caliber.

i shot a bear in 2011 with my 338 win mag. first shot was a kill shot, but he took off. second shot was also a kill shot, but he kept going, third shot stopped him, also a kill shot. i fired a fourth for good measure as he was only about 20 feet from me when he stopped. all those shots were at less than 50 yards, only one exited. they were full power loads that i had loaded for an alaska trip, 225gr bullets that were picture perfect mushrooms.
 
7mm-08 or .308... I like the versatility of both. I favor the 7mm only out of personal preference for that caliber. 150 gr Nosler Partitions from my 7mm RM are very lethal on everything I have shot with them. I am sure A-Frames or some of the "bonded" 7mm like Accubonds would be just as satisfactory, but I am using the Partitions.
 
Bear really aren't much tougher than a whitetail to kill. Two holes is nice due to a lack bloodtrail at times with the buggers, but a well-placed shot is a dead bear. We've got a couple of 500#'ers and one 600#'er here in PA, and two were one shot kills with 7 RM's, one was a few shots with 30-30's, but it was running in thick laurel, and I'm not personally savvy to the shot placement on that one. If the kid's good with that 243, get some premium bullets that shoot well in the gun, and go forth. If you're looking for a good reason for a new gun for him (or you!), anything that is considered a good deer caliber has killed tons of bear. For a youth caliber, or beyond, I'm a fan of a 260 or 7-08. A good 140 gr (or monolithic) bullet in the 260 will put a hole clean thru about anything in the medium game range, and then some.
 
thanks for the opinions, everyone. right now i'm leaning towards either the 7mm-08 or the .308, or the .50 cal muzzleloader we already have. but that's no fun. a new hunt needs a new gun! I've got some time to decide. the hunt isn't till next sept.
 
I know it gets said often around here, but shot placement is the key... I know numerous bear have been killed with a 22 rifle, along with virtually every other caliber under the sun. The 243 and 270 WSM are both capable rounds, even on big bear - IF - shots are well placed. By the same respect, if you hit him in the foot, a .50 BMG isn't going to bring him down.

If you feel you can get into effective range, the big bore calibers 45-70, 444 Marlin, 450 Marlin afford awesome stopping power for big bear. And, while one might think they'd also offer a lot of recoil, they aren't really as bad as you might think.

Speaking from experience... I was 13 the first time I grabbed a gun and hit the swamp, shot my first bear when I was 14, using a borrowed Remington 742 carbine in 30-06, shooting 180 grain pointed soft-points. Shot a 235 lb. sow when I was 15, and shot a 401 pounder when I was 16, using an old Marlin lever action 30-30 with 170 grain soft points. Back in those days I weighed a whopping 125 - 130 lbs... And, I have not ever once, even begun to recall recoil, on any of those shots. There is a whole lot I do remember about each of those hunts, don't get me wrong, but recoil isn't one of them.
 
What kind of hunt & where? Bait, hounds, stalk? With bait & hounds shots are very close.

With a calm hunter and close range hardly anything beats the majic neck shot. One guy I know shot his largest bear with a 22-250, right in the neck.
 
I prefer a big hole with an exit when hunting black bear. I have harvested one with bow and two with my 300 ultra. A 308 diameter bullet would be a great choice since the bears fat likes to clog up the entrance and exit holes. I would suggest a 20 gauge slug or a 35 rem... a 220g bullet or a 20 gauge over bait will make a heck of a hole without a ton of recoil. My dad is recoil sensitive and shot a 243 on whitetail for years but didn't like that the 243 didn't stop em in their tracks. I switched him over the the 35 rem. the 243 and 35 rem have approx the same amount of recoil but with a 35 rem there's a way bigger hole and more knock down power. The 35 DRTs deer like the 243 dose on yotes.
 
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I'll second the .35 rem, lots of knockdown power with little recoil. It's the only deer rifle I have that regularly puts deer down without taking a step.
 
I have two 35 rems currently...a limited edition rem 7600 and a 100th anniversary marlin lever action. They are nasty little calipers. I just purchased a savage 220 and did some research on the remington accutips I'm shooting. I googled a pic posted of a black bear that was skinned down showing it passing through both shoulder blades. That gun has very little recoil with this round.
 
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if the kid is around 100# Id slap a 30-30 in his hands. if hes smaller a 243 will do just fine. Or why not spend $250 and get him a H&R Ultra Slug hunter in 20 ga (rifled barrel) and let him shoot slugs since hes used to the shotgun already.
 
A 7mm-08 would suit him well IMHO, and its always good to add a rifle to the stable. However if you chose to use what you own, the 243 would work fine on blackies as they don't take any more killin than whitetails. Just have home practice and use a quality bullet . But as I already said, its never bad to get a new rifle
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on deer i have him shoot the .243 with sierra 85 grain bthp which, in my 30 yrs experience with the round almost always means, DRT. I'm alittle less confident with bear but i LOVE it for whitetails. any thoughts on that? He certainly could shoot slugs out of the 20 gauge. we'd be hunting over bait.
 
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