Results are in...200g Nosler Partition VS Wisconsin Black Bear

Dultimatpredator

Dultimatpredator

Well-known member
If you check with my post about a month ago I was contemplating on using my 300RUM with 200g Nosler partitions I loaded to 3100fps...here are the results. I hit the bear in the front shoulder at approx 30 yards, it did a backwards summersalt, got back up to its feet and managed another 30 yards before it expired and making about 7 loud roars!(I didn't burn any hair off by the way
lol.gif
) In the photo you can see where the bullet entered, it exited an inch behind its shoulder on the other side center mass. The shouldler plate shattered and passed into its lungs. I figured the shot would have put it down where it stood. I didn't have a scale but the bear was a male and measured 7" 1" from its nose to the rear claws. I'm thinking a softer bullet that would have expanded more rapidly would have kept the bear from going anywhere. Next time I'm going to load up some 180g Core Locts for the job. The "in" hole was bullet sized and the "out" hole in the hyde was approx the size of a fifty cent piece, but on the inside of the animal was a different story... when the bullet was exiting the rib area it left a hole about the size of a coffee can. I'm happy with the results but I expected DRT performance from the bullet and shot placement combination.

DSC01607.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have never really thought that a shoulder shot bear would likely be DRT. Maybe with a big enough gun and a small enough bear, but still is that a realistic expectation?
 
I wouldn't switch to a softer bullet at that range and speed a softer bullet could have basically melted/smeared and you could have been worse off all together.(Nothing against core-lockt, I actually use them when I can't swing the price of partitions and the like)

That is why bullets like the partition were developed.
Partition site If you look at that link, and scroll down just a bit, you can see that likely your bullet looked like something between the two on the far right. So it expanded a lot, but maintained enough mass to punch through the far side.

If you had done everything the same, but shot that bear with a .338RUM and probably wouldn't have made any difference, but in slightly different circumstances a .243 could have bang-flopped the bruin. It depends on if the critter just breathed and all kinds of little things that are beyond our control.

Mostly my opinion, and if you still choose to change that's fine saves you some cash. The studies done on why some critters bang flop and others don't are fairly inconclusive other than stating that the caliber or power of the weapon has little to do with it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: metalmangeler I have never really thought that a shoulder shot bear would likely be DRT. Maybe with a big enough gun and a small enough bear, but still is that a realistic expectation?

No it is not. Bears are tough tenacious animals and often do not just drop in their tracks even when hit very well.

I would not change bullets or anything else. "At what point in the animals death did the bullet fail?" is a question I have often heard.
 
Originally Posted By: metalmangeler I have never really thought that a shoulder shot bear would likely be DRT. Maybe with a big enough gun and a small enough bear, but still is that a realistic expectation?

I'm with you... I think the shooter/hunter got excellent performance on what appears to be a pretty darned big black bear. Going lighter and faster next time is going in the wrong direction - IMHO. Anyway, beautiful bear!!!
 
Originally Posted By: sumrifleOriginally Posted By: metalmangeler I have never really thought that a shoulder shot bear would likely be DRT. Maybe with a big enough gun and a small enough bear, but still is that a realistic expectation?

No it is not. Bears are tough tenacious animals and often do not just drop in their tracks even when hit very well.

I would not change bullets or anything else. "At what point in the animals death did the bullet fail?" is a question I have often heard.



I'm with you on this, the last time I was drawn was 2000'. In that season I watched 13 bear harvested over dogs all of which none dropped at the shot accept for mine. I used my 300 RUM with the orginal Swift Scirroco 180g bullet that opened up way wider and quicker than the revised II's. I hit it in the shoulder and the bullet zippered the skin apart about a foot and a half long, it looked like someone started skinning it from its front paw to the other side under the bear's arm pit. At the shot that bear spun 180 degrees the air from the branch it was sitting on, hit the ground, and never moved. The bear weighed 250 lbs and was approx 20 yards up the tree when I shot it. All the other bear shot that year dropped from the tree they were in, got up off the ground and ran or they stayed in the tree and were shot two to three times before falling out and kicking around before expiring. Most posters have said bear are easy to kill...I would assume its because they take short 30 yard plus bursts and then stop or walk before expiring where deer can clear a country mile before dropping if not hit correctly. All I know is I saw more bear get up after dropping anywheres from 20 feet to 30 yards in the air after being shot correctly and run like they werent even hit than I have seen deer run after being shot my entire life. The shooters that year were using anything from 12 gauge slugs to 180g 30-06's. They're some tuff critters.
 
Last edited:
With that kind of velocity and close distance I would stay with a tough bullet. The front of a partition is fairly soft but the rear holds together making it a great choice.
 
I'm wondering if a Hornady Interbond would react like the old scirroco? Has anyone tried them. I agree the partition is the right choice at this close range for the energy it was pushing. I just figured it would have slammed it to the ground. The shoulder plate shattered and popped both lungs. The bullet did was it needed to do. The bullet went completely through the animal. There was only a couple of little chunks of bloody meat where the animal stood where it was shot and after about 20 yards I found a couple of pencil sized spots untill I found the bear. It started bleeding a couple of feet before it expired. I have read that a bigger .35 plus diameter bullet will keep the fat from clogging up the exit hole for a better blood flow if trailing is needed.
 
Last edited:
the only way i would change to an interbond or accubond is if i was shooting long range and could not get the partitions to shoot good enough. the partitions are the perfect choice. i guided a guy to a 5 foot/200 pound bear his 270 ( 150 corelokt) shot at 57 yards right in the chest (like yours) only made the bear spin and bite itself along with growling. luckily it gave him time to shoot again wich tipped the bear over.
 
Nice looking bear!

For round info I had just about identical results with a big 450 lb black, right down to the somersault with a 7mm rm with a 175gr Winchester PP (Dime hole in 50 cent hole out) I was aiming dead on at the chest and he just started to turn around right as I was squeezing the trigger, thus the same shoulder/ribs and out the opposite side hind end/leg Tough friggin animal, he had to have been dead as he ran away 10 yards or so. I personally prefer a hard round for skinning. You lose a lot of energy when you blow through them but you don't risk the backside exit being the size of a grapefruit. That said, thats why I got a .243 so I could use a vmax or something to that effect. Jury's still out on that one.
 
Bears equal PREMIUM BULLETS. They are as tough,heavy boned, and thick muscled. You will not like tracking a wounded one. They bite and scratch and claw!!!!!!!!!!
 
I'd have to agree your choice of bullet worked fine, I'd may dissagree with choice of caliber though! But you like recoil obviously! For your hunt a 30-30 would have been a better choice! Just saying
smile.gif
Please take no offense I'm just not a magnum fan!
 
Last edited:
Haveing shot only one black bear with a 300 H&H Mag had same results shot 180 gr.Win factory load shot then ran 30yds and expired. Bears are tough the other two I saw shot one did the same short run after being shot with a .270 Weatherby Mag. The third was shot with a 340 Weatherby Mag and it fell dead in tracks.
 
First of all, congratulations on a really nice bear.

While drop-dead shots happen often enough and is something we all like, there is no real rule on that pertaining to bullets. I've had deer run from well-placed shots from some big caliber rifles, and had them drop in their tracks from a 100 gr. .243. That's just the way it is.

As others have mentioned, it seems the bullet peformed as it should. Going to a softer bullet will not insure that the next big bear will drop on the spot. It just doesn't happen that way. Indeed, a softer bullet may not give the penetration on a big bear that you really need.

If you really want to switch bullets for your next bear hunt, then try some Barnes TSX. Having said that, don't expect drop-dead peformance with any "magical" bullet. But, as to proper penetration, expansion and getting the job done, the bullet you are using will serve you well.

Good luck on your next one, and I hope you get the performance you are hoping for. Just be prepared for some disappointment if drop-dead everytime is what you are searching for.
 
Originally Posted By: 454 PumaI'd have to agree your choice of bullet worked fine, I'd may dissagree with choice of caliber though! But you like recoil obviously! For your hunt a 30-30 would have been a better choice! Just saying
smile.gif
Please take no offense I'm just not a magnum fan!

Your not alone on the recoil factor from the other posts. I had a KDF brake installed on my 300 RUM years ago and it has a felt recoil compaired to a 243 with 150g bullets and lighter. It has about the same recoil, or less as my 30-06 7600 with the 200g load I was using. That being said you dont want to have to take a follow up shot with the gun from the excess noise.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top