Is the 30-30 a good bear hunting round

[Rapp66]

Does anybody use a 30-30 bear hunting.And if so what grain bullet works best? I have 170grn sp. is there something better for that caliber.

[motley man]

It will do the job, but make sure you don't hit shoulder bone. Placement of bullet is key to good knock down.

[LightningBG]

I would shy away from the 30-30 for a bear, especially at any kind of distance. Better off with a 12ga shotgun or a higher powered ~.30 caliber round.

It's certainly doable with a 30-30, but it doesn't thrill me to track a wounded predator.

[Nathansdad]

All the bear I have taken have been with a 30-30. Never had an issue. Shot placement is everything. Accuracy with any gun is more important than caliber.

[harvey lee]

My father shot many deer and bear with a 30-30.

I can easily kill bear with my bow so there is no reason the 30-30 would nopt do a fine job. Zero it in well and pick a good bullet. One really does not have a long shot with bear anyways.

[LightningBG]

So. Does anyone think it is a "good" bear caliber? Or just sufficient? Cause I can take a deer with a .22 but I'm gonna make it my choice given another option.

[certified jumbo]

I would say a 30 30 is a good bear round.

[Gordie]

30-30 is a good cailber for bear.. its been a round that has stood the test of time . There have been alot of bear taken with the 30-30 when this was the gun of choice. the animal hasnt changed a neither has the gun, well very much. Now ammo for this gun has changed and for the better

Are there better choice ..Yes for sure there are.

making a clean accurate shot is what will put the animal down.

If I had to choose a gun I doubt it would be a 30-30 but if it was all I had to choose from I would not worry when I had to squeeze the trigger.

[fishuhalik]

probably not the first round i'd choose but seeing as thousands of bear have been killed with it i'd say it'll do just fine!

[vman11]

Why wouldn't it be a good round?

Thousands of MN deer hunters go into the woods with a 30-30 every deer season. While I'm not arguing it's the best caliber out there, it is very common and seems to do the job.

Harvey said it best - your longest shot at a bear should be pretty short, probably less than 30 yards. In most Northern MN deep woods deer hunting situations, a 60 yard shot is a relatively long shot. At the range you will probably be hunting bear nearly any accurate high power rifle will do.

[harvey lee]

So. Does anyone think it is a "good" bear caliber? Or just sufficient? Cause I can take a deer with a .22 but I'm gonna make it my choice given another option.

Not sure where the direction of your post is headed.

Yes, it would be a fine round, maybe not as good as my 300 mag with 200 grain bullets but then most would not match up to that.

Bear are not that hard to kill. One does not need a super-dooper magnum to take a bear down. As I stated, I do it with an arrow.

[Rapp66]

Thanks alot everyone for your input.Im a bow hunter myself just trying to find a gun for my girlfriend to use this fall bear hunting.Shes not a very big person so i thought the 30-30 would work. Any other suggestions?

[fishuhalik]

Thanks alot everyone for your input.Im a bow hunter myself just trying to find a gun for my girlfriend to use this fall bear hunting.Shes not a very big person so i thought the 30-30 would work. Any other suggestions?

if you're getting a new rifle, that opens up a new can of worms. i think most assumed you had a 30-30 & you were wondering if that would work. if you're purchasing a new gun, i'd get her a .270. they're already pretty low recoil, & if you put on a good recoil pad it'll kick less than a 30-30. but that's just my .02

[SandPoint]

My first two bears were shot with a 30-30 using 170 grain bullets. Combined the bears didn't go more than 20 yards, that being said my stands are set up about 20 yards from the bait( we also use them for archery ). Just like what has been said before shot placement is everything.

[NoWiser]

If you are looking to borrow a gun and a 30-30 is what is available, I think it would definitely be adequate. If you are buying one, then I would maybe consider a more versatile round. The .270 is great, but may kick a little much if she is sensitive to it. Any thoughts from people on a 7mm-08?? I think this could be a great little gun for a smaller person to own. Heck, I'd love to have one myself.

[LightningBG]

What are people's thoughts on using a semi auto to lessen felt recoil?

Harvey, wasn't trying to go anywhere with the .22 comment. Just saying that adequate and ideal often aren't the same thing. And I was meaning to say I "wouldn't" make a 22 my choice given other options.

[fishuhalik]

not a bad idea nowiser. they're a little spendy, but I've shot an ar-10 which is a .308 and it felt like less recoil than my 25-06, which if you're wondering is next to nothing. my wife is 5' 1" and about 135 and hasn't shot much at all and she thought it was a ball to shoot. Maybe something in a .25 caliber would work, but then you're gonna run into the same knock-down power deficiencies (sp?) of the 30-30. I've also shot a TC (i forget the model but it's the one with the rubber inserts in the stock) in a...i think 300 something?... that had very manageable recoil.

[Gordie]

With al the recoil reduceing stuff on the market now a days from the bullets to the recoil pads, just about any gun can be made to have managable recoil.

I had shot a buddys 300 win mag in a bolt action. I belive it was an inter arms rifle with a limb saver recoil pad on it and it seemed far less than my 30-06 fpr recoil.

[mainbutter]

Ditto on gordie. My affordable savage 111 in 300 win mag has simple padding, and the recoil is extraordinarily manageable, I don't notice that I've shot it 15 seconds afterwards. I'm 5'7'' and just over 170lbs.

I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Kodiak once. The owners were teachers who ran the B&B for summer income, the husband rented a boat from a bank and also did guided fishing. Our room had the skull of a boar Kodiak brown on display, apparently the son of the B&B owners had his first hunt for one and took it with a 300 win mag. I also know they don't shoot those things up close usually. Just food for thought, and makes me think that ~170 grains of lead in any caliber travelling at anything over 2000 FPS must be plenty to take down a black bear.

[LightningBG]

Just to give people an idea of the energy of the various calibers at range... (I know there are other high performace rounds that will vary the specs...)

[jay83196]

Anything can work I know somebody who used one it killed it but if I were going to buy something that wouldn't be it, more power is better in any case but the placement is more important. I would shoot 20 ga over that but will kick more. You don't want her to be afraid of it or she won't shoot it well and a bad shot with anything is bad. Diameter of bullet makes big difference ( so much fat/hide the hole plugs easy and bigger hole bleeds more) arrows work well because big cutting hole and doesn't spook them so much they don't run as far and arrow moving around if not a pass through causes damage hitting things or animals pulling at it etc and bleeds a lot. Not sure on 243 the smaller diameter would not be my first choice either, more power much flatter flight but distance isn't an issue when baiting anyway. Good luck!

[Rapp66]

Hey guys thanks alot for your help.We got her a.308 win. in a youth model,and believe it or not recoil isnt an issue.It has a soft butt pad and she shoots it well.This should be enough bullet for any black bear i hope 180gr. hornady.If ya no of any better round please let me know.

[jay83196]

Hornady makes a good round I wouldn't use ballistic tips, I used federal premium noslar partition last year in my rifle had big hole and good penetration.

[Gordie]

Hey guys thanks alot for your help.We got her a.308 win. in a youth model,and believe it or not recoil isnt an issue.It has a soft butt pad and she shoots it well.This should be enough bullet for any black bear i hope 180gr. hornady.If ya no of any better round please let me know.

Thats a great choice I also shoot a .308 and love it The 180 should be plenty of bullet to take down a bear and you now have a great deer gun as well for her.

Good luck hunting

[Random guy]

The .308 with a good weight retaining bullet will work just fine. Just make sure the bullet goes to the right spot as with any gun.

Some great posts here but as a bear guide that has to track wounded bear from “ super guns” sporting all the coolest stuff I would like to add this:

1) The more lead the better. If you can break the 200 grain of lead mark any bear is going to drop.

2) Range and trajectory issues in Minnesota is a waste of time and effort. I have seen one bear shot over 30 yards and that hunter pulled the shot with a 300 win mag and we never did recover the animal after 14 hours of tracking. The bear showed back up on the bait the following night. Powerful guns still don’t work if you can’t hit the target.

3) The more bullet retention the better. Jacketed and partitioned bullets is where it’s at. I have seen bear shot with hollow points and other hard expanding bullets that barely broke the first layer of fat at 20 yards. This includes a 7mm mag at 30 yards. Myth Busters uses ballistic gel to stop bullets, bears are 300 lbs of ballistics gel wrapped in leather and covered in fur.

4) Stay away from wicked fast rifles with light loads that simply blow up on impact. We want a semi truck hitting them not a sports car.

5) Simple is great on the bear bait. Scopes, fancy sights guns that can shoot a mile are overkill. I have seen many bear taken with single bead bird guns launching slugs.

That said some of my favorite guns for bear that normally drop them on the spot. When these guns show up in camp I feel relieved as there will not be a night of tracking. In no particular order.

.12 gauge slug

.20 gauge slug

.50 cal muzzle loader