ML Bullet for Brown/Grizzly Bear

[huntnfool]

Any suggestions from experience?

Been considering Barnes, Swift Aframe, Hornady MonoFlex and FTX, and Precision Rifle's Dead Center. Wish Nosler had a Partition...just wondering if the Ballistic Tip ML bullet will do the trick.

My wife would like me to come home safe and in one piece.

 

[Thebear_78]

I have used the Barnes on moose and after seeing its performance that would be my choice. I was loading 300 expander mz. With blackhorn 209 last year while brown bear hunting but a Forrest fire screwed my season last spring.


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[gerry]

I have hunted grizzly but have no experience with muzzle loader bullets, with that said I would look at the Barnes and Swift first based on their reputations in regular rifles.

 

[Thebear_78]

I played around with several heavy 452 and even some 458 caliber bullets in appropriate sabots. I tried the speer 300gr JSP, barnes buster 300gr, and Hornady XTP 300gr mag. The barnes just shot the best out of all the 452 caliber bullet options. The speer 458 350gr hot core and 400gr barnes buster where very difficult to load, accuracy was pretty good and I”m sure they would hold together but the 300gr barnes expander MZ won out because it was far and away the most accurate.

I have shot several whitetails and one very large cow moose with the 250gr Expander MZ barnes sabot. After watching that flying shotglass punch thru a big heavy shoulder and out the far side only losing a few petals I wouldnt hesitate to shoot just about anything with them. I went with the 300gr for my brown bear load because lets face it bigger is better when it comes to toothy critters .

These two were the most accurate the 300gr 452 speer on the left and 300gr barnes on the right.



My encore showing the accuracy potential of the 300gr barnes and blackhorn 209 using small rifle magnum primers in an adapter.

 

[huntnfool]

I appreciate all of the input. I was leaning towards Barnes and Swift...just wanted some suggestions.

Thebear_78, Outstanding groups. I shoot an Omega .50 cal. Had it about 12 years. Sounds like you might be using the Vari-Flame adapters. I've used them for years with Triple 7 using small rifle primers.

Noticed you are using small magnum rifle primers for the BH 209. Do you have the original adapters? If that's the case, I'll get some small rifle magnums and use them with BH 209. The new ones are for large rifle primers.

 

[Thebear_78]

I have the vari-flame II, using large rifle primers. I’m not sure why I was thinking small rifle primers. I had to go out and check, they are the silver 22 hornet rim sized adapters and where in fact large rifle. I was using fed 215 primers with the blackhorn 209. sorry for the confusion, too many irons in the fire when it comes to guns and shooting

 

[huntnfool]

No problem. I might just try some small magnum rifle primers to see what they'll do with the BH. I've used Fiocchi 209 primers (one of the coolest) without any hang or mis-fires.

I can tell you that the vari-flame adapters shrunk my groups considerably. In fact, I just re-primed some today. I may step up to the new one, like you have, pretty soon.

 

[Thebear_78]

beartooth bullets makes a 44 cal hardcast with no lube grooves for use with a sabot. I have always wanted to try them out but haven’t gotten around to it.

http://beartoothbullets.com/bulletselec ... ain=44.htm

 

[huntnfool]

Cool! Thank you. I've been on their site but it's been awhile, had forgotten about them. I'll give these a try and see how they work. Thanks again.

 

[Thebear_78]

I almost forgot about this place. I really looked quite hard at these harvester 400gr .452 hard casts for my brown bear last spring but never got around to it. They are fairly inexpensive and probably worth a look.
https://www.harvestermuzzleloading.com/ ... &Itemid=18

 

[huntnfool]

Thanks again Thebear_78. I never gave much thought to using cast bullets. The Precision Dead Center is a cast bullet I shot for many years. Don't know if it's a hard cast.

I haven't completely decided on where and who to go with. I'm not a "book" hunter and don't carry a tape measure. I've looked at guides from the Norton Sound area to the Chugach Mountains to Bristol Bay area (units 17 and 19). Brown or Grizzly is fine.

Do you have any suggestions on areas or reputable guides to recommend? I'm about 3 years out from being able to do this. Never been to Alaska. Trying to keep the total trip cost to around $20K +/-.

Paul

 

[Dr. Vette]

Those cast options are interesting. I would see how well they shoot for you and go from there.

We will be muzzleloading for elk this October in New Mexico. I'm leaning heavily towards a Barnes, with Scorpion PT Gold and Hornady MonoFlex being my other two options.

I've been watching a lot of muzzleloader elk hunts on YouTube and elsewhere recently. I am amazed by how often it takes 2-3 shots with a muzzleloader to put down an elk; of course, maybe I've been lucky with a rifle so far. Having said that, I want a bullet that's going to perform NOW. Perusing forums and looking for first hand experience suggests that the Barnes bullets are the best ones out there. While elk and bear are not the same, I think we are both interested in bullets that stay together and do their job on the first shot.

If you try the cast options please update us on how they work.

 

[huntnfool]

I will be glad to post the results after I give them a try.

 

[gerry]

If a bullet stands up well to a moose or elk it will be good for grizzly. Moose and elk have heavy bones and a lot of mass which can be tough on bullets. Those cast bullets in the link look interesting......

 

[Thebear_78]

After watching the performance of the Barnes on big moose shoulders I'm sure it will work perfectly on bears


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[huntnfool]

I appreciate all of the input! This is by far the most friendly forum on the net. Lots of good folks and knowledge too!

 

[Thebear_78]

Gave the old smokepole a facelift. Put a set of laminate stocks on that I hadn't used in some time.

After a dozen rounds with the 300gr speer JSP AT 2178fps I remembered why I took them off in the first place. That thin hard rubber pad is brutal on the shoulder after a few rounds. Took it straight to the shop to put a grind on pad, should tame this brute a bit.

The front ramrod holder broke off while shooting but I think I can get my buddy to tig it back on. It's still shooting good though, this emwas my last set of three at 100. I can't really do any better with peeps than this anyway.

Come on spring bears!


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[DrMike]

Quite a fine group at a hundred. It will certainly do for most animals you would ever want to take with a smokepole.

 

[SJB358]

Gave the old smokepole a facelift. Put a set of laminate stocks on that I hadn't used in some time.

After a dozen rounds with the 300gr speer JSP AT 2178fps I remembered why I took them off in the first place. That thin hard rubber pad is brutal on the shoulder after a few rounds. Took it straight to the shop to put a grind on pad, should tame this brute a bit.

The front ramrod holder broke off while shooting but I think I can get my buddy to tig it back on. It's still shooting good though, this emwas my last set of three at 100. I can't really do any better with peeps than this anyway.

Come on spring bears!


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What's your load TB? Those 300 grain Speers are terrific bullets.

 

[Thebear_78]

84gr of blackhorn 209 by weight not volume. You get a nice bump in velocity using the 215 mag rifle primers over 209 primers


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