Annual Caribou hunt

[Glen Ring]

Once again I'm with Brent. I appreciate you Brent....you're always positive .

[BFD]

Okay Cody. But there is nothing phony about my posts. I respect any man's decision on what to shoot. Furthermore, he didn't bring up his choice of rifles until folks started jumping in his face about it.

And I don't think anyone is especially picking on you either. "(especially me)"???? BS.

Go hunt in the willows in Alaska with a singleshot if you want. Bagwell can teach you how to machinegun with a Sharps will straddling some blowdown. When you get back, we can compare notes again.



PS. This note is not "phony positive" and that's a good thing.

[mdeland]

Aw heck guys, I enjoy it all, even contrary views as it livens things up and I like my thinking to be challenged any way to see if it holds up under fire. I've adopted a saying in the last few years that is so true," Why there ain't no end to the things I don't know" ! Still on certain issues like proper armament , in bear country, while sleeping on the ground with them an on their turf with a load of meat on your back in the alders and willows, one needs to stay vigilant.
I always carry a 4 inch S&W with Kieth cast loads any where I go in game country, even the crapper. A long gun inside the tent is useless as tits on a boar hog.
When bear hit a tent they usually jump on it and bite the lumps (you) and a short powerful hand gun is your only chance. Same deal in the alders with a load of meat on your back. The Smith is with me at all times in the raft as well because on like a long gun you don't lay it down when your hands are full. Gutting animals is particularly a vulnerable time because your rifle will be leaning up against a rock or log some distance away when the curtain drops. That's exactly what happened to Chris ( my hunting pard) and I two years ago. The blacky boar almost had Chris which surprised us both. Black bear usually are timid but don't count on it, they kill more people in Alaska than browns do almost every year.!
I've read the same thing about bear spray and insist my kids keep it handy on their many hikes etc. The trick with bear spray is holding off until the last second so you can hit them in the face. Most folks deploy it way to soon in my opinion. I saw a video once of a bear rolling in bear spray that had been deployed on a bush. In a tent scenario it would be foolishness as your the only one who would be gassed!

[Glen Ring]

I have been carrying a Pistol, Modern pistol with smokeless powder, to the crapper for as long as I can remember.
Of all the places to get killed that is the LAST place you want to be found when the crime scene guys start taking pictures.
Yes...those pics are passed around and there will be some funny comments...so carry that Pistol to the crapper!

[mdeland]

Just don't leave it in the brush when you hike up your drawer's!

[Woody]

The only bear I've taken was with my .50 cal Hawken ML. One shot at 30 feet from a raised stand over bait. I did have the "safety net" though. A 1911A1 with 230 round nose on my hip. I've seen them climb trees and I can't reload a ML all that quick. The only other dangerous game hunted was a mountain lion. I used my Colt SAA in 44-40. I have no problem with Mike hunting with whatever he wants. If I could afford an Alaskan hunt, I would bring one of my original bpc rifles, but I would also have a modern big bore wheel gun accessible. Why a black powder cartridge? It will do the job cleanly, and it is what I enjoy. So do it your way Mike and post the pics, I too enjoy them.

Woody

[mdeland]

Yeah, bear do all sorts of things you would never expect them to. I like the one about diving underwater to escape a bear then watch them while fishing stick there head under water and come up with a salmon. Might work in deep white water but they swim way better than a human does.

[Coltsmoke]

I really like all my BP firearms, but that is not what will be in my hands if there is a good chance I'll be in a gunfight or a bear attack. Someone else will not own my rifles because a bear ate my but while I was pushing a bore pig with a cleaning rod.

[bobw]

Like I said before it's Mike's choice, but why the hell would you build a 338 wildcat on a clunky 98 Mauser, an FN would have been the way to go... bobw

[Kurt]

This subject comes up quite often on what caliber .45-70 or what ever to use on not use for hunting big game. Do a search sometime on Google

I read an article once where a nt cake took a .22 rimfire pistol to a zoo and shot an Elephant with it and it killed it.
I been up in Alaska several times and seen some of those big silver backs, once when I was in a crick looking for gold when one was moving in the bush above me and my 1187 Rem shot gun loaded with 3" Brenneke slugs 50 feet away on the 4 wheeler. Thank God he kept going in the direction he was heading and I was slowly backing up for the shot gun.

I don't care what one uses for hunting and I will not tell them what they should use. IO had several HP rifles .338, .300 win Mag, 06 .35 Wheelen and I read a report Randy Garrett https://www.garrettcartridges.com/penetration.html testing penetration with the .45-70 and the .458 Win mag. that made me to do my own testing using the .300 Win and the .338.. Granted that he uses souped up .45-70 rounds and not the black powder like I shoot but I used a .535 gr creedmoor nosed PP loaded with 70 gr of 2F black and the .45-70 out penetrated both .300 and the .338. The .338 went deeper then the .300.

Me personally if I was to go after one of those Bears up there in the thick willows the 1187 with a full tube of Brenneke would be my choice.

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[mdeland]

I have no experience with lead bullets on game other than the bear I shot off Chris two years ago and they went through like he was made of hot cheese. 250grain Kieth bullets of water dropped wheel weights, BHN about 14. Out of my 4 inch 629 Smith and Wesson they go and honest 1200 fps.
I killed 8 moose and some black bears before retiring the Ruger .338 Mag using 275 grain Speer hot cores and all were complete chest pass throughs. They would go in bullet size and come out the other side a bit bigger than the diameter of a quarter. Penetration is important but is not the whole picture and once the bullet has gone through it doesn't do any more killing.
The .338 Mag is a proven Alaskan game killer, because it shoots flat and carries good weight for a high sectional density which translates to penetration. Nosler partitions are still the bullet by which all other hunting pills are measured but I like the Speer hot cores and more recently the 225 Hornady interlocs.

[mdeland]

I had this action re heat treated and the rings ground to my specs, welded on a new bolt handle, put 09 Mauser Argentine bottom metal on and installed it in a Kevlar custom light weight stock. It has a Model 70 style swing safety, low profile scope mounts with a pop up aperture in the rear scope block and a banded-ramped front sight. With sling, 1x4 Leopold scope with Latigo sling, magazine loaded, weighs about 8.5 lbs and I wouldn't have it any lighter as it about snatches me out from under my hat with 210 Nosler partitions or 225 Hornady Interlocs.
No, a standard Interarms FN is not close to the same league this gun is in. I'd have to do a lot of work to bring a standard Interarms action up to the same speed as the one on this rifle.

[rdnck]

You should have paid more attention to the performance of the 250 grain hard cast Keith bullets on the bear. Two shots at 1200 fps and two pass throughs was telling you something. A hardcast 480 grain flatnosed bullet at 1250 out of a 45-70 or a hardcast 520 grain Govt bullet out of the same rifle equals a complete side to side pass through every time. The 520 will shoot through from end to end. I have seen bison and tough African game--Black wildebeast --shot through lengthwise with a 45-70. I have shot all the way through zebra with both the 45-110 and the 45-70 using black powder and cast bullets. I have never recovered a 520 grain bullet from any animal I have shot. They always go completely through from any angle at any distance. I have a LOT more faith in the performance of hard cast bullets than I do jacketed, as I have seen friends have jacketed bullets come apart. rdnck.

[BFD]

And I've seen a 535 gr .45 paper patch from a .45-100 stop in a springbok - TWICE. Which is to say you cannot predict the outcome of any shot animal with certainty.

Give it a rest.

Ps. Springbok are lucky to weigh 100 lbs dripping wet.

[rdnck]

That's what happens when you use 40-1. That and 5 shots on a moose when you can't get a passthrough. Learn how to load your rifle. rdnck