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Hunting & Fishing 260 rem and black bear? **Update w/ Pic**

athanasios23

athanasios23

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Dec 28, 2009
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New York, USA
Headed on a black bear hunt in Canada. Taking a 300 win mag with 180 gr ammo. I really want to use my new to me 260 rem. I know there are threads that show people killing everything under the sun with there 260's. Just never saw a black bear taken with one. I know Mr. Sinclair has taken grizzly's with his, but he's a whole different class of hunter. This is my first bear hunt. If anyone has some first hand experience, it would be appreciated.


Was debating on the 120 Noslar ballistic tip, 130 gr ELD, or 140 gr Game King. All factory and was going to take the one that shoots the best.

So I ended up using the 300WM. I took both to Canada and pulled out the 300 WM first. While hunting I told myself I would use the 260 rem the next day. At around 7:45 PM this bear walked out. Not a giant but I couldn't be happier. It's my first bear and hope to get back to hunting them soon. They are not present where I hunt, so getting to see one in the woods was amazing. Hoping this is just a good start to a great year hunting. Now looking even more forward to the start of whitetail season.

4PSoNas.jpg


 
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Are you shooting over bait or at distance. The .260 will do it for sure. However if you are up close and impact speeds are high I would go with a stouter bullet. If you clip a shoulder with a 120gr BT doing 3000fps you may not be impressed with the performance.
 
CapDog said:
Are you shooting over bait or at distance. The .260 will do it for sure. However if you are up close and impact speeds are high I would go with a stouter bullet. If you clip a shoulder with a 120gr BT doing 3000fps you may not be impressed with the performance.
Click to expand...

Over bait. Guide stated the stands are set up for 40ish yard shots.
 
Of the 3 you are looking I would go with the 140gr Gameking. Its' reduced velocity will allow it to hold together better. And if your shots are inside 50 yards group size wont be much of an issue, unless it is grouping huge.
 
I was going to use the 140gr bullet as my go to if they shot well. Hoping to use the same rounds this whitetail season.
 
I've had good luck with the Barnes solid copper 127gr. Shot a bull elk in Montana and whitetail deer back home this year with my 260. I recovered the bullet from the elk, can post a picture later when I'm home, expansion was great!
 
Barnes solid copper 127gr. Recovered from a bull elk, just inside the hide on the opposite side from entry.
 

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260 is a excellent hunting cartridge and some bullets definitely perform better on game than others, but it all comes down to shot placement. I shot my first black bear with a 243 running 100 grain SPT Pro Hunters, the bear was only 50 yards away and I shot it right behind the ear, DRT.
 
I don't see any real advantage to running a 300wm over the majority of non magnum cartridges at 40 yards for medium sized game. In my state we have a lottery system that takes darn near a decade to get and so I haven't had the chance yet but my uncle has taken plenty over the years with a 7.62x39. I see no reason why a 260 wouldn't do the trick, I personally would hunt with a 260 over a 300 wm for most species that live in North America
 
Due to the short ranges described I would run a stoutly built heavy for caliber bullet as long as it shot reasonably. 40 yds doesn't demand pin point accuracy. Bears aren't hard to kill but do have some heavy bone structure, thick skin and lots of fat later in the year. I'm assuming the hunt will occur in thicker brush/timber so I would purposely shoot shoulders to put them down now.

ive seen my buddies kid use his .257 Roberts and 100 ttsx on several bears and elk without issue so the 260 is same same
 
I personally would go the other way and use the 300. I'm not saying the 260 wouldn't do it, but I would rather have a heavier bullet to make a larger hole in him. While this might not be a once in a lifetime hunt for you, it might be a while before you go back again. I would want a bigger gun. It's hunting. Things happen. Rarely does the "perfect shot" happen. I'll probably get flack for it but I don't care. I have both a 260 and a 300, and for black bear I would take the 300 any day of the week.


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OP,

If you have the capacity to load the 136g Scenar-L, do it. Last year I took a black bear inside of a 100 yards with the 260 Rem - it fell right in it's tracks. Entry was (as you can imagine) 6.5mm, but the exit was about the size of a quarter.

In my experience, black bear are relatively thin skinned. Any magnum chambering we use has been significantly overkill and made for some challenging taxidermy work.
 
I don't know about the 260, but last fall I tried hunting with the 6.5 CM which is pretty close to the same thing. I shot a buck at 360 yards with the Hornady 142 gr. bullet at 360 some odd yards. Left a hole you could drive a truck through. My wife and son also used the 6.5 to take antelope and deer.

I'm going with lighter bullets for deer/antelope, but from what I've seen I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a black bear with a 6.5/260 and Hornady's 143s
 
mercracing said:
I personally would go the other way and use the 300. I'm not saying the 260 wouldn't do it, but I would rather have a heavier bullet to make a larger hole in him. While this might not be a once in a lifetime hunt for you, it might be a while before you go back again. I would want a bigger gun. It's hunting. Things happen. Rarely does the "perfect shot" happen. I'll probably get flack for it but I don't care. I have both a 260 and a 300, and for black bear I would take the 300 any day of the week.


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Click to expand...

"Hole size" doesn't equal stopping power, I've firsthand seen plenty of game run a long ways with gaping holes in them. There's a really good sticky thread on this. All the energy that the 300wm produces doesn't do you any good if the majority of it simply passes through your​ target and transfers into the dirt behind it
 
All the posts here have just instilled my faith in the 260 more. I have a few different varieties of ammo on the way. I'd like to use this rifle as I have plans to use it as my main hunting rifle this upcoming whitetail season as well.
 
K-tech said:
"Hole size" doesn't equal stopping power, I've firsthand seen plenty of game run a long ways with gaping holes in them. There's a really good sticky thread on this. All the energy that the 300wm produces doesn't do you any good if the majority of it simply passes through your​ target and transfers into the dirt behind it
Click to expand...


Very true. I personally would rather have a heavier bullet that would be less likely to deflect off any bone. As for the energy, I would pick a bullet that would expand quite well.
 
Went bear hunting in Canada a few years back. My 3 buddies were shooting 300 Win Mags and a 375. I was using a 45/70 Marlin guide gun shooting 325g Hornady Leverevolutions. Range was probably 40 yards for all of us. I was the only one to do a one-shot kill. There's no doubt in my mind that I am a better shooter than they are but more significantly, that 45/70 did a better job than their fast moving pass-through bullets. Here in Pennsylvania we have world class size black bears. Some (not many) go over 800lbs. Quite a few go over 500lbs. That equates into a lot of fat and bone. I don't feel comfortable using a 260 unless it would be a head or neck shot.
 
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I would feel plenty confident in my 260. Rem on black bear but would definitely aim for something like a nosler partition, Barnes tsx, nosler accubond, Hornady interbond for shots that close!
 
I've shot lots of bears with lots of calibers, over baits as well as out on a mountain side,
a .243 with a 100 gr bullet dropped a 250 lb bear in his tracks just as my .300 win mag with a 200 gr Nosler partition did at about 20 yards. Bigger is always better but shot placement is key. Just my opinion...
 
Thanks for the input guys. I sighted in my 300wm and 260 today. The 300wm will be pushing 180gr federal trophy bonded tip and the 260 was sighted in for hornady 129gr SST. Looked a little crazy shooting a 300WM at a 50 yard target. I'm sighted in for a zero at 100yrds but wanted to see where bullets hit at 50 as my stand should be 40yrds from the bait.
 
Wich ever way you decide , good luck and let us know how the story ends....
 
OG10 said:
Wich ever way you decide , good luck and let us know how the story ends....
Click to expand...

I definitely will. 12 days and I'll be in the woods attempting to take my first bear. Starting to really get excited and that " can't believe it's so soon feeling"
 
I would choose a Swift A-Frame 140 gr bullet for shooting anything at close range.
 
Here is my 12 year old daughter with her first bear, 130 yards with a 6.5 Creedmoor 130gr Barnes TSX. He dropped in his tracks.
 

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ELD-X 143 gr or 140 gr berger

These bullets will give you solid blood trails if you need to track. Bears don't leave blood trails like deer. With all the fat and fur you want a big hole.

 
Wyfox said:
Here is my 12 year old daughter with her first bear, 130 yards with a 6.5 Creedmoor 130gr Barnes TSX. He dropped in his tracks.
Click to expand...

Nice job.
260 or 6.5 creed plenty of gun for bear. I know a group of shooters on a NM ranch who all were shooting 6 creedmoor and 6x47's using Berger 105 hunting VLD's. All 12 bears were taken with one shot.
 
Campower said:
I've had phenomenal success with the 260 rem and the 143 ELD-X going 2775 from lapua brass and 42.3gr H4350. Black bear was 100 yards away, 200 lbs, DRT.
Moose was 350 yards, 850 lbs
Buck was 450 yards away, 246 lbs, DRT.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQwsJf4c4qCNm1FYUVRSUVGS2s/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQwsJf4c4qCNDFndzNtTlppdVk/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQwsJf4c4qCOFdrZTFURHQ5ME0/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...

Glad to see your success on moose with the 260. Rem! I moose hunt every year and brought it last year but decided to pass this year on it as I thought a 7mm might be better!! I’ll have to give the 143gr eld-x a try
 
My best bear in the past 40+ years of hunting them. Taken with my GAP .260 with one shot at 308 yards, after a heart pounding stalk-dash up the mountain. 130gr Berger VLD. May 2015, Montana.
 

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.260 are good form bears. It depends on the bear. The bigger the better, the tougher it is. But what ever you do. As a first timer. Have a shotgun or a back up pistol.
 
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