Author Topic: 45-70 on Black Bear  (Read 905 times)

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Offline levernut

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45-70 on Black Bear
« on: June 26, 2009, 04:13:41 AM »
Veral,
I wanted to let you know how well your LFN bullets worked on British Columbia Black Bear in June.  I ended up using my Win 1886 ELR 45-70 and shooting your 460-360-LFN-GC bullets.  The alloy was W-W with 2% tin added.  I heat treated and tempered them to about BHN 23 and final weight was 365 grains.  The .460 diameter was good advice to keep the bullet centered as well as possible and I seated them to touch the rifling.  My first load shot perfectly with a moderate load of H-4895.  Muzzle velocity was 1640 (DV = 135) and accuracy was 1.50 inches at 75 yards.  I could shoot "all day long" inside 2.00 at 75-100 yards.  I did quite a bit of shooting before the hunt and this load always performed which gave me a lot of confidence.  I took a 5 1/2 foot bear the next to last day of the hunt.  This was a spot and stalk hunt and I was only about 25 yards from the bear when I took him with a double lung shot.  He immediately ran but his legs gave out at 40-50 yards.  He had a full belly and it looked like he was dragging an anchor when he ran.  Of course, penetration was no problem and he bled like the proverbial stuck hog.  In fact, blood was profuse, to the point where it was a nuisance during the skinning.  This was spring bear so he did not have any fat which contributed to the bleeding.  It was soon dark and lots of mosquitoes so we did not have time to do an autopsy and study the wound channel inside the body cavity.  The bullet clipped the back of the front leg and made a 2.00 hole entering the rib cage.  The exit hole in the far side rib cage was 3/4 to 1 inch diameter...beautiful performance.  One point doesn't make a straight line but this bullet was a great performer and I want to thank you for a great product.

Offline COR

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Re: 45-70 on Black Bear
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2009, 11:16:19 AM »
Thanks alot for that story.  I never tire of reading about the success with cast bullets that people pour themselves..It's just a little more special when you take game with ones you made with your own two hands.  Thanks for sharing.

Offline Veral

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Re: 45-70 on Black Bear
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2009, 08:54:38 PM »
  Beautiful report, and delightful accuracy with the light bullet. 
  For 45-70 customers ordering molds I tend to recommend 400 grains for improved accuracy, yet for those wanting to keep recoil, the LBT LFN in weights down to 350 gr shoot with very adaquate accuracy for most woods hunters, and penetration will not be a problem on anything up to moose and brown bears.
Veral Smith