Which one for bear?

[Bigwoods Hunter]

Hi Madmurh : As a bear outfitter in Manitoba, Canada, the 444 marlin is considered a great big woods,all round, one gun, and one load: deer , bear, and moose round in Canada with the factory Remington 240 gr soft nose . This is from experinced guides and hunters in Canada using the gun and not just reading about it. Most gun writers would have you believe big game animals are made of steel. The black bear is really a thin skin big game animal and the 444 marlin with Remington 240 gr soft nose is more than enough gun. It is a sure bear stopper right here, right now, type of gun, on all three animals. Consider that when I was young( raised in bear country ) the 30-30 and the 300 Savage where the most common bear guns at the time. The 444 Marlin is my favorite moose gun and will put a slug cean through both shoulders of the largest moose , with factory Remington 240 soft points . It has never falled me , even though most gun writters say it will. Me and the many moose in the freezer over the years, taken with one shot havests are still trying to figure out how this gun and bullet will fail ? Russ Popp bigwoodshunting.com

[Rapier]

I own a 444 and a 35 Whelen, no doubt in my mind which I would carry with me in the woods for hogs or black bear. It would be the 444. The gun and the cartridge were designed for the NE, SE and Midwest woods and short ranges. It is a pull the trigger and flop, kinda gun. The 44 mag is notorious for one thing, penetration, and the 444 just runs a bit faster through the critter. In my experience if you shoot a thin skinned critter at the side, behind the shoulder, with the 240 you will not need to empty the chest cavity, the contents will be sprayed out the back like a large red fan laid out on the ground.

Russ, I am with you, I have never seen or heard of anything walking away from a 444 in the boiler room.
Ed

[PJgunner]

Well, I don't hunt with a .444 so probably should keep my big mouth shut. Naw, that ain't gonna happen. Just because I don't have one doen't mean I don't have ideas that might be feasable. Of the bullets mentioned, I would be inclined to go with the heavier of the two and is most likely the way I would go with Black Bear on the menu. However, if I may, there is one other bullet I would consider IF the rifle will feed it and it shoots accurately. That bullet would be the RCNS #44-300-FP or is it KT? I forget and I have that blankety-blank mold. Just too lazy to run out to the shed/shop to find out. I sold my .44 Mag. M94 Marlin well before I got that bullet. It wouldn't feet the Elmer Keith bullet so down the road it went. Accuracy was extremely poor anyway. I might look for another someday. That bullet from a Ruger 7.5" barreled Redhawk was accurate and seemed to hit quite hard. I was going to use it as a bear load on my hikes but it shoots about 6" high at 25 yards with the rear sight as low as I can bring it down. I'll have to contact Ruger and see if they still have higher replacement sights for the Redhawk. I have two of them, the 7.5" and a 5.5". Nice guns but doggone it they need wheels. I've thought about outfitting the longer barreled gun with a sling.
Paul B.