A 30-30 will drop a bear except for one of the really big ones.

I did, in fact, live in El Paso for a couple of years during grade school, but I currently live south a few hours in the western hill country. I wouldn’t read to much into the handle, it just popped into my mind when I first logged in. I spend a lot of time digging in caliche to fix water lines, resurface ranch roads, dig post holes, and bury traps. So much so, that it was on my mind in that moment I set up my account. I grew up later in Del Rio and we have our fair share of caliche there too. If familiarity with caliche constitutes a defect, I plead guilty.

If I'm not mistaken, some of the tribal members of northern Canada have dropped BIG polar bears with .22 Hornets. The idea of that is not appealing to me, but maybe the survival mindset makes all the difference. I don't doubt for a minute that you can drop the biggest of all bears with a .30-30, or less. The question is, do you really want to try it?

Me? No.

We’re still working that out.

Yeah, they paddle up next to them with their boat and plug em in the head along with caribou.

Well, me too...I would have to confess to being totally AFU.

There are plenty of cartridges that will do the job, including your 270.

Bullet choice and placement are the key.

OK I'm gonna step in it for sure with comment...that is directed only at the idea of hunting Kodiak/Coastal Brown bear primarily, but also can apply to Interior sized Brown Bear too...for a DEDICATED rifle...since Brown bears are legendarily fast when agitated and easily agitated around a food source...I'd only buy a rifle brand and model that has a CONTROLLED ROUND FEED extractor...

Not the same thing but an example a mentor of mine went thru on his last and final Cape Buffalo hunt several years ago proved the point IMO...The hunt was in the mountains for the "smaller" faster sub specie Buff's with a party of 3 shooters, taking turns for stalks on critters the PH & team had located up high in some really rough ground. My friend on this particular stalk was the trailing "outside" or off side guy and not the point man primary shooter..as I recall the Primary shooter was using a non CRF Rifle in an appropriate large caliber, took a shot and scored a non killing hit...and the critter escaped. The Buff had run for thick wooded cover and was found a little later when their tracker followed the blood trail...the Primary was again the lead gun and when they were jumped at under 30 yards by the Buff from behind a large outcropping and headed going downhill directly at the Primary's backside, who turned and blew thru a magazine full of bullets without scoring a kill shot but hitting him twice in the face and chest during the full tilt charge...the 2nd shooter was out of position to shoot at first without hitting others in the party and could not take a shot initially, and my mentor had fallen backwards when he jumped sideways to escape the path of the charging buff...and administered the the first Kill Shots from under 20' while laying on his back and shooting "overhead" without being able to aim accurately (or upside down) while cycling the bolt... the buff had taken several head and chest hits by then but it was the hits from the side that finally got into the HVAC area that caused the Buff to stumble on his chin at 6' from the Primary shooter's feet, who made the final shot after he had the time to reload.

You can't plan exactly for what Ma Nature's gonna present to you in the field...and on DG stuff of any kind that WILL and is Capable of killing you, I am more than willing to be overgunned.

When I showed the Alaskan Guide Assc rep the little SAKO 375 carbine he wanted to order, for the final approval of the way the sample was built...and listened to his comments about why it was so critical for the small changes he wanted to be made ...he told me how to think about what to do and when to do it when confronted with a Interior Grizz while standing in a creek fly fishing the Assc's most common problem with Brown Bears...He said 1st the Bear will walk out and let you see him and usually woof or growl at you, telling you to leave HIS creek & may turn sideways to let you see how big he is to get your full attention...then when he get's PO'd you haven't left he may stand up to let you see how big he is, or walk down close to the waters edge and then stand up which is a more imminent threat ...right there at that point you have about 10 seconds to leave peacefully...'cause when he drops to all 4's it's Game ON and you are fixin to get a full charge and he CAN and WILL outrun you to get you out of HIS food source..so you have to have a gun that will STOP a Full Charge INSIDE the short feet not yards distances all of this will occur in...

Same kinda engagment scenario my mentor's Hunting Party went thru on a Mountain Buff Hunt that resulted in a very close call that ended with 6 BIG bullets in the critter from 3 guns before he was Stopped AND DRT at 6' from His target.

Just cause you eventually kill the critter doesn't mean he doesn't kill/hurt you or someone else around you. NO personal experiences here, just comments from people I know and trust to be honest about what happened and what did NOT happen ...and why. The Alaskan Guide Assc rep also said people cause most of the Bear charges with being uninformed or unexperienced with a DG critter they've never encountered before.

FWIW Lot's of calibers will kill a dangerous critter from distance...not too many of them will do it on an agitated nee enraged Large Dangerous Game animal at little more than couple arms length distances AND allow you to walk away unharmed. Time to think like a Boy Scout here IMO.
Ron

I like it but prefer the 338-378. Both need a brake or a super tough shoulder so why not go for the flattest shooting in that caliber.
I have shot it a few times at company hunts but never really put an time behind one. On the other hand I still shoot my 30-378 a lot.
I am a 257 guy when driving around the ranch here but go to a bigger caliber hotrod when hunting something as big as elk.
I saw where you shot your elk with your 257wby this year and I have shot a couple with mine with no problem. But since the hunts have gotten so expensive I have started carrying the 30-378 on them. Call it a security blanket.
If I went heavy bear I would carry a 378 or a 375. Them things can kill you so I want as much bang for the buck I can get.

A 338-378 Wby with a a heavy 300 grain bullet at 2800+ fps will kill ANYTHING big enough to die. If that's too much, then drop down to a 300 Win Mag pushing a 200-220 grain, and you are GTG! I would not feel under gunned with a 300 WM. It hits SO hard!

338 Lapua. No belt, more rifle options, more ammo options, and the 338-378 is one of the few rounds that makes 338 Lapua ammo look cheap. Maybe 100 fps difference, maybe. As much as I do not like messing with belts, totally agree about the 300 Win Mag. It has a very wide spectrum of load strengths and bullet weights.

never hunted DG, but I was in Alaska fishing a few years ago with an old family friend and we went moose scouting a few times, he carried a 300 win mag with 180 partitions. He said the best way to kill a brown bear was from 200 yards away, in the back of the head while it was asleep. He had a point. He had several encounters and luckily, as he put it "they decided to be good bears" and he didn't have to shoot them. Just saw where a PH in Africa was killed by a Cape Buffalo. I am all for precise marksmanship and perfect shots, but when there is stuff that will kill you... more is better I would think (as long as you can shoot it)

Can’t figure out how to post images, but after much research and conversations with friends I got a Tikka T3 hunter in 7 mm rem mag. Put a Leupold VX 3 4-12x40 on it. Haven’t shot it yet but it is beautiful and the scope looks crystal clear. Thanks for the help everyone

Meant to say Leupold 4.5-14.

Excellent!