OT: Smallest cartridge for black bear

[Big Mc]

They’re getting smaller !! I used to go into some very thick stuff by myself with a 30-30 a knife and a short rope but lately I’m feeling a bit vulnerable , even a small bear can rip a stump apart quite easily.

You gonna need a bigger gun Tommy Mc LOL.

 

[Lefty2506]

After 6 pages, what the heck, I'll chime in too. We don't have (or at least we're not supposed to have) black bear here in Indiana. With that said, I can't imagine a situation where you encounter a black bear in such a way that it attacks you AND you have time to retrieve/exchange your coyote rifle for your defensive tool of choice. I'm also of the mind set that if something is trying to do severe bodily harm to me, I should shoot it until which time that I recognize that it no longer poses a threat to me. In the mean time, if its a big enough danger to warrant shooting once, it's a big enough danger to warrant shooting at least 5 or 6 times. IE, bolt action is out of the question. Assuming they have a flat enough trajectory to have adequate reach for the type of calling you do, I'd go with an AR carbine chambered in either 6 ARC, 6.8 SPC, or 6.5 Grendel. I'd load them with something in the 120-130gr range (140gr is too long to fit in an AR mag) unless you're going with a monolithic. Then I'd be willing to go just a little lighter. I use a 105gr monolithic (MKZ) in my 6.5G for whitetail and I absolutely love it. I've taken it to 700 yds on prairie dogs as well, so its more than accurate enough for coyotes. If bear were a possibility, I might lean more towards their 118gr MKZ, or some other monolithic of a similar weight range. With that said, even at 300 yds, I've had good expansion and VERY deep penetration (well over 30") on white tail with the 105gr MKZ that I load. I'd expect very similar performance from a 6.8 SPC. Factory ammo is more scarce for the SPC, but when things get crazy, I've always noticed 6.8 SPC brass being available.

Either way, I'd want one gun and one load that could serve both purposes relatively well, and I'd want to be able to put more than one round on target on very short notice.