.45-70 Government for Grizzly Or Brown Bear Hunting? Best Ammo (Round, Load, Cartridge) for a Successful Grizzly Or Brown Bear Hunt
- Hunting Calibers
- 04 Apr, 2020
Is the .45-70 Government a viable caliber/load/round/cartridge for grizzly or brown bear hunting? The accurate answer is “it depends”. However, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether the .45-70 Government is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest grizzly or brown bear.
As with anything, the devil is in the details. To answer the question completely, we would need to evaluate the downrange distance to the grizzly or brown bear, the bullet type, the grain weight of the bullet, the physical condition of the firearm, the size of the grizzly or brown bear in question, the shot placement, the local wind conditions, the expected accuracy of the shooter, the ethics of the ideal maximum number of shots – the list goes on.
What we can do is provide a framework to understand what average conditions might look like, and whether those are reasonably viable for a shot from the average shooter to harvest a grizzly or brown bear in the fewest number of shots possible, i.e., ethically.
Let’s dive right in. In the question of “Is the .45-70 Government within the ideal range of suitable calibers for grizzly or brown bear hunting?” our answer is:
No, the .45-70 Government is UNDERKILL for grizzly or brown bear hunting, under average conditions, from a mid-range distance, with a medium grain expanding bullet, and with correct shot placement.
Let’s look at those assumptions a bit closer in the following table.
| Assumption | Value |
|---|---|
| Caliber | .45-70 Government |
| Animal Species | Grizzly Or Brown Bear |
| Muzzle Energy | 2270 foot-pounds |
| Animal Weight | 595 lbs |
| Shot Distance | 200 yards |
What is the average muzzle energy for a .45-70 Government? In this case, we have assumed the average muzzle energy for a .45-70 Government round is approximately 2270 foot-pounds.
What is the average weight of an adult male grizzly or brown bear? Here we have leaned conservative by taking the average weight of a male individual of the species, since females generally weigh less and require less stopping power. In this case, the average weight of an adult male grizzly or brown bear is approximately 595 lbs.
What is the distance this species is typically hunted from? Distance, of course, plays an important role in the viability of a given caliber in grizzly or brown bear hunting. The kinetic energy of the projectile drops dramatically the further downrange it travels primarily due to energy lost in the form of heat generated by friction against the air itself. This phenonemon is known as drag or air resistance. Thus, a caliber that is effective from 50 yards may not have enough stopping power from 200 yards. With that said, we have assumed the average hunting distance for grizzly or brown bear to be approximately 200 yards.
What about the other assumptions? We have three other primary assumptions being made here. First, the average bullet weight is encapsulated in the average muzzle energy for the .45-70 Government. The second important assumption is ‘slightly-suboptimal’ to ‘optimal’ shot placement. That is to say, we assume the grizzly or brown bear being harvested is shot directly or nearly directly in the vitals (heart and/or lungs). The third assumption is that a projectile with appropriate terminal ballistics is being used, which for hunting usually means an expanding bullet.
Various calibers
A common thread you may encounter in online forums is anecdote after anecdote of large animals being brought down by small caliber bullets, or small animals surviving large caliber bullets. Of course those stories exist, and they are not disputed here. A 22LR cartridge can fell a bull elephant under the right conditions, and a newborn squirrel can survive a 50 BMG round under other specific conditions.
Again, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether .45-70 Government is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest grizzly or brown bear - and to this question, the response again is no, the .45-70 Government is UNDERKILL for grizzly or brown bear hunting.
This article does not serve as the final say, but simply as a starting point for beginner hunters, as well as a venue for further discussion. Please feel free to agree, disagree, and share stories from your own experience in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: the information above is purely for illustrative purposes and should not be taken as permission to use a particular caliber, a statement of the legality or safety of using certain calibers, or legal advice in any way. You must read and understand your own local laws before hunting grizzly or brown bear to know whether your caliber of choice is a legal option.
Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online.
We offer cheap ammo and bulk ammo deals on the most popular ammo calibers. We have a variety of deals on Rifle Ammo, Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Ammo & Rimfire Ammo, as well as ammo for target practice, plinking, hunting, or shooting competitions. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo.
We offer a 100% Authenticity Guarantee on all products sold on our website. Please email us if you have questions about any of our product listings.
28 Comments
🤣 Have you ever actually hunted Grizzly Bear, or had to defend yourself against a Grizzly Bear dude? This article is total B.S.! LOL!
You can’t look at the most anemic factory loads and suggest a hunter might use those for a once in a lifetime brown bear hunt. Have you ever heard of Underwood, Buffalo Bore, Hornady or other +P hardcast or solid copper loads? Come on now, some approach 4000 ft/lb of energy. My own go to load throws a 300 gr Speer hotcore @ 2430fps @ 12’. Use your bullet energy calc. That’ll stop anyting on the planet except Elephant, Rhino, hippo or cape buff..
Every article posted by foundry outdoors always states the same thing. Yall assume a lot. Never assume cause it makes an ass out of you and me. People aren’t quite as ignorant as assumed by writers and politicians. 4570 has killed bears for decades. No body armor on these critters. Shot placement is . 223/5.56 with 55gr fmj does it all the time do in reasonably sure a 45/70-430gr hard cast or a 325gr extreme hunter mono bullet will do the trick.
This article about .45-70 being underkill is full of blasphemy. Old time hunters were using black powder 45-70 with 405 grain bullets and they STILL stopped bears and any other critters that got in their way. Even to this day, .45-70 can be used to take down Safari game such as tigers and lions, albeit a bit light for that use but is practical. Whoever wrote this has clearly never hunted before or is trying to spread untruthful facts.
My one and only .45-70 rifle is a Ruger #1. For deer I use a handload of a slightly compressed case full of Pyrodex ‘P’ with a bullet cast from a Lee 405 grain mold, of linotype. Actual weight after sizing and lube is a bit under 400 grains. I would not choose it for western bears, but might well use it for the blacks we find here close to home in Northern MIchigan.
I don’t have any of my loading manuals handy, and I’m too lazy to search the ‘net for the actual numbers, but out of curiosity, I remember doing some idle reading and discovering that, using the Ruger, it’s entirely possible to get well up into the lower reaches of .460 Weatherby energy by judicious handloading of .45-70 brass, and a proper bullet.
If I were to decide to go western bear hunting with my #1, I’d carefully prepare once-fired brass down to the last detail, use a weighty, heavy jacket expanding bullet intended for dangerous game, and take shots from not farther away than a hundred yards.
And I wouldn’t feel undergunned.
KS
Y’ all realize that .45-70 is actually three or more different cartridges, right? Limited to something like 28,000 psi for old/weak guns, it does around 1300 fps/1500 fpe 400 gr bullet. You can do that with a .454 Casull revolver, and up close with careful placement and bullets that will penetrate, it’ll stop a bear. You’d like more gun, but it’s a handgun, and produces about all the recoil most people can handle.
I like a high-pressure .45 Colt in bear country: 335 grains at 1300 f/s, ~40 inches penetration in soft tissue. But self-defense on bears is right off the muzzle, and if I could handle more recoil I’d carry more gun.
Strong lever guns like the Marlin 1895 that can handle maybe 40,000 psi can throw 400 grains at 1800 fps/2880 fpe or better. I consider a short-barreled 1895 with such loads, hard cast, to be a very good bear defense gun.
And yeah, your Ruger No. 1 should handle 50 k psi, and do, what, 2,000 fps, 2100 fps, with 400 grain pills? Plenty—up close. But there’s a big difference between hunting, where you might want to shoot at longer range, and self defense against an animal that can’t hurt you until it can touch you.
So IMNHO, grizzly hunting cartridges start with .35 Whelen/.350 Rem. Mag, or .338-06, and really a .338 Win Mag or a .358 Norma are better choices. But If I were wading an Alaskan salmon stream, I’d be as comfortable with a short .45-70 lever gun with heavy hard bullets at 1800 or so slung over my shoulder as I would with a 12-guage pump with slugs. And actually, I would probably just carry the high-pressure .45 Colt; a holstered revolver gets in the way far less than a long gun.
Hahaha, I don’t think the author has killed anything with this round or spoken to any natives of Alaska or Africa.
https://www.garrettcartridges.com/about.html
Really really really is the person who wrote this article a hunter and outdoorsman? This his round has been used for several decades since 1873 to hunt bison much bigger than a bear this round has killed elephants and the big five. I would say the 45/70 is good for anything that walks the planet, including Bigfoot I realize it’s not a long distance caliber but that’s beside the point I’m not shooting anything over 200 yards what’s the point of doing that
Really really really is the person who wrote this article a hunter and outdoorsman? This his round has been used for several decades since 1873 to hunt bison much bigger than a bear this round has killed elephants and the big five. I would say the 45/70 is good for anything that walks the planet, including Bigfoot I realize it’s not a long distance caliber but that’s beside the point I’m not shooting anything over 200 yards what’s the point of doing that
The 45-70 is one of my favorite old timers and when I hunted with a lever action the chamber round was a 500 grain bullet and the follow ups were 405 grain.All hand loads with lead bullets.My other favorite was a 40-85 single shot with a 450 grain bullet of my design and it out performed the 45-70
but was too long for a lever action.