I’ve had enough of New Hampshire snow and very cold weather. You too! My back yard looks like a pond, from all the snow melt. 

I was at the range yesterday, the snow was mostly gone. It was still freezing and foggy. The cold 26 degree 10 mph wind blew into my face reminding me that winter was trying to hang on. 

But, never the less, my 250g Hornady Copper MonoFlex handloaded bullets from my Marlin 1895 SBL flew true at 100 yards.

As a handloader, my job is to find the best loads for the game I am after.

Interestingly, I am finding my rifle likes the Hornady 250g MonoFlex bullets. Loaded with 51 grains of Vihtavuori N130 Powder, my bullets grouped at 1.45 inches with a 6X scope. Velocities from my Garmin reached 2019 fps and standard deviation was 8.8 fps. Very nice indeed for such a low Standard Deviation!

As a hunting load it was easy to shoot with a hunting jacket on. I would hunt deer, and bear and moose with that load in thick woods as the energy was significant, over 1500 ft-lbs. inside of 100 yards. 

Being a copper bullet, it maintains over 95% of its original weight, thus having more penetration. Hunting big game at close range is perhaps similar to bow hunting, in that having to get close, 100 yards or less to ensure energy for a killing shot.

The lever action allows for fast follow-up shots if agressive game is very close and intent on exacting death on the hunter.

I recommend practice for levering fast shots. You don’t want to find issues with fast levering when faced with danger. 

Digressing, I recall my Alberta friend last spring who encountered a very aggressive smaller bear intent on attacking him. With the 45-70 he could’ve blasted that bear to the happy hunting ground with a six shot 45-70 lever gun.

Warmer weather will allow me to train with that rifle and advance my lever rifle shooting skill. 

More Soon….

Today, I happily tested a few of my handloads of 300g Hornady Hollow Points and 350g Flat Points at 50 yards.

Both good short range black bear loads.

The 300g was trucking out of the muzzle at 1820 fps and the 350 FP at 1620 fps. See the JBM Ballistics report below.

The slower 350g speed and lower 44g N130 load likely contributed to the wider spread. I will shoot again with a bit more powder to see if groups improve. 

Below 300g HP 50g N130 Powder at 50 yds =5/8 inch 3 shot group.

Below 350g FP 44g N130 Powder at 50 yds = 1 1/8 inch group at 50 yards

More Soon…

The best laid plans? You say, “I’m just gonna take broadside shots.” Yea right! It’s funny that some game animals, particularly those that have been hunted don’t offer ideal shots.

Many veteran hunters have already planned for a quartering toward shoulder shot. What did they do, you ask?

First thing to do?

Shoot a well constructed bullet.

Not your typical cup and core lead bullet. Right?

On my 2024 Maine bear hunt, I knew that quarter toward shoulder shot might happen. I was shooting my Browning X-Bolt in 7MM Rem Magnum.

I used Nosler Partition bullets where the nose mushrooms but the rear of the copper partition is antimony hardened lead and just keeps on trucking.

Of course, at 30 yards my bullet was still humming along at 3000 fps. A cup and core non bonded bullet would destroy itself at that speed on a shoulder, but not a partition. My Nosler entered leaving a hole the size of an Italian sausage and exited on the last rib on the far side…leaving a blood trail for 20 yards where the bear lay…very still. Shoulder below.

My new Marlin 45-70 with a 250g Hornady MonoFlex gilding copper bullet would do similar damage and maintain over 95% of its original weight.

I had a similar quartering toward opportunity on a Newfoundland Moose several years back. I used my .375 Ruger and 300g Nosler AccuBond where the core lead is bonded to the copper jacket.

It was during a whiteout snow squall at 100 yards. The bullet hit the shoulder, plowed through lungs and settled on the far side at the last rib under the skin. My guide said, “Shoot him again.” Just as he said that, the bull collapsed right then.

With my crossbow on a recent bear hunt, I had to wait for a broadside shot. The bear was walking toward me at 20 yards, yes, facing me, not an ethical shot with bow and arrow, he turned momentarily exposing his broadside ribs. My arrow was on its way. The bear went 60 yards and piled up. With a Partition or AccuBond, I could have shot the bear facing me under his chin, and dropped him right then. What if the bear never turned, you ask? What would I have done as the bear might be just a few feet away popping his teeth? I had a Glock 10MM pistol on my chest with 15 bear load bullets at the ready. A pretty good backup, you think?

Good Hunting!

The New Ruger made, Marlin 1895 SBL Lever Action 45-70 with 19 inch barrel, is now happily in my possession. The SBL stands for Stainless Big Lever.

It is a beautiful yet powerful rifle capable of all North American Big Game including, some experts say, Brown and Grizzly bear at closer range.

 My research finds its best use in thicker New England forests for deer, black bear and moose. A real thumper!  Bullets are flat pointed unless using Hornady Soft Polymer FTX bullets, 300 to 325 grains or MonoFlex Gilding Copper bullets at 250 grains. 

Upon opening the foam fitted and well protected rifle box, I was immediately impressed. I installed the hammer spur that was in the box, so I can add a scope and easily pull the hammer. 

Below, in the front of the barrel is a tritium front sight for low light shooting. 

Due to its common flat nose bullet design for tubular magazines, it best performs at modest distances out to 200 yards for thin skin game and closer for really big game. At 200 yards, the 300g FP bullets has about 1200 ft-lbs. of delivered energy for deer and black bear.

The 350 grain FP Hornady has a muzzle velocity of 1900 fps and delivers 2800 ft-lbs. at the muzzle and  1800 ft-lbs. at 100 yards for big bears, moose, elk and Bison. 

Soon my first shots will be the Hornady 250g MonoFlex gilding copper bullet which has a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps and maintains nearly 100% weight retention even at close range. Penetration is better than the 300g FP. I think this MonoFlex bullet is likely great black bear medicine producing a large exit wound.

We will see some range targets soon for accuracy testing…

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Black bear, many say, are not hard to kill with good bullet placement. That said, there are bears harvested that reveal previous wounds and occasionally find the errant bullet. Bears are very tough, if not hit correctly.

So for all the easy-to-kill crowd, if you miss vitals, you are not likely to recover your bear, and if you do, you will likely be tracking with dogs for miles. Good luck with that. 

With a bigger bore like 45-70, perhaps you will make your bear guide happier too upon recovery.

In my own limited bear experience in 2024, with my 7mm Rem Mag with 160g Nosler Partitions, I hit the front shoulder of a smaller bear quartering towards me and exited on the last rib on the other side. I got blood immediately and the bear went 20 yards. My 7mm was designed for much longer range harvests and it worked but a bit clumsy with a long 26 inch barrel from a treestand shot at 25 yards.

I really would have preferred a more compact fast handling big bore rifle such as the 45-70.    

After significant research on YouTube, I saw a review of a new Marlin Lever vs a Henry in 45-70.

Listen and watch.

I likes this comparison video very much! As I said in a earlier piece,

Spring into a Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 – Testing Soon

The action on levers, is key. I have placed a deposit on the Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70.

We shall see…