These still lose weight as the lead erodes, but at least they don't fly to pieces. The thick fur also soaks up blood, so a big exit hole is beneficial. Controlled expansion bullets include bonded core types in which the jacket is welded to the lead core. Entrance holes typically seal up due to the fat on a bear.

Also not good. Better are controlled expansion bullets that stay in one piece, expand about 1.5X to 2X and punch through hide, muscle, bone, vital organs and out the far side, leaving a sizable hole for blood trailing. Sometimes the core and jacket break apart, minimizing penetration.

The soft lead mushrooms upon impact, sometimes extensively, turning into a pancake that minimizes penetration. The two units are then squeezed (swaged) into the bullet shape. They consist of a thin, gilding metal tube into which a soft lead cable is pushed. This isn't easy without a blood trail, thus the need for a pass-through bullet, and of the above choices, only the Scirocco, a bonded bullet, can be counted on to do this. All the other bullets are what I call classic cup-and-core slugs. So be prepared to track a soft-footed animal through thick cover. Sometimes the shock of the punch drops them in their tracks, but this is no guarantee regardless how big and fast the bullet. Like most animals, bears are likely to run after absorbing a heart or lung shot, then expire within 5 to 30 seconds as blood pressure drops. Nevertheless, that little bullet exited the wood, broke the bear's shoulder and passed out the far side. Passing out the far side is the key for a bear bullet.

I settled my last one with a single 100-gr. Despite its massive shoulders and legs and brute power, a black bear is not that hard to penetrate or terminate. What folks want to know is which bullet is best, imagining that bears are big and thick and strong and tough and lesser bullets might bounce off them. The hunter sneaks into position and uses his rifle/bullet to invite said bruin to dinner and a lasting legacy as a rug. But I digress. But most likely the bear will be shy and reclusive and shot unawares. Less commonly they'll attack us out of pure aggression. A 30-06 is effective at dissuading an aggressive bear. Not often, but often enough, black bears will prey on humans. This is because black bears are common across most states and grizzlies are rare. the vital chest/lung/heart region or the spine/brain from the shoulders forward. More exciting is the possibility of a botched shot and a bear attack, but this is barely a probability because black bears rarely attack humans, especially hunters, even though statistically they've killed more people than grizzlies. The boring, easy but honest answer is 'yes,' meaning any and all the above can work and quite well if applied to the proper place, i.e. 30-06 Springfield and this was the ammunition on hand: A reader wrote to ask which of his bullets would be appropriate for a Rocky Mountain black bear hunt.

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