Exactly right! Posted by: cliffjacobson on May-11-12 4:56 PM (EST)
You are exactly correct, the reason why I bought a .450 Marlin. I consider the factory 350 grain flatnose load minimal for the big bears. I've been loading 350 grain Swift A-frames to a bit over 2000 fps. Much faster than this and I fear they may not hold together at the very close range (like 50 feet) you'd have to shoot. At this range, a big, slow moving bullet beats high velocity every time. The .45-70 with good loads is fine--there's not a whisker of difference between it and the .450 Marlin. But I prefer the .450 because the case is stronger and not rimmed. In any case, I've never had to shoot a bear, thank goodness. But I have popped some bullets by their ears. Cliff