: 
Photo by Claude M. Cabvert 

1000-1b. bear, lassoed by Whitehouse, engineer of McMillan boat 
Shocking Power in Big Game 
Rifles 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
HILE on a big game hunting trip 
recently with a shooting partner 
I had a very interesting experience with 
a grizzly and an opportunity to verify 
some thoughts and opinions I had pre- 
viously held about an ideal game rifle 
and cartridges for the same. 
After due consideration I had selected 
a .35 caliber Remington autoloading 
rifle and a box of twenty of their new 
Hi-Speed cartridges; I mean the one 
with the 150 grain mushroom bullet and 
which develops 2,300 feet velocity and 
1,840 foot pounds energy. The 200 
grain express mushroom bullet is also 
furnished in this caliber and this gives 
greater energy, 2,250 foot pounds but 
less velocity by one hundred feet than 
the 150 grain. I had with me some of 
the regular or old type Remington soft 
point cartridges of 200 grain which 
gives about 2,000 feet velocity and 1,800 
feet energy. 
Before getting into the grizzly coun- 
try we had to climb over the main di- 
vide of the Selkirks, a climb by the 
way which is very difficult especially 
in the spring. I had divided evenly 
the box of cartridges with my partner, 
that is, the fourteen which remained 
after I had sighted in the rifle. This 
left such a small number that I always 
kept the rifle filled with 200 grain soft 
nose cartridges intending to try the 
Hi-Speed out if a favorable opportunity 
turned up. 
On the third day out we arrived at 
our destination and as we reached the 
vicinity we kept a sharp watch for a 
branch trail which led to an old cabin. 
Along about three o’clock in the after- 
noon we came to a trail running up a 
hill so we both took off our pack sacks 
and with rifles in our hands started out 
164 
to explore for signs of the cabin. After 
traveling about a hundred yards we 
separated, each going in a different di- 
rection. Shortly I came upon a large 
number of broken logs brought down 
by a previous snow slide. The end of 
one of the logs was torn out fresh and 
the claw marks and tracks of a large 
grizzly could be clearly seen. While 
studying these signs and wondering 
what a large bear it must have been I 
suddenly heard a slight noise and turn- 
ing around quickly saw, much to my 
amazement, a large grizzly, evidently 
the owner of the tracks, sitting on his 
haunches watching me from a distance 
of about 20 yards. Throwing off the 
safety, I brought the rifle to my shoulder 
and as I did so the grizzly lowered him- 
self to his four feet and started to- 
ward me. I waited until he had gotten 
up on a big log when I aimed for the 
neck and pulled the trigger. Immedi- 
ately I could see him sway back, say, 
about six inches and then he fell off the 

Photo by Claude M. Cabvert 
rock toward me but totally out of my 
sight. I waited a few seconds, which 
seemed like hours, and as he did not 
move I worked up and found him abso- 
lutely dead. 
After skinning him we traced the 
path of the bullet and found that it had 
hit the neck bone squarely about a foot 
above the body, angling down between 
the shoulder and finally lodging in the 
central cavity of the neck bone or as 
one might say, the “neck back” back- 
bone. This bullet had cut the main 
artery of the neck and then had pene- 
trated about eight inches of heavy 
muscle in the flesh which mushroomed 
the bullet to about twice its original 
size and then traveled seven inches 
through solid bone which is very heavy 
at this point. 
The bear weighed nearly nine hun- 
dred pounds and its claws were five 
inches in length. It must take a tre- 
mendous shock to kill this size animal 
so quickly that it never gets its head 
from under it. When an ordinary 200 
grain bullet will do this much damage 
to a bear there is no doubt in my mind 
as to the effectiveness of the 200 grain 
express mushroom cartridge on griz- 
zly. 
After we came home I shot a black 
bear with the 150 grain Hi-Speed and 
this fall got two black-tail deer with 
it and neither of them got out of their 
tracks. The bear ran about 75 yards. 
This is the first time I have used the 
Autoloading rifle and I do not believe 
that it is possible for me to get a rifle 
which would be more satisfactory. This 
cartridge does not tear up the deer 
badly and still there is ample power, 
should one meet a grizzly. I shall use 
the express mushroom bullet if I go out 
grizzly hunting again. 
Eric W. LYTLE, 
Port Crawford, B. C. 
New England Sled Dog Club leaders, “Ipar” and “Nauchusik” 
