[joshua 35 whelen]

I picked up a model 610 with box. papers, and moon clips off auctionarms for 500.00 this is with shipping included. I bought it to hunt black bear with. If my shots are 25 to 50yds will the 200grn black talons do well. I hear the 10mm is between the 357 magnum and the 41 magnum, is this true?

 

[HappyHunter]

joshua 35 whelen,

I have this gun is a 5 inch barrel...I would not recommend it for bear in a hunting mode. Perhaps if you where in a stand over bait it might be ok.

It is not as "hot" as a 41 mag that is hand loaded. A good heavy load in
a 41 mag is using a 250 grain plus hardcast bullet and is loaded fast. There is no load that will compete with this in a 10 MM 610.

A minimal cartridge for black bear for me would be 44 mag with 300gr hardcast bullets, but I feel that a 454 Casual or the new 460 would be a far better choice.

There are far better sources on this topic than me, but I strongly feel that the 10mm is too small for a black bear.

hth,

Fred

 

[jakes10mm]

Ammo Choice

I'm in agreement that I would not want to hunt for bear on foot with the 610. You are running boarderline on maxing the cartridge's potential. Regarding your bullet choice, I am not a fan of expanding pistol bullets for hunting. Give me plain old hard cast. Rationale, the expanding bullets are made for "human" depth. You want more penetration on a thick animal to hit the vitals. I now hunt with a 45 Colt. I'm trying out the Penn Bullet 270gr Thunderheads this year. They are basically very long wadcutters...my intended game is deer, not bear. I would recommend a nice 200gr hard cast bullet in the truncated cone design, loaded to the "original" Norma specs.