SHOTGUNS
Bear Buster
Remington's Premier Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded Sabot Slug proves an ideal bruin bullet.
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When I set foot east of the Pecos River, most of the time I'm reminded of why I live in the Southwest. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy visiting the East, have dear friends that live in various places throughout the Eastern Seaboard and really like eating lobster, a treat us desert rats generally have to fight for. It's just that things are done completely different out there. I'm not trying to criticize anybody; it's probably more of a case of being a little shy about showing my ignorance than anything else. But I was more than a little excited when I was invited on an early-fall black bear hunt in Maine.
The prospect of hunting bear in Maine was an attractive one, but the methods seemed more than foreign to me. When Remington's Eddie Stevenson advised that we'd be hunting out of treestands with Remington 870 shotguns, I was a little perplexed. As a law enforcement officer, I've carried an 870 for some years now, but never has it occurred to me to hunt a bear with it. The idea of whacking a black bear with either buckshot or a lead slug didn't immediately seem appealing.
"We're going to be trying out our new Premier Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded Sabot Slug," Stevenson advised.
Considering the excellent reputation of the Core-Lokt bullet, the idea of shotgunning for bear was becoming more attractive. The Core-Lokt is well known for outstanding performance, and with the introduction of the Ultra Bonded Sabot Slug, Remington has expanded its hard-hitting line of bullets to satisfy those who hunt big game with scatterguns. I must admit that my experience in big-game hunting with a shotgun is limited since it's rarely done in my part of the country, where wide-open country and longer shots are generally the norm. I've always considered slugs an Eastern thing, and I'm not saying that's bad. But the opportunity to experiment with the Core-Lokt Sabot Slug was intriguing. The bottom line is that core-bonding technology works. It has been a successful process for a good while, and Remington's decision to apply it to shotgun ammunition was a good one.
The Core-Lokt Slug is unlike many bonded bullets, which often don't achieve perfect balance in their jacketing due to heavy copper jacket walls. Remington has a process that produces extremely accurate consistency in the jacket taper, which greatly augments flight stability. The lead core is bonded to this improved jacketing then mechanically locked to the base. The result is a bullet that resists fragmenting on impact, generally producing excellent expansion--up to twice the original diameter--plus outstanding weight retention at varying ranges. Remington's bonding process further prevents the bullet from shattering during the expansion process. The result is a bullet that provides great accuracy, expansion and knockdown power.
The Core-Lokt Slug is a massive 385 grains contained in a 12-gauge shotshell. Out of the barrel, it runs about 1,900 feet per second at the muzzle, providing 3,086 ft-lbs of energy. Those figures drop quickly at 50-yard intervals, but considering the application, the drop is not enough to be concerned about. Clearly, a 50- to 100-yard shot at a black bear would be an ideal test for the Core-Lokt Slug.
Much to my chagrin, the weather in Maine was a little warmer than it had been in West Texas. I had packed much of my cold-weather gear in anticipation of a welcome change of season after enduring a blazing summer, but it wasn't to be. The days had been in the 90s, and a cooling-off wasn't expected for a few more days. Not good weather for bear. They tend to hole up during warm days, waiting for cooler nighttime temperatures before venturing out.
Brent Bailey, owner/operator of Bear One Outfitters, didn't seem too concerned about the weather. He was confident that the bear would show themselves, though he figured it would probably be late in the evening. Bailey's hunters the week before had been successful, and he had no doubt that our party would enjoy the same luck.
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