Bigger bores and lower velocity do much less damage to meat and such and yet contradictorily seem to kill as good or better.............
Is a .375 H & H too much cartridge for moose
- Thread starter pacobillie
- Start date
Bigger bores and lower velocity do much less damage to meat and such and yet contradictorily seem to kill as good or better.............
Yep! My bet would be that the 243 will destroy far more meat than the 9.3 or a 375. As the old saying goes, "Use a big, heavy, bullet, and you eat right up to the hole."
I have killed many tons, literally, of moose, caribou, and bear over the past 40+ years with both a 9.3X62 and the 375 H&H rifles. Only one time had a mess, and it was bad! A Hornady Interlock 270 gr Spitzer out of a 375 that hit at around 2700 fps. I hurried and pulled the shot big time, and the bullet ended up really coming apart with a hit on the shoulder insted of in the lungs. Took me at least an hour to clean that front up, and we lost a lot of meat.
On the other hand, I have helped clean dozens of animals shot with 243, 25-06, 270, and 7 mags, and even with good lung shots, there is almost always jellied meat, sometimes quite a lot of it.
Ted
Last edited:
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
It's hard to dispute the physics involved with kinetic energy when you match the boolit to the gameand shoot within the distance dictated by the impact velocity of the projectile. I've seen a lot of meat
turned into foam by light bullets driven too hard on game.
Cartridges like the 45-70 have been with us for 140+ years because they work so dang well.
I've always wondering if there is a possibility of having too powerfull a round when hunting moose. But is it an old wifes tale or what? The brother, who is the main hunter in the family uses 30-06, and that seems to do the job quite well. Ive been told when you go too big like 375 H&H that your risking ruining a lot of meat due to bloodshot etc..
Any truth to that? There must be a limit or you could use a 700 Nitro Express.
Interesting.
well a lot of you guys reload. But for those that use factory ammo, thats what im getting at.
Good rifle and good caliber. No need to load it with two scoops of powder if all you are hunting is moose.
I sometimes hunt with a single shot 45-70 (Martini-Enfield). A single shot makes you concentrate on getting the shot right. New hunters should use one for their first 5 deer/moose.
I sold my 375, but still have boxes of bullets, if you need them.
I sometimes hunt with a single shot 45-70 (Martini-Enfield). A single shot makes you concentrate on getting the shot right. New hunters should use one for their first 5 deer/moose.
I sold my 375, but still have boxes of bullets, if you need them.
Don't worry about factory 700 NE, if you can afford the rifle and ammo, I'm pretty sure you won't be too concerned about the meat loss, as you go back to camp while your entourage deals with the moose and your valet prepares your lobster dinner for you.............but yes, it is one that you certainly can eat up to the hole, virtually no blood shock to the 700, just a 3/4" hole which you can look through and see daylight on the other side..........
lol no i cant afford it, was just using it as an example.
If we're still talking about the .375 there's plenty of premium bullets available in factory loads. Federal has Trophy Bonded Bearclaws, Nosler Partitions, and TSXs to get you started. If you want a bullet that won't tear things up much the TSX is for you. Oddly, although the Barnes isn't my favorite bullet if I were limited to one caliber and one bullet for the world and everything in it it would likely be a 270 grain TSX in a .375. It works well for tiny hoofed things that would pop like a balloon with a .270, and just as easily clobber an animal the size of 3 moose.
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
I will report tomorrow.
Details on what you have available that you'll part with
tylerjwitty
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Ontario
So true I pulled a newbie last year and was ashamed and mad at myself. Two blackies in a grain field and I stalked / snuck up on them and I figured if I shot real fast on the first I might get the second . Guess how many blacks I brought home with me.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
In support of the big bullet little meat damage theory I submit . . .
The cartridge was a .375 Ultra, and the load was a 270 gr Hornady IL (I didn't have any cast at the time) over 18 grs of Unique for about 1200 fps. The breast meat was completely undamaged. Now someone may point out that .22 rimfire ammo weighs much less than .375 Ultra, and that for equal weight you can carry much more. I won't argue the fact, but a few rounds of .375 Ultra small game loads in my pocket are much lighter than a .22 rifle, when its necessary to carry a centerfire rifle anyway.
The cartridge was a .375 Ultra, and the load was a 270 gr Hornady IL (I didn't have any cast at the time) over 18 grs of Unique for about 1200 fps. The breast meat was completely undamaged. Now someone may point out that .22 rimfire ammo weighs much less than .375 Ultra, and that for equal weight you can carry much more. I won't argue the fact, but a few rounds of .375 Ultra small game loads in my pocket are much lighter than a .22 rifle, when its necessary to carry a centerfire rifle anyway.
