Best Black Bear/ Moose Rifle

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Evan Zinn

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Just getting into the rifle hunting game, trying to find the right gun. I am in Ontario and looking at what rifle will handle my bear and moose hunting. I am thinking something around the 300. WSM cartridge or something along those lines. I would rather have a little too much calibre, but I know its all where that bullet hits. What does everyone think.

EZ
 
For the ranges usually encountered when hunting big game in Ontario I think the hands down choice is the 45/70 in a Marlin '95 unless you are a fan of single shots and then maybe a Ruger #1. 420gr. hardcast gc bullet at 1900fps gives you more Taylor K.O. then necessary and lots more then the varmint cals.
 
This is only my preference but i like the 338 win. Mag. I own two of them and just bought a 375 ruger. So my preference is also for the bigger bores.
 
Ontario is short range shooting. That really opens up the choices. Deer don't need much killing. A 30-30 does the job easly. Bear only need a 308 type power.

Hitting what you aim at is the key. Unless you are an expereinced shooter, flinching can destroy your accuracy and fun, so "a bit too much gun" is not a goodthing.

I own many different calibers and load for all of them. The rifles that have impressed me the most are the Savage bolt actions and the remington pumps.

The claibers I like the most are 260 rem, 280 Rem, 7-08, 308, 30-06, 356 Win, 35 Whelen and 358 Win.

A 260 with a 140 grain bullet will take both deer and bear. It won't destroy a lot of meat.

I am hard pressed to pick a favorite rifle/caliner, but I really like my 308 and 35 Whelen Rem pump and my 356 Win M94AE.
 
anything from 270 on up to 375 Ruger - depends on how much recoil you like to absorb - they will all kill black bear and moose dead
 
30-06

It's been there, done that.

It's been around the block.

If your area of ontario is anything like mine, 100 yards plus is a rare shot. Problem with magnums, besides being expensive if you don't reload, is that they have too much velocity. So up close, they do not perform as well.

30-06 gives you long range shooting, but good enough up close and dirty.

Its big enough for anything in Ontario. Big enough for Canada but the biggest and meanest bears you might 'consider' moving up a grade...









 
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Evan Zinn said:
Just getting into the rifle hunting game, trying to find the right gun. I am in Ontario and looking at what rifle will handle my bear and moose hunting. I am thinking something around the 300. WSM cartridge or something along those lines. I would rather have a little too much calibre, but I know its all where that bullet hits. What does everyone think.

EZ
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Theoretically a .270 could take down a moose, givin you hit it in the right spot, and have a higher grain bullet. Any 8mm, .308, or even a .300 should do the trick too. They would be powerful enough to at least knock it over, and possibly give you a chance to reload and fire again if needed.
 
There's no theory involved in a .270 win taking a moose down, it il take moose no problem. That said I would go with an 06 or bigger, I'd be more concerned with what kind of rifle I got it in and what bullet shoots good in your gun.

Homesteader
 
I think pretty much every moose that could have been taken with a 270, 308 or 30-06 is long since dead. Only something over 30 cal with the word 'magnum' in the title with sufice in this day of overly resilant game animals. "Ultra", even better! and of course only Barnes TSX's for guaranteed 'Bang Flops'.
 
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