The most important factor which will dictate your succes is proper shot placement. Bullet size and speed mean nothing unless you can put t where it needs to go. Savage trophy hunter Xp rifles come in a few configurations and many different calibers all will retail well under a thousand, and you could even upgrade the scope and still come in within budget. Magnum calibers are not needed. I see far too many people going with magnum calibers. Anything bigger than a 6.5mm bullet will do fine on moose. If you're new to shooting center fire, the 7mm-08 is a nice caliber, good performance and mild recoil. Others like the 270, 308, 30-06 are fine choices as well.