.243 for moose hunt ?
- Thread starter Sierra1500
- Start date
My father took four adult moose over three hunting seasons with a Rem 742 in 243 with plain old 100gr cor-loks.After loosing all his guns but the 742 to a house fire it was all he had,until he bought a 7600 in 30-06.
He said none of the moose went further than 80yds from where he hit them on broad sided shots.
I guess if its all you had it would do the job,but I would opt for something bigger for moose.7mm-08 in the 308win case family being the smallest.
He said none of the moose went further than 80yds from where he hit them on broad sided shots.
I guess if its all you had it would do the job,but I would opt for something bigger for moose.7mm-08 in the 308win case family being the smallest.
I bet that could make for an interesting story.
Glock4ever
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
I am a firm believer in shooting the biggest caliber that you can w/o flinching. If all you can handle is a .243 - I think that it can drop a moose w/i limits. But you really need to be concious of how far you are shooting and where you are going to put that bullet. I was hunting this year and came across 2 nice cow elk - I didn't have a tag for them (or they definitely would be in my fridge) - and the first thing I was thinking of was when I was looking at them was if my .308 was going to be able to comfortably drop them where they were standing. I was confident that 168 gn bullets could do the job at 50m but you don't really appreciate how big a moose/elk is unless you are standing next to them. If I had a 243 Win, I probably would have still taken a shot at them as they were standing there looking at me for over 15 mins (while my buddy was checking the Conservation guide to see if my tag was legal in the WMU - it wasn't :*( ). I would have probably tried to place the bullet in the neck near the spine or into the boiler room. I would never try to shoot them with a 243 at over 100m running unless I was really well set up on a bipod and if it was over 150m I would probably just pass altogether. I think that any caliber can kill (even a .22lr) but w/i limitations of the power of the caliber.
I suspect that by now, every animal on the face of the earth has been shot dead with every cartridge ever invented. I sure that somewhere, an elephant has dropped dead of a heart attack when someone jumped out of the bush and yelled "BOO!". None of that really helps me make cartridge decisions for various game animals.
If it were me, I would choose something a little larger for moose. Personally I would start in the 30-06 class and go up from there. This is just my personal opinion - not a universal law. I really don't care if Uncle Abe once killed a Brontosaurus with a nickel plated ball bearing from a slingshot.
If it were me, I would choose something a little larger for moose. Personally I would start in the 30-06 class and go up from there. This is just my personal opinion - not a universal law. I really don't care if Uncle Abe once killed a Brontosaurus with a nickel plated ball bearing from a slingshot.
x2.
Might as well put the bull barrel to good use and club it instead.
Good luck with this.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I hunted moose with my "backup" .243 only once, when I had a malfunction with my .308. I didn't enjoy it one bit. I was always worrying about how I woud get a boadside lung shot when seeing ANY part of a moose in thick bush is an accomplishment!
I know one old gentleman who killed something like 90 moose during his 50 yr. Saskatchewan hunting career using a .250 Savage. He was the "shooter" for a large party of relatives that went out together every year. The .250 is basically equivalent to the 243, but even knowing that his record speaks for itself, I don't think it's a good moose gun. Moose guns start at 6.5mm(.264) and 140 grain bullets and go up!
I know one old gentleman who killed something like 90 moose during his 50 yr. Saskatchewan hunting career using a .250 Savage. He was the "shooter" for a large party of relatives that went out together every year. The .250 is basically equivalent to the 243, but even knowing that his record speaks for itself, I don't think it's a good moose gun. Moose guns start at 6.5mm(.264) and 140 grain bullets and go up!
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
There was an article in Ontario out of doors on a 243 moose hunt some years back. As I recall, they did get the moose. Seven shots later.
Takujualuk
CGN Regular
- Location
- Whitehorse, Yukon
Well first of all I have yet to shoot a moose....but I have taken about 70 or 80 caribou..not the same animal at all but I do have some clues about bullet performance.
My wife has used a 6mm in a Rem 600 and with such a short barrel we get 243 ballistics from this rig.
We like it on caribou but for moose the bullet action with the correct bullets is roughly similar but somewhat inferior to the 30-30. We did a lot of testing on wet news-papers too all the way up to the 100 grain Nosler Partition at 2900-3000 and the 115 Barnes at 2700. Slightly prefer the action of 170 Hornady's in the 30-30 to these light 6mm bullets. So though we are still not exactly over-powered we have made the choice to go with a bit more bullet weight and a bit less velocity to gain more reliable penetration levels and slightly better second half wound channels. My wife's moose rifle is a Stevens 325 B in 30-30 and to be honest it's still a marginal choice though slightly better than a 243..
I use the 358 Norma myself... like the explosive power!
My wife has used a 6mm in a Rem 600 and with such a short barrel we get 243 ballistics from this rig.
We like it on caribou but for moose the bullet action with the correct bullets is roughly similar but somewhat inferior to the 30-30. We did a lot of testing on wet news-papers too all the way up to the 100 grain Nosler Partition at 2900-3000 and the 115 Barnes at 2700. Slightly prefer the action of 170 Hornady's in the 30-30 to these light 6mm bullets. So though we are still not exactly over-powered we have made the choice to go with a bit more bullet weight and a bit less velocity to gain more reliable penetration levels and slightly better second half wound channels. My wife's moose rifle is a Stevens 325 B in 30-30 and to be honest it's still a marginal choice though slightly better than a 243..
I use the 358 Norma myself... like the explosive power!
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
X2 .
There are better calibers out there for big critters, but that doesn't mean you can't do it with a .243.
Personally I wouldn't myself, because
A: I have many other rifles more suited than a 243 with a bull barrel.
B: I hate the 243 for anything.
C: Unless it's a calf I have a tag for, Ii ain't gonna shoot, I'll let soemone else have all the fun- moose are too dam big to be "fun"!
Cat
X2 .
There are better calibers out there for big critters, but that doesn't mean you can't do it with a .243.
Personally I wouldn't myself, because
A: I have many other rifles more suited than a 243 with a bull barrel.
B: I hate the 243 for anything.
C: Unless it's a calf I have a tag for, Ii ain't gonna shoot, I'll let soemone else have all the fun- moose are too dam big to be "fun"!
Cat
I'm with you there Cat, I just plain don't like the .243 either - it's in the grey zone, too big for varmints, too small for anything else.
I know a guy that killed a moose with a .22. no kidding. 13 shots behind the leg and moose down in 50 yards. was it a stupid thing to do and illegal? of course. story is you can kill anything with a .22 long rifle but what's more practical. Hunters should be ethical people and if you want to kill an animal with min amount of suffering then pick a caliber that is "suited" to kill what you are going for, not a min or should work. go to chuckhawks webpage for more info on this. he has reference to recommended mins for specific game. in general with off the shelf ammo on moose i would say bullet of min 130gr out of a 7mm-08 would be as light as i would ever go. better yet 180gr out of something with at least 2600fps muzzle velocity is optimal.
What a funny thread. Some great answers and a whole lot of opinion. Interesting.
He's looking for a moose gun that only needs to reach out 200 yards max. The gun he's looking at is a target model with a scope.
Before caliber even enters the equation this looks like a bad idea. Now perhaps the rifle is very cheap and I can certainly understand drooling over a gun that just might do the trick and even try to talk myself into it. However there are far better suited rifles and even better calibers to choose from out there. I wouldn't recommend he buy this gun.
In my opinion I'd rather buy a sportered .303, Stevens 200, or Savage package gun. Buy either of the last two and there's a whole lot of excellent moose cartridges to choose from.
He's looking for a moose gun that only needs to reach out 200 yards max. The gun he's looking at is a target model with a scope.
Before caliber even enters the equation this looks like a bad idea. Now perhaps the rifle is very cheap and I can certainly understand drooling over a gun that just might do the trick and even try to talk myself into it. However there are far better suited rifles and even better calibers to choose from out there. I wouldn't recommend he buy this gun.
In my opinion I'd rather buy a sportered .303, Stevens 200, or Savage package gun. Buy either of the last two and there's a whole lot of excellent moose cartridges to choose from.
