.308/6.5CM/6.5x55/7x57/7-08 For moose

Ridiculous amounts of Mooses have been shot successfully with 30-30's so a 7-08 is no problem, and you do not need a so called premium bullet to do it, Hot core's or interlocks work just fine.
 
Of that group I'd use the 7x57 but that's only because I have one and it's the coolest of the cartridges mentioned. In reality they will all do the trick if you are being smart about shot selection and distance.
 
I took my Moose with a 300WM at 300yrds so my only experience is with that..

I would think you'd be pushing your luck/morals with anything but a heavier loaded .308, but that's my opinion. Sure if your a great shot you can do it with smaller calibers, but when the adrenaline starts pumping are you sure you want to risk hurting the animal?

My 2 cents.
 
Anyone ever kill anything with a 6.5mm GMX bullet?

Only took deer with the 6.5mms and used 120gr NBTs. One of the faster deer kills I ever saw (that wasn't CNS hit anyway) came from that bullet, but its because they weren't exiting.

Found some Hornady Superformance 6.5 CM ammo with the 120 gr GMX, would dig hearing anyone's experience with them.
 
Gatehouse said:
Which one of these is best for moose and which one is the worst? And why?
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They all work well; you forgot the .30-06, 8 x 57, .303, .270... And the list goes on. they all will work.

From your list, I personally would drop the 6.5 CM because most of them are twisted for lighter bullets, and may not stabilize a heavy hunting bullet as well as the others in your list.
 
I have a 7mm-08, it is a good shooter with any bullets I've put through it.

Velocities are 2600 ft/s with 150's and 2900 ft/s with 120's out of a 20" bbl.

Any comments or experience with the 120 grain mono-metal on big animals?
 
Meroh said:
From your list, I personally would drop the 6.5 CM because most of them are twisted for lighter bullets, and may not stabilize a heavy hunting bullet as well as the others in your list.
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You might want to fact check that statement. The std 6.5CM bbl twist is 1:8".
 
SuperCub said:
.... and use a good bullet.

Last moose I shot was with a 275Rigby with a 160gr NP. He died.

If one was not a handloader, I would suspect the 308 would be a better choice for factory ammo selection.
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This, all the way.

OP, you didn't specify if we're talking handloads or not.
 
CeDe said:
I took my Moose with a 300WM at 300yrds so my only experience is with that..

I would think you'd be pushing your luck/morals with anything but a heavier loaded .308, but that's my opinion. Sure if your a great shot you can do it with smaller calibers, but when the adrenaline starts pumping are you sure you want to risk hurting the animal?

My 2 cents.
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At one point in my life i use to think like you ( if it's not a magnum not even try )
Not trying to bash the magnums in fact i love magnums, i own 5 of them, it's just that you don't need a magnum to kill a moose up to 300yds
I know a gentleman that has being hunting moose for about 50 years now and all he uses is a .257 Roberts and he has killed his fair share of moose and deer with that rifle.
In my opinion a magnum with heavy bullets will be on a different league after 400 meters or so.
 
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SuperCub,
It is not much about twist rate as it is about the short action and COL of the 6.5 CM. You can not put enough powder in a 6.5CM to push a 156 or 160 grains to acceptable speeds. That's why Hornady does not offer loads for 160 grains in 6.5CM.
PS: there is no need for another 6.5CM/6.5x55 debate.
 
freire said:
At one point in my life i use to think like you ( if it's not a magnum not even try )
Not trying to bash the magnums in fact i love magnums, i own 5 of them, it's just that you don't need a magnum to kill a moose up to 300yds
I know a gentleman that has being hunting moose for about 50 years now and all he uses is a .257 Roberts and he has killed his fair share of moose and deer with that rifle.
In my opinion a magnum with heavy bullets will on a different league after 400 meters or so.
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I agree! 308 30-06 as killed lots of Yukon moose( that are genetically way bigger and way tougher than any other moose on the planet …. Or so they say…)! And really a moose at 300yards make you excited and a rush of adrenaline going… maybe try a moose at 50 yards, then you will start to get nervous hahaha and you won’t need a magnum!! All the moose I shot or my partners shot over the years were all inside of 200m in fact all inside of 180m and most were inside 100m but it might have to do with my style of hunting!
 
Meroh said:
They all work well; you forgot the .30-06, 8 x 57, .303, .270... And the list goes on. they all will work.

From your list, I personally would drop the 6.5 CM because most of them are twisted for lighter bullets, and may not stabilize a heavy hunting bullet as well as the others in your list.
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The entire reason the 6.5 creedmoor was created was to be able to use longer, heavier target bullets in a 2.8” magazine. Most if not all factory offerings are twisted for heavy for caliber bullets.
 
mimile said:
SuperCub,
It is not much about twist rate as it is about the short action and COL of the 6.5 CM. You can not put enough powder in a 6.5CM to push a 156 or 160 grains to acceptable speeds. That's why Hornady does not offer loads for 160 grains in 6.5CM.
PS: there is no need for another 6.5CM/6.5x55 debate.
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Acceptable enough for who? The Hornady manual here is showing 2700-2750 as doable with their 153gr A-Tip. Same manual shows the 160gr RN at 2550 FPS.

Depending on barrel length of course. But I bet anyone who cares about range and velocity wouldn't be using bullets with the BC of a C battery.

But with that in mind, no reason to need 160 gr Hornady loads, and no interest in in a 6.5 CM vs 6.5x55 debate here either. Because there is none. There's so much overlap between them, there really is no real world hunting difference.
 
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mimile said:
SuperCub,
It is not much about twist rate as it is about the short action and COL of the 6.5 CM. You can not put enough powder in a 6.5CM to push a 156 or 160 grains to acceptable speeds. That's why Hornady does not offer loads for 160 grains in 6.5CM.
PS: there is no need for another 6.5CM/6.5x55 debate.
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I agree that the CM does have limited case capacity for heavy bullets. My reply was to a post discussing the ROT for the 6.5CM, not about case capacity. :)

That's one thing I do like about the CM is the shorter case which does allow for bullets to be seated out in a 2.8" magazine and the reason I chose the 6CM over the 243Win.
 
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