Best caliber for moose that meets the following criteria?
- Thread starter dpo2o
- Start date
- Location
- Silver Creek
6.5 X 55 Meets all your requirements and is an awesome moose round
300 is a very fine round for moose especially for distance longer than 300 yards. There is no recoil issue shooting it in the field. A Limbsaver helps a bit for sure, however, it is not exactly friendly in the range during the long non-moose season (95+% of your rounds).
BTW I hunted moose with the 300 for many years and have now moved back to the 308 and 270. Like many have said, both the 308 or 270 rounds are very capable for moose. Matter of fact, I have taken a huge bull with my T3 308 in excess of 400+ yards.
While the 270 shoots flatter than the 308 my preference is still the 308 with 165 gr TSX. That is not to degrade the 270 but I like the heavier 30 cal bullets better. You never know how large a moose may show up.
Sako 85 is a winner. There is nothing wrong staying with a round that you are comfortable with it.
BTW I hunted moose with the 300 for many years and have now moved back to the 308 and 270. Like many have said, both the 308 or 270 rounds are very capable for moose. Matter of fact, I have taken a huge bull with my T3 308 in excess of 400+ yards.
While the 270 shoots flatter than the 308 my preference is still the 308 with 165 gr TSX. That is not to degrade the 270 but I like the heavier 30 cal bullets better. You never know how large a moose may show up.
Sako 85 is a winner. There is nothing wrong staying with a round that you are comfortable with it.
pisces-guy
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- West Kelowna, B.C.
.308 is just fine, get ammo for it with a high BC bullet that's either mono-metal or bonded and you're in great shape for moose.
The .308 Winchester is consistently at the top of the popularity charts for a reason. It is accurate, mild recoiling and versatile, able to handle a broad range of bullet weights and big game. I've harvested at least a dozen moose and caribou with the .308 Win using both factory ammo and handloads. For whatever reason, it seems to be a very forgiving caliber. It is definitely easier to shoot than a belted magnum, especially for recoil sensitive shooters. Opting for one of those super soft aftermarket recoil pads or going with a heavier rifle will definitely help curb felt recoil. At the end of the day, moose aren't that hard to kill and accuracy will always trump sheer muzzle energy.
rednekhuntr
CGN Regular
It's funny, in my late teens I was fascinated with premium bullets because of what I read in gun magazines. I bought every brand I could find, and hunted with them. In fact, I still have a couple boxes of the 180 grWinchester black talons in 308, some early Barnes x, and nosler partitions. All the premium bullets worked fine for whitetail, moose and black bear.
They did not, however, kill any better than the federal classics, rem core loct's, or win power points that my buddies were using.
If you want to use a premium round, by all means do so, if you reload it should help with cost.
This guy's gonna continue to put 180 gr federal blue box through my 308, and am completely confident that I'm going to keep eating yummy ontario moose every year.
They did not, however, kill any better than the federal classics, rem core loct's, or win power points that my buddies were using.
If you want to use a premium round, by all means do so, if you reload it should help with cost.
This guy's gonna continue to put 180 gr federal blue box through my 308, and am completely confident that I'm going to keep eating yummy ontario moose every year.
I have had the same "underwhelming" experience ... although I was pretty confident when I used Nosler partitions and Black Talons and Grand Slams etc ... but I couldnt really say they were any better than standard factory loaded ammunition when the final result was the measure. Just my experience and opinion as well
X2 for the 6.5 55
Seeing as you already have a .308, but want to treat yourself to an 85 in a decent moose caliber, why not try something a little lighter in a European caliber like 7x57 or 6.5x55? I can tell you that the last two moose I dropped were with a 7-08 (Sako 85), and premium bullets with no problem. Something about a European gun in a European caliber that turns my crank..
Edit: Setting up any rifle you purchase for MPBRR will take most of the guesswork out of effective shooting out to 300 yards or so.
None of the calibers being discussed and recommended on here NEED a premium bullet.........I'm not sure why some guys on here keep emphasizing "and use a premium bullet". The 6.5, 270, 7-08, 7X57 and 308 are all sub 3000 fps cartridges (for the most part) and do not require premium bullets to function admirably, in some cases premium monometal bullets may actualy reduce their effectiveness. All of these cartridges function flawlessly with Speer, Sierra, Nosler BT and Horn C+C bullets. No need for premium bullets with this family of cartridges...................
Four for the swede, get it in a blond stock!!
While I'm in the market for a 6.5x55 '85 I'm surprised nobody has suggested a 7RM...
In a wood stock 85 with a good recoil pad it would be very shootable for a hunting gun, kill anything and if you want a flat trajectory it's at a whole nother level compared to a 308.
Just don't get it in a light gun...
In a wood stock 85 with a good recoil pad it would be very shootable for a hunting gun, kill anything and if you want a flat trajectory it's at a whole nother level compared to a 308.
Just don't get it in a light gun...
Can you expand? Are you referring to a case where on a long shot the bullet has lost so much velocity that the petals won't fold back properly?
Bullet expansion is a product of construction, velocity, rotational centrifugal force and terminal resistance. A mono metal bullet at lower velocities on a rib shot where no bone is hit, will not do near as much damage internally as a cup and core bullet on an identical hit at the same diminished velocity. That has been my experience, YMMV.........
CreamySmooth
CGN frequent flyer
Moose are pussies. Keep your .308 just so you can maintain the same ammo and dies etc if you reload ever. Heck 30/30 is more than enough. I've used everything, but my favorite lately has been .257 Weatherby. But .308 is still my gold standard for anything that walks.
If I'm going moose hunting, I won't chintz on the bullet. My personal choice is the partition or accubond and they seem to do the trick for me. To each his own, but for the extra few cents per bullet I prefer the premiums.
migrant hunter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I hunted with cup and core bullets for years in standard calibers, but I was afraid to push them to .300 magnum velocities. I felt a magnum only paid for itself if I could trust it to penetrate on those angled shots that maybe have to punch through a shoulder or some such. I'm happier with a chunk of lead twice the weight even if it has no jacket and does 2/3 the speed(9.3x62)
The Partitions and Accubonds are great bullets, that is not the issue. As premium bullets go, they are generalists that take a pretty good stab at combining the rapid kills of a fast opening fragmenting bullet(Plan A) with a base that hopefully doesn't come apart no matter what and penetrates deeply (Plan B). Because of their construction they can pull this trick off over a wide range of velocities and both large and small animals.
Not all premium bullets are equally adept at combining two worlds, and many don't even try. "Premium" covers quite a range of bullets from glorified varmint bullets to the hardest of solids. Price does not determine suitability for purpose. If you combine the hardest of expanding monoliths with small soft animals and cartridges of relatively modest velocity its quite easy to create a situation where ordinary cup and core bullets will work better. A high percentage of the specialty bullets excel at one thing or another. The nature of specializing is that to be great in one area they may just suck in another. The "premium" market is heavily weighted toward sturdy bullets that can take the highest velocities and still stay together in the largest and most solid of animals. That's fine for that use, but most hunting is about ordinary cartridges at ordinary ranges and ordinary animals. 90% of the big game animals in the world are no bigger than a good sized whitetail buck so "ordinary" is fairly small. A hunter isn't doing himself any favors by selecting a bullet that is best suited for shooting through a buffalo lengthwise, then popping a deer the size of a big dog with it. Price has nothing to do with it.
