hunting moose with my 308

I used federal 180 high energy on a 100 and 275 yard shots on moose and they both went into the freezer. My uncle swears by cor loc. I currently have handloaded 168 Barnes ### ready for this season.
 
Boomer said:
You could spend a fortune on factory .308 ammo loaded with premium bullets, trying to find which shoots best in your rifle. Provided you can manage 3 MOA, 3 shot groups, out to 300 yards, from field positions, that is all the accuracy you need. A moose after all is a big target. Regardless of whether they were pushed from a .30/06, a .30/40 Krag, a .300 magnum, a .300 Savage, a .303 Brit, or a .308, traditional .30 caliber 180 gr cup and core bullets impacting at 2400-2500 fps have slain a train load of moose over the years. Unless it is all you can find, I would avoid blue box Federal ammo. This stuff isn't particularly accurate in any .30/06 I've used it in, it struggles to make 3 MOA at 100, and I see no reason why it would be any better in a .308. Still, if that is all you can find, it will kill your moose, but at 300 yards the group might be closer to 4 MOA than it is to 3. That is still a dead broadside moose. Conversely, Winchester 180 gr Power Points, or Remington 180 gr Core-lokts both produce reasonably good accuracy and produce good terminal performance. I think you are better off to purchase 100 rounds of a single brand of ammo and get in some trigger time under practical field conditions, than you are to worry about a difference in accuracy of a half MOA between brand A and brand B, then perhaps by next year you'll want to handload.
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Ive seen Federal Blue Box shoot 1.5 MOA in both 308 and 3006. Ive also seen mediocre (at best) shooters do better then 3 MOA with it.

As to the OP, I'll be using 200gr Win Silvertips that I picked up a gun show earlier this year in my .308 for moose. They shoot very well at 100, although I suspect they drop considerably at 300. I'll find out before season starts thats for sure.
 
6.5x55swm said:
I have 30rds of federal 150gr sp that came with the rifle, I will try them and see how well they group.
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Don't cheeeep out on ammo. Don't ask is that's what you are planning anyways.

Buy a variety of 180s and find the best. TSXs and Partitions need to be mentioned as well. I'm using TSXs on my moose hunt this yr.


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I tried those cheap federal last night(blue box) and it grouped 1.5" at 100yds and 2.25 at 200yds I think thats pretty good for cheap stuff. I will be trying some heavier bullets next weekend.
 
I'll give the nod to the 180 gr Federal partition....took a really nice bull at 175 yrds last year, he didn't disagree with the bullet choice.

150 gr will work, but my gut feeling is the 180 gr is a better round for bigger game.
 
Having shot my one and only moose with my .308, I would say that you don't need varmint accuracy, but practice getting of 2 or 3 shots in succession. If you can hit a paper plate 3 times in a row fairly quick, you're ready, regardless of whether it's with 150, 165 or 180 grains. I used 180 partitions, and if I had to use the .308 again , I would go 165 as they shot a little better in my rifle.
 
Twisted Canuck said:
I'll give the nod to the 180 gr Federal partition....took a really nice bull at 175 yrds last year, he didn't disagree with the bullet choice.

150 gr will work, but my gut feeling is the 180 gr is a better round for bigger game.
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My sister-in-law uses a .308, has shot several moose, and swears that it needs 180's to do the job. I haven't shot one with my .308, but having had to use my .30-06 on a cow last year (target of opportunity, had tag, last day of season, while hunting for deer) with a 150gr Sierra ProHunter at 260yds. The bullet did its job, through and through, wrecked the lungs, but she traveled too far (100yds) for my liking before she laid down. Then, when I broke the wood line (between two fields), she stood up and tried to move but couldn't. A heart shot at 50 yds put her down. I wouldn't choose a 150 for moose. Min would be a 165. And a .308 isn't much different from the .30-06 so maybe that should be the same. Most people choose the 180 because it is good enough for the moose, elk and bear range, so it should be good for deer and then they don't have to mess around with sighting in all the time with new rounds. That's why my father uses 170's in his .30-30. Deer, moose, bear. Done.
 
I've shot several moose with my handy little Rem model 600 using factory ammo loaded with 180gr partitions. I never felt undergunned and everything I shot at hit the dirt post haste. I would reccomend something heavier than 150's for moose, but that's just me. I don't really see a moose taking a solid hit from a 150 gr .308 bullet in the vitals and walking very far...
 
blargon said:
Yep, 165gr and up is best. These are a good load too...

Silvertip.jpg
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My Win 100 didn't like that ammo but I use it in my Savage model 10 bolt gun for moose though. The 100 now uses 150 gr. XP3's and only as a backup gun now.
 
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