Light bullets - for moose?

popcan

popcan

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Clerk in the local store was telling me he always uses 150 grain C L's for moose hunting.

Doesn't that seem a bit light? Anyone take a moose with a lighter bullet like that?

(cal .308)
 
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What caliber?

A 150 in a 270 would be heavy for caliber, but it would be a bit light for a 30cal unless it was a Partition or similar.



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My wife took her first bull moose this past season with her Tikka T3 LS 270WSM using Winchester Supreme 140gr Accubonds. Distance was 325m, complete pass-thru double lung. Same results on elk and deer-BANG-FLOP.

Bullet placement is the key in all shooting especially using smaller calibers and bullets.
 
As supercub says, what caliber? My buddy used to use use 140's in 6.5 swede,(before he got 30 cal religion :D ) I use 180's for moose in an 30.06, 200's in a .300 Win magM. Used to use 150's in the 30:06 for deer and they were fine, but switched to 180s (same as my moose load) so I wouldn't have to worry about remembering different trajectories
 
Same as me JohnC....for my 300WM I use 180gr bullets for all my big game for the same reason....1 bullet...1 rifle...all Alberta Big GAme. If I was to go sheep or antelope my drop to 150 or 165gr Accubonds.
 
my friends dad has used cheapo Federal or Winchester 150 grain soft points for YEARS in his old 308. Sure they can work, but most of his stories end up after a couple few shots. I wouldnt think they'd penetrate too well, especially on an angling shot.

I'd stick with a premium 165 or 180 grain in the 308 for moose. A light 150 gr soft point can work, hell, anything can work. I once was told about a grizzly hunt where the guy dropped a big boar with a 60 grain Sierra hollowpoint out of a 243! :eek:
 
One of my mentors growing has only ever used a 150gr load in his 30-06 no matter if it was Antelope,Sheep, Deer, Elk or Moose. He isn't one to have to shoot the crap out his animals either.

As mentioned, the Cal. and the velocity are big factors.
 
bullet construction is more important that weight anyways. Id feel comfortable hunting moose with 150 grain TSX in a 300 Savage
 
Popcan your .308 shooting most 150 grain bullets will work fine in most situations for moose. Moose aren't a hard animal to kill, not nearly as tough as elk or deer. Personally I'd go for a little heavier bullet, but if I all I had was 150gr bullets for my .308 I wouldn't think twice about shooting a moose with them.
 
150s will work fine if it's a quality bullet. Shot placement is key. Don't try and bust a front shoulder with a 150 grain bullet, although, I'm sure the TSX would probably do it.

I once shot a moose at 35 yards with a 250 grain .35 Whelen and the bullet (Rem Factory Load) came apart into a million pieces. I only shoot Barnes 225 grain TSXs now.

I would highly recommend this bullet to anyone, especially for moose.
 
130 grain Hornady SST + 270 WIN + double lung = dead moose.

150's will shoot more accurately out of most 30/06's, most shooters will shoot 150's more accurately out of their 30/06, so why not? Shot placement will kill faster then ft/lbs of energy.

Cheers
 
303carbine said:
I have shot lots of moose with a 270 shooting 130 grain bullets, so I don't see why the 150 won't work in the 30 cal.:wave:
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Sure it'll work but the 130 grain .270 (SD 0.242) is more like a 165 grain .308 (SD 0.253) rather than a 150 (SD 0.226). If your .270 shot a 120 grain bullet it would have a SD of 0.223 - closer to the 150 grain .30 cal.

I've used the 139 (Hornady SP) and 140 grain (Nosler Partition) 7mm bullets (SD 0.246/0.248) out of a 7x57 for moose and they killed them just fine (fully penetrating the chest or stopping on the far side under the hide). But again, they're closer to the 165 grain .308 in sectional density.

A stoutly constructed bullet like a Nosler Partition or a Triple X the 150 would probably be a very good choice in the .308. You might not want to do any Texas heart shots, though.;)
 
last year we had a newbie show up in camp,brand new rifle,i asked if i could see it,was a 243 ,asked him we he chose the calibre,he said the store clerk recomended it,i said it a nice rifle can i see the ammo that you brought up to shoot the moose,he handed mme 2 boxes of core locs that i acidently dropped in the lake,he said what im going to use now,i asked if he brought up a shotgun,said yes ,went to my box and gave him 4 boxes of chalenger slugs,can you imagine what would have happened with those 80 grainers
 
I would rather use a 150gr tsx than a 180gr corlokt or power point out of a .308 caliber rifle.It may start out with less weight,but it will retain much more of it's weight and therefore perform even better on game.
 
bronco_mudder said:
Popcan your .308 shooting most 150 grain bullets will work fine in most situations for moose. Moose aren't a hard animal to kill, not nearly as tough as elk or deer. Personally I'd go for a little heavier bullet, but if I all I had was 150gr bullets for my .308 I wouldn't think twice about shooting a moose with them.
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Thanks gents, for all the replies.

I wasn't actually planning to use 150gr on anything - just wanted to get opinions on what the guy was saying.

After trying Sirrocos and Core lockts, I've completed testing 180 gr Noslers in my T3 and they shoot very well for me. That's what I'll be using in the fall.

I was going to also test some 165 gr Nosler Partitions, but they didn't have any on hand. (That's why he was trying to sell me on 150 gr ;)).
 
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