Moose Gun

I had to rethink what I have actually dropped moose with; as opposed to what have I carried when out moose hunting. The first woul be 30-06 and the second would be a 300 WSM, and the 300WM works well too. They all do an adequate job on moose.
 
Over kill I know but a .416 Rigby with a 400 gr Partition bang flopped a big cow two years ago. Only used to break it in .............shot lots with the 6.5 Swede and .270 win...........Harold
 
7mm Rem Mag with a 160 grain partition in a good accurate rifle. My personal setup is a Weatherby Mark V Accumark with my own reloads. I have also used 175 gr Remington Corelok's. That said really any suitable caliber would work well as long as you hit the right spot with the right bullet. As a kid 303 British ruled along with the 30-06. But that was a few years ago.
 
My last moose was hit at very close range with a Remington 798 in 7mm Rem Mag and Nosler 150g Ballistic Tips. Not pretty, four rounds and 400 yards later, tracking through dense bush.
If close range is frequent choose one of the under 3000 fps rounds with lots of bullet for caliber and wait for broad side shots. Be patient and they will fall down.

This is likely an issue with the bullet type not the caliber. The ballistic tips are not really meant for the larger animals. Penetration is not really that great. Change that over to a Partition or maybe accubond type bullet and you won't need to walk so far. 👍
 
The ballistic tip is a poor deer bullet and explodes like a grenade at 3000fps .Partiton or Accubond as suggested...........Harold
 
15 pages and no one suggested 300 H&H? Ha ha

303s are a staple as are 30-06. Whatever you can shoot a lot. If you can't get 30-06 ammo something is wrong with your LGS. 303 is still easy to find but getting more expensive. 300 H&H is getting tough to find, but can be handloaded. Again though, shoot it lots and make sure the rifle fits you well and you shoot it and that caliber equally well.
 
I believe that the 30-30 has killed alot of game .. but the 38-55 was the big thing one time too and the 44-40 has killed moose too and mussel loaded guns before that .. I am sure the Indians killed moose with a piece of flint tied on a sick.. They all kill moose and moose have not became any tougher since those times .. But we use too drive horse and buggies too and we still got too town .. I would like too believe we have came forward and we now have way better guns for moose than the 30-30 ... 44-40 ....and 38-55 .. I believe the 30-06 is a good choice and anything bigger is better .. Just because your great grandfather killed a moose with a 44-40 does not mean it is a good choice today .. I seen a ""CALF "' moose killed with a 44-40 and the bullet was not even two inches under the skin .. He was close and shot it in the neck .. it fell right where he shot it .. But luckily shot it in the neck ... Not enough gun in my opinion ..There is way better guns for moose than the OLD calibers of the past .. they will kill one for sure .. But most people spend a small fortune too go moose hunting each year.. and then limit yourself because of the gun you brought with you .. If nothing else borrow a moose gun and leave grampa's gun at home .. My grandfather used a 56-50 spencer rim fire and killed a moose .. Not a moose gun today
 
A lot of good suggestions here. You pretty much can't go wrong with any of them.

For me, my go to moose gun has always been my 700 7mm mag. I have only taken six moose in my life time but each and every one of them has died where they were shot. Something about shot placement, or so I heard. lol

I do have a 750 35 Whelen that I am itching to try on moose but being the creature of habit that I am, I am not sure that I want to rock the boat.
 
I've shot probably around 18 moose. The majority with a 30-06. Of this dozen and half moose the furthest was 322 yards. I can't remember each and every one but I would think that most of them have been under 100 yards. Moose aren't very tough and I don't know why people think they are. If you're looking for a good all around gun you can not go wrong with a 30-06 and 165 gr pill for anything and everything you'd want to hunt.
 
That's not usually done intentionally by folk who know better. There's a lot of meat to be lost in that shot.


beats looking for them lol...or packing them thru a swamp;)

Generally though if they are still enough and close enough I will take a head shot...after all ....the scope is already there checking the horns anyhow




Lots of good calibers for moose OP

303 was my first , then 30/06 and this stinkin 300 win mag that rang my ears....

Thinking hard about going back to the 06;)
 
Back
Top Bottom