Posted on 10/23/2020 8:06:20 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Comparatively few people get to hunt moose. In Maine, where we have masses of moose, the odds on drawing a tag in any given year are 1,300 to one. In Alaska, where the moose are many, and there’s no problem getting a license, but for a nonresident, it’s an expensive and difficult hunt.
On the other hand, I consider moose to be the best of all wild meats, and there’s a lot of it if you get one. So, let us consider the best cartridges for same.
Moose are not smart or tough, but they are big. Bulls in the Lower 48 ( Alces alces) weigh from 800 to 1,000 pounds. Alaskan bulls ( Alces gigas) run from 1,000, if they’re worn down by the rut, to 1,600 or 1,800. For a bullet to do its job, it must get through much moose, and that requires both heft and toughness.
Most moose are shot with deer rifles, and that’s fine, but if you’re hunting them in grizzly or brown bear country, your rifle must be able to deal with an ursine claimant to the dead body. I would not want to bluff a brown bear with a .270. So, most of the following cartridges are bigger than strictly required, but they’ll handle both jobs.
There are bog-trotting moose and ridge-running moose. The ridge runners can often be hunted on horseback, but the bog trotters are pursued on foot, and it’s some of the most frightful country I’ve ever sloshed through. If you carry a heavy, long-barreled rifle, you will regret it only once, and that will be continually.
So, with all of that out of the way, here we go.
(Excerpt) Read more at fieldandstream.com ...
Krag 30-40 180 grain....I’d use a Krag Jorgenson or a Winchester 95’ chambered in 30-40.Look at the records and see how many records were taken using a Krag.
300 Winchester Mag. Should be adequate.
I first read this as mouse versus moose. I was thinking, dang, overkill.
I knew that old coot would work Nosler into his review somehow. Nosler to him is like crack to a junkie.
...Moose!
Actually a 6.5 Creedmore would be a STUNT, imVho.
Fyi, a “famous lady tiger hunter” (who was a COL’s wife) in British India took over 25 Bengal Tigers in the post-WWI era with a .22 Savage High-Power. - Worked FINE, until the day that it did NOT.
(The LADY HUNTER & her SHIKARI both ended up in a New Delhi hospital & in BAD shape.)
Yours, TMN78247
DEP’s been on a 6.5 Creedmor jag for the last few years. Leave it alone if you meet him.
Is that some kind of April Fools joke? If real, that would be hell on barrels.
I have a Husky in 9.3x62 it started as a 9.3x57 that I had reamed out. I debated having X caliber make me a barrel for an old rem 700 I had in 30_06 just laying around. I wanted the control feed of the mauser 98 action vs the push feed of the 700 should I ever need to shove a round in less than ideal conditions. Have you ever had an issue with feeding that large round with your Remmy 700?
I’m a reloaded I love how long cases last in the 9.3 especially when loaded up mildly since its vast over kill for nearly everything in North America. I bought mine before my 375 H&H in CZ550 for a buff hunt in SA now that I own a 375 it’s all I would carry to AK or Africa along with my 7mag in 28” bull barrel for plains game at 500m plus. Fast twist 7mm loaded till the primers bulge...190 Berger VLDs carry 1800fps & 1500+ftlb to well over 800m not that I would typically take a shot that far but I have reliably hit white tail deer, bullies, axis,and mtn. sheep at 600+M. I drove a bolt action for the military I’m confident in my LD skills, My F class scores at 1000 also are not too shabby ;) just getting that out there before all the that’s to far for ethical blah blah. If you have the skills don’t be afraid to use them is my motto.
I take it you’re not familiar with the extremely high-quality scopes that Swarovsky is renowned for?
I know a guy whose brother took a moose with a .243. Field Johnson, a favorite guide of Jack O’Connor’s regularly took them with a .30-30.
On my like-to-acquire gun list, the #1 spot is occupied by a Husqvarna 1600 (or 1640) in a .358 Norma Magnum. An Alaskan moose hunt would be a great way to test-drive the rifle if I can locate one. An ideal load for moose and more than capable of ending an argument with an angry brown bear if the need were to arise. As I am typing this, I can see my .45-70 which would work just fine too although with less range than the .358.
Nope. NOT an April fools joke - The “ACCEPTABLE BARREL LIFE” wS ESTIMATED to be less than 100 ROUNDS.
Only ONE such rifle was ever built, to my knowledge.= Strictly an experiment.
COL Townsend-Whelen, in the late 1930s had a single-shot .30 caliber made on a .50 caliber BMG case, “necked down”, with no other change. - The rifle weighed about 30 pounds.
(The recoil was “said to be rather unpleasant”.)
Yours, TMN78247
Reminds be a story an old timer Mainiac told me yrs ago....
When times were tough and meat and hi powered rifles were scarce He explained to me how “the locals” would get together to shoot a moose.....Catch a track in the snow and follow it..but if the moose got a lil too deep in the woods they'd “ponch” it with a 30-30 and herd it towards the nearest road.....I asked why a 30-30 and he replied...Moose ain't very smart or tough...if you ponched one witha 30.06 they'd just lay down and die and you'd have a hell of a long drag........
Now...as Paul Harvey use to say...Stay tuned....for the rest of the storys..
I have a Husky 146 GREAT rifle it’s a 9.3x62 Mauser which is more than enough gun for even the largest brown bear. A FRAME or Partitions @300gr8 with 2400+ for will kill reliably any animal on earth including Cape buff, hippo, or elephant all have been taken with that Mauser combo. I love my 9.3 only my 375 H&H in CZs gorgeous walnut 550 gets more love. I have fallen to the 375 song even in North America I use it anywhere things could get harry.
Get a Husky in 9.3 the ammo is easy to reload brass lasts forever and you can load down for smaller critters.
Worked like a charm.
I’m kind of surprised no one has mentioned 12 gage with sabot rounds.
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