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 ...
I’d use 6.5 creed on anything, and game up here is bigger than most (northern Alberta). If I’m shooting an elk past 800 yards, I’ll use 300 Norma. 6.5 with 143 eld-x will do anything though.
My 9.3x62mm rifle is NOT a Model 700 - It is a Model 760 PUMP-rifle, circa 1965, that was originally a .30-06.
It wears a 2.5X Leopold scope, as at 73YO I don’t see open sights well, anymore.
(As a lefthanded guy, I don’t shoot bolt-guns well at all.- Thus I have 8 Remington pump-rifles from a 5.56NATO up to the 9.3x62MM.
Yours, TMN78247
There’s a few hunters who give me grief about range. There’s not many who will shoot like my buddy and I do up here (2000 yards plus), so for us 600 yards is a hip shot whereas most wouldn’t try it.
6.5 creedmoor and 300 Norma are the way to go. Two calibers, and I can do anything.
Husky makes rifles as well or they did. Some of the finest Swedish Mauser large ring actions there ever was. This is where I got mine from its a 146 originally in 9.3x57 but I had the chamber reamed to the larger X62 version. It’s my second favorite big game rifle and by big game I mean Africa and Alaska game.
Cheap for a piece of history too
https://simpsonltd.com/husqvarna-146-z43970/
That would take care of dangerous game too.
Yup I shoot F class @ 1000, and with my Lapua dings steel at 1600 regularly. One of My fellow Marine brothers owns a tactical group that trains operator’s here in North Texas their long distance range goes to 2400 meters and I have shot that far with a 408 cheytac and custom 50bmg as a “demo” user. I’m very tempted by the 408 but at 10 grand it’s investment the old ball and chain frowns on. My 7 mag also dings them at a mile with the right wind calls and laser range. A 600m shot on game is nothing compared to a 12” plate at 1000 or an 18” at a mile. Besides they are food and we have dominion over them I shoot at will.
I like my two Creeds both are 1moa or under and both have smacked with authority little Texas white tails while on foot stalking. I load 140 Berger hybrids they don’t mushroom but fragment by design positively deadly on white tails, got a feral with one as a opportunist it smashed the first shoulder and came apart in the boiler room looked like a blender went off. Dead piggy ran 20 meters then balled over and twitched. The Scandinavians swear by the 6.5x55 for their moose, reindeer and caribou not small critters by any means. The Creed duplicates the Swedish load in a smaller package.
270 not powerful enough, the the 6.5 Creedmor is?
Wondered that. Ballistic numbers are very close.
The 270 has much more case capacity and can be handloaded to well above what factory Creed loads are. If the Scandinavians most popular moose round is any indication which is the 6.5x55mm then the 270 which trumps the 6.5x55 any day of the week should be plenty. The difference is in Sweden and Norway they don’t have giant brown bears who’s dinner bell is that moose being shot. In the far North the Norwegians have polar bears but the habitat is not where moose would live. Incidentally the Norwegians issue troops in polar bear country Glocks in 10mm auto for bear self defense. For me the minimum rifle I’m carrying in bear country is a 9.3 and since I already own a 375 H&H that’s what goes to bear country. 300 grains of woodleigh solid sorts out bear problems from any angle. My friend from South Africa has used the same bullet in a away quartering shot on buffalo we found the bullet in the opposite front ham having penetrated the entire length diagonal of a 1800lb buff. I was sold on them at that point.
And, how was the accuracy, and how many rounds tumbled?
The appeal of a .358 NM in a Husqvarna is an excellent Swedish round in an excellent Swedish rifle. A 9.3x62 is on my list but down a ways. If I got one, I would look for one in a Mauser or possibly a CZ rifle.
I don't have any first-hand knowledge with these rifles because I've never had a need for mid-.30 caliber, so I'm relying on the ballistics charts. The 9.3x62 is a capable caliber but it doesn't seem to be the equal to the .358 NM. The .358 NM is very comparable to the .375 H&H in velocity and energy until you get into very heavy bullets that aren't available for the .358.
Husqvarna made firearms from the late 1600s until the late 1980s for military and civilian use. Husqvarna started its corporate life as a firearms company and later branched out into motorcycles, sewing machines, chain saws, and garden tools for which they are better known.
I’m a 35 fan too, have a 35 Whelan I inherited from my grandfather in Pre 64 M70 it’s a shooter with 250s. The advantage of the 9.3 is no belt on the case so reloads are effectively unlimited as they can be trimmed and full length resized via dies as you can’t do that with the belted cases based off the 375 which the 358 is just a shortened 375 hh case. Belted cases eventually bulge at the belt and no dies other than a special collet die that the one man making them quit years ago fixes that bulge. Plus you need to have a Smith open up your Mauser 98 actions bolt face to magnum size the 9.3 uses the standard 30/06,8mm Mauser face.
Remember the 9.3 was designed from the start for big African game and is legal in all but two countries for the big five. The 9.3 was Germany answer to the 376 H&H when loaded to it’s full 63000 psi potential it equals the 375 in comparable bullet weights without the belt nor magnum length action. The real advantage of the 375 is that long case and much lower pressure which matters in Africans climate at 30+C and near sea level you want all that case space and slowpowder burn to keep peak pressure down.that’s a why when I venture to where it’s not and sticky the 375 goes with me. The 375 with 300gr vs the 9.3 wt 286 gr can be loaded to nearly identical velocities and joules of energy. The key difference is peak pressure the 9.3 and it’s 30/06 based case can take 60000+ psi the HH not as much but much larger case for more slower burning powders. I use RL17 in the 9.3 and RL22 in the big Brit.
106 mm
I have an ar-10 in 338 fed; just too heavy; road huntinggun. I killed a couple moose over the years with the 338 fed; 210 nosler partition. Moose would do the 3 step shuffle and drop.
I knew some Indians that shot a sow polar bear with 556 ar; saw the picts.
No one ever shot a moose with anything other than 30-06 100 years ago. Dumb. Granted, I may be dumb.
You must have a heavy 338 fed barrel set up. Mine is 18” with a KAK can on the end. I just weighted without the lower my 308 20” and my 338 w/o the KAK on it. The 338 is only 500 grams heavier both with the bolt and charging handle. My 338 is a stainless socom contour the 308 is also stainless but a fluted HB socom neither is too heavy to shoot and skoot with I got the 338 specifically for on the ground feral hog hunts where trees are too small to climb. I prefer 25+1x 338fed with A-Frames vs 10+1 of 458 socom in the 12.5” AR15 set up I have too. That now gets saved for subsonic duty only with 500gr @ 1000 fps is greater than 250 gr at the same velocity plus the 458 is overgassed and will.cycle with subsonic I wouldn’t even try with a rifle length gas system in the 338 it’s not worth the heartache.
“Ballistic numbers are very close.”
6.5 = .264
.270 = .277
With a 150gr bullet, the .270 is 250fps faster at the muzzle.
.270 is quite a bit more powerful than the 6.5.
It’s like the difference between 30.06 and .308. Around 10%.
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