Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Moose rifle

My wife killed hers with a 160 gr. partition from a 7X57 and another with a .308 with a 180 gr. Hornady.
I shot a large bull with a .270 Roy 130 tsx. Your 7mm will be fine. moose are not that hard to kill but sometimes it takes them a while to realize they are dead!

Lefty C

Heavier Partitions.

To while-away some long winter evenings, I've been going through a pile of home, moose hunt, videos in an attempt to figure out a way to compile the better parts.

There are 16 kills of very large Alaska Moose....three of which scored for B&C entry. Fourteen were broadside lung shot and two were frontal lung shot. None went further than 20 yards and most stayed where shot until they collapsed.

Some were shot with 375 H&H, one with 338 and several with various 300 mags.....and one with a 9.3x62. And finally the last bull taken by my buddy's 16 YO daughter with a 270 and 130NPs with a quartering frontal lung shot. This 61" bull collapsed after a few seconds like all the rest.

A couple of the bulls had 2nd or 3rd shots by inexperienced, excited hunters. These shots didn't hasten the collapse of the bulls as far as I can tell.

Experienced deer hunters are accustomed to the frantic reaction when a deer is shot. Moose just don't usually carry on the same. They stand around until they collapse.

Shoulder shot bulls hobble around for a few yards and then collapse.

Growing up on a homestead in western Canada my Dad use to shoot moose with a 30-30 and every body knows you can't hurt any thing with a 30-30.
Cheers NC

MooseMike-
You were able to draw 2 non-res Moose tags in vermont in less than 10 years? Thats incredible

I drew the first tag. The last tag was an auction tag.

I have a 280AI and have knocked over elk and moose with 160 partitions, 162 interlocks. I can't imagine anything from 150ish to 175 in a 7X57R or no R not working well on moose within reasonable range. Put it where it counts and forget about it.

42 inch MN bull. 150 grain sp from a borrowed 30-06. Either of your options will work.

That looks like fun!!

I've killed a few moose, but only shot one moose with a 7x57. The 175gr. roundnose gave good penetration and expansion at just over 250 yards. I'd choose a 160 grain premium bullet like the Nosler Partition, or any regular cup and core 175 grain bullet in a 7x57R. My own 7x57R rifles are hunted with 175 Nosler partitions and 175 Hornady interlocks. I have some Norma 156gr. Oryx factory loads on hand but haven't used any on game yet. My hunting partner uses a .270 with 140 grain premium bullets every season for moose, and it works OK, but i'd have slightly more confidence in the heavier bullets from a 7x57. I know that is splitting hairs.

My only moose was a 42" Shiras. We'd been tracking him in new snow and I caught up with him bedded down, facing away from me. I shot him in the back of the neck from 80 yds. I was using a 30-06 with 180 gr bullets but I could have done the job with about anything larger than a 22 cal and with a good bullet. Even a 22 cal might have worked ok but I don't like to push it.

Bill N - If the first shot is good, the next several ain't gonna speed the process on a moose unless it is a CNS. All those extra rounds will do is ruin more meat.

Bustards take awhile to fill up and die with lung shots...

I've done it both ways..... . Best not to excite them....

That's s lot of meat

My 45 Colt handgun worked too so the 45 Colt out of a Win M92 would qualify.

Alan

Almost anything works on Moose if you use a good penetrating bullet. But I often hear it said that you should use the biggest gun you can handle.

I would be tempted to use a classic bullet like the 175 Norma Mega or the Alaskan or the Lapua Naturalis as these were designed with Moose or "Elg" in mind. A Woodleigh would be a good choice too. I used the 175 partition in a 7RM these would do well in the 7x57 too.

I've killed a fair number of bulls and have used .284 bullets for two of them. I once used a 120 TSX and its performance was impressive. I used a 162 A-Max and it too performed beautifully. The 7x57 will be plenty of cartridge and there's little need to overthink the bullet. I'd be using a 120-140 grain monolithic (TSX, GMX, etc.) or a 150-160 jacketed bullet.

Yes, 140's and up. A big 175 would be extra cool though. A 7X57R sounds like an interesting rifle. Do you have any pictures you can share?

I have watched moose be killed and killed a number of moose critters with everything from 223 up to 375 H&H and 45-70, and I know of some that were fairly, if not legally, dispatched with rimfires. That being said, moose country, and the critters themselves, can create situations which are conducive to major goat-rope scenarios. And that's putting things mildly. So, while I have zero issues with using an Interlock or Gameking, a lighter and/or smaller bullet or rifle when I know what my opportunities and presentations will be, I tend to make sure I have enough when I'm not sure. (There is substantial difference between getting a single chance for a legal animal whose only presentation allows intermittent opportunities as it saunters through the black spruces, and the kind of hunting where you can choose one of several animals basically standing in the open over the course of a hunt.) I'd be quite content to carry my 7x57 (a single shot even ) with a 'magazine full' of 150 Partitions (or 139/140 monos, but they just seem wrong in the old Mauser chamber somehow.)

I've only taken one bull moose so I'm no expert on the subject. But I hunted with a Savage levergun in .308 shooting 180 grain core-lokt ammo. Distance was about 125 yards. Two quick shots into the chest organs toppled the beast. We found both bullets curled up like the magazine photos. Damage to the lungs was quite ghastly.

Sherwood