Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Moose, 30-06, 358 Win, 6.5/284 ,or new rifle ?

TSX's will work perfectly for moose. So will the 30-06, even out at longer ranges, like those at which you may shoot your moose.
Then again, the 6.5 will work just fine as well.

Since you mention long shots as a possibility, I would go with either the '06 or the 6.5, OR buy a new rifle in something like 7RM or 300WSM or something

John, I need a real 7x57, not just one of those cheap ol' Ruger things. Can I please borrow your Serengeti? Please? I'll give it back, I promise.

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I've always figured a moose hunt would be a good excuse to pick up another rifle. Certainly wouldn't want to waste such an opportunity.

Moose: a perfect excuse to buy a 9.3X62!

Ryan, the trajectory of the 358 Win is plenty flat enough for any big game out to 200 yds, and easily flat enough for moose to over 300 yd.

Done it, and seen it done, time and time again.

Ted

160g 6.5 caliber bullet SD 0.328
140g 6.5 caliber bullet SD 0.287
180g 308 caliber bullet SD 0.271
200g 308 cailber bullet SD 0.301
220g 308 caliber bullet SD 0.331
225g 358 caliber bullet SD 0.251
250g 358 caliber bullet SD 0.279

I am a lonely seeker that requires the light.

Please, where can I find the Rifle Loony Rules?

I consider the .358 close to perfect for hunting moose here in Saskatchewan, and don't think Ontario is any different. I've hunted Northern Canada moose for thirty years or so, never felt a need to take a shot over 250 yards, in my experience a hunter who is not in a hurry can always stalk closer - or maybe it was not a good shot anyway.
I am always amused by people who think that minute of angle accuracy is required for moose hunting - bullet performance IN game is more important by far. Like Klikitarick, I would not choose the Nosler BT for moose hunting no matter how accurately it shot in my rifle. Moose in Northern Canada are very often hunted in thick bush, or from canoes/boats without the luxury of a steady rest. Good handling trumps ultimate bench rest accuracy in those conditions.
So I'd rate your rifle choices in the following order of importance:
1. Use the rifle that you can shoot well and handles well offhand and from unsteady positions -fit, balance, trigger, etc.
2. After point #1, a rifle firing a big, well constructed bullet is better for moose than a rifle with a light or fragile bullet.
3. After #1 and #2, go for accuracy, only because it gives you confidence.

Another point - I had a .308 Remington 700 that was my primary moose rifle for years, and it worked well, until the point when I replaced the factory wood stock with a foam-filled fiberglass stock by Brown Precision. The new synthetic stock handled well, cut some weight, held POI in bad weather, and improved groups. But it was a very poor choice for moose hunting. Moose have the most acute sense of hearing of any animal that I am aware of. Moving through thick bush with that noisy plastic stock cost me more shots at moose than any possible poor choice of caliber, bullet or action type could have. I sold that rifle and went back to quieter wood stocks. I now have a laminate / stainless Sako that I use as a rough conditions rifle if the need arises. It is no better a shooter than the old Remington, but it it is Quiet!

It does not work that way, Grasshopper.

A man must seek, must strive, and must buy 142 "all purpose" rifles.

A man must build truck guns, house guns, and boat guns.

One day, he will reach back into a closet and find an old "all purpose" rifle. A rifle that he had forgotten.

He will take it out and shoot it. He will carry it always.

Then, and only then, can he call himself "Loony."

BMT

Thank you kindly.

I currently have in the works:

8x57IS scout type with 2,5x28 Leupold Utility Rifle
.30-06 Baikal single shot stalking rifle
.308 Remington 700 reaching rifle
.308 Remington 7600
.30-30 Marlin (just dinged the stock-needs replacement)
.22 Magnum/20 prowling rifle
7x57R/16/16 nostalging rifle
.45-70 Marlin guide rifle

The .45-70 gets carried the most as I make my living guiding hunters (and following wounded game).

It is out there - the elusive all purpose rifle.

Think along the lines of a blueprinted Mauser 98 in .8x57IS with Lothar Walther Barrel at 20.75" installed front sight and slingband for flat-on-side, back-carry, McMillan Edge stock, Timney trigger /safety
Add low profile detach Scope mounts with integrated ghost ring, a 2,5x20 Leupold Ultralight, a 4,75x40 Weaver Grand Slam.

Of course the thing likes 180 gr. TSX.

Well, and as long as I am dreaming, peace on earth and wine in the glass. To your health.

Back to the all purpose .45-70 with post & ghost and 300gr TSX. And happy with it. Till next time.

To get back to the topic:

I see the 6,5x55 of scandinavian clients with heavy cup and core bullets fail to often on wild boar to recommend their use for moose.

As someother poster from AK said, I would prefer the 6,5 with XLC over .30-06 with c/c.

Out of the three, I would take .30-06 with 180 gr. TSX.

Disclaimer:
Shotplacement counts above all else.

go with the 30-06 and don't look back.

Read this thread with interest having never moose hunted and no experience with any of the calibers save the aught-six. Only reason I am piping in is that my thought process is completely different.

What rifle would I take?

The one I wanted to make memories with. I'm a sentimental guy. My 06 isn't 'the rifle with the best ballistics and killing power', it is 'the rifle I shot that huge 10 point with 2 years ago' and 'the one I carried back in that freezing rain and got that nice little 4 point while the rest of you had given up and were back in camp next to the fire'.

I like the idea of having a favorite rifle that has a lot of memorable hunts in its resume. I'd take the one I liked the best and wanted to promote to 'the gun'.

Will

I defended my heritage once...four times, and only got four holes in one critter, not eight or even five, six, or seven. And that was with 140 premiums: Partitions and A-Frames. (In defense of that animal, sure he was a slow learner, but I figure the winter months he had so far survived made him stubborn that way.) A 180 Core-Lokt from an '06 ventilated him neatly and tipped him right over finally!




Probably tell you they won't stop bullets either...





It sounds like you are smitten with accuracy. Don't let that lead you down the wrong path when pursing big, tough animals. As many might point out, moose are not difficult to kill; they don't easily tip over however. I recently had an opportunity to help with a nice bull which the shooter had tried to head-shoot. He led the slow-moving animal just a bit much and drilled a hole neatly through the old boy's head just in front and below the eyes - it wasn't more than maybe an inch and a half away from each eye. We didn't even realize he had been shot there until we were skinning to remove the antlers; the shot had not even fazed him when it happened.

Nope, why should one do that?
//K9