Working on Moose hunt, what would your choice ? I have a Rem. 700 box drop, 30-06, shoots 150 Nos. PT, dime @ 100 yards. A old Ruger 77rs 358 carbine, that shoot 200 Horn RN and 220 Nos BT like a well tuned varmit rifle, and a custom 700 6.5/284 with 140 XLC, one holer. 1st two nice light carry rifles.
I haven't considered my timber 444 marlin which I haven't worked with.

Tacksmacker

yes

how far are the shots? I would try 165gr tsx or Hornady in the 06 and if 1" at 100 go forth and fill a freezer. I amnot personally familiar with the 358 but if at distance the trajectory loops.

Randy

I would take them both and keep the .30-06 in camp as a back up. The .358 will make them bad sick.

Hard not to like the '06 with 165 Hornady or Partition, or go way silly and use the 168 TSX. Moose drop dead at the sound of an '06 barking. Wife killed a nice bull this year with 150 gr TSX at 2840 ft/sec. It dropped at the shot and stayed dead. Last I checked, it was still dead and tasting jess fine.

I hear mooses really get a gut ache when it comes to lead poison..

Depending on the area your hunting, the 358 as your primary, then take that ol 06 for a ride too as a backup.


Oh,,,, Make sure you take pics, to share with your camp buddies..


Later�

I've used 358 and '06 one several moose apiece. I would favor either of them over the smaller caliber. You do have the better bullet in the 6.5 however. I would not use the light bullets you propose for the two larger calibers. There's no reason to avoid a standard (or stouter) 180 grainer in the '06 even if it double the 1 MOA standard. (Moose are large, tough targets which can easily stop just about any bullet - and I have a substantial collection of evidence to prove that.) I would also suggest something like at least the 200 TSX or 225 PT in the 358. (The 225 XFB has worked well for me more than a couple of times - and I've only recovered one of those.)

If you don't want to change anything you have, go with the 140 XLC. That is the best of the three arrows in your quiver.

Ought six for sure. The .358 has a poor trajectory and the 6.5 doesn't have a heavy enough bullet for my taste.

I would go with the .30-06 with a good 180, just because you never know exactly how far away a moose will stand when it decides to be shot.

If a moose doesn't die from .30-06 injection, the problem wasn't with the .30-06.

All of you are to have your official "Rifle Loony" cards suspended for not less than 30 days for the serious infraction of failing to recommend buying a new rifle .

For future reference and to avoid more severe penalties, please remember Rifle Loony Rule 11:

Rule 11 -- Even if you want to support the individual's current selection of rifle and cartridge, you must always append your statement of support with the following caveat or equivalent: "...but if I were recommending a new (rifle or cartridge), it would be a ......".

It's done like this...

I generally take my .35 Whelen when a shot at a moose might be in the offing, so I'd go with the .358 Winchester. Trajectory is plenty flat out to 300 yards or so to make good hits, with a big bullet. If you want a new rifle, though -- take a look at a .375 Ruger or its new little brother, the Ruger .338 RCM. They combine great features, affordability and "moose-size" bullets.

Let's be careful...the wrong person might see one of us recommending that someone stay with a rifle they already have...

Dennis

Dennis; I was scrolling as fast as I could to get here and post what you said. You beat me, but just barely.
I am appalled at the lack of consideration for firearms manufacturers! We all need new rifles, even if they are in calibers that we already have. Carry on!

I've seen a couple go down with a 30-06 and 180gr Partitions . The 200gr .308 Accubonds with the high BC will give about the same trajectory as the 180gr NP.

6.5x284 with 160g Woodleigh Weldcore PP at 2750fps with H100V (BC 509, SD 328).

I would like to publicly apologize for not taking the opportunity to suggest that nothing would do but a NEW rifle. I was only on my second cup of coffee when I posted earlier.
ct

OK, then. I will recommend buying a 7x57, since that is what I killed my last moose with. It worked fine, so it is obviously a great moose cartridge.

If you really want to be a loony about it, make a 7x57 Ackley Improved. That ought to make the moose die a nanosecond sooner.

LMAO, But true how true! I'm ashamed of all of you

Since a new rifle is pretty much required to shoot a moose with style,a guy needs a magnum.

If it is also big bear country get a 338,if it is just a normal moose neighborhood,a 300 Magnum would be near perfect unless a guy is overly recoil sensitive in which case a 7mm mag would qualify with about the same recoil as the 30-06 and 358.

All things considered,dern near any centerfire rifle suitable for deer and elk will work,and since nobody has alluded to the semifamous Swedish Moose Study,I'll point out that everything from the 6.5x55 to the 375 H&H killed moose pretty quick when they were hit 'with the pointy end of the bullet in the front half of the moose' to paraphase a famous gunwriter.

In the interest of full disclosure it bears pointing out that I still have not actually shot a moose,but I've read about it a lot and even wrote about it some on the internet or Wikipedia or somewhere that I can't remember.

So go out and shoot your moose with a good bullet in the right place from virtually any big game rifle you can imagine or already own,it'll work out.

Did somebody already mention to post the pictures?

I don't know how small of a moose your going after, but if it were me I wouldn't make the extreme accuracy of the load or rifle be a main consideration in which bullet or rifle you were going to use.

Use the gun and load that is best suited for the game your going after. If it happens to be a 180 partition @2700FPS that shoots a 1.5-2" group at 100yrds so be it. Sight it in 1.5-2 high at 100 and the shot will never be more than an inch away from were you pulled the trigger and that shouldn't be a problem at on a Moose.

take the 30-06 and use some 180gr partitions. no need for another rifle for moose.

Ooooh.... use the .358! That would be way high on the cool factor. But 'cept, I'd load the 225-gn Partition, if it were me, over the two bullets you list.

A reasonably accurate .358 is a 300-yard cartridge, easily, so unless the mooses are gonna be way out there...

Just my non-moose-hunter thoughts <g>.

-jeff

The 30-06 with good 165gr or 180gr loads.

I'm another one to question where you are going to be hunting moose. My party hunts the lake country of Northern Ontario and long shots are not unknown. For example, last fall my shot came at 450 yards plus/minus a bit. A 30-06 can reach this far but is a bit on the light side,IMO.

In our last group of four we used a .308 (we placed him in the corners and hidey holes), a .300 WSM, a .338 WM and a .30/.378. My .338 uses a 225 gr. bullet at 2800. This about the same velocity of a 180 gr. .30/06 but packs a lot more punch when it gets out where the moose are.

Some guys hunt the edges of the clear cuts or the back corners of small bays and in these locations a .308 or .30/06 are fine. Once you start to reach out then the magnums really start to pay off.

Find out from your outfitter or who ever is setting up your hunt what kind of terrain you are likely to be hunting. It might have a bearing on the cartridge you choose to use.

I would be the first to admit that small calibers can kill moose but they aren't necessarily the best all around choice. For the same reasons I don't think the .223 is a good all around choice for deer. In our area there are too many variables.

Just my 2 cents worth, and worth what you paid for it!

Jim

My two cents is that the .30-06 is plenty out to long ranges. 'cause I've been there and done that on elks and mooses. Put a suitable bullet in the boiler room and the moose dies quickly.

Yup! A new rifle should be in the offing. Them thar mooses wear armor. Ya should have at a minimum, a .338 Mag. with a 225 North Fork at about 2800 from 73 grs. of Rldr-22. IF, by some chance there's no way you can sneak a new rifle into the back woodshed, then your .30-06 with 180 Partitions at a minimum should be used.
Now go forth and plan on how to get that .338 into your hands.
Bear in Fairbanks

A Canadian Outfitter told me if you hit a moose right you could kill it with a tennis shoe.

?????

Must not be a gun looney.

No, he's a moose hunter

Any of those 3 guns you already own will do JUST FINE on moose. I would base my choice on the terrain you'll be hunting. If hunting in brushy country, I'd use the .358. If I was hunting the open hillsides, like where I hunt, I'd take the 6.5. If hunting mixed terrain, well then that '06 sounds like the way to go.

HOWEVER, I would definitely, above all, get a shiny new Tikka T3 in 7mm Rem. Mag. and load some 160gr TSX's with a nice light scope using some sort of ballistic reticle

I gotta agree with lots of these guys. New Rifle...What could be a better excuse? Ive never shot a moose ( cant draw a tag in home state of Mt.) but as far as I know, you can't kill moose with anything but a new rifle. Like Mule Deer, I like the 7x57, and I don't know if any are currently commercially built, which not only means new rifle, but New Custom Rifle....

A moose hunt is a decent reason for a new rifle. I just need another hunting season to provide a reason. Unless I just want to carry my 35 Whelen, again.

SHhhIp... I blew it... I should have been more loony... Forgive me Mule deer. You are correct..

You should go get a Whelen, swing by, I will warm up the Gibbs reamer, and will make a real thumper outa it. You can toss some 250 gr. poison darts through him.
If the poison doesn�t kill him the air holes will...


Or you could still use the 358 if you want�

Later...
Do not forget the photo's

That get's my vote.

BMT

Shouldn't he take a back-up......and that be in an adequate (new) caliber as well???

A great back-up could very well be something 45-70ish....

Well, thanks for all your suggestions. I was looking for a reason for a 338 Win in Sako carbine. HOWEVER, booking a Ontario hunt, this is cost prohibitive. I am told that shots could range out to 400 yards max. Most hunting will be waters edge, resorting to spoting scoping the treee lines. With that said and all the posts, 06 will be primary with barnes 180s, (I have to get it shooting like it does with 150s, and the 358 Win. 220 Nos BTs when humping hills (which is dead nuts accurate). I have confidence in the 358 win. Every deer I shot (a bunch) looked like a piano fell on them. Once I had a straight on shot at a hudge buck just over 200 yards He would not step out, turn, just stood there with his big rack looking back and forth. I hit the deer dead center just above the hair tuff. Thought I missed, then he rocked, then he dropped like an anvil. Yes I am LOONEY too, if then don't shoot one hole after several tries and work, I trade them in,(with only 10 or 12 shells, ever fired) My dealer just shakes his head.

Thanks for the poop !

Tacksmacker

Wait just one minute. I have slept on it, and had coffee again this morning.

Buying a new rifle is a step in the right direction, but unless it is chambered for 9.3x62 mauser, you still don't have the proper rifle for Moose.

Make all haste and find one. Work up a load and mount a Leupold 6x42. Call the custom shop and have a German No. 1 reticle (or maybe a No. 4, if you prefer.)

THEN, you will be prepared to go slay the moose.

35-375 Ruger

The 30-06 with 180 or 200 gr. Noslers is always an excellent choice for Moose or about anything else on the NA continent..The 358 is a decent choice, but I would suggest the 06 with 220 gr. bullets would be its full equal in the field for all practical purposes..

My choice caliber for both elk and moose is normally the .338 Win. it is just a well balanced shoot'em all caliber IMO and I have shot everything from rockchucks to Cape Buffalo, Hippo and lent it to a client who shot a Lion with it..

Isn't there even one person of Scandinavian origin out there that will stand up for the 6.5. I believe the Norsemen use that caliber about as often as any other. I guess they must be smaller over there, the moose not the people. That said, a friend of mine recently put together a 9.3 X 62 and I can see how a guy might need to find a reason to get one of those. A moose hunt would work. Anyways, your 06 choice is a good one. I don't think I would worry about tack driving accuracy though. Last time I checked, a minute of moose looked awfully big.

tacksmacker,

I'd recommend you use your 358 with the heavier bullet and limit your shots to 250 yards. It will perform great on any moose you hit properly.

If you don't want to be "handicapped by a 250 yard limit, then your '06 with 180 grain bullets would be the "better" choice. Although a 140 grain bullet in the lungs from that 6.5 will also do the trick. (I once took a cow elk with a 140 X Bullet at over 350 yards and she didn't go very far).

If you want a new rifle, a moose hunt is a great place to break it in!

--------------------------------------------------------------
Tacksmaker,

If I understand this hunt correctly you and the guide will be sitting at the edge of a lake and shooting across it. That a spoting scope will be there and used.

This to me reads like the potential for long range shooting where an accurate powerful rifle is used with a laser range finder and data to support the hold offs for elevation and wind.

While I am a major fan of the .358 Win. and the 30-06 for that matter I don't see either and in particular the 358 as optimum for this task. Perhaps some magnum rifle would be better?

Another thing is the mention of Barnes X bullets. From another thread I read here there may be failures of X bullets to open where the hollow point is not protected and may be closed.

Here is the post on X bullets that do not always expand.

I would most definitely not use the 358 with the Nosler BT for moose. While I have used 200 BTs in my 340 a couple of times, the only 225 BT I've shot into game was one out of my 358 Winchester which nailed a red fox at around 50 yards. Started even at lowly speeds, that bullet came completely undone on an animal about 1% of the size of a moose (and I found the jacket lying in the snow nearby). The 358 deserves something like 225 Partitions, the 200 TSX, or 250 Speer or Hornady bullets.



Can't hardly fault the old '06 as a good moose rifle though. 399 yards and this old boy didn't stop a plain ol' C&C (190 Inter-locked). Gotta be reliable to become boring.

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.

-

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