Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Rethinking My "Big Gun"

Keeping in mind that the weight and fit of a gun determines a lot of the "kick" you'll feel, trying to isolate a cartridge without consideration of the rifle is not of a lot of value. keep in mind that a Barret light 50 with a heavy bipod, rear mounted post rest, large muzzle break and super large scope and mount kicks (and hurts less) then a light 30-06. You can see my point.

But as far as the smallest cartridges I have seen used to kill animals of 1000 pound's and heavier, I have actually seen 1 moose killed with a 243, and 3 with 44 magnum handguns. I have seen 2 killed with 270s. I have personally killed a horse with a 357 mag handgun with 1 shot through it's heart. I have also killed a full grown bull buffalo with a 5" barreled 44 mag handgun. I have killed a lot of elk with 270 Winchesters and I have seen about 30 killed with 25-06s 257 Roberts, 243s and 2 with 357 mag carbines. I have also seen about 10 killed with 260 Remington's and 6.5X55s and 7 killed with 6,5CMs. I know my sister has killed about 15 moose with her 308.
My old friend Cy killed a bunch of planes game in Africa with his 7X57 loaded with 175 grain bullets and several of them were Kudu and Sable. The 7-08 is ballistically the same as the 7X57 if both are loaded to the same pressures.
So if I were to make the lightest kicking hunting rifle I could and still feel OK for moose, I'd make a 7-08 on an AT 10 style rifle. Bringing it back to the fact that cartridges only kick as much as guns let them kick.
The Army in the 1920s-1930s used to fire 30-06 test rounds from a sub caliber barrel in a 105 Howitzer. Safe to say that 30-06 didn't kick as hard as a 22 long rifle.
In a bolt action I'd go with a 7X57 or a 7-08 and put a good pad on it and install a "dead-mule" in the stock and add a muzzle break. That would tame it down to around a 223 (but louder.)
I understand the desire to have a rifle you can also use for deer, but Penn has very few moose anyway, so if the point of the post is about light recoil and MOOSE I see no reason to reject an AR10