Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Cartridge for Alaska Moose Hunt

If I had ah 338-06 setting in the safe, regardless of the weight or group size, or whatever, i'd surely grab that to head north. Quartering towards or quartering away shots aren't something you'd pass up with a good 338 caliber rifle. I never did feel comfortable talking with hunters about thinking beyond 30 caliber though, when talkin bear and moose. People get kinda mad at yah.

Because of the standard length of the cartridge, I'd go for a nice 280 grain swift a-frame at 2300-2400 fps. They open up real well at lower velocity, and penetrate nicely. Can take the whole front end out, with no bloodshot meat. That way there, ole bull moosey won't try to beeline for a swamp hole, or back into the river.

I caught a 55 incher with a 275 grain woodleigh from a 358 Winchester, caught a 56 incher with the same load the following year. I always shuck the lever for a second shot if I can. With the big moose, I never did subscribe to that romanticized "one shot one kill", bllsht either. Of those four 275 grainers, one of the woodleighs didn't expand. I suspect not enough lead exposed at the tip for lower velocity cartridges. I've since switched to A-frames and much happier with expansion.

Last year's 40 incher I caught, the 300 grain Swift a-frame from my 9.3 expanded fully on the bull, bout 500 yds away. Quartering away, bullet drove clear through moose, found in the forearm against hide. Never did get a second shot in him, he was already on his way down before I took aim.

Big bull moose can really take some lethal shots, and run or stand for quite some time. Weirdest thing I've ever seen: big bull moose shot four fingers width low, from behind the ear, square through the neck, with a brenneke black magic 12 gauge slug. Fell down, bled all over. Came to (when least expected), got up, and ran 1/2 mile. Was still alive when caught up to, bedded down, and got back up to run again, finally killed at 20 yds. After witnessing that, I never did go for that neck-shot stuff.

Out of my respect for the shear tenacity of what I've witnessed of the big warrior bull moose, I always scratch my head bout folks who down play them, or claim that they always die easy with any ole deer bullet. What the hide, bone and meat can do to a deer bullet too.

Few years back, my buddy Steve caught a cow moose with the standard 338 RCM 225 grain sst load factory load (all they sell). It went all of 8 inches into the cow and fragmented like a hollow-point. Bloodshot the whole entry side of front quarter. He thought it'd work well, since it worked well on caribou. Few years back, he bought some 280 grain swift a-frames to hand-load in his little 338 RCM, but hasn't got out for moose since I don't think.

Other hunters here in AK have caught big ole bulls with old 30 cal bullets in em. One hunter caught an ole bull with a pussed-up 270 caliber expanded bullet lodged in the neck bone.

Never really got too caught up on velocity, but sure have admired what these heavy/medium-bore partitions, a-frames and woodleighs do at 2200-2400 fps. Not magic or anything........but close!

Well let's take a look at the 175gr NPT started out of a 7mm at 2800fps and zeroed at 200 yards. It will strike the 300 yard mark at approximately 7.5" below the line of sight.

Conversly, let's chop the barrel until velocity drops to 2600fps (200fps slower) and maintain that same 200 yard zero wherein the bullet will strike the 300 yard mark at approximately 9" below the line of sight.

That is a difference of 1 1/2 "

You would have to be able to shoot better than Kirsten Joy Weiss In order to discern the difference.... and something tells me you don't.

"...dont fool yourself..." into thinking a 26" barrel is going to somehow give you an advantage.

The folks that live and hunt here, and that have have offered kind and sound advice to you, believe it or not, actually DO have a clue.

T'were I you, and I'm not, I'd be putting my listening ears on.

Very good response to this thread. Agree with you 100%. Another cartridge that should work for moose is the 7mm-08. But there is no denying that a heavy and relatively slow bullet (275-300-grains) does quite well within 200 yards. I know a fellow (see him each moose season as he stops by my campsite on his way to his). He uses a Marlin .45-70 with express sights (no scope). He hunts in the spruce thickets, near his campsite, and calls-in moose within 100 yards, more or less, and takes one just about each season.

Ray, thanks. Yah sounds like a good hunting spot. I never have found a spot like that to take my breath away, where u come back every year. I've been looking for one ah those!

Been finding good moose always by canoe. But never found that place I ever wanted to return to. Guess I get restless, always need to run new river. This year will be the upper Kobuk.

Then again when in winter when I run the Kobuk 440 dog race.

Ray, these common medium bores are surely a 300 yd. gun aye?:

338 federal, 338-06, 338 RCM, 338 win mag, 358 winchester, 35 whelen, 358 norma, 9.3x62, 9.3x64, 375 Ruger, 375 H&H.

My 9.3X62 wears an FX-II 6X36 with LR reticle. It works pretty well.

Luckily with mine both the 250 Accubond at 2650 fps and the 286 NP at 2475 fps have the same point-of-impact at 100 yards, and are zeroed to be 2 1/2" high at that range. The zero is at 225 yards with the Accubond, closer to 200 yards with the NP.

With that zero, they are never more than 3" above line of sight. With the 250AB the dots are on at 300 and 375 yards,the post at 475. With the 286NP the dots are on at 275 and 350 yards, the post at 425.

As much as I like the 338-06 (338-06 AI), if given the option, I'd roll with the 2 lb lighter, more compact, and more readily available ammo Model 7 in 300 WSM...

...and I'd shoot the heck out of it (off hand) before I headed Northward.



Best to you.

When did moose hunting rifle have to be lightweight? My moose rifles all weigh empty around 7 1/2 lbs.. Anyhow I take either one but if something goes sideways ie forget 338-06 ammo at home you are screwed unless you find a forum member up here that could square up on using there press. So I would opt for the 300 WSM..

That's true about ammo that's not locally found.

My newest Ruger Hawkeye weights over 8 pounds empty. I asked MacMillan to make sure I didn't get a lightweight stock, and the response was, "the stock I am making for your .338WM is designed to be as heavy as possible to help with recoil." The same can be said about a .375H&H, as out of the box is not lightweight. But that extra weight helps with recoil.

So you build an extra cumbersome rifle to handle the recoil you would not need to worry about with a more modest and equally deadly cartridge... got it...

No further health issues or "manhood" problems. Thanks for your concern. Doc says I should be able to shoot anything up to a "50 caliber sniper rifle".

I don’t have the volume of experience of many on here who have commented above, and I accept the wisdom of all of your experiences. Another point I would make is that there are, by one measure, two different types of Alaskan moose hunting (among others): (1) a fairly-routine moose hunt by an Alaskan resident in a relatively convenient place that can be repeated from year to year and even multiple times within the year; and, at the other extreme, (2) an expensive and rare moose hunt opportunity by a nonresident who must sacrifice a lot of resources to make it happen.

I fell into the latter category a few years ago and was extremely fortunate to have a successful hunt. A few years before that, I was fortunate to have a successful bear hunt. I haven’t yet gone back a third time though I want to, in part, because I have shifted the resources I might have used to make that happen to purchasing some hunting land in Colorado.

In my last AK hunt, I went big, and brought a .340 Wby that I shoot really well, loaded with 225gr TTSX bullets with a 3,160 fps MV.

The second 11-day hunt was limited because of some really foul weather. Before the bad weather (and I mean ridiculously bad), we saw a couple of shootable bears, but couldn’t get within range; saw some other non-shootable moose and bears; and saw a bunch of caribou that I could not hunt in that area as a nonresident. After the bad weather lifted, we had to begin rafting our way down river to get to the pick-up place. I was still hunting from the raft, but the best opportunities already had passed, and I was comfortable justifying the trip and expense as a pleasant and challenging experience. It was the last day of moose season when we began our trip down river. At roughly 3:30pm that day, a giant moose presented himself about 80 yards away or so in a clearing covering about a half-acre or so, and he was running like mad for some nearby cover. I had less than a second to think about anything, but in a fraction of that second, I felt like I could hit the vitals in the front half of the torso of that large, fast-moving creature. I did so three times in a few seconds. With each shot, the moose slowed down a bit more and allowed me to put the two follow-up shots with increasingly-selective placement. After the third shot, he ran through some brush away from me and all but disappeared, except that I could see the tops of his antlers about 25 yards away from where he was shot, and they were wavering and then dropping out of view.

The first two shots hit in the center ribs, and I am pretty sure it was the third one that hit the near shoulder, went through the far shoulder, and stopped under the hide on the far side. The first two shots exited.





All three entrance wound areas are visible here; all three shots hit a little further back than I intended, likely because I didn't lead as much as I should have give the speed at which the moose was running from left to right:



It took a lot to put that guy down. I don’t know how far he would have gone if I had hit him only with the first shot, but decided then in a millisecond that I wasn’t going to find out. I also don’t know if I had hit him in the same places with something else, what would have happened. But, if I had, for example, a .243 Win, I doubt that I would have felt ethical in taking that first shot at a large running moose, where I couldn’t precisely place my bullet within the front part of that moose body. Would the moose have slowed down as much after the first and second shots to allow me to place each subsequent shot with increasing precision if shot with a .243? With .270? My son successfully took a deer last fall with his .243. I took one the next day with my .308. Both worked, but there was a big difference in the wound channels. There are many cartridges in between a .243 and a .340 with which I would feel comfortable taking that first shot at the moose of a lifetime (at least for me), but I’m not sure where I would draw that line. As a person who doesn’t get to hunt moose regularly, I am glad that, when the monster appeared, I was possibly over-gunned, rather than under-gunned. I’m glad that I now am curious about what some lesser calibers may or may not have done to that moose, rather than possibly fretting for years about whether I could have successfully anchored a lost moose if I had brought something bigger.

I shoot that .340 well at the range (usually well under an inch), especially with a shoulder pad when shooting a decent volume. With the pad, my shoulder never bruises even in the slightest even when I shoot 30-40 rounds in a session. Any non-bruising recoil just doesn’t bother me. I carry a lighter rifle when back-pack hunting. But, I’m in good shape and don’t have any trouble carrying that .340 when carrying only a daypack or the equivalent.

If I was an AK resident and could regularly and routinely hunt bear, moose, caribou, sheep, etc … there, I probably would never have bought and spent so much time practicing with the .340. YMMV.

I know that I am going to catch some flak from some for suggesting that anything more powerful than a .270 ever could be advantageous for hunting an animal that weighs up to 1,800 lbs. But, I think it conceivably could be true for a nonresident who won’t get to hunt moose 15 or more days a year every year a short distance from home.

I have a hard time understanding how a bullet from a resident is different from a nonresident bullet...

Or, for that matter, whether the hunter gets one day per year or the whole season.

I'd be a lot less disappointed if I had to pass up a shot if I had plentiful opportunities to hunt moose in the near and extended future, than I would if I couldn't go back for years.

I know it’s controversial, but I think different cartridge/bullet combinations can have different impacts on an animal. The above-mentioned difference between the .243 and .308 on deer was one illustration of that. Others may disagree, but I wouldn’t have taken that first shot I took with, say, a 150gr .270 bullet going 2,850 fps (MV). The .340 flings a bullet that is 50% bigger (cross section) and 50% heavier at a velocity that is 10% faster. I felt comfortable taking that shot with the .340 that I would have passed up with a .270. That’s just me. That would have left me wishing I had a bigger gun if that was one of a few days I could moose hunt during a period of many years. Less so, if I could spend much more time in the field looking for another, or even the same, moose. I think there is more at stake the rarer and more expensive the opportunity is.

Perhaps you, as usual in this forum, are imagining something that isn't? The rifle I am referring to is already heavy, even with its 22" barrel. It is a Ruger Hawkeye African model that has a beautiful walnut stock. I replaced the stock with a McMillan fiberglass one, that with a decelerator recoil pad installed, fits my LOP. This rifle is not cumbersome at all, and in fact its heftiness does help with recoil. I am certain that you are old enough to have at least heard of the great number of published articles that relate to taming rifle recoil, and that rifle weight is one of the methods used...

remarkable story MH. So what i'm gathering, is that bull took five shots from your 338 cal. That "one shot-one kill" bs is silly, isnt it?? I'm certain you too, have developed a heightened appreciation for what these big warrior moose are capable of handling. You ever thought of a little more bullet weight? The big warriors don't care too much about velocity. Slow that big behemoth of a cartridge down, with some more bullet weight.

Fastest kill I've ever experienced on a big bull: a 275 grainer at a modest 2200 fps(358 winchester), head on charging shot. Quick shuck of the levah # 2 threaded behind the ear as the big warrior struggled to raise his head.

Never always a picturesque, standing broadside shot aye?

Tells yah what, we moose hunters oughtta band together a bit, and convince these cape buffalo hunters that bull moose don't always die easy. Stakes are high when they don't........

I've been getting mighty intrigued at the thought of a handy 45 cal rifle someday, on the standard action. That darn bear guide, Phil, writting those articles about the ole 458 win mag. Some dreamy sht right there.

79s, far as this lightweight madness, I like the way you think! I swear, some cartridges just aren't made to be ultra light. I dunno, it's some sort of urban, granola sickness I think. Guy in a Patagonia puffy jacket tells his buddy at mooses tooth pub: "I think your rifle looks fat". He immediately runs to the bathroom, stick his finger down his throat, vomits up his artisan pizza, runs home and immediately orders a Macmillan ultralight stock.

My 358 is glorious as a light gun with a simple fixed 2.5 ultralight scope. Recoil aint bad. The ole 9.3, a full power 300 grain load from the 7.5 lbs rifle is fierce but tolerable. wouldn't want it any lighter. The recoil from my 7.75 lbs 1895 browning chambered in my 41 caliber wildcat shooting 350 grain A-frames, just a dream to shoot, more so than my 7.5 all-around moose gun.

Those little 308 family ah cartridges, perfect ultralights, aye??

Gentleman, cartridge size , barrel length and weight of the rifle depends on each persons size ,strength and endurance .so no rifle and cartridge will make or fit every person the same way, another thing some people just will never man up .

Mainer, I shot him 3 times in about 3 or 4 seconds, which was the only window I had. I don't know if just the first shot would have done as well, which is possible. But, after taking the first shot, I kept shooting as fast as I could because I was more concerned about keeping him close than worrying about meat loss, which was fairly marginal, given the 900 + lbs of meat. Statistically, I have little chance of even seeing another moose that sized in the wild. I shot this bear with more weight-- a 300gr NP out of a .375 Wby. It certainly did the job immediately. I'm sure it would have worked as well or better on the moose.

It's really hard to argue with a personal decision made with good reason.

With that said, however, there is enough shared experience to support the comparable killing ability of lots of non magnum cartridges. I recently had to defend my camp from an Alaskan mountain grizzly with a 130 ttsx from a 308, and I am happy to report that he couldn't have died any sooner unless shot in the head. There are just so many variables that do into turning out the lights on a large animal, that the only way to go wrong is to get stuck on just one of them.

Good points.

Another example is the bear Phil (.458) shot in self defense with a 9mm pistol. There are too many variables involved. Somewhere above .458 said something like this: "use whichever gun you are most comfortable with." Then there are times where the best defense is whatever you have at hand at the moment. The bottom line is that every one of us has different opinions, likes, and dislikes, about guns and calibers; but in reality none of that matters but to oneself. The other person does not think exactly like I do.

I started hunting late in life, at the age of 46 when retiring from the military in Alaska. After a lot of research among coworkers, friends, and other Alaskans, I chose the .338WM. This was the first hunting gun I ever had, and the one I became "comfortable' with it. I could very well use another gun caliber, but for some reason I feel that if it's is not broken I don't need to fix it.

There is nothing wrong with other person hunting with a .308, .30-06, or a .458 Lott, a light rifle or a heavy one, and so on.