Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Which 30 cal. bullet for moose/bear?

I'm headed to Western Alaska this September for a float trip for moose and am, after much mental greif, planning on taking my 300 Win mag. and would like to know any bullet preferences from experienced hunters. We will be self sufficient for a week and am certainly interested in as much terminal performance as I can get with this caliber. Would the 220 grain partition be better than say the 200 grain or the 180 fail safe? I've also been impressed with reports of North Fork bullets and they make a 200 grainer. What do ya'll think? Thanks in advance.

TexasBBQ,

I'd recommend the North Forks without hesitation!

Your 300 Win Mag will do fine, for driving Mike Brady's bullets at a decent velocity. No need to try and equal the Ultra Mags, as all that extra speed will not help in an 'up close' encounter.

I actually wasn't aware that Mike was making .308 bullets in 200grs, but that's good news.

Ditto what BW said.

I would also try the 180 grain Failsafes. That's a really good bullet. Shot my last bull moose with a 180 grain Speer bullet. Only payed $11 for a pack of 50 Speer bullets. Forgot what they were called now, though.

Good luck!

For moose, any well constructed 180 will do - it doesn't even have to be a premium. I've shot a fair amount of bulls with the '06 using standard 180's, tho I did go to Partitions for the last few. If you want bear medicine, any of the premiums will do fine - I'd lean toward a bonded core, myself. I'm fairly impressed with the Trophy Bonded that I use in my .338. Remember - it ain't what you hit 'em with, it's where. don't sacrifice too much accuracy just to go with a "better" bullet. I see Nosler is out with a new bonded core, ballistic tip, and Hornady has one too.

That said, your ammo will be the cheapest part of your hunt!

Texas BBQ,

I second the North Fork bullets. Mike makes some exceptional bullets and IMO has lead to the new "groove"-type bullets from other manufacturers. All in all a great guy to talk with and definitely has done his homework on these slugs. I shoot his bullets exclusively in my Warbid inboth 180gr and 200gr with outstanding results; a kinda cross between an A-frame and Ballistic Tip. Depending on what barrel twist your Winny has, I'd go with 180gr for 1-12" and 200gr in 1-10". As noted before, don't need "Ultra" velocities here, "typical" Winny velocities are just fine.

Good Luck

True Eyes

Since you'll be spending some serious cash for the trip, I'll suggest many that will work from your .300 Win. in 180 grains.

180 failsafe
180 Grandslam (in Factory loads by Speer labelled Nitrex) as well as comp bullets.
180 Federal Deep-Shok (if you can find any) or the Speer component Deep-Shok.
180 or 200 Nosler partition
180 Woodleigh Weldcore
180 Trophy Bonded Bear Claw
180 Swift A-Frame

Those are the "premium" listings. I'd use the one that shoots the most accurate, that is most modestly priced, as I think they'll all do the job.

I love TBBC or trophy bonded bear claw. Great bullet Best out there to me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Brian

I have shot 3 moose, so by no means am I an expert. 2 were with 7mm Mag (160 gr. NPG & 175 gr. X), and last one was with a 416 Rem (350 gr. Speer). Average shot was 110 yards. All 3 were young bulls, 600-800 lbs live or so. All went down quickly with one shot.

I would reccomend a tough bullet for moose, you may need the penetration, and there is always the slim chance of a bear encounter. In a 300 Mag, I would feel confident shooting any of the following:

165 gr. Barnes X/168 gr. XLC
180 gr. Barnes X
180 gr. Fail Safe
180 gr. TBBC
180 gr. Swift A-Frame
200 gr. Nosler Partition
200 gr. TBBC
200 gr. Swift A-Frame

I see no advantage to using a 220 gr. bullet. A 180 gr. Fail Safe or X will penetrate just as much, and the added velocity of the lighter bullets will be of advantag downrange.

My first choice would be the Swift A-Frame, 200 grain. I have used this bullet in my .300 Wby for several elk, gemsbok, a zebra, and kudu. Performance was perfect These bullets are worth their money, in my opinion.

Most premium bullets should do fine for moose and bear. In a 300 win mag I would not go with a non premium bullet. They can`t be trusted 100 % such high velocity.

The newer bullets all have their advocates, but it would be hard to find one better than the 200-grain Nosler Partition. I have used this bullet since the 1970's (back then it was a "semi-spitzer") on all sorts of game. It is easy to get to shoot accurately and penetrates incredibly. Have shot more elk with this bullet than any other and have yet to recover one.

TexBBq
I have never taken a moose so I cant speak from personal experince. But I have loaded a lot of ammo for folks who have taken several animals. Here is the combination I recommend and it has never failed.....use a Nosler Partiton with a muzzle velocity of no more than 2800 to 2900 fps and you will get near perfect bullet performance every time. In your 300 Win, the 200 grain will be just about right. I like 4350, R-19 and R-22 powder. All seem to work well.
Charlie

TexBBQ, I've taken several moose with the 300 Win and Wby's. I'vet yet to find a moose that would stop a 165 "X" or a 180 failsafe, and that includes shoulder shots. When hunting moose, getting a good shot presentation just isn't that hard. Once hit, it will take a few seconds for them to fall (usually) while the lungs fill up with blood. They're slow learners that way! In fact I shot my moose last year with a cute little 284 Win and a 140 partition.

I usually use a tough bullet on moose just because it makes me feel better while hunting in bear country. On a trip like yours I'd use the 180- failsafe or more likely the 200 partition. Hope this helps.

I recently faced the same dilema in choosing a bullet for my first moose hunt. I decided on the new .338 225gr Accubonds. My logic, which may be flawed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> is that it should give excellent expansion resulting in a big hole in the lungs and because it's bonded it should hold together and get decent penetration through moose bone or a mean grizz. They have the added benefit of a guilding metal jacket and a very high ballistic coefficient... not that your shots will likely be long, but if you shoot 200gr Accubonds out of a 300mag (BC=.588) it'll still me moving pretty darn quick at any range. A bonded bullet with a high BC is just so darn "efficient" - the bullet arrives at a higher velocity and retains greater weight, all at the same "recoil cost" of a standard bullet; which'll kill bullwinkle just as dead, but just isn't quite as interesting!

I just last night loaded up 17 .338 225 gr plain old Hornadys "remnants"last night. If they shoot ( I used "book" with no load development- but my rifle likes anything in the last two coloumns with most loads I've tried), I will not hesitate to use them on any moose I encounter - but I'll also have some TB in the same weight along for potential bear encounters - I know they will exit 3 feet of moose - because they have. If kthey don't shoot well, they are test or practice loads. As for another poster denigrating standard bullets in the .300, it just ain't so- particularily at range. At close range, most any standard bullet from most any fairly hot caliber tends to come apart, in my experience. Still, the bullet has to do the work, so a premium is not out of line for any kind of hunting, even if it isn't needed.

I've shot a number of moose with the 180 grain nosler partition gold(moly-coated) as well as several brown bears.

You do your part and the bullet will perform flawlessly!

Don Martin
www.EndlessSafari.com

Don
What rifle and cartidge did you take your brown bears with and would you mind throwing in some distances and number of shots on those Partitions? You feel the golds are getting you more performance or could you tell any difference from the regular? I'd be willing to bet it tweren't a Rem 700.

The rifle is a Winchester Mod. 70 Classic with a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10.

I've shot for myself or with clients on 3 moose all under 100 yards. Usually two shots to bring down moose, however the first shot is generally lethal, but it's important to keep the bulls from running off and dieing in a pond somewhere, so I encourage people to shoot til they're down.

On the bears, I've shot one for myself and backed up clients 3 times. My bear was a raking shot from about 150 yards(due to the loose nut on the stock!). The bullet travelled about 4 feet through the bear and ended up on the opposite side just under the hide. The bear required a finishing shot from about 7 yards to seal the deal.

The back up shots were at ranges from less than 10 yards to 375 yards.

The 375 yard shot was impressive with full penetration through the bear and the bullet just under the hide on the opposite side. I also had the same terminal perofrmance on another bear at about 70 yards. The bullet holds together well and creates a good wound channel. In my experience, the forward portion of the bullet holds together "most" of the time and you can actually pop the mushroomed section off the front after it's salvaged from the animal.

In my experience, the average brown bear takes 2-3 bullets, but it's usually just precautionary. A well placed first shot is usually enough to do the job, but a brown bear represents more potential danger than any antlered game, so I encourage the clients to keep shooting regardless of how good the initial shot was.

I've had tremendous confidence in the 180 grain moly-coated partition bullet for some time. But I'm willing to speculate that the confidence is in the rifle/load/bullet combination, perhaps not the bullet alone.

For one reason or another, my rifle likes that moly-coated partition and it just shoots it more accurately than any other load I've found!

Hope that helps,
Don Martin
www.EndlessSafari.com

Thanks. That was interesting and informative.

In 27 trips to Alaska I've taken caribou, moose, black bears and two brown bears with a .300 Weatherby using 200 gr. Nosler Partitions. Nosler has a proven track record that you can count on. Lawdog