Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .308 vs moose

Well all be damned I drew an Idaho moose tag!

So I have my trusty -06 with 150gr ttsx @ 3040fps that I have the ultimate faith in! It's a combo that has performed very well on a handful of Bull Elk farthest being 408yds. 10-20 yd tracking jobs. That being said I've also a Ruger Hawkeye Laminate Stainless with the 16.50" barrel. So the St.Joe National Forrest can be very thick country and some days I'll find myself in country that a 200yd shot or less will be the norm. I love the rifle oh man its a handy lil sum biatch!


Anyway I'm posting on this form as Alaskans or folks that have hunted Moose most likely will help me pick a bullet for that .308

i'm all ear's and appreciate any suggestions from those that have BTDT.

165 grain bullet

My Sister lives in Soldotna and has used her 308 Winchester (Winchester 88) to kill many moose. I think about 25 so far. I load her ammo for her and the bullets I gave her are the 180 grain Nosler Partitions..

Your TTSX is likely to be just as good, but my only complaint I have in using the TTSX (as opposed to the older TSX) is that I have seen quite a few of them turn into a backwards "L" on impact when the tip come off to one side leaving one leg of the expanded X sticking way out past the others. This often turns the bullet on weird paths through the animals. Just my preference, but I like non-tipped bullets for the straightest terminal paths through game.

I've seen literal boatloads of moose killed neatly with .308 Winchester and 30/06 rifles; mostly using the least expensive factory ammo available (Core-Lokts, Power Points, etc.) in weights from 150-180 grains. Your 150 TTSX load in your 30/06 sounds about ideal IMO and I'd prefer it to the factory ammo options I've seen work dozens of times. Well placed bullets from .30 caliber rifles routinely hammer moose, don't overthink this.

Seems to me I read years ago that the most used cartridge on Moose in Scandinavia was the 6.5x55. I have one and wouldn't bother me at all to use it on a moose. Say that because I also have a 6.5x06 that I've taken three elk with and all with one shot. Today I'm using the Speer 140gr hot core and have no doubt that I do my job and it will do it's!

Placement, Placement, Placement. But Heavier, cup and core blue box federal 180 grain bullets do a very decent job if you put them through both lungs.

A friend of mine doesn't like to spend money on fancy guns or ammo. He's had multiple successes with his rusty blued .308 and Remington core-lockt. Not what I would choose but you can't argue that it doesn't work.

As is said about every other day on here... bullet choice and shot placement is what counts.

Quite a few years ago a 30-06 became my only moose rifle, 165 or 168 Barnes bullets, as times changed. If you have not seen the difference in meat loss you have an excuse for being foolish. But the difference is real. I grew up with ordinary cup and core and have a fair-sized box of recovered bullets. I have never recovered a Barnes and I have a shot a huge bunch of them into meat.

A 308 and a bullet in the high shoulder is plenty.

As I have related here many times my son has killed a ton of stuff with a 25-06 with 80gr TTSX. That would include a modest brown bear, the biggest-bodied bull moose I have ever dealt with, deer, goat, caribou, black bears (in quantity,) and other stuff.

nothing wrong with a 30-06 or 308 Win on moose, just yardage ...

I've killed a bunch of moose & bear at those velocities, put that bullet in the operating system and it's flatline time

Under 300 yards caliber matters little with a well placed shot on most animals. Don't over think this.

Never hunted moose, but I have hunted a lot in dense brush. I've found that it can be hard to get hits quickly if your rifle has a very short barrel because so much of the weight is so far aft that the muzzle tends to float instead of settling down. I've also found that rifles with laminated stocks are by far the worst offenders.

I'd compare the two rifles on a timer at 25 and 50 yards.

You might be surprised at the results, especially when you really hit the gas.


Okie John

Coincidences abound with your post and my background. I have lived where your sister does since 1966. Bagged my first moose with a mod 88, circa 1967. Shot my first Black bear the same week. It was chambered in .243 though.
Cup and core did the trick for several other moose after the first.

BTW, was born at Francine E. Warren in Cheyenne. Was the US Airforce's fault that curtailed my possibility to hunt Elk in Wyo. as they had the whole family shipped up here in 58...😉

308 will work if you keep your shots under 250 yards. Use a 180 grain premium bullet or at least a good 165 like the Swift A-Frame as the minnimum weight. Run either one of those bullet weights right through the lungs and the moose will never know the difference between the 308 or the 30-06.

Whatever makes you happy.

I can state for a fact the following work: 170 gr. 30-06, 243 100 gr - 270 150 gr. - 30-06 150, 165, 180 - .338 WM 210NP (sort of), 225, 250, 275 - 308NM 180 - 12 ga slug. Premiums not required- I've used them just twice- no discernable diff in killing- but take the word of those who use Barnes (I have not). Most takes have been with factory loads.

Moose die easy, hit right - they may take awhile tho, so I prefer CNS or head shots if I can get them, especially in thick stuff. My shots average about 65 yards - I hunt thick stuff! - thicker than St Joe country mostly (2 summers with USFS Trail Crew out of Calder 1967,68)

Last year- and probably this year, I'll carry my .260 with 140 Corelokts for moose- haven't taken one with it yet. It's proven itself on numerous caribou, one wolf, one elk, which proved itself not to be armour plated and 20 feet thick. Bang flops, but one poorly hit caribou wounded with a pass through from another (limit was 5 per day, so I was still golden). The big bull moose I called in last year would have succomed to the .260 at 40 yards, had visibility not been about 20......

If not the .260 , then the .338WM - those steaming gallon sized brown bear chits get one's attention. But there are about 3 lbs difference in weight, so that factors in also.

But that's just me.

Best of luck to you- that St Joe (all of northern Idaho!). is great country. It's just not Alaska.

I hope your up-coming moose hunt is a success and loads of fun for you.
I could hunt moose all day long with a 308 Win.

I have shot a moose with a 308 and 165 Barnes X at 2600.

A cow elk with a Sierra 165 BT and another with a 165 Hpbt.

Your 30-06 is already set up. Not to be intentionally vague but there are a boatload of bullets that would work in a 308.

A wise pard of these pages has famously stated the mantra:

Placement, boolit, cartridge.
hint…..

I have been beyond impressed with that 150gr ttsx. Going on 14 years and many dead bucks and a handful of bull elk and that 150gr ttsx has been flawless. I caught one that stayed buried in the spine of a dandy bull at 408yds. Also caught one that traveled the entire length of a dandy buck. Both look exactly like they are supposed to the buck was 200yds. Actually have a 7-08 set up with a 120gr ttsx ready to rock. Forever been a partition fan. Pretty damn excited for this fall to say the least. I sure appreciate all the suggestions.

Friend of mine has shot many moose in Canada over the years with his 308. I would recommend 165 or 180 grain bullet for moose.
Heck, I’ve knocked down a handful of moose over the years with my 300 savage. The 308 was an improved 300 savage.