Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Lefty medium-bore elk/moose recommendations? (on a budget)

You might look around the net for a new 338 RUM in left hand. Some dealers couldn't hardly give them away.
You said you hand load and could load it down for most things or all the up for the bigger game you mentioned.

On mine it didnt require any additional work at all. Just rebarrel and inlet the stock, thats it. The conversion works perfectly and the rounds feed as smooth as butter. Lots of power in a small package. Privi brass and bullets are pretty cheap, Grafs sell both. Dies are easy to find as well. I also own a 35 Whelen but the 9,3 just seems to have cooler ring to it:)

If 9,3x64 brass was more easily found I would go for it instead.

Got to throw my vote in for re-chambering or re-barrelling to 35 Whelen as it is effective & factory brass & ammo is easily available. It is about the minimum to enable you to jump to a significantly bigger bullet, caliber & weight wise. The 338 is only a half step.:) Yes, I am biased!
Further, I have some experience with the Whelen & it has been easy to get along with and never disappointed me.
Practical side of me needs to comment that your '06, with any 165-180 gr bullet, including plain old Core Lokts, has proven itself to be seriously effective on everything up through, and including moose.

I'll give the same response I always give on lefty questions like this - remember there are rifles out there that work just fine without a bolt handle. My choice is the Ruger #1. My first "bigger than an '06" rifle was a #1B in .338 Win. Mag. A friend wanted it bad so I sold it. If was a little bulky for me in the hand anyway. My latest is a #1 Tropical in .375 H&H. Either work perfectly for lefties and I love that tang safety.

Another lefty option that looks interesting is the .338 Marlin lever action. My elk experience is limited, but even here in AZ most of the shots I've encountered have been less than 100 yards. The printed ballistics of that Marlin round should work just fine at 3 times that distance. I only wonder if the cartridge will have longevity...