What bullet for Moose/Elk? More details within.

[cdparker]

I have hunted Alaska 8 times. Taken moose and caribou and been party to many others. The outfitter requires 338 win mag minimum as there is a large brown bear population in his units. I used Hornaday 225 on all of my animals. They all were down in a step or 2. My largest moose measures 72" cured out, I shot it at 20 yards. The biggest problem with a poorly placed shot is you are not the only one tracking it in a short period of time. Meeting a bear while dressing or packing an animal gets ugly fast.

John

John, Your outfitter was quite correct. Even large moose are not that hard to kill. The problem raises it's ugly head when you are forced to protect yourself from a "big Fuzzy". When shooting a big Alaskan moose, give thought to how far from transportation is this monster. A couple of years ago a friend dropped one that was about a mile from where they could land a plane. 12 trips later, he had to face off with a bear when he was finally packing out the rack. He was a 68" monster. "Be prepared" It's the Boy Scout's marching song." For over 40 years, I carried my .375 H&H when I walked among them. Then when winter came, I carried my 7x57 AI. Shot a couple of late season Moose and lots of Caribou with that gun. I used 160 gr. NP's.

 

[effendude]

This does not sound like the partitions performed well for you at all though. Why would you vote for it? It sounds more like the Berger VLD did the best job, no?

No, the Partititions performed well. They penetrated through the ribs well into the far side of the lungs. My point was these animals are huge and it takes a while to fill the lungs up with blood. I didn't intend to use the VLD on the third shot, it was just the next bullet in the butt stock elastic sleeve (I also had sheep and wolf tags). The rifle was a single shot and I am very confident that I didn't need the next two shots, but when you spend more than $20K on a trip, a few bullets are cheap insurance! Moose don't react to bullets like smaller game, it is though they just stand and take the punishment.

My friend in an outfitter in Alaska and has witnessed a couple hundred moose kills. He recommends anything from a 270 on up, with a well constructed bullet, but stresses waiting for a broadside shot, putting the bullet behind the shoulder into the lungs/heart. It takes a large round to penetrate the shoulder bone of a moose. His rifle during sheep/moose/grizzly season is a 7mm Rem. Mag with 168 VLDs. He has several clients each year that use that rifle. A shot into the lungs and the bull starts blowing blood and then tips over 20-450 seconds later.

The 160's in 6.5 would work well, given shot placement is accurate. My concern with the heavier bullets would be having enough twist rate in the barrel to accurately shoot those bullets.

Scott

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I shoot a 270 and so does my wife. We have killed a lot of elk with em.. I killed a Canadian Moose in 88 with mine, and 160 Barnes. My elk/deer load is a 130 grain Nosler partition.

I also used to have a custom 264 Winchester that I built. I used 140 Nosler partitions in it.. I long ago sold the 264 and replaced it with the 270. I have a lot of other rifles I can use, but always seem to come back to my 270

 

[Flouncer]

After reading through all of this, and what my elk hunting friends at work have told me, I am going to re-barrel with my old 6.5-06 instead of a new in 8x57. I had the Hornady 160g round nose up to 2700 fps. The 1,500-ft/lb threshold with that bullet is at about 270 yards with about 2100 fps still on tap. It shoots very accurately, but that heavy profile barrel is 27-inch. My guess is the rifle is at least 9 1/2 lbs with it on. The Hornady 160 bullet is eerily long and reminds me every time I handle it of the Carcano and the fmj that was used in the Kennedy Assassination.

 

[SigSavage]

The 160's in 6.5 would work well, given shot placement is accurate. My concern with the heavier bullets would be having enough twist rate in the barrel to accurately shoot those bullets.

Scott

It's a T3 with a twist rate of 1:8

 

[effendude]

It's a T3 with a twist rate of 1:8

It should work. Proof is on the paper. The 6.5 calibers are an amazing thing.

I had originally built a 7mm RUM for this trip, but a few weeks before I was to leave, the chamber developed a soft spot and cases wouldn't extract. My 300 RUM was being rebarreled and the 6.5 was my most accurate rifle. Given the slightly less case size, I knew I was limiting myself a little, but felt a moose within 400 yards was in danger. I had 140 Partitions that needed 1 MOA more than the 140 VLDs at 600 yards, and both shot <1MOA at that distance so I carried both rounds with me. The VLDs were intended for the sheep and wolf, the Partition for grizzly and moose. As an aside, every moose shot that year in camp (13) except one was shot multiple times with anything from a 6.5-284 to a 300 Jarrett. The only one shot kill was because my buddy the outfitter watched the 168 VLD enter the ribs of a wet bull at ~300 yards. The bull hunched up, and then tipped over 20 seconds later. He knew there was no need for another bullet.

Good Luck,
Scott

 

[FryeGuy]

I hope to hunt moose someday. I would love to do it with my 6.5x55. Thing is, I don't have Griz around here, so I didn't even think about that factor. I would probably want a much bigger gun facing one of those pecker heads. I started carrying a 44 mag this year after a run-in with a black bear. I didn't realize they would snap their teeth at you. can't imagine what it would be like living in grizzly country.

 

[6mm Remington]

6.5x55 I would use a 120 gr. Nosler E-tip, 125 gr. Partition, or 130 gr Accubond

270 Winchester. 150 gr. Partition, 140 gr Accubond or Partition, and nothing wrong with a 130 gr. Accubond, Partition, or E-tip. Nosler builds great bullets!

 

[Swamplord]

got nothing against the 270's except I hate 'em, they do just fine on moose as do the 6.5's,
I hunt moose with fast 30's and 338's but know a few fellers that hunt with the skinnier bullets and get their bull every year ! If I was forced to choose between the 6.5X55 SE or 270 Win I'd grab the 6.5 since I have 3 rifles on that bullet diameter with a bunch of bullets to use on my shelves, don't think the moose would notice the difference though

 

[Swamplord]

coming soon ! my new 6.5mm bullet poster will have the Hornady ELD-X and ELD Match bullets and a few others not featured in poster posted above,

the bullets in pic below should whack any size bull moose regardless if you are in North America or Europe

 

[Mulligan]

Of the choices you presented--the 150 Gr Nosler Partition.

^^^^+1

 

[Changeling]

I only see the 160gn Interlock Roundnose 6.5's on the Hornady site.

On Dangerous game round/flat point large caliber strong bullets are always better, when they hit they do not have a tendency to depart from their direction, in other words they will plow straight on till energy is exhausted or they exit the animal.

Pointed bullets can divert their coarse/direction. I saw a big buck shot with a 130gr Sierra that had been shot in the left shoulder from a sideways position from the shooter. The bullet went through the left ribs, caught a lung, then veered right and ended up in front of the ham! It doesn't happen often but it does happen and is a well known phenomenon of pointed projectiles.
That's why hunters (wise ones) shoot the big bears and African type dangerous game with round/flat nose tough bullets.

 

[Chalktaw]

First off I will say to anyone, that moose are not that difficult to kill simply put! Now the very first elk hunt I went on, I lost my bull elk because I was shooting the wrong weight bullet and shot placement was off just a tad. Many put the blame on my .270 Winchester bolt gun but later I found out that I should have been using the 160 grain Nosler Partiton and placed that bullet behind the shoulder instead of on the shoulder.

I have had great success using the model 70 in .270 caliber with this 160 grain bullet. You check out the S.D. (sectional density) of this bullet weight, it does penetrate deeply. I only load 2 bullet weights for my .270 Winchester, 130 and 160 grain both in Nosler Partitons. I still have 6 boxes of those Nosler 160 grn bullets. It's sad that they stopped making them a couple of decades ago. So I would use the .270 Winchester and 150 grain Nosler Partition bullets and remember to stay off the shoulder with your shot.

 

[mmcu]

Good news for you Chalktaw - Nosler still makes the 160 grain Partition in .277 caliber. I also agree with you that it is a fantastic big game bullet.

 

[bigngreen]

We shot a PILE of elk with a 270 loaded with 165 Matrix bullets, thee best bullet I've put on elk in the 270 cals. from 85 yards to 900+ piles them up!!