308 winchester vs moose

[efw]

The .308 is a greatly underrated cartridge that will work very well on moose. I prefer heavy for calibre, but the 165 grain bullets will work just fine on moose at the ranges you are usually called to use them. At the velocities generated, I would prefer the Partition, though the TSX will certainly work.

+1

 

[onesonek]

In part, this .308 barrel was built for such task, more so. still hunting elk in timber. Yeah, it's short and cost me some velocity, but still fits my personal needs and criteria for such work. I'm still working on loads, but 2500+ looks realistic with the longer throat, which the 180gr. NPT for which it was built around, and seats flush with the base of the neck. And with that, it should Point Blank at 250. I look at terminal balistics more than raw energy. As long as the bullet opens reliably and penetrates deeply (preferably exits), is all that matters to me. And the Nosler 180gr. Partition will do a bit better than the 250 PBR I plan on setting it at.

I have only shot one moose otherwise, and that was at 60 yds with a .303, after spotting it 110-20 yds off rounding a point on the lake, we turned off the motor and paddled closer. The moose really paid us no mind, and the breeze was in our favor. But when we got to that point it started to show inclination of wandering off. I could have shot as we spotted it, but the gal I was with (lodge owners wife) wanted to get a bit closer look. I didn't ask her the reason. And it was her .303, of which she shot all the lodge meat. She said the rifle was her dads, didnt know how many moose he shot with it, but she had over 20+ to account. So I figured this .308 would make a nice boat gun, as well timber :wink:

 

[SJB358]

It's good to see a dormant thread revived. As I stated earlier, the .308 is underrated. It is a fine cartridge for hunting moose. Kuula is correct that loaded with 180 grain bullets at 2600 fps, the .308 will take any moose at appropriate ranges. A person could do far worse than equip himself/herself with the .308.

After seeing how well my little 308 shot the 165 AB's at just about 2800, I am not sure I would worry about taking a moose at all with it. I am fairly impressed with the 308 and the 165 AB's. They shot excellent for me using RL15. Might have to mess around a little more with it in the Fall.

 

[Kuula]

We mostly hunt moose by driven hunts or with a dog. Driven hunts we often have to shoot the moose while it is moving so the shot placement is in the heart/lung area. When we hunt with a stopping dog, the dog tries to stop the moose and when they are stopped the dog starts to bark so the hunter can sneak up to them and take the moose down. Also this can happen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoUNSG43HN4. We have very dense moose population here so government tells us how many tags we have and how to use them. example if our moose hunting party has 12-tags, there is usually 6 for adults and 6 for calfs with the adults it is preferred that you shoot 50/50 male/female and it is forbidden to shoot the mother moose first if a calf and female is coming to your position. But i think that the 1.5-2 year old moose is the best for eating. Here the average distance to shoot moose is about 60-70meters so 308win. will do fine here. Though i started hunting moose with a 30-06 and moved up to 9.3x62. If you have Vihtavuori powders at hand you should try N150 with the 180gr AB about 45gr would be max.

 

[DrMike]

i think that the 1.5-2 year old moose is the best for eating.

I'll second that assessment. Kuula, I use a lot of VitaVuori powders; they are among my favourites.

 

[tjen]

I would stay with the 180gr PT for the biggest deer. I do know the 200PT is use quite alot in Alaska for moose in the 308win in brushy areas where shots are from close up to say 200 yards. Check out the trajectories of both the 180 and 200 at 308win speeds and then consider just how large the vitals of a moose are. More than twice of what a deers are they offer a larger target so don't think in deer sized trajectories.

Teach me read all the post first. I just saw the photo of your short barrel TC.
Hum I would lean to bullet weight over velocity but Not sure what that is for this gun. Might a faster burn powder that works in the 308 work best too?

 

[Gm weatherby man]

For having killed 20 plus moose over the years, half with a 303 brit, one with a 30-06, one with a 30-30 win.My belief is the 308 is more than enough gun with a 165 acubond, a e-tip,150 monolithic.I can't believe i have not purchased a 308 yet. :roll: :wink:

 

[treesnake]

When my wife or one of my daughters draws a Moose tag I'm going to load some 180 E-tips and 180 Accubonds for our .308 and see what shoots best. It's like choosing between Mom's Elk cheeseburgers with swiss or mom's Elk cheeseburgers with cheddar. She asks me which one I like and I say yes.