My Moose Rifle Picks

by Steve Koozer

A lot of good info on Moose caliber selection. I have used quite a few different calibers from 260 Remington up to 338 Ultra Mag.

The 260 with 140 Nosler partitions properly hand loaded in the hands of an experienced hunter at moderate ranges works well.

The 30-06? Well enough said on that subject.
280 Remington is also excellent with 160 grain bullets.
300 Win Mag is just superb with 200 grain bullets if the shooter can handle more recoil.

35 Whelen is excellent with 225 grain bullets the same trajectory as the good old 30-06 shooting 180's. The Whelen is sadly hard to find in a rifle and a hand loader only cartridge to get the performance the cartridge is safely capable of.
Kills the same as a 338 Win mag out to 350 yards well at least I have not seen any difference.

338 Win Mag same as 300 Win for recoil tolerance, but an excellent cartridge.

The 338 Ultra Mag is Thor's hammer with a 250 grain bullet and shoots as flat as the 300 Win with 200's.
Recoil is the main factor with the Ultra if you can't handle it you won't do what needs to be done in all conditions.

A high quality bullet that will hold together and penetrate is what you want for Swamp Donkeys.

260 Rem 140 Partition ( my wife shoots this)
280 Rem 160 Accubonds
300 Win Mag 200 grain accubonds
35 Whelen 225 Barnes TSX
338 Ultra 250 Partitions

When I now take a rifle out for moose for regular hunting I grab the 35 Whelen.
When the range is going to be longer I take the 300 Win.

The bottom line though is a quality bullet that holds together and penetrates in a cartridge that you shoot accurately in 26 caliber and above will fill your freezer if you make the proper shots.

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