I guess I'm in the minority. I'd use a premium 180 grain bullet, even though moose don't have a reputation as being hard to put down. My choice would be whichever 180 grain premium bullet was most accurate in my rifle.

a 165 gr. X would be a good choice for moose in a 30-06, you can expect deep penetration with them. If you choose a bullet like a Partition etc, I'd go to 180 gr.

I want to work up a moose load for a new 30-06. I am going to use 165 grain bullets for practice and for deer. Thinking of the Fail Safe or Barnes X in the same weight for moose. Would that be OK or should I move up to the 180 grain? Thanks for any help.

either will perform well; i would say use the one which shoots most accurately out of your rifle.

What Todd said, you may even consider a good 200g bullet if you don't expect your range to be much over 200yds.

If you stick with the same weight and just go for a premium bullet like you mentioned you would not have to worry about any real trajectory difference. I think either of the two bullets you mentioned would be great on moose at the 165gr weight.

If you are using an X or failsafe, the 165 gr will be fine.

They are the 'Super Penetrators" and, as much as I dislike agreeing with Tod, if you use a Partition, go up to the 180

If you use a premium bullet such as the partition,failsafe or x bullet 165gr is plenty for moose.I myself have killed and seen many more moose killed by others with 140gr partitions out of 7mm's to believe that heavy premium bullets are required for moose.

You will come a lot closer to getting two holes with the 180 gr. failsafe or Barnes X...and I like two holes and good blood trails over recovered pretty expanded bullets...Moose are big and tough and the 180s will still out penitrate the 165 in any make of bullet...I'd use the 180s....My favorite is the 200 gr. Noslers in the 06 and 300s....

Leo, I've not killed a moose (largest game I've killed are several bull elk), but my cousin in Boise, Idaho, uses a .308 Win. (Pre-'64 Mdl. 70) for all his game hunting. Aside from MANY elk, deer, etc., he killed an Idaho bull moose a few years ago using his .308 Win. with Fed. Factory Premium 165 gr. Nosler Partiton bullets. Shot was about 100 yards +/-, with the moose starting to go down when he fired the second round. Dead moose. (The above load is all he uses as he doesn't reload.)

Just last fall, one of my hunting partners had a bull moose tag in south eastern Idaho and he killed one with his .30-06 using his handload of 150 gr. Sierra F.B. Spitzer. Shot at about 90 yards +/-, one round, through-'n-through lungs, etc., and one dead bull moose. Bullet not recovered.

On the same hunt, my hunting partner's hunting partner (whom I didn't know), also shot a bull moose using his .30-06, and 165 gr. Nosler Partition reloads. (Don't know the powder charge.) According to my friend, his shot was at about 85/90 yards. Two rounds. Dead moose.

My cousin and my hunting partner are very good shots. I assume the other fellow is too, as I do know he is a longtime western hunter.

Canada moose are larger, I know, than our Idaho Shiras moose, and there's nothing really scientific about what I've written. Just three .308 caliber bull moose experiences with which I'm familiar.

Good luck. L.W.

I've seen them shot with just about everything from 87gr .243's and 30-30's up to 375 ultra mags. Like any other kind of game, correct shot placement is more important than caliber.

I will not disagree with what anyone here has said, but I do agree more with Don on preferring a larger, heavier bullet when it comes to moose. I subscribe to the two-hole theory and prefer bullets that make big holes, breaking more stuff, fast. I personally would not intentionally hunt moose with anything less than a .338 with 210 grain Nosler Partitions. But a lot of folks hunt and kill moose with any number of .308 caliber bullets, so it is hard to argue with success. But, when shooting a 30-06, or a .300 of any type, I would recommend using the best constructed 180 bullet that you can find. I would say trying to shoot a 200 grain (or larger) bullet out of a 30-06 is trying to make the rifle and bullet do something that they are not designed to do...you should get a bigger gun. Even small moose are big, and I think big animals deserve big bullets. Boy oh Boy, I do hope you shoot a moose though...Good luck!

I should have also added that I strongly agree with Ray's assessment as well as Don's. Big, tough bullets making two holes.

Leo,

I'm still voting for the 180gr in Partition or X bullet (I think you posted this question on another forum). Sectional density still counts for something--even with the premium bullets. I have killed two moose (which hardly qualifies me as an expert on moose) and a slew of elk. One moose was killed with a 150gr Partition at about 100yds with the critter broadside. The Partition passed completely through. The other was a quartering away shot at about 250 yards with a 30.06 Ack Imp shooting a 200gr X bullet. It also passed through, breaking the off shoulder on the way out. An .06 with a 180gr premium bullet is plenty for moose in my experience. I also have seen three other moose killed with 300mags and 180grs--they did just fine also.

On the subject of "other" bullets. I posted this on another forum quite a while back:


I bought my first Nosler Ballistic Tips the first year they
were introduced ( mid 80's?). They were the fastest I
had chronographed and most accurate 150 grain bullets I
had shot through both of the .270's I had at the time.
Hot dang, I thought, now it's time to go hunting!

First elk I shot at about 60 yards. The Nosler BT hit a rib
just behind the shoulder and IMMEDIATELY began to
come apart. Luckily a couple chunks of the bullet hit the
bull's lungs. Luckily it slowed him down enough I could
catch up and shoot the bugger again--twice.

Okay, I figured it would work well on deer. Ten days later
I shot a very large bodied Mulie at a whopping 30 yards
away. Hit him right in the scapula of the shoulder. The
near lung looked like I shot the buck with birdshot. None
of the (tiny) pieces made past the first lung.

Okay, this has gotta be a good Pronghorn bullet--right?.
Two weeks after the Mulie, I made a really ugly shot at a
very steep downhill angle on a 15 1/2 inch praire goat, hit
him on top of, and right between, the hind quarters. Blew
out 8 inches of backbone--not a whole lotta meat left
(But he looks really pretty hanging on the wall).

I don't learn easily. The following year (after spending a
month chasing bighorns with my bow), I needed some
meat for my freezer. One of my .270's was still sighted in
for the Nosler BT's. My buddy and I went elk hunting on
the last day of the last season--in three feet of fresh
powder snow no less. I shot a very healthy 5x6 at about
250 yards. I figured at that distance maybe the damn
bullet would slow down enough and hang together--nope.
The bull showed absolutely no sign of being hit. Had to
track and chase the thing two hours and shoot him two
more times. The first shot hit the scapula and the bullet
once again came apart. We even found one chunk of
bullet lodged against a NEAR rib.

The Nosler BT is still some of the most accurate bullets I
shoot in my .270's and 30.06 Ackley Improved--I kind've
use them as a "benchmark". But I don't hunt with them.

In all fairness, I have been told that Nosler addressed this
a few years later. And I am a big fan of the Partitions
(can't wait to try the new Partition Gold's).

Casey (Western Slope of Colorado)

180grn FailSafe

or 200grn Partition



Aagaard liked the 220grn Partition for the .06

leo;

i have a m70 .06. i would use a hot load with a 200 gr. n.p. or at the least a 180 gr. n.p. forget the 165 gr. this is not a whitetail. big, tough animal.

cold zero

I have never heard of anyone wounding a moose and loosing it. They may not go down on the first shot, but they usually don't go far. For that reason, I believe any of the premiums you mentioned would work fine. I'm a huge fan of the failsafes, and that should give you exit hole.
Good Luck.