I am booking a moose hunt with IanF this fall and am considering taking the 7mmRemMag, for this rifle I have a box of 160gn partition gold bullets that I haven't started to load yet, but I suspect might be good for the job at hand, if only a little light in my opinion, but I have never shot at moose.

The other options I am considering are .300WBY and .375H&H, the 270gn partition and .30 cal 200gn partition...

I am more partial to the .375 as a reliable killer, having had bad experiences with the 7mm that had led me to "dislike" it and have little faith in the cartridge.

Has anyone had any experience with the 260gn ballistic tip in a .375?

Any advice on bullet and caliber choice would be appreciated.

Express
I think you have answered your own question. If you lack confidence in the 7MM why even consider it for Moose. While I think a 300Mag with a 200gr Premium is plenty good for Moose, I would use the 375, also with a premium bullet. After all if you already have a 375, Moose is a good animal to use it on. I would probably use a 300gr. bullet, but I will admit I like heavy premium bullets for heavy game. Your Moose might have a caked mud/water soaked hide, I just feel better with as heavy a premium bullet as possible. Plus where there is Moose there is usually Bear.

I don't have much faith in the 7mm, especially considering it shooting a 160gn bullet.

I am however leaning very much towards the .300Weatherby - Mostly because it means I wont have to worry about developing a load as I don't haves the dies, but then again, that's half the fun!

I think I will go with the .375 using 260gn Partitions, but I need to get some load development work done. Even the 210 X bullets I have lying around might be good, but I have no idea if they will stabilize due to their short shank.

I would imagine a lot of people have used the .300WBY on moose?

I light to think of it as more of a long range, medium-size game cartridge rather then a big(1000lb) game cartridge, but I don't think it would do anything less than kill a moose outright!

Express, I have a friend that works in a sporting goods store (the guy I buy my guns from) whose opinions I trust and respect and he's been using the 7mm Rem. Mag. for over 15 years with 160 grain regular Partitions. Every year he brings home moose and he also hunts elk with it. He has never had a bullet failure and he's a better shot than me and isn't afraid to take longer shots that I probably wouldn't try. I talked to one of the ballisticians at Nosler yesterday about the Partition Gold and it was designed for heavy game and with typically 80% weight retention. I'm not a fan of Nosler myself, but it sure has me thinking. As far as moose goes, I used to hunt them with a .303 Enfield in northern Ontario when I first got out of the military and didn't have much money and they did the job with no problem. In northern Ontario there has probably been more moose taken with a .303 than anything else. Unless your shots are going to be in the unusually long range the 7mm RM should be fine.

Express

I used to load for my friends 300 Weatherby. He liked 200gr Partions for moose and grizz. That's more than you need but of course theres never too much power for those critters.

Well, if you think a 300 Wby is light for moose, then a 7mm Rem Mag is surely too small. Of the 3, I'd go with the 375 H&H on moose, with a 300 gr. Nosler @ 2550 fps. But this load is best inside 250 yards. If there is the possibility of a longer shot (which there always is), the 300 Wby w/ 200 gr. Partition @ 2900-3000 fps would be a good one. Should do well out to 375 yards. Of the 3 moose I've shot, average distance has been 100 yards. One of them was with the 160 gr. Partition Gold, at a somewhat slow 2750 fps. Impact speed was 2550 fps, and the moose dropped to a spine shot. Had to put another killing shot in him. I can't remember if the bullet exited or not, but I guess it worked well enough. If launched at 3000 fps, the 7mm w/ 160 gr. works on moose out to 350 yards+ with good placement. I'd much prefer the 7mm Mag with a 175 gr. Partition @ 2900 fps. This packs 2000 ft-lbs out to 365 yards, if that does anything for you. Although the 300 Wby/200 gr. Partition load is doing 2000 ft-lbs out to 445 yards. But don't think moose are invincible, far from it. Pick whatever rifle you like best, and shoot the best.

P.S., I'd like to hear about your bad experiences with the 7mm Mag.

[ 05-07-2003, 01:17: Message edited by: todbartell ]

Take the rifle you like the best.

Any of the .300 Magnums are near perfect moose cartridges. I just started loading for my .375 but I haven't shot anything with it yet. If you like the .375 and shoot it well, then take that.

The 260 gr Partition would be fine.

As Tod said, I'd prefer the 175gr Partition in the 7mag. Many, many moose have been killed with all the cartridges you list or their equivolents...

I'd also like to hear your problems with the 7mag...

The 7mmremmag with 160gr partitions will work fine for moose.I have killed several moose and elk with the 140gr partition out of the 7mmremmag and 7mmstw.

The biggest animal I have taken w/ the 7mag/160grNP was a spike elk. I had complete penetration after shattering the spine (bull was moving uphill away from me). What kind of performance have you had in the past that leaves you questioning this combo? I might step up to a 175grNP for moose, but I wouldn't feel undergunned using any good 160gr bullet @ 3000fps+.

Express

...........Have you considered a 6mmPPC!!??? OK bud, winding you up again - but I got the same problems as you. Decisions, decisions!

Do I take the .375 HH - and risk the longer shots against wolf, or stick with the '06 and 180gn premiums and maybe feel undergunned against the Irish Elk I'm hoping to see!?!

Whatever Bud, it's gonna be fun - and its your turn to carry whatever we put on the ground!!

Catch you soon. Ian

Express,

I've been fortunate enough to hunt moose regularly and kill quite a few. Out of the caliber choices that you have a 375 is by far the best. The other calibers that you mentioned will certainly do the job if you can place the bullet correctly and you don't have to shoot from a bad angle but they just don't have the raw horsepower of the 375.

One of the things that people forget about the moose is that once he is on the ground you have a lot of work ahead of you and if he falls in a bad spot you have to deal with him right there because you won't be able to move him.

I have seen a moose die an fall into a hole and literally be upside down. Try working on that. Another time one slid into a river after being shot. That was the biggest mess I've ever seen.

Do yourself and your guide a favor and use the 375 with a 300 gr. premium bullet and you'll be able to take whatever shot is presented and anchor the moose within a few feet of where you hit it.

Finally if your worried about trajectory just sight in 3" high at 100 and that will give you a dead on hold out to 250. If the moose is 300 or a little more a hold above the mid-line of his body and the bullet will drop right in his boiler room. A moose is so deep through his body that it makes up for quite a bit of error in range estimation. Also as another poster stated moose are not usually shot at long range.

Good Luck

What do you think of a 260grain Partition as opposed to a 300gn H mantel RWS?

Assuming both shoot the same...

I was hoping to get a little more speed and flatter trajectory, not that I'm counting on needing it. As those who know me could guess, the 6PPC will be accompanying me for any long range stuff...

Or would extra speed on that bullet begin to create problems with the bullet holding up?

At least a short range where you may encounter such problems shot placement should not be an issue.

Ian, mate I'll cath you next week, just remember to thaw out those deer before I get there

I can think of a couple reasons why a 7mm RM might fail to kill a Moose, and not one of them have anything to do with the cartridge or its capabilities.

I have used a 300 Weatherby numerous times on Moose and found it to be a VERY effective round. I started using it after my first bad experience using a 7mm on my first moose hunt in Alaska.

Express and Ian,

I hope you have a good hunt whatever you take! I have to say that given that Canadian moose are bigger than Swedish ones and that I presume there is a chance of a moving shot or some raking angles etc I would instantly take the 375s!

I am fairly certain that the only reason I got my bull last year is because of my 9.3. Moose are supposed to be easy to kill but that doesn't take into account operator error when faced with something the size of a shire horse at an unfavourable angle. You've just flown thousands of miles, spent a lot of money and walked/waited a lot......375 and lighter but tough bullet.

Besides which if you can get the same load to shoot in both guns you have an additional back up if one of you has lost baggage.

I just wanted to add a little comment regarding the Nosler Part. Gold.
The only one I have experience with is the 180 grain .30cal (.30-06). Earlier I have shot some animals with the old Nosler Partition as well, and I really can`t see the big difference between them. Their supposed to be a little bit thougher, but weight retention have been 60-65% (the front piece of lead is gone). That`s not better than the "old ones"..(?).
I must add that this experience are pretty narrow. I`ve shot 5 norwegian moose, and some animals in RSA, only recovering 4 bullets. Of course this can be a matter of coincidence..
Good luck anyhow! I think you can kill a moose with a 160 7mm. It`s all about bullet placement, I think.. But I`m not an expert..

EXPRESS, any of the rounds mentioned will kill a moose. My own experience with moose is that the moose may need some convincing that you did that, even though he is dead on his feet, so to speak. If you are up for a little tracking in favorable country, anything will probably get the job done. If you are hunting some of the ground that is not favorable (see Mark H Young, above) you might want to think in terms of round that can put the moose on the ground with a shoulder shot, assuming you take out the shoulders, with one well placed shot. I can vouch that the 7RM will do it, but as my logon name indicates, I prefer 8MM or more.

It will sure work...Moose only die when the decide to...I'd personally would prefer the 175 Noser myself, but that is only my choice....

At any rate the 7 Mag with 160 gr, Noslers will certainly kill anything on this continent and do it in style...These animals are not Sherman tanks and a properly placed shot always does the deed, and a poorly placed one, regardless of caliber will not....

Back in the days of my youth, My Uncle took me Moose hunting to Newfoundland, back in 1971. I didn't have much of a rifle back then, so my mother bought me a Remington 700. It turned out to be a 7mm Remington Mag. Well my mom made an error, my Uncle talked about it, but I was to get a 308. I took that rifle, I still have it. I shot a moose that fall with it, no problems. I still have that rifle. I don't shoot it as much the last 15 years or so. I more or less went to the 338 Winchester. 160 gr Bullet, should do the trick, Nosler partition Swift A frame or Fail Safe would be what I would look at first. Then again , you could do what I did, I just filled the case with 4831 old surplus 20mm cannon power and a 175 gr Nosler Partition, old ones that were made on a screw machine. Worked great on that moose and a bunch of African game I shot with it in 1972. The only difference today would be RL-22 and way better bullets. Oh and I still like a fixed 4x Leupold for a sight.