Gentlemen,

Here are the preliminary results of the mooserifle survey conducted at a Finnish hunting site www.metsastys.net

So far it�s 495 rifles in 21 different calibers, number of rifles is in parenthesis

308 Winchester 58.6 % (290)
30-06 Springfield 17.0%. (80)
7.62x53R 9.9% (47)
9.3x62 4.6% (23)
45-70 2.2% (11)
338 Win Mag 1.8% (9)
8.2x53R 1.0% (5)
9.3x53R 0.8% (4)
375H&H 0.8% (4)

458Win Mag, 9.5x53R, 9.3X74R, 8.2x57, 6.5x55 two rifles each

416Rem Mag, 378Wby Mag, 9.3x57, 307Win, 7mm Rem Mag, 7x57, 270 Win one rifle each

Some facts:

Year 2001, 66 951 moose were legally taken, which was 97.5% of all the permits/tags given.

The minimum requirements for the ammo used in moose hunting given by the hunting statute are as follows:
minimum bullet weight 9.0grams, 2700 joules of kinetic energy or more at 100 meters, 10.0gram bullet or heavier 2000joules or more at 100 meters.

In the English system these would translate to 139grain bullet with 1991ft.-lbs at 109 yards, and 154.3grain bullet or heavier with 1475 ft.-lbs at 109 yards

I hope y�all find this interesting!

Otto P.

[This message has been edited by OttoDude (edited 01-20-2002).]

Thanks Otto. At first I thought that the majority of you Fins used too light a caliber for those moose. But I remembered that you are a country of marksmen! Ask the Russians!

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NRA Life member

What rifles are used for those "..x53R" cartridges? I've never seen one of those.

The NATO round(.308 win.) really dominates.

45-70's in Finland! I looked up the energy on the Win 300 gr load and it just makes the min it seems to me.

Where are the 6.5's? I thought they were dominant there.

I wonder if handloads are allowed?

No 300 Win Mag's?

I wonder how big a factor the ready availability of .308 rifles and ammunition in Finland is in its overwhelming showing in this survey.

Otto
Interesting reading !
It corresponds with the guns found in the Norwegian moose woods. The big difference is the 6,5x55 Swede that still see a lot of use here.

It�s no doubt about the fact that the official military round rule.
We have had the 6,5x55, the 7,62x62 ( 30-06) and the 7,62NATO (308 win.) as our miltary rounds, and thouse three dominates as big game hunting rounds as well. And all three shine as good work horses in the woods.

One step up the ladder the 9,3x62 the 338 win mag the 375 H&H and the 458 win mag, also see some use as moose calibres, and the numbers are increasing according to the sales men in the gun shops.
Arild

Our moose is usually bagged at short distances, I think the average is about 50 - 75 m. The average hunter does not need long range calibers.
The 7,62 x 53R used to be our military round, and a lot of M1891 Moisin-Nagants are used, more than often restocked and with new barrels (more accurate than the russian barrels) or rebarreled to 8,2x53R or 9,3x53R.
I�ve also noted a lot of Winchester 1895 rebarrelled to these calibers. (the Russian marine left them behind in 1918, somewhat reluctantly, I might add) Another interesting fact is that we have a lot of Arisakas around; usually rebarreled to 8,2x57. But as you cas see from the statistics, hunters today prefer modern 30 cal. But the old rifles are around, and pop up during bad weather hunts.
I think the reason for all the rebarreling was a rule that hunters were not allowed to own military rifles after the last war; there was of course a pile of them around, so they were rebarreled into these special non military calibers. That is probably why Sako and Tikka chose to make 308:s for the domestic market.

OttoDude,

Very interresting survey.

Thanks for the link but finnish language is not easy for me. Have you some detail regarding hunting moose in Finland (I'll like it). Website or other links. Thanks.

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BER007
Keep the faith in any circumstances
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BBER007@HOTMAIL.COM

Try this one:
http://www.mkj-jco.fi/m_enriis.htm

Boha

boha,

Many thanks for this link. RGDS.

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BER007
Keep the faith in any circumstances
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BBER007@HOTMAIL.COM

Ditto Boha�s comments.

The old 7.62x53R (aka 7.62x54Russian) has been wildcatted a lot - it has been necked down and up, from .22 to .40 cal. Like Boha said, the most often used platform is the venerable Mosin-Nagant. Sometimes Russian singleshot Baikal shotguns and rifles are used for re-barrel projects as well. Tikka also chambers their O/U double rifle for 7.62x53R.

Bearclaw,
the Russians really learned about Finnish marksmanship the hard way; in the winter- and continuation war against Finland, approximately 375.000 Russian soldiers died. Compared to 66.000 dead Finnish soldiers, it�s not difficult to figure out who won that shooting match

Don Martin,
I was surprised too to see the 45-70 make such a good showing. Handloads have been legal since 1993, I�d presume most of the 45-70 shooters handload. And you�re right, after a quick glance at the ballistic tables, the 300 grain factory loads seem to make the minimum energy just barely. I think the 45�s see most of their use in the hands of doghandlers, who often take their game at close range and in very thick brush. 6.5x55s are rare in Finland, but I understand they�re very popular in Sweden.

Ranger Dave,
I reckon that the reason for poor showing of the fast 7mm & 300 mags, is that ranges are usually short, and that a hunter who thinks a 30-06 is not sufficient, will probably make a step up in bore size as well.

BER007,
here�s another link for you http://guns.connect.fi/gow/gunwriters.html
The main writer/editor P.T. Kekkonen is highly opinionated and VERY far from politically correct, but his expertise can not be denied when it comes to history of firearms.

When I get my scanner working, I�ll post some photos and try to introduce the different ways moose hunting is done here in Finland�

Regards,

Otto P.