What is your favourite caliber and bullet for different European big game?
I hunt only red deer and reindeer and use only .308winchester. I have tried Nosler Partition 180grs,Silvertip 180grs,Oryx 180grs all with good results.
This year i will reload my own cartridges and perhaps try Sako Super Hammerhead 156grs or 180grs, and Lapua Mega 185grs.

[ 08-08-2002, 20:35: Message edited by: Hjortejeger ]

I like my 308. I haven't tried anything else and I see no reason to do so just yet.
I'll use laupa mega 185 this autum for roe, deer and moose.

Johan

I have used Winchester Silvertip 30-06 14,7 gramm = 228 gr for all.. big boars red deer down to fawns until they stop the production.

Now i use 220 gr Federal Express for all.

Olaf

[ 08-08-2002, 17:18: Message edited by: OlafD ]

For roe deer I use a Hornady 60gr SP at 3300 muzzle velocity from my 5,6x50R.
For chamois I use a 6,5x65R loaded with a 120gr Nosler BT at 3175fps. 125gr Partitions at the same speed is what I use on moufflon and Spanish Ibex.
A 196gr RWS TIG bullet at 2950 in an 8mm wildcat based in the 9,3x64 Brenneke's case, takes care of wild boar and the occasional red deer.
This is what I have been using lately as I like trying different combinations, developing new loads, etc.
Montero

In Europe I have hunted only in battue so far. I use 7X65R RWS 11.5 g brenneke-TIG for roes and pigs. If I had to go stalking I would take my all-around 300 wby.

My stalking is mainly muntjac roe and some fallow and I nearly allways turn to my trusty 6.5x55 which with 100gr ballistic tips.

I would dearly like to be allowed to use 222 from May to July when fallow are out of season.

Hi...
For moose I used Brno 602 in 375 H&H for some years, then switched over to a Ruger M77 in 338 win mag , using 250 gr Nosler PT.
A Remington Classic in 30-06 with 180 gr Nosler PT was used for red deer until I gave to my son.
Now my red deer rifle is a Ruger M77 in 35 Whelen, new this year, yet to be blooded .

For roe I used the 243 win. for a while in a Remington Model 7, but I found the little rifle to flimsy and light up front, so I traded it for a Brno 601 in 308 win.
It can also double up for rein deer if I ever got a lucky draw.

About optics I have used and still use Leupold.
Rugged, good optics, waterproof, ok price.
Not to start another US / EU optics discussion, but Leupold works ok for me .
My binos are Leica though .

Looks like I�m pretty "Americaniced", in my gun taste, but I started out as a youngster with Remingtons and Winchesters, and been on a budget all my life, never could aford the expencive Europeans .

When it comes to european hunting, I think you would be very well armed with a pair of rifles. One rifle in either
243Win, 6.5x55, 7mm08 Rem or 308 Win. for hunting roedeer, beaver, foxes and lynx. The other rifle would be a heavier caliber like 9.3x62, 338 Win Mag, 375 H&H or 358 Norma Mag to take on the big game like bear, wild boar or moose.
I personally lean towards the 243-9.3x62 combo to do my hunting.

I had to count my guns to answer.
Essentially, I use three rifles, even if I have thirteen or fourteen guns, and they are a 6,5x55SE, a 7x64B, and a 9,3x62. They are my normally used guns with a 20gauge auto, loaded with brenneke bullets, but I don't love it too much. Optics S&B, except the 6.5x55.
I reload all my cartidges.
bye

I found that I forgotted bullets.
I reload and I love RWS, Nosler Partition and Woodleigh bullets on hard animals like boars
Lapua Scenar for 6,5x55 on roe and Fallow deer, and please don't begin the usual discussion about Target&Match bullets and hunt results
I always had good results with them.
bye

Hola Steffano which Scennar do you use in your 6,5 107 123 or 139 grains ?

Saludos

Daniel

Hi guys,

I've hunted moose here in Finland with .444 Marlin, .45-70 and this year I'm trying a 7,62x53R.

In .444 I've used Hornady 265-grains bullets and been happy with them. When shooting a big moose, it could a bit tougher, though. The gun was a Marlin .444S lever-action with and without a scope.

In .45-70 I've used Speer 400-grains (25,9g)FN,which has worked nearly perfect. However, this year I'm going to try some finnish-made cast bullets, which have showed astonishing penetration on wet newsprint. The ones I'm going to try weigh 320 grains (about 20,1g). My .45-70 is built on the old Winchester 1895 -action (made in 1917) and has a 19�" barrel by E.M�kinen in Finland, a 2x20 Tasco pistol scope and new stock. It's a pleasure to shoot and works quite well on thick forest.

The 7,62x53R (as many of you may know) is the old military round and here in Finland we have A LOT of rifles in that caliber, dating from the days of the WW2. Most of them are different kinds of Mosin-Nagant-action rifles. I've got one Mosin-Nagant and one Mauser98 (rebarreled) in this caliber. It has proven quite OK for moose-hunting over the years in our country and I'm gonna try my luck with it this year. The bullets I'm gonna use are Norma Oryx 11,7 g (180 gr).

The Sako Super Hammerheads were used widely in our moose-hunting party last year, and the results were not encouraging. When fired behind the shoulder of a baby moose from a .308 at 20 meters, they would almost explode like varmint bullets. When fired to the shoulder of a big moose, they shattered completely and failed to reach the lungs (also .308). On a finnish hunting forum there has been a lot of discussion about the Super Hammerheads and the experiences of its performance on moose have been quite bad, regrettably. The old standard Hammerheads have been better, as also the Lapua Megas. They are good on .308 and the .30-06, but if you have some kind of a .300 Magnum, the Swifts, Noslers and the Woodleighs would be better choices.

Along with Bro. Olaf, I use a .30-06 (180g Silvertip though) for almost everything [makes bird shooting intresting... ]. Just picked up a 7mm Rem. Mag and am feeding it 170 grainers, will let you know how it turns out!

Donald M,
I use normally 139 grs, wonderful results.
bye

I own three rifles..: BIG, medium and small(four if you count the .22lr)
For moose I prefer to use my 9,3x74R doublerifle and so far I've had lots of fun w�th it. It's fast to "draw" and shoot, it is very efficient and the bullets are heavy and slow enough not to be bothered much by leaves and small branches.
I have used Norma alaska (sucked) RWS tug's (good) and this year I will try out woodleighs 286 or 320 grs.
The medium rifle is a .270W Sako 75 stainless, which I use for everything from foxes to moose. it does a good job, but I have to be carefull with what it is loaded with, concerning meat damage. It is a fast caliber so I use hard heavy premiums for roe (and moose). I'm trying hornady 140 btsp and hornady 150 sp for reddeer in october.
The small one is a .222 Rem/12ga76mm. combination gun which I use for "topf�gel" (black game) beaver, foxes and roedeer. I carry slugs when I take that gun out for a walk.. Just in case.....

Conclusion: the .270 is the best allround gun I have owned or shot. It's longrange effective and if you reload it can be loaded for everything and doing the job good. BUT you have to be a reloader, because of the lack of factory ammo availability.
And maybe that is why it has never been as popular here in europe, as it should be or has the potential to be.

K&B
Niels

Well my favourite rifle is in 350RM, of course, but I also use a sako in 308 (165gr interlock of barnes X), a 300WSM (yet to be proofed) and a 9,3X62 (sako 250gr X load).
For small game, the B25 in 20 caliber is out

olivier

I go with my 8x60 or perhaps my old 9.3x57, but anything bigger than 7 mm will do the job. Shot placement and bullet choice are more crucial than choice of caliber - but it�s never wrong with a heavy one.

Fritz

Sauer 200 in 6.5x57: 127 grain Kegelspitz for roedeer and the occasional Scottish stag; 85 grain Sierra HP for foxes, crows etc. and practice shooting.
Suaer 90 in 338 Win: 225 grain Partitions for anything bigger and all my "battue" shooting; 225 grain Hornadys for practice shooting.
All of the above handloads (of course)

I use .222 Rem, 7x57R, 9.3x62, but most of the time .30-06, Winchester Classic Supergrade with Zeiss 6x42.

Ammo at moment: S & B 180 grs SPRN. Ballistics might not be impressive, but it kills for sure!!

Looking for a Mauser 8x68S. Occasionally I borrow my fathers 6.5x68 ( Chamois ).

Waidmannsheil, Hermann

222 rem , 7mm rem.mag and 9.3x62.. 55 gr bullets for the kombo in 222/12 for enyting up to roe. 150 and 160 gr bullets for the 7mm for red deer and reindeer. 285 gr bullets in the oldfaitful 9.3 fore moose and anyting elese. But are thinking about a 6mm or 6.5 mm to close up the gapp between the 222 and the 7mm. maybe an sako75 varnint in 6mm PPC

I use my Sako .308 for moose with a 108gr Norma Oryx (shoots nice groups with 42gr Norma N202). For roe deer and other smaller game (beaver, fox etc) I use a Sako .222 Remington with 62gr Norma SP bullets (shoots nice groups too ).

For roe deer I also use a AntonioZoli bochsb�chsflinte 12/7x57R with an Aimpoint red dot sight, great for hunting roe deers with slow dogs (dachshounds). Good enough for moose too if one would show up, I use a 156gr Norma Oryx for this purpse and the groups from that load are, indeed, nice too.

/HerrBerg

Moose : .416 Rigby, Woodleigh 410 gr.

Wild Boar Red Deer: 358 Norma Magnum 250gr. Nosler

Fallow Deer, Roe etc. 30-06, 180 gr. Silvertip

Niels Please tell me about your experience with the 9.3x74R and the 286 Norma Alaska bullet. I have yet to use any factory ammo on game and was going to try some this season on deer and wild pigs. Have you used Sellier and Belloit [sp?] 286gr. or RWS 286 SP? If you need a bullet for BIG moose or Boar, try the 286 Nosler Partition, I have yet to recover one from any of the Boars I have shot. Distances have been from 17 yards to about 100yards.

My Mauser 98 in 308 is doing all the jobs I have, except some hunts for the shotgun on ducks.
With the 13 gramm Norma Vulkan it never fails. The failure was always sitting behind the trigger.

The shotgun is an old Sauer & Sohn sidelock from the early 1920 in 16 Bore. It is light and it works fine in spite of his age.

Only for some roe I use an old Drilling which is also nearly 90 years old in 8x57IR. His trigger is not the best one, but for use on a stand it is allright.

I like these old guns and I am thinking to start reloading by myself within the next years and to use then some old 11,15 (x45R or 60R Express?)or may be black powder cartridge. Does anybody use such old calibres on hunting and has a bid experience?

if it's EUROPEAN you want; 7x65R in a Blaser K95.

I recently purchased a Mauser 71/84, caliber 11.15 x 60R. Don't know what I will do with it yet, besides target shooting. Perhaps deer or moose next fall? I have about 60 rounds of smokeless hunting rounds for it, will reload these this winter with black powder. -Fred

I like these old guns and I am thinking to start reloading by myself within the next years and to use then some old 11,15 (x45R or 60R Express?)or may be black powder cartridge. Does anybody use such old calibres on hunting and has a bid experience?[/QB][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fred Bouwman:
[QB]I recently purchased a Mauser 71/84, caliber 11.15 x 60R. Don't know what I will do with it yet, besides target shooting. Perhaps deer or moose next fall? I have about 60 rounds of smokeless hunting rounds for it, will reload these this winter with black powder. -Fred

Hallo Fred,

on moose I would be careful. I think you will have a bullet with about 25 Gramm (~400 Grain) and 350-400 m/s (~1200 fps). With this diameter and this velocity, and I assume you have just pure lead bullets, the penetration is not the best one. I would try on small deer or small boar first.

Best regards