7mm stw,is he nuts that's for rabbits,he should but a 340 wby,just kidding!

I shoot a .257 Wby and have a great deal of respect for the chambering. I don't like it as much as the 7mm STW and larger chamberings for Moose. I took my only Moose with a .340 Wby, got a one shot in his track kill with a well placed shot. I beleave you could also do that with the .257 Wby, but I also beleave your odds are much better with the bigger chamberings, if the shot were somewhat off. I realize a bad shot is a bad shot with anything, however a marginal shot with the larger bullets on larger game will sometimes will do the better job. My 14 year old grandson is lethal with the .257 Wby and I considered letting him shoot it last year in Colorado for Elk. After shooting my .338 Lapua and handeling it nicely, he took it and got his Elk with no problems, of course now he claims the Lapua as his. Good shooting.

My mother back in 1960 or so killed a nice Canadian bull
moose with one shot from her 25-06 improved using the old 117 gr Nosler. Hit behind the shoulder at 150 yds it sort of bucked a couple of times and collapsed. She was a small woman and that was all the rifle she could handle. Many a moose has been killed with a 270 so I would think a 257WM with a good 120 gr pill should be able to do the job. Sometimes I look at all the rifles I have and realize that some of that money could have been spent on a nice hunt. Bears may be somewhat of an issue but the guy isn't exactly defenseless.

Well after me telling him what you guys thought he is going to borrow my 7mm STW so it is all good now Thanks for the input everyone!

rifleman1: Last year, a guy in Anchorage killed a moose in his backyard with his BB gun. The pellet passed between the ribs, hitting the lungs dead center. The moose bedded and died a few minutes later. There was a little Native lady who killed a very large grizzly with a .22LR. She shot it from the side, through the ear, and the bear dropped, then she kept on firing her .22 on the same spot over and over until it stopped moving.



However, just because a BB gun can kill a moose or a .22LR a bear, should one go moose hunting in bear country with a rifle of these calibers? The reason why not to use a .257 Wby. for moose hunting in bear country has been explained above. Moose do not always present the hunter with an ideal shot, and so bears. Responsible hunters up here prefer cartridges that in capable hands can stop a moose from walking into the water, across the river, etc. Alaska moose are huge, and its meat, plus all the expense of the hunt, often makes a moose extremely expensive. Besides, why should a hunter from the Lower-48 spend a huge amount of money to come to Alaska with such a "marginal" gun? It just doesn't make any sense.

Agree - that with any animal hunted the bigger the rifle the better off you are - but a 120 gr Barnes bullet at 3300 fps plus is no B-B gun. I hunt with a 338WM and even though I shoot it alot and am comfortable with the recoil I once lost a nice bull elk in heavy timber because I hit him too far back with a 210 NP. If I had hit him where I should of with my other hunting rifle at the time, a 25-284 and the 100 gr load I use he would be toast. On the same hunt my mom killed that bull with her 25-06, my dad - same day - killed a bull with a 7mm Mashburn magnum. First shot right where it should have been - but the moose didn't know it and stumbled into the edge of the pond where he was feeding. Second shot with a 175 gr NP planted him in the water - good amount of work recovering that bull followed. I see many a nice used large magnum rifle on the rack of my favorite gun dealer here. Guys who bought em for their once in a lifetime hunt for elk or whatever and traded em in for something they could handle. Respect your experience and opinion Ray. If the gentleman can afford and shoot a larger magnum then happy shopping - if not - happy hunting.

Well I can say this for sure, Gramps nor his clients ever got bite marks on them. I've killed cape buff and I've killed moose as well, with everything from a bow and arrow to gramp's old Lott .500.And they all died with one shot.
BTW the mentality that bigger is better only goes so far. I've witnessed plenty of deer kills here in the states with all types of calibers,ie.5.56mm one shot thru the lungs and one dead 120# deer on the spot. But I've also seen deer run off with a 338 Ultra mag in it's belly too, only to be recovered after a long tuff trailing job.
It boils down to this...pick your shot. and after you do hit it you have to be man enough to recover the animal and pack it out. If you're not you don't belong in any camp on either side of the salt water...simple ethics. If standing knee deep in cold glacier flow is going to turn you away from the carcass stay in the bar room and tell your stories. that way everyone is better off.BB