Of cartridges and bullets for moose and the Leupold vxII

[Sxsnuf]

My brother drew his once-in-a-lifetime wa state moose permit last year. Having been a bow hunter for decades, his hope was, of course, to take his bull with archery equipment. However, after applying for nearly a quarter century, he wasn't shy about using a modern firearm to fill his tag. He luckily has a good friend who is a moose, bear and whitetail guide to help him in his quest. After a week of trying for a rutting bull with bow & arrow, he came home empty handed. 6 weeks later, he went back with a borrowed Browning A-bolt chambered in .300WSM and took a nice 44" bull.
This year, his friend advised him to try for the raffle drawing in 2 moose units with a low # of applications. $120 later, he drew another tag! He had previously purchased a model 721 in .270. Since last year's moose was taken at about 100 yards, he thought this would be adequate, with the right bullets. His guide, however, suggested he use something that shoots a larger diameter projectile. He recommended .308 win as the minimum, but also suggested 7mm RM, 30-06 or 300 mag. Now, this guy has seen more moose, dead on the ground, than I'll ever see dead, or alive, in my lifetime. I wouldn't question his choice of suitable cartridges.
So, my brother found a beautiful, almost like new, early 80s manufacture model 700 in 7mmRM, with a Leupold vxII 3-9×40. I thought I might contribute something to his success, so I purchased a box of Federal Premium 168 gr. Berger hybrid hunter and a box of Hornady Superformance 154 gr. SST. I suggested he try them both and see if his rifle liked either one. His guide was not enthusiastic about either load. He said he'd seen poor results from the Federal loading and thought the Hornady load was a little light in the azz. His preference is the Remington 175 gr. Cor-Lokt. I used that bullet in my own 7mmRM ONCE on a small mulie buck, at about 80 yds, and it exploded on impact. I guess that was a one-off? Oh well, I tried.
Now to the scope. He's a bow guy, not a rifle guy, and was having trouble sighting is his new rifle. After calling Leupold, he was advised that the "clicks" on his vxII, would probably not be audible, or tactile. Also, each hashmark would change POI 1/2" at 100 yds, not 1/4". I never would have guessed that! Maybe why I had such a hard time zeroing my Savage 99 with a vxII 2-7×33?
Sorry for the rambling, biden style post. Just thought I'd share some recently acquired knowledge that seemed sorta counterintuitive to me.
If you got this far, thanx for reading.

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[oremike]

I would use my 300 Win Mag loaded with Nosler 200gr Partitions.

 

[bionic knees]

I would use my 300 Win Mag loaded with Nosler 200gr Partitions.

my choice would be my .338 win mag loaded with 200gr interlocks.

 

[JohnnyMac]

I've shot moose with both my 30.06 and my 300winmag. That said, I saw this on another website:

"The 7mm Remington Mag and the .300 Win Mag are both derived from the .375H&H case, blown out, shortened, and necked down. There is very little difference between these two rounds. A 160grain bullet from the 7mm Rem. Mag. has a higher ballistic coefficient and higher sectional density than a 180grain bullet from the .300 Win Mag. This means that if each bullet is fired at the same velocity from the muzzle (which they very nearly are for factory ammunition) the 7mm 160 grain bullet will have better trajectory down range, and penetrate better. The 180 grain bullet from the .300 Win Mag has a larger impact area and will do slightly more damage and induce more shock. The heavier bullet from the .300 Win Mag will result in increased recoil to the shooter.

Both these calibers are widely respected and available in many different choices of ammunition from factory suppliers. Both are very adequate for almost all North American game, with perhaps the exception that the 7mm may be too light for Grizzly/Brown Bear in Alaska."

 

[Yarome]

I've hunted Canadian moose regularly my entire hunting age life. I would concur with the guide. .308 is the smallest I would go. My grandfathers "go to" for many many a successful season, but he strictly adhered to a distance envelope and had no qualms about passing up a shot. Personally, I like a little more reach. I use a 30-06 and my rifle loves to eat 180gr boattail silvertips. 190gn+... not as much... so I defer to her preferences.

I would also agree with the guide.... putting a crosshair on a living animal is not the time to be trying to save a buck or two on ammo selection. You don't gotta go "gucci", but striving for the highest reliability, consistency and accuracy is paramount when considering the levity of the task at hand and going for the most humane kill possible.

That said... and just a side note observation... Moose are kinda big babies. They drop to ground real quick with any semi serious impact so even in the case where shot placement was less than ideal it's much easier to rapidly get off another kill shot. Nothing like Elk where even a slightly less than immediately fatal hit can keep them running for miles.

 

[Koda]

I find it odd a 270 is too light but a 308 is the minimum. For those that subscribe to the more power is better side I would think the minimum for moose is a 30-06.

So a beautiful old school Remington 700 was had. I still have a VXii 4x12 and its still an awesome scope. Its dials are 1/4 moa.

 

[Sxsnuf]

I found that strange as well. The difference in bullet diameter between the 270 and 7mm is 7/1000ths of an inch! Hardly worth mentioning. But as I wrote, I wouldn't argue with the guide's experience. He's been there and seen it multiple times every season.

 

[Yarome]

I find it odd a 270 is too light but a 308 is the minimum. For those that subscribe to the more power is better side I would think the minimum for moose is a 30-06.

So a beautiful old school Remington 700 was had. I still have a VXii 4x12 and its still an awesome scope. Its dials are 1/4 moa.

Probably more due to limited ammo variety and projectile development. The 270 has been largely ignored in the projectile development arena and really... you're talking about topping out around a 150gn bullet. A little faster, a little flatter.... that's all well and good, but big game.... 180gr in a fractionally larger diameter projectile of more modern design is still going to edge out the 270 by a hair.

Quite an excellent choice though for medium sized game. Deer, antelope, etc. it's just not as versatile as a .308.

Personally, I tend to agree a 30-06 is a much better and well rounded caliber elk, moose, etc.

 

[TTSX]

.375 Ruger with 270 grain bullets has become my go to. I really, really like the way it shoots and because it's such a big pill, I have full confidence in it's ability to put a big hole in anything from a blacktail to a moose and even a bear. Granted, it peters out past 300 yards where it starts to become a liability rather than an asset, soooo....

Like oremike, I would not feel undergunned with a .300wm with 200 grain bullets. A 7mm mag is great, too just doesn't carry the mass I would like it to for something taller at the shoulder than I am at the scalp

 

[P7M13]

Rambling, "Biden style" -- LOL. You aren't expressing that the most difficult thing about the American Revolution was that there were not enough airports.

175 Core Lokt in a 7 Mag is a great bullet. A co-worker took his moose in Alaska with his 7 Mag. Me, I'd use 338 Win Mag. With proper placement, either will get the job done.

VX II had clicks? LOL, that's new! The friction on those is sufficient, and IIRC, they list the adjustment metric right on the dial. Perhaps yours had worn off. I always made sure I had a nickel when I was going to sight in my rifle that had one.