Moose and caribou with the same load?
- Thread starter walt maslen
- Start date
Alaskan Moose Hunt
Hey folks,Hello from Texas
...Wasn't sure to post a new thread, but after reading the great responses, I hope to find an answer about something. I was invited to a moose hunt with my hunting buddies to Alaska.Naturally I am very excited, since I've never hunted moose. I have the new Marlin XL7 bolt action in .270 Winchester. If you haven't tried this gun,please do ! the trigger is slick as glass and adjustable(Marlin's version of the accu-trigger),pillar bedded,and has a fluted bolt,along with a recessed crown muzzle. I have taken large feral hogs ( 400+ lbs.) with a hand loaded 130 grain Hornady SST.Along with a white tail deer during last hunting season.I was reading ballistics and velocity tables and think a 160 grain Barnes X with the proper load of Winchester Supreme 480 would do the trick on large Moose out to about 200 yards?... Any input? I Really do not want to go out and buy a 300 Win Mag,since this may be a once in a life time hunt. I've used .270 caliber for pretty much all my hunting life.Good all around caliber,and hand loads can be adjusted accordingly. I have heard that the Swedes have used the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser round for Elk and Moose (I have a tack driving M38 open sighted), for eon's,I think it may be a tad low on the "moose" spectrum....any input would be appreciated. Thanks
Hey folks,Hello from Texas
...Wasn't sure to post a new thread, but after reading the great responses, I hope to find an answer about something. I was invited to a moose hunt with my hunting buddies to Alaska.Naturally I am very excited, since I've never hunted moose. I have the new Marlin XL7 bolt action in .270 Winchester. If you haven't tried this gun,please do ! the trigger is slick as glass and adjustable(Marlin's version of the accu-trigger),pillar bedded,and has a fluted bolt,along with a recessed crown muzzle. I have taken large feral hogs ( 400+ lbs.) with a hand loaded 130 grain Hornady SST.Along with a white tail deer during last hunting season.I was reading ballistics and velocity tables and think a 160 grain Barnes X with the proper load of Winchester Supreme 480 would do the trick on large Moose out to about 200 yards?... Any input? I Really do not want to go out and buy a 300 Win Mag,since this may be a once in a life time hunt. I've used .270 caliber for pretty much all my hunting life.Good all around caliber,and hand loads can be adjusted accordingly. I have heard that the Swedes have used the 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser round for Elk and Moose (I have a tack driving M38 open sighted), for eon's,I think it may be a tad low on the "moose" spectrum....any input would be appreciated. ThanksG36Rick,
Welcome to the forum! You should be fine with the .270 Win for moose in AK. I'm a little worried about your bullet choice though. That is a big heavy and very long bullet the Barnes 160 grain X bullet. The 160 grain X-Bullet might be to long to fit in your rifle without taking up a lot of powder room in the cartridge. Make sure you check your magazine length and measure that bullet to see if you will loose any powder capacity.
From everything I've read on several of these forums is that the Barnes bullets are an excellent choice but they like to be pushed very fast. If they don't hit with enough velocity they may not expand reliably or not at all. They usually recommend to step down two sizes of bullets from the one you would normally use. So if you were going to shoot a Nosler Partition in the 150-160 grain range in Barnes you would use the 130-140 weight range.
I've never used the Barnes bullets so take that FWIW. I've never been let down by the Nosler Partition bullet. They shoot very accurately out of my .270 Win so I've never felt the need to change what works.
Welcome to the forum! You should be fine with the .270 Win for moose in AK. I'm a little worried about your bullet choice though. That is a big heavy and very long bullet the Barnes 160 grain X bullet. The 160 grain X-Bullet might be to long to fit in your rifle without taking up a lot of powder room in the cartridge. Make sure you check your magazine length and measure that bullet to see if you will loose any powder capacity.
From everything I've read on several of these forums is that the Barnes bullets are an excellent choice but they like to be pushed very fast. If they don't hit with enough velocity they may not expand reliably or not at all. They usually recommend to step down two sizes of bullets from the one you would normally use. So if you were going to shoot a Nosler Partition in the 150-160 grain range in Barnes you would use the 130-140 weight range.
I've never used the Barnes bullets so take that FWIW. I've never been let down by the Nosler Partition bullet. They shoot very accurately out of my .270 Win so I've never felt the need to change what works.