Seeking some opinions for moose-capable Alaskan big game rifle.

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MrCleanOK

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I moved to Alaska from the lower 48 in the past year, and I have a moose hunt booked for 2017. I don't have anything in the gun safe that I feel confident taking on a fly-in moose hunt, and I'm looking for some input to inform how I proceed.

I am 90% sure that I don't want a magnum cartridge. I want something I can afford and tolerate practicing with. I'm a firm believer in shot placement and shooting within your abilities, and practice is more valuable to me than showing up with the baddest magnum in camp, which I could only stand shooting long enough to sight in.

These are the three options I have in front of me, and I think the last two are the most likely. Please bear in mind, I'm left-handed, I want to be able to make quick follow up shots (moose can cover a lot of ground if they decide to run after the first shot), this rifle will be for hooved Alaskan game (bear isn't on the menu).

1. I have Dad's old Remington 700 in .30-06. This rifle has a great trigger and has taken a lot of deer, but it's a right handed gun that I can't reload quickly. If I'm shooting a moose that I am going to have to pack out myself, I want to give myself the advantage of quick follow-up shots to drop it where I want. I really don't feel good about taking this gun. I'm going to be kicking myself if the difference between anchoring a bull with a second or third shot and letting him walk back into the brush with only one hole in him is me fumbling with a right-handed bolt.

2. I have a Savage Model 10 in .243 Win that I have been thinking about getting rebarreled and re-stocked (swapping wood for synthetic). It already has a Timney trigger that I like, good glass, and a smooth bolt that I can work quickly. If I go this route, I am sure I'll end up in "could have bought a new gun" territory, but I'll be able to choose any caliber I want. The .338 Federal has caught my eye as a short-action <200 yds moose-worthy cartridge that wouldn't be murder on my shoulder to practice with.

3. Just get a new gun. In left-handed, synthetic stocked, stainless guns, my caliber choices would be pretty limited. If I end up deciding I need a magnum cartridge, this is my only option, obviously. I'd probably get a Tikka, new bases, and pirate the scope from my .243 that I won't be using while I'm up here.

So, that's what I'm looking at. I know I need to just find a qualified smith, get an estimate to do the work on my Savage, and compare that to the cost of a Tikka... but it's more fun to talk to strangers on the Internet!


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Just my thoughts, I hunt with a .243 a bit, but wouldn't take less than a 30-06 for Moose. You're going to invest time and money in a hunt, might as well take enough gun.

A 30-06 would be my choice for anything less than a medium bore. Building on the Savage would be a good choice, or a new Ruger American, etc. would be about the same price.

The .338 Federal probably is a good enough round, but if bad things happen will you be able to replace it in the backwoods of Alaska? I know you can 30-06 out there.
 
Your 30-06 is plenty gun... You got a year+ to practice reloads with the wrong hand.. 10mins a day a few times a week.. You'll be amazed how proficient you can become (like dry firing a Pistol)


Or buy a left handed rifle a lot cheaper than your smith route.
 
For a once in a lifetime hunt something like a 30-06 would be hard to go wrong with. You can make an argument that the bigger stuff like the 338 and 375 mags are somewhat better. But they are simply way too much for anything smaller than moose or brown bear. If those animals are going to be an every year hunting opportunity, then I might justify the expense. Loaded properly a 30-06 gives up next to nothing on game that size and is far more useful on smaller stuff that is hunted far more often.

The 338 fed would be a step down from 30-06
 
IMHO opinion and in the opinion of many sports writers, one of the very best calibers, that can be used for deer with light bullets and moose/bear with heavier rounds, is the 300 Win Mag. The second best is the 7mm Mag.

You can pick up one from several different gun makers in the $1000/$1100 range. I personally have hunted moose, antelope & grizzly with a 300 win mag vanguard for many years. If you have the right glass, shots out to 500 yards are within reality, but rare! At 200/300 yards, the shots are pretty easy!
 
If you don't want a magnum a 30-06 with heavy game loads and deep penetrating bullets would work fine. I have a few buddies that hunt moose and they all like 30-06 for them. Just practice up a lot, proper shot placement will kill them dead, where marginal or bad shots would take a 50bmg.

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Seems like you ought to just buy a left handed .30-06 Remington or Tikka or whatever.
 
If you don't want to go magnum and I can understand that, a standard 7mm has about the same recoil as an 06, but preforms much better at longer ranges, 200+ yards.
 
First of all congrats on the move to Alaska. I think you'll love it here. On the 30-06 on moose I have shot many with it, with great success [57 gr 4350 180 Nosler partition]. But having said that, I would call the 30-06 just "adequate". Reason is the bulk of my moose shooting is done on animals I call in close, less than 100 yards some times as close as 10. They drop like a stone but I always recover the bullet. Suggesting to me penetration may be lacking at longer ranges.
That made me start to carry a .300 WBY on hunts in open country. I wanted a little more steam at 300-400 yards.
Forget the .243 except for black tails.
Mind if I ask where your 2017 hunt is?
 
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I know a lady who gets her moose every year with a .243. The 30.06 is just fine. But don't cut yourself out of a chance to get another rifle :) The .338 and .300 WM are very popular up here, especially where moose share space with brown bear... which is most places.
 
jim in Anchorage said:
First of all congrats on the move to Alaska. I think you'll love it here. On the 30-06 on moose I have shot many with it, with great success[57 g 4350 180 Nosler partition]. But having said that, I would call the 30-06 just "adequate". Reason is the bulk of my moose shooting is done on animals I call in close, less than 100 yards some times as close as 10. They drop like a stone but I always recover the bullet.

That made me start to carry a .300 WBY on hunts in open country. I wanted a little more steam at 300-400 yards.

Forget the .243 except for black tails.

Mind if I ask where your 2017 hunt is?
Click to expand...


19C or 16B, haven't made up my mind yet. As a first-time moose hunter, I have no illusions about being able to call a bull in on purpose, so I can see the value in being able to make a longer poke.


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MrCleanOK said:
19C or 16B, haven't made up my mind yet. As a first-time moose hunter, I have no illusions about being able to call a bull in on purpose, so I can see the value in being able to make a longer poke.


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Click to expand...
Moose calling is very easy. Moose are not that fussy about what they respond to. I have to state thrashing a bush or tree while calling is important. Also they may not show up till hours[or days] later. Be patient.

This is a good dvd set-
http://www.alaskaremote.com/product/love-thunder-bull-2

I have hunted many times in 16b. My buddy had a cabin in Skwentna. Not sure how the current moose population is doing. The unit was closed for a few years because the numbers where low.
 
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I'm probably going to go with my transporter's recommendation based on how the 2016 season shakes out.


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Most folks on shooting forums like lots of various chamberings. I have lived in Alaska all my life except while I was overseas for a few years and a couple years of college out of state. I agree that the 30-06 is a good non-magnum all around cartridge. I am a rifle nut so I have all sorts of chamberings I don't really need and many are only a wee bit better than the 06, but they were really an excuse to buy another rifle.

A few years ago I did a poll amongst my brother and sister Alaskan Hunters. ( Residents only) The most popular all around HUNTING chamberings were 30-06, 300 win mag, 375 &H. After that point it broke down into things like the 45-70 and calibers based on the 30-06 or 308 cases. ( Like the 338-06 or 35 Whelen or 358 Win)

For a short action re-barrel the 338 Federal or 358 Win make sense.

Your dads old M-700 is slow for you, so either buy a left handed rifle outright or trade off dads old M-700 towards a new left handed shooting stick.

Another advantage to a 30-06 is that you can find ammo anywhere... including most village stores. Lord only knows how many rounds are out under my truck seat.
 
375 mags are somewhat better. But they are simply way too much for anything smaller than moose or brown bear.
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Please stop spreading this. The 375 is not going to vaporize lesser sized big game. In fact it has been shown to do less meat damage than the other mags like 300 and 338 while being equally as capable at taking big game. And sometimes better equipped to do so. The recoil on the 375 is easily manageable and not nearly as harsh or snappy as the 300 or 338. This has been shown by members here on time and time again on game as small as white tail deer.

Op, a 30-06 loaded with heavy bullets would be just fine for what you want to do. 375H&H or 375 Ruger will give you aittle more range, a lot more umph and the ability to put a heavier bullet on target. The Ruger does pretty much everything the H&H will do but in a standard length action.
 
I've shot enough deer with a couple 338's to know that they are not the meat grinders that people say they are and I'd bet the 375's are much the same.
I'd like to find an old BLR in 358 someday. I don't think the Savage 99 was ever made in 358 but I bet a rebarrel would be that bad.

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MrCleanOK said:
I'm probably going to go with my transporter's recommendation based on how the 2016 season shakes out.


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Click to expand...
A tip on picking where to go moose hunting in Alaska. Look at the regs for that unit. Then look at years past. If it got more restrictive [shorter seasons, 4 vs 3 brow tines, no NR hunters] that means F&G is worried about the moose populations.
 
I think at this point I'm leaning toward getting a new, LH .30-06. Trading in Dad's rifle will take the sting out of the price of a new gun, but I'll have to have a talk with him about it first. I'm not sentimental about that rifle, but I think he is. Gotta see if it would make him happier to let his old rifle take up space in my safe and never get used, or get traded in on something that will get used and maybe someday handed down to some poor right handed hunter.


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.243 w will do, and most any .30 cal......308w, all the way through the 30-06 class of cartridge. 7.62x54r has been the fairly fast death of many a Moose around here.... :

Place that bullet, no matter what it is, accurately ,and youll get Deathly results.
 
I've never been to Alaska, so take what I say in the "spirit" of the matter, ha. Yes, I've heard all my life how good a 30-06 is, and I would never be without one. However, it seems to me, since you now live in Alaska, you need a "big bear gun". Hunting caribou and such, you are not likely to need a quick reload, i.e via the right handed rifle handicap. A Remington 7600 pump in 35 Whelen will do everything a 30-06 will, plus be a fast handling, dependable big bear rifle! I have shot African plains game with the magnums and my Whelen ( using Banres x 250gr and even 200gr) does the same thing out to 350yds as they did, with less blast,etc. You can make cases just by running a 30-06 case up into the 35 Whelen fl die too. I know that the Remington pump has been used in the cold and snow of New England forever...it along with a low powerd,. say 1.5x5 scope would be ideal...at least it will much handier for you as a lefty. Its a shame they don't make a pill or have counseling to convert you leftys to rightys, ha. Have a ball man! :)
 
PS Of course, if you are not worried about big bears, then you could get a pump in 30-06 ( JES Reboring can convert it to 35 Whelen for around $225!) or you can even get one of those single shot 35 Whelens. I would use Barnes TSX or Partitions in either a 30-06 or Whelen.
 
30-06 is the ticket, especially with big bears not being on the menu. Moose are huge, but not the toughest animal for their size, not as tough as elk, and most likely a lot closer than elk. I would continue to practice with Dad's 30-06 and learn to operate the bolt right handed, as best you can. The first shot counts, and the chances of landing follow up shots is never that great anyways. If it has sentimental value to him, you should consider the sentimental value it might have to you when you hand it off to your likely right handed son or daughter one day.
 
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