You be the Judge! Caliber Question

[Aaron N]

Well because draw results are in, and it's a slow Friday, it seems like a good idea to pick the memberships brain for some fun.

This season I have drawn the following tags (a grand slam as far as I'm concerned):
-Antlered Moose
-Antlered Elk
-Antlered Mule Deer
-A Special Whitetail draw
-Merriams Turkey

The moose/elk/mule deer are all in the same zone, or at least adjacent zones where I grew up, id say 80/20% mix of field/bush, and shots wouldn't be over 300 yards. I'd love hear what you guys suggest I take out with me for a rifle. And please don't let common sense cloud your judgement!

-Weatherby Vanguard 270-This was the first rifle I bought. I have plenty of 130gr TTSX's loaded up.

-Sporter Mauser 7x75-The only ammo around for this is Cor-Loc’s

-2x Brno 30-06- I have Leupold VX-R 3x9's on top. I have 165 or 180gr Barnes Ammo for them.

-FN 300H&H- I'd love to put a Meopta 1.7-10 on this rifle, but new guns seem to take precedence, and could throw one of the VX-R's on it. I have some TTSX's (180gr I believe) loaded up to start finding one that works.

-Mauser Actioned 8x68s- I'm getting the safety swapped out so I can mount a scope with the existing EAW mounts. I have two boxes of 200gr A-Frames loaded from Norma. I also have 175gr CEB Raptors that I am really interested in testing, but would need to get some dies.

-CZ550 375- This one took my last moose four years ago with 250gr TTSX's.

-Ruger No1 450/400- I wasn't expecting to get drawn for moose this year, and was hoping to have time to play with cast bullets in this rifle. I'd think that would make a fun moose gun. That being said I do have 400gr Hornadys, but I believe they are solids.

-The one rifle that I really would love to use is my Ross M-10 in 280, but I'm waiting on brass for it, and also to get it to a good gunsmith so we can come up with a means of mounting and optic. Maybe it will be ready to go next fall.

Anyway, let's have some fun and hear some opinions!

 

[F. Vaccaro]

I love the Ruger #1, that’d be my choice!
congratulations on your draw.

 

[Aaron N]

I love the Ruger #1, that’d be my choice!
congratulations on your draw.

If I knew it would be a close shot, I’d love to.

 

[Rem700stw]

I would use the 300 H&H with Barnes 180 grain bullets forsaking all others as long or as short as the deer, elk, and moose shall live.

 

[Hunt anything]

With that kind of draw luck you need to go buy a lottery ticket and buy a new rifle for each animal. Congratulations on having a busy fall coming up.

 

[wesheltonj]

A 308 will kill everything on your list. I vote for the 30-06.

 

[Joker12]

You couldn't go wrong with one of the 30'06s. I even like the scope choice on them. Anyone who doesn't respect what a potent cartridge it is just hasn't hunted with it much!

 

[Jaegger]

8x68 w/ the suggested rounds would nicely cover the trophy spectrum so have fun & oh, buy an extra freezer!

 

[Hogpatrol]

Another vote for the '06. Shoot 200 grain bullets.

 

[cls]

Can't go wrong with the 300 H&H, the critters will stand around admiring your choice in a classic firearm giving you more time to make the perfect shot.

 

[Aaron N]

I should have guessed the ‘06 would be a likely favourite!
@wesheltonj I forgot about the Parker Hale 308!

 

[cmk]

270 w 130gn bullets seem a bit on the light side for moose and elk?

7×57 is probably "enough", if bullets are heavy enough (160-170-ish). But at 300yd? What would the trajectory/impact velocities be like?

30-06 should work fine. I think I would go with a softish lead-core bullet (accubond, oryx, interbond etc) in the 180gn range, though. Thats just because I lack experience with copper bullets. But with the options you have, I would choose a different gun anyway.

450-400 is enough - for sure. But personally I'm not good enough for a 300 yd shot at live game with such a cartridge.

375 also seem a bit, well, overkill.

That leaves the 300H&H and the 8×68S.

I would choose the 8×68 just because it seems like the Goldilocks alternative - just right.

 

[wesheltonj]

I should have guessed the ‘06 would be a likely favourite!
@wesheltonj I forgot about the Parker Hale 308!

My vote changes to the 308.

 

[BeeMaa]

I'm here to discuss the Mirriams Turkey.

Use whatever bore shotgun you want, but do yourself a favor a pick up a box of Federal Heavyweight TSS Turkey loads and a Carlson's TSS Turkey Choke. They shells aren't cheap, but you will get what you pay for. Here are my patterns...

 

[BeeMaa]

FN 300H&H for everything else. And you can load up to 220 grain pills.

 

[R.M.C.]

I like the idea of the 300 h&h , plenty of zip for the larger deer on the list. Another great option is one of the 30.06s, I love mine and it kills good with good bullets. My favorite would be federal trophy bonded tips but Barnes are great too. Congrats on your luck by the way lol

 

[BourbonTrail]

‘06 for versatility, or 300 H&H for class. The rest are underwhelming or superfluous (375 H&H might be nice for moose).

 

[TucsonFX4]

Congrats on such amazing draw results!

Not much love for the 375 in this thread, so I’ll throw out a vote for that one.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

If I knew it would be a close shot, I’d love to.

Then I’d use the .375 or 7X57. Don’t worry about the core lock it’s cup & core, but it’s designed for the exact velocities we get from the 7X57, it’ll work fine.

 

[Aaron N]

Then I’d use the .375 or 7X57. Don’t worry about the core lock it’s cup & core, but it’s designed for the exact velocities we get from the 7X57, it’ll work fine.

That’s for the 450/400, I don’t think I’d be comfortable past 100y with it.