Is there an ultimate brown bear, elk, and moose cartridge?

[35WhelenAI]

1) Yes, not too close on the grizz...!

2) 375 H&H is a great round as it can do it literally and legally around the world. Ammo is $6-$7 a round when it's factory loads you are going to shoot, as per the OP, for what it's worth. Not a lot less for 340 Wby ammo. 338 Win Mag is getting more real with respect to cost, IMO.

Lord, looking at the price of ammo makes me glad I reload. All the bullets, primers and powders purchased a bit at a time over the years for many calibers is literally paying off now.

OP, is cost to feed the new beast a necessary consideration with respect to factory ammo, or is it not an issue, per se?

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I think I have a gap in cartridges that i'd enjoy filling for no good reason other than to buy something new. A .338 or larger cartridge that can carry energy out past 400 yards. Something id be totally confident in taking a brown bear, elk, or moose. I was mainly thinking 375 h&h but it seems to scrub off velocity pretty quick. 338 win mag is ok but I have a 300 win mag so it feels a little too close. Also have 45/70 but that's about 125 yard Max shooter.

Is there anything that you'd recommend? I also don't reload at home (just use family member equipment when possible) so factory "available" ammo is ideal.

Didn't you read the "223 for bear elk and moose" thread??
Us magnum guys are a bunch of morons apparently

 

[35WhelenAI]

Didn't you read the "223 for bear elk and moose" thread??
Us magnum guys are a bunch of morons apparently

Proudly stand side-by-side to a .223 shooter when a bear comes a sniffin' too close, and be so chivalrous as to employ my 35 Whelen AI with a 250 gr Barnes original X bullet at 2600 fps. But what do I know, I am a moron too... "Man Of Rifle Of Necessity" for the job at hand.

 

[ZAK13]

I don't think anyone could go wrong with a 338WM, and there is some great factory ammo to choose from.

 

[JBradley500]

1) Yes, not too close on the grizz...!

2) 375 H&H is a great round as it can do it literally and legally around the world. Ammo is $6-$7 a round when it's factory loads you are going to shoot, as per the OP, for what it's worth. Not a lot less for 340 Wby ammo. 338 Win Mag is getting more real with respect to cost, IMO.

Lord, looking at the price of ammo makes me glad I reload. All the bullets, primers and powders purchased a bit at a time over the years for many calibers is literally paying off now.

OP, is cost to feed the new beast a necessary consideration with respect to factory ammo, or is it not an issue, per se?

Ammo cost isn't really a concern. I doubt I'll shoot this too casually. Getting the ammo is the concern. Some of this is why the 375 h&h keeps coming up because before covid I would have been able to snatch some ammo up at Cabela's nearly every time I went there. Same with 338wm. The weatherbys they had 7mm and 300 but not much else that I remember.

 

[marshland_max]

My choice is the 375 H&H mostly because I had one and was able to make it close to what I wanted. I am also using a 270gr bullet a bit softer than the Barnes as my start velocities out of my 22" barrel are a bit lower about 2675 FPS. But I'm still good to 500 if I need to be.

I agree with the others any quality medium bore rifle fits the role. anything .338, 8mm, .358, 9.3mm and .375 is ideal.

With the way everything is going, my 375 H&H is getting the nod as my main rifle. Heck I even used it for whitetails this year.

Very similar to Dennis set up. I prefer the lower power scope with the dial as well!

 

[Phil j]

My vote is a .350 rem mag I have 2 and they flat drop stuff.

 

[35WhelenAI]

My vote is a .350 rem mag I have 2 and they flat drop stuff.

35 Whelen as well.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Since it's not my money, go live my dream...

Get 3 winchester Super Grade rifles .458WM - 338WM - 264WM and be done with it.

I got the first one on your list locked down!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Seamaster]

I own and use rifles chambered in three big "medium" cartridges. 375 H&H, 375 Ruger, and 338 WM.

For what you are seeking I think the 338 WM would be my top choice followed by the 375 Ruger. The 375 Ruger will throw a heavier bullet than the 338, but otherwise they seem to have a very similar effect on larger medium game such as elk. I still like my 375 H&H, but use mostly only when hunting somewhere in Africa. For larger "dangerous" game (cape buffalo, etc.) the 375's are a great starting point.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Much as I like the Whelen, I gotta give deference for a one gun battery of the 338 Win Mag when talking North America. I like the 340 Weatherby however recoil with the increased powder charge for a nominal 100 fps advantage and expense to shoot it from a factory load standpoint eliminates it for me.

 

[Jim1187]

I am very fond of my .35 Whelen and respect the .350 Rem Mag and 9.3x62 for their similarities and abilities but the op mentioned beyond 400 yards and factory ammo and to me that takes them out of contention.
Probably be further ahead to invest new gun funds into a hunt, optics or ammo for a current rifle.
A 300 Win Mag and a 200 grain bullet would not be lacking for snatching the wiggle out of all the critters listed.

 

[Anschutz]

.338WM, 9.3X62, 375H&H would be my choices.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[thinhorn_AK]

375HH is awesome. I like loading the 260g accubonds for moose/bear hunts. I’ve also gotten good performance from the 250g TTSX. The 375 really smacks the shit out of moose and grizzlies.

 

[Reload62]

The 8mm Remington Mag. 200 grain projectiles.

 

[Junkball]

I'd argue bullet selection is more important than chambering in this consideration. And, that said, a 300 WM should be perfectly adequate for any and all above paired with the correct round. For dangerous game, a round with high sectional density is preferred for penetration - look to the Swedes with the 6.5x55 and a long-for-caliber bullet on moose.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I'd argue bullet selection is more important than chambering in this consideration. And, that said, a 300 WM should be perfectly adequate for any and all above paired with the correct round. For dangerous game, a round with high sectional density is preferred for penetration - look to the Swedes with the 6.5x55 and a long-for-caliber bullet on moose.

Those moose they shoot in Sweden are 1/2 to 1/3 the size of an Alaska Yukon moose. It’s not the same thing.

I firmly believe that the 375HH is the best all around cartridge for low country alaskan hunts. It will do well on elk too. I’ve taken moose out to 300yds with the 375HH. It nice to have a bit of power when taking that shot on a grizzly after a half mile stalk.

 

[Junkball]

Those moose they shoot in Sweden are 1/2 to 1/3 the size of an Alaska Yukon moose. It’s not the same thing.

I firmly believe that the 375HH is the best all around cartridge for low country alaskan hunts. It will do well on elk too. I’ve taken moose out to 300yds with the 375HH. It nice to have a bit of power when taking that shot on a grizzly after a half mile stalk.

All true, but you miss my point. The idea I was conveying is high sectional density is desirable, and even more so on a larger animal as your AK moose subspecies.

Ideally, the chambering search yields a round with sufficient killing power in all real scenarios and not any more blast, recoil, and noise than necessary. Otherwise, we'd all be launching Älgtest-proof Volvos at the critters.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

All true, but you miss my point. The idea I was conveying is high sectional density is desirable, and even more so on a larger animal as your AK moose subspecies.

Ideally, the chambering search yields a round with sufficient killing power in all real scenarios and not any more blast, recoil, and noise than necessary. Otherwise, we'd all be launching Älgtest-proof Volvos at the critters.

I missed nothing you said. Sectional density is not a consideration for moose hunting. I’m guessing you are an engineer by trade. You seem to be overthinking this.

 

[35WhelenAI]

All true, but you miss my point. The idea I was conveying is high sectional density is desirable, and even more so on a larger animal as your AK moose subspecies.

Ideally, the chambering search yields a round with sufficient killing power in all real scenarios and not any more blast, recoil, and noise than necessary. Otherwise, we'd all be launching Älgtest-proof Volvos at the critters.

Agree, sectional density as a principle is important in most large game hunting scenarios.

Then there are lighter weight bonded bullets and mono bullets that perform better with respect to penetration than heavier traditional cup and core bullets from the same cartridge. Sectional density isn't relative now to when all bullets were traditional cup and core. Functional sectional density describes what we are talking about much better. However I'm not going to advocate for Swedish Mauser's against brown bears. Lol, I don't know if you can get on a plane flying into the bush if a guide knew that's what you were carrying. Maybe I'm way off on that.

I missed nothing you said. Sectional density is not a consideration for moose hunting. I’m guessing you are an engineer by trade. You seem to be overthinking this.

Are you coming at this from the standpoint bullet construction and integrity is a more important parameter than an outright number that was devised over 100 years ago? I would guess so based on your choices of bullets in another post and your experience. I agree very much.

And absolutely agree that the larger bores are a better choice as you described in another post, as you probably have even more experience beyond just what you've posted.

I have taken elk with a 270 Winchester, 30-06, 300 Winchester magnum and 35 Whelen AI, all with monos. The larger diameter of the Whelen AI, as you aptly described with the 375 H&H, smacks the crap out of them more visibly than the others.

I am not after efficiency when I hunt elk. And most certainly, I would not be after efficiency if the animal could bite back. I want to bring everything I can to the table, which covers all hunting scenarios. I believe the term real hunting scenarios gets used when folks are thinking of ideal hunting scenarios when everything goes like it would in a perfect world.