Moose bullet for tikka .243

[Castle Rock]

Shoot any of those critters with a 243? What bullet in the 22-250? My 22-250 has been crushing deer for me the last 2 seasons.

No I didn’t have a 243 available, but I would like to do a bit of time traveling and take my current tikka 243 and 108s, a range finder and dialing scope back there, it would have been incredible.

22/250 ammo was Winchester and PMC 55 grain soft points behind the leg into the heart and lungs.

The younger ones are great eating too.

 

[Treeman_MG]

A couple observations. This was never intended to be a "will a 243 kill a moose," thread, I'm confident it will. What I really intended was "which bullet should I choose for moose?". That said, I do appreciate all the people who chimed in with their experiences on moose, especially those that live in Alaska.

On the topic of bullet choice (which I think matters a lot more than caliber/cartridge), one thing I most likely won't use are copper monos. I got really tired of shooting deer through the lungs with barnes and watching them run 100, 200+ yards before tipping over. They seem to die much quicker and run less with cup and core match type bullets.

Current front runners for moose are:
Nosler 95gr ballistic tip (seems to be pretty universally lived by .243 fans)
Hornady 105 hpbt
Sierra 95 tmk (or 107gr, if I can get them before my hunt)
Maybe 95/100gr partitions
Maybe 115gr berger vld hunt (if they shoot well).
115 dtac/tmk (may not stabilize in my 1:8 twist near sea level).

Any I've missed?

 

[BAKPAKR]

A couple observations. This was never intended to be a "will a 243 kill a moose," thread, I'm confident it will. What I really intended was "which bullet should I choose for moose?". That said, I do appreciate all the people who chimed in with their experiences on moose, especially those that live in Alaska.

On the topic of bullet choice (which I think matters a lot more than caliber/cartridge), one thing I most likely won't use are copper monos. I got really tired of shooting deer through the lungs with barnes and watching them run 100, 200+ yards before tipping over. They seem to die much quicker and run less with cup and core match type bullets.

Current front runners for moose are:
Nosler 95gr ballistic tip (seems to be pretty universally lived by .243 fans)
Hornady 105 hpbt
Sierra 95 tmk (or 107gr, if I can get them before my hunt)
Maybe 95/100gr partitions
Maybe 115gr berger vld hunt (if they shoot well).
115 dtac/tmk (may not stabilize in my 1:8 twist near sea level).

Any I've missed?

What Barnes bullet were you using? In addition to the LRX I used on the moose, I have used 62 gr TTSXs in 223s on deer and 95 gr TTSXs in 6.8 SPCs on deer and a black bear. Based on a handful of deer my daughter and I have killed with the 62 gr TTSXs and 77 gr TMKs, the quicker, more impressive kills, on non-CNS shots, came from the TTSXs. Plus, with the TTSXs, I got a decent blood trail on deer that did run after the shot, something I can’t say about the TMK.

 

[dallen]

Nosler partitions

 

[Matt5266]

On the topic of bullet choice (which I think matters a lot more than caliber/cartridge), one thing I most likely won't use are copper monos. I got really tired of shooting deer through the lungs with barnes and watching them run 100, 200+ yards before tipping over. They seem to die much quicker and run less with cup and core match type bullets.

I 100% agree with this and has been my experience as well. (Not on moose but other animals)

 

[Weldor]

All this bullet talk has got me interested in a good general load for my 6mmCM. My buddy has a ton of bullets he inherited from a friend. I currently use a hand loaded 100 gr Speer SP. Time to grab a handful of ea. and see what happens.

 

[Treeman_MG]

What Barnes bullet were you using? In addition to the LRX I used on the moose, I have used 62 gr TTSXs in 223s on deer and 95 gr TTSXs in 6.8 SPCs on deer and a black bear. Based on a handful of deer my daughter and I have killed with the 62 gr TTSXs and 77 gr TMKs, the quicker, more impressive kills, on non-CNS shots, came from the TTSXs. Plus, with the TTSXs, I got a decent blood trail on deer that did run after the shot, something I can’t say about the TMK.

I started with 168gr tsx from my 300 win mag, then moved to 168 ttsx. Also 180 gr ttsx out of my .358 win. Never caught any of them in a deer, and usually had a decent blood trail, just very un-impressive wounds, unless bone was hit, and deer always ran 100-200 yards, sometimes more, with non cns hits.

Been shooting 80gr eldx out of my 22-250 the last 2 deer seasons, and have had 3 out of the 5 deer killed with it have (what's left of) the heart loose and falling out of the chest cavity when gutting. Never had that happen with any of the bigger rounds I've used. The furthest one ran was 100 yards, most less than 30. Had decent blood trails with all, although only needed it on the 1 that ran 100 yards. The other 4 never made it out of sight .

 

[BAKPAKR]

I started with 168gr tsx from my 300 win mag, then moved to 168 ttsx. Also 180 gr ttsx out of my .358 win. Never caught any of them in a deer, and usually had a decent blood trail, just very un-impressive wounds, unless bone was hit, and deer always ran 100-200 yards, sometimes more, with non cns hits.

Been shooting 80gr eldx out of my 22-250 the last 2 deer seasons, and have had 3 out of the 5 deer killed with it have (what's left of) the heart loose and falling out of the chest cavity when gutting. Never had that happen with any of the bigger rounds I've used. The furthest one ran was 100 yards, most less than 30. Had decent blood trails with all, although only needed it on the 1 that ran 100 yards. The other 4 never made it out of sight .

Sounds like you should just use the 22-250 and 80 gr ELD-Xs and not worry about possible overkill with the 243.

 

[BJames]

Another AK resident here, 26 years now. Have been all over the state for work, lived in the some of the villages, etc.. yada yada.

Personally, I’ve seen exactly one moose killed with a 243. It was helping a friend whose kid drew a cow tag. 100 gr partition with broadside lung shots worked great, if memory serves, he shot it 3x. It stood there for a bit, but that’s not the 243’s fault, nor shot placement. No pics because back then we didn’t care about that and it was like 12 years ago.

My best friend’s grandfather moved to the state in the early 60’s, specifically way down the AK pensinsula. Hunted everything with a 243, only ever shot 100 gr corelokt’s. Mostly because that’s all he could get at the local store. I could listen to that old guy’s stories for days.

There’s a meat eater podcast where they interview an old trapper from the 70 and 80’s. Want to say it’s episode 757, highly entertaining. All they used out there was 243’s, they talk about bullets used for various game.

Granted, this anecdotal evidence is decades old, I think it leads to this; with all the data on this site from the various 6mm kills, pick a bullet and work up a load with a temp stable powder. You’ll be fine. Also, I’d rather shoot a charging bear in the head with a 243 than a 10mm. Shit, a guy did that on Chichagof with a bolt gun in 6.5 Grendel a few years ago….

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

bullets.

Current front runners for moose are:
Nosler 95gr ballistic tip (seems to be pretty universally lived by .243 fans)
Hornady 105 hpbt
Sierra 95 tmk (or 107gr, if I can get them before my hunt)
Maybe 95/100gr partitions
Maybe 115gr berger vld hunt (if they shoot well).
115 dtac/tmk (may not stabilize in my 1:8 twist near sea level).

Any I've missed?

112 Match Burner

Exit through the thickest part of the sternum on a moose.

 

[Treeman_MG]

112 Match Burner

Exit through the thickest part of the sternum on a moose.

View attachment 1005218

Do you think the barnes matchburner would perform well on a close up shot, say less than 100yards? I know they are supposed to fragment pretty violently, but also, you've had good success with them.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Do you think the barnes matchburner would perform well on a close up shot, say less than 100yards? I know they are supposed to fragment pretty violently, but also, you've had good success with them.

Honestly couldn’t say definitively. I’d be lying if I said I knew for sure.

 

[Treeman_MG]

Honestly couldn’t say definitively. I’d be lying if I said I knew for sure.

Fair enough

 

[MtnW]

What’s more funny- that you don’t offer any information ever? Or that you are too dense to search and see hundreds of pictures from elk, deer, bear, moose that I have posted?

Right.
Can only find ONE PIC that you posted of your experiences and your supposedly 200’s of big game kills. TFF
Only thing I find is your lengthy story over at 24 Hour Campfire about your raghorn elk hunt and how you almost didn’t survive your first elk hunt. Again, that was only a few years ago. Also you are just now posting you are going on your first bear hunt. Since you did your 24HCF elk hunting drama a few years ago , you have surely killed your next 200 big game animals. LOL
Let’s see some of your moose, caribou, elk , Mtn sheep, mule deer photos Form. Even if you would just post your biggest pics of each species, then I will believe some of your pontificating. Until then, I call pure B.S. on you.

 

[Treeman_MG]

Right.
Can’t find only ONE PIC that you posted of your experiences and 100’s of big game kills. TFF
Only thing I find is your lengthy story over at 24 Hour Campfire about your raghorn elk hunt and how you almost didn’t survive your first elk hunt. Again, that was only a few years ago. Also you are just now posting you are going on your first bear hunt. Since you did your 24HCF elk hunting drama a few years ago , you have surely killed your next 200 big game animals. LOL
Let’s see you moose, caribou, elk , Mtn sheep, mule deer photos Form. Even if you would just post your biggest pics of each species, then I will believe some of your pontificating. Until then I call pure B.S. on you.

Dude. . . You have added nothing of value to this thread. Zero. Maybe start your own thread if you just want to bash Form. I have tried pretty hard to prove some of the things he says wrong, only to find that he was 100% right. . . .so I'll take his word over yours.

 

[MtnW]

Dude. . . You have added nothing of value to this thread. Zero. Maybe start your own thread if you just want to bash Form. I have tried pretty hard to prove some of the things he says wrong, only to find that he was 100% right. . . .so I'll take his word over yours.

Have you read Form’s elk hunting adventure he wrote over on 24HCF? Read Form’s drama, tell me you think it’s believable ,and then tell me Form is someone you want to take hunting advice from and is believable. Anyone that would publicly post a drama like Form did on 24HCF is not credible. Form got laughed off of 24HCF…..that’s pretty hard to do.

 

[Treeman_MG]

Have you read Form’s elk hunting adventure he wrote over on 24HCF? Read Form’s drama, tell me you think it’s believable ,and then tell me Form is someone you want to take hunting advice from and is believable. Anyone that would publicly post a drama like Form did on 24HCF is not credible. Form got laughed off of 24HCF…..that’s pretty hard to do.

I don't hang out there much. I did find a thread he posted about an elk hunt in Montana, in 2013 (more than a "few years ago"). Sure doesn't seem like he got "laughed off of 24hcf". In fact, I would say most people were highly entertained by the story.

In short, he has never given me a reason to NOT believe the things he says. You obviously have some sort of personal vendetta, so again, start your own thread and quit cluttering up mine.

 

[Billy Goat]

Even if you would just post your biggest pics of each species, then I will believe some of your pontificating.

What does biggest of each gain?

To be fair, I can understand the reaction he gets. Tends to post in an extremely condescending manor, then says its just factual without feeling, supposedly.

I'm sure plenty of people have shot bigger antler sized deer than me on here. I'm not in an area that grows big racks. I suspect the number of people who have shot, and especially witnessed shot deer to the extent I have on here is a fairly small percentage. Just because they aren't 180" and 300# doesn't mean they actually die much different. I don't keep very detailed notes on them, but sometimes wish I had. We get feels on stuff, but I have seen enough to know that just because we have the fuzzies over something, it doesn't mean its true.

So the point of my long winded response is I'd pick your fight a different way.

He has posted a bunch of dead elk pics, don't know if its same one from different perspectives, no idea really if they are bulls or cows, doesn't really matter. The difference is pretty negligible. Large data sets of relatively similar animals with details of what happened produce the best algorithm of what works.

Now back to the regular shit show, I just personally didn't see the relevance of biggest being an indicator of anything. It could be an old 300" 5x5 bull elk, and someone would say it didn't qualify for some stupid reason. Didn't have a full coat that was soaked in mud and piss from a wallow that would somehow make a bullet perform significantly different.

 

[Formidilosus]

Right.
Can only find ONE PIC that you posted of your experiences and your supposedly 200’s of big game kills. TFF
Only thing I find is your lengthy story over at 24 Hour Campfire about your raghorn elk hunt and how you almost didn’t survive your first elk hunt. Again, that was only a few years ago. Also you are just now posting you are going on your first bear hunt. Since you did your 24HCF elk hunting drama a few years ago , you have surely killed your next 200 big game animals. LOL
Let’s see some of your moose, caribou, elk , Mtn sheep, mule deer photos Form. Even if you would just post your biggest pics of each species, then I will believe some of your pontificating. Until then, I call pure B.S. on you.

I would like to say that I underestimated your ability to post something even less intelligent…. But you did not disappoint.

 

[fwafwow]