Plenty of moose were killed with plain ol' standard factory .30-30 loads long before the guys at Buffalo Bore were born. So, yeah, I guess they'd work for that...

 

Very well put. They just did not know any better and the 30-30 worked.

 

Very well put. They just did not know any better and the 30-30 worked.

And still does....

 

I knew an elderly couple in the 60's and early 70's that both took nice bull moose with 30-30's and open sights I do not know what bullet they used but do know that he used cast bullets and also shot jacketed bullets in some of his rifles. Although bullets are made better these days, the one's they used back then worked. It has to do with shot placement.

 

I didn't mean to imply that a 30-30 could not kill a moose, of course it can with the right shot placement. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone had tried this ammo.

 

That Buff Bore stuff is high dollar and loaded to the max. At 60 bucks a box for what a few boxes it costs you could set yourself up with a Lee reloading kit, dies, bullets and primers, then work on making your own. Be extreamly careful though, this reloading stuff is addictive. Oh and you won't save money but you'll shoot one heck of a lot more.

 

blankmeyer welcome to the forum. These guys are just funning you. A hunter killed over 1100 Elephants with 7mm mauser with very few follow up shots. My grandpa killed hogs with 22 shorts.
I saw a documentary where Eskimo's use 22 to kill polar bear.
Also had a friend went moose hunting with some guys. 1 of them had a 25-3000 and he was going to kill a moose with it. I don't remember how it went but mabe 1st shot hit moose in nose and it started spinning like a dog chasing It's tail. He kept shooting the moose in the hind quarter it finally went down he was happy because everyone told him you could not kill a moose with a 25-3000 ;D A animal can go 90sec of vigorous activity with out a heart.

 

I didn't mean to imply that a 30-30 could not kill a moose, of course it can with the right shot placement. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone had tried this ammo.

I have shot two moose, one with a 338 WM and the other with an arrow. Hit em right and they wont know if it was a $5 bullet or a $1 dollar bullet. ;D

 

That Buff Bore stuff is high dollar and loaded to the max. At 60 bucks a box for what a few boxes it costs you could set yourself up with a Lee reloading kit, dies, bullets and primers, then work on making your own. Be extreamly careful though, this reloading stuff is addictive. Oh and you won't save money but you'll shoot one heck of a lot more.

good advice here. Buff Bore is obcenely overpriced in my opinion. You can cast your own and load the exact same ammo for about $5.00 a box.

 

As per their advertising, BB uses the .035" Hawk jacketed 190FN. I'm sure it would be a great penetrator. I was surprised as Hawk makes an excellent .030" jacketed 190FN that is sure to mushroom better. I know they wanted oomph (heavy weight) and penetration, but their own tests show the old Speer HotCor 170 penetrated deeper. I handloaded the .030" 190FN awhile back in a 30-30 and it did swell accuracy wise, but never got a shot with it, unfortunately. If I was limited to factory ammo and I wanted to shoot big animals or bear with a 30-30, I would definitly try them out. Compared to the cost of hunting such animals, $60 a box is cheap. It is not that expensive even if you just want to try it out on hogs/deer, although I would try and break shoulders on deer with such a tough bullet. Good luck to you.

 

blankmeyer, welcome to MO!!! Most modern ammo is good stuff and yes moose were killed years ago with cast lead bullets. What it comes down to is shot placement. It is not the caliber, velocity, or anything else, it is shot placement. but good ammo and practice or better yet Reload Your Own! Nothing like downing game with ammo you made yourself, take care, John.

 

If the 30-30 is the only gun you have and you are going to use it moose hunting, then maybe it would be advantageous to use that ammo. However, I'd get a gun that is more adequate for moose and forget the 30-30.

 

If the 30-30 is the only gun you have and you are going to use it moose hunting, then maybe it would be advantageous to use that ammo. However, I'd get a gun that is more adequate for moose and forget the 30-30.

As good A reason as I have ever heard to buy another gun. Good thinking Hal!

 

Hal is always on the cutting edge of...... good ole' common sense. ;D

 

BRILLIANT Hal, just Brilliant.... If i am ever on the fence about buying yet another rifle I know who to go to,

 

Thanks for all the replies and info. I have other rifles, and used my .270 to kill a moose a few years back. Now I'm kind of getting back to the "less is more" mentality, and have become interested in investigating all that the 30-30 is capable of.

 

Thanks for all the replies and info. I have other rifles, and used my .270 to kill a moose a few years back. Now I'm kind of getting back to the "less is more" mentality, and have become interested in investigating all that the 30-30 is capable of.

Nothing wrong with that, nothing a 30-06 can kill that the 30-30 can't, just a little difference in better effective range.

 

I'd really like to try some.

 

Learn how to cast, I can make a bullet that is just as good if not better.

 

Hal is always on the cutting edge of...... good ole' common sense. ;D

Now let's not get carried away Gordie! : Hal will get a big head and then be able to get a solid cheek weld; and still use those "see-thru" sights at the same time. : ;D ;D

CJ

 

It seems like some folks just dont' understand ballistics. While a 30-06 is a fine cartridge for hunting all it does is add more range. The Magnum rifles are simply overkill for all but 5% of hunting situations. I was reading an article on the Colorado DOW website about Elk hunting. He said hunters in most cases are better off with a non-Magnum rifle and said that probably fewer than 10% of hunters could pass his accuracy test with a Magnum rifle due to flinching. He said most hunters have no business shooting past 200 yards so Magnums are basically overkill. I know a guy that hunts just about everything with a 300 Win Mag. He one time took a deer inside of 100 yards with a 150 gr load and he was very disappointed with all the damaged meat. I told him he would be better off with a 180 gr load due to less velocity. He thought it would do more damage. Again, a lot of hunters just don't understand ballistics. A 150 gr 300 Magnum load is for very long range hunting. I've seen a lot of guys with Magnums be disappointed with performance at short range. They don't understand tht projectiles are designed to work within a certain velocity window. The 30-30 works very well in its velocity window and within that window will do just as good as the more powerful 30 caliber options. Where the 30-30 is limited is in the range dept. If you are taking shots past 200 yards then the 30-06 and 300 Win Mag come into play. But like I said, most hunters don't have the marksmanship skills to take shots like that. I've seen some guys struggle to keep shots on paper at the range. They think that simply bore-scoping a rifle is good enough.

He went on to say that short range Elk hunting with more compact rifles with shorter actions can produce better results with better chances to spot animals. He said that rifles chambered in 30-30, 35 Rem, and many other lever action loadings were good short range Elk hunting. He said he preferred a single shot 30-06 or a 308 bolt action since they are more compact than most hunting rifles. So there you go, a guy that really knows his stuff is telling hunters they don't need the latest and greatest Magnum-whiz-bang cartridge to effectively hunt big game.

 

A 150 gr 300 Magnum load is for very long range hunting.
So there you go, a guy that really knows his stuff is telling hunters they don't need the latest and greatest Magnum-whiz-bang cartridge to effectively hunt big game.
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strat1080,
I have not ever had any trouble with destroying meat with my magnums and I have not seen any from my hunters that hunt with me, unless something were shot in the hind quarters or breaking both shoulder not much should be lost and in that case most any high power rifle will cause excess damage.

I don't know who wrote the article that you quoted but the 150 grain bullet is not a very good bullet for very long range, in fact it really isn't a very good weight bullet for the 300WM unless it is well constructed like a Barnes bullet designed to stay together and used at medium range. For long range hunting bullets in the 300WM probably the best weight "like you mentioned" is 180 grains, for better Ballistic Coefficients, and Sectional Density. Generally the heavier end of the choice of bullets is your best choice when it comes to hunting. But then again not all writers understand ballistics either.
The most damage I have seen on an animal as far as destroying meat was from a .243 Winchester and a 95 grain bullet. Destroyed a lot more meat than my 338's or my 300 Winchester magnums at close or far range.
I don't knock anyone for there choice in a caliber of rifle they want to hunt with and I believe the magnums have a good place in the hunting world and some people shouldn't have them and as far as that goes they probably shouldn't be hunting period. I spend a lot of time on the range shooting all year and shooting to perfection and practice makes perfect, unfortunately most hunters only make it out a few times a year or less.

I would like to see M700 get on here and talk some more about long range ballistics, he's a knowledgeable Guy. ;D