500 yards moose gun

[Xbolt]

I got a savage trophy hunter in a 30-06 I got for deer but il be moose hunting also, where I hunt moose is in clear cuts where I can get 800 yards shots but 500 yards is my max I can accurately shoot. Dose the 30-06 have enuf jam for 500 yards or would I be better of with a 300 win mag. I have seen the ballistics on several rounds from federal for the 30-06 and they seem to get 1800 fops at 500 yards for proper bullet expansion but factory loads aren't always true on speed and when it's cold bullets go slower.

[mikein]

Xbolt, I ran some numbers for you on my Load From a Disk ballistic program. If you use a 200 grain bullet with a BC of .56 (Sierra Pro Hunter) and load it to around 2600fps for an MV, you'll theoretically get the following: Muzzle Energy of 2665; terminal velocity @ 500 yards of 1747 fps; terminal energy of 1356. With this load, you'll be coping with a 91 inch bullet drop, or 7 1/2 feet. In my very limited experience (2), moose take a lot of killing. So, while the terminal energy is generally considered adequate (above 1,000 ftlbs) to take a large animal, bullet placement is really, really critical for a humane, one shot kill. At that range and having to figure a 7 1/2 foot holdover, I'd suggest to you that the 30-06 would be a marginal cartridge unless you are able to get a whole lot of practice in between now and the time you go hunting, and prove to yourself that you can put 5 shots on a paper plate sized target at 500 yards.

[D.ID]

Does it have enough, Could it do the job? Of course it can.
Would you be better off with a 300 win mag? Of course you would.
Shot placement is always critical regardless of caliber.
My last elk required 17.5 feet of holdover, easily done with the right scope and practice.

[dk17hmr]

I shoot a 300wsm a lot further than 500 yards at steel. I have killed a handful of elk between 400 and 550 yards with it as well as the 338 win mag I had for awhile. 30 calibers are great but when it comes to killing big things at extended ranges I would go up in caliber. My 338 didn't kill anything more dead than my 300wsm does but it seemed to hit them a lot harder and put them down quicker.....Sold my 338 win mag because my dad and I bought a Lapua for late season meat collecting.

That said, if you run a heavy bullet as fast as you can safely push it with your 30-06 you probably wont be under gunned. I have seen data claiming 2750fps with a 208gr A-max....I shoot the same bullet at 2875fps in my 300wsm and don't think twice about taking a long shot on an animal that is calm and I have good conditions.

The main thing is practicing.....I practice at 2 to 3 times the distance I will take a shot at an animal with any of my equipment including handguns and my bow and arrows.....and I do a lot of practicing probably 200 to 300 shots on steal for the 1 to 4 shots I take in the field at critters.