RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

If he is that recoil shy just have him shoot a non-magnum round (.270, .308, .30-06, etc.) and limit his range. As the old saying goes, bullet placement trumps power.

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

7mm 08 and tell him to keep his shots to a realistic range. I can count on 1 finger how many elk &/or moose I have shot over 300 yards;). IMHO no need to be worrying about 400 and 500 shots on elk or moose in saskatchewan, especially since most shooters will not practice enough to be proficent at such ranges. I shoot a fair bit each year and consider 500 my max under optium conditions. Reality is even in the bald arse prairie hunting antelope or mulies i have been able to close the distance to be under 500 yards to get an easier poke. I prefer a short iron vs a long iron approach shot, so i defer to getting as close as possible to put it close to the pin!!

If he is buying over the counter ammo a 140gr barnes TSX or Nosler partition would do the trick. If reloading then 140-150 in either of these or similar bullets will work-lots of option as a reloader.

As far as recoil the 7mm 08 would be very similar maybe even slightly less then 25wsm! One of the easiest shooting carts.IE: thewife handles a 7 08 like a champbut for comparison sakes she won't touch one offwith the270.Not recoil shy, she's recoil scared!!!:D

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

I shoot a Weatherby ultralight in 338-06 A-square and it has less recoil than a remington 700 bdl in 30-06. Forget 400-500 yard shots, you better put your flame suit on if you're gonna talk like that here.

Here is a recoil calculator that calculates actual recoil in pounds, so you are comparing apples to apples.

http://www.huntamerica.com/recoil_calculator/

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

How old is your friend 6. If he can't take that kick he doesn't need to be shooting at live game.

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

Have him get a 7mm-08 or 308 in a standard weight or heavier rifle (stay away from the lightwieght guns)and put a limb-saver padon it. Those will do fine on elk out to 300 yds (or farther if he can do his part and he can handle some of the hotter loads like the Light-Magnums from Hornady). If he cann't handle these two rounds, he probably shouldn't go after elk.

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

The way I see it, considering your friend's inability to shoot a 300 WSM with all those recoil-defeating modifications, is that he has two choices:

A. Get an adequate elk-moose rifle, AND START SHOOTING IT A LOT SO HE CAN MASTER THE THING, (NOT from a benchrest, either!!) or:

B. Forget trying to shoot anything larger than deer. Limit shots at deer to 50 yards or less.

To do A., what he needs to do is start out with a stiff recoiler like a .375 H&H. Learn to shoot it. Then when he switches back to a .300 Mag., or a .338, it will feel like a popgun! To shoot a heavy recoiling rifle well, one has to JUST IMAGINE THATTHE TARGET IS AN ELEPHANT THAT IS GOING TO STOMP YOU IF YOU DON'T HOLD AND SQUEEZE WELL! That will let him get through the first box or so of ammo during practice! It's all down hill from there (PS: Moose are NOT all that hard to kill-a good .270 with a 150-grain Nosler Accubond or Partition bullet is all that's needed. That load'll kill elk too, but a big bull elk is HARDER to kill than a moose!)

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

I applaud your friend for not getting sucked into Mangnumitus.. Just tell him to go with the 7mm08 and forget about it.. Low recoil from even the light weight and will be enough for elk and moose..

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

There are a handful of cartridges that will kill elk and not recoil much, but he might have to limit his shots to more like 400 yards instead of 500 yards. Though I'd bet money he couldn't hit an elk at that range anyways based on what you've said about him, assuming he didn't decide elk hunting was too hard before then and quit.

Here are some cartridges I'd look at:

6.5X55 (handloaded with properly constructed 140 gr bullets)
6.5X284 (similar to 6.5X55 but with a little more power)
7mm-08 with 140gr bullets
260 Remington with 140 grain bullets

His 25WSSM will kill an elk if he uses the right bullet and limits his shots to reasonable ranges.

Or he could just take up archery hunting. There's nothing like getting close enough to a bugling bull elk to shoot it with a bow.

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

well if he's that recoil shy, I think big and fast are out of the decision making category. So big and slow is the only option IMO for elk/moose.

If a .30-06 is too big.....I'd lean towards the .338 federal, or .308.

RE: Good Elk/Moose Gun
 

Nobody has mentioned a 7x57 mauser yet?

Everything I have read usually advocates that at what ever range you are shooting at there should be at least 1000 foot pounds of energy left so the bullet had sufficient energy left to dump in to the animal and open the bullet correctly to deliver a quick killing shot. Most of the calibers here do not come anywhere near that at 400 yards if Im not mistaken. As a matter of fact I think with large animals like moose and elk they say 1500 lb feet is more appropriate.