[Shootester]

I'm gonna be getting an m44 and I was wondering what would the biggest animal you guys would go after with its 7.62x54r ammo. Would it be suitable for bear, elk, or moose?

[rfc357]

Assuming you are going to reload or buy softpoint hunting ammunition, you can kill just about anything with it. It's in the same class as a .308. However, I would not use it on anything much bigger than deer if I had a more powerful alternative. OK for black bear, but I would not go up against a brown, which might want to eat you. Very marginal for elk or moose.

[SwedeSteve]

I agree, best to keep to deer. If you can hunt elk in the thick stuff and reload, then OK, but she's not a long range shooter.

[soonerborn]

Thats a good all around hunting round but in that rifle I would stick to deer with it. It can be effective on elk in a more accurate gun with proper ammo. Wolf and S&B both make some good non-corrosive hunting ammo in that caliber.