7mm-08 ultimate youth elk cartridge?

I taught my boys to shoot, and a few other kids as well. IMHO fit is more important than caliber. You are on the right track with most any mentioned caliber so long as you hold to a distance befitting the caliber and make a solid shot. The only way for a kid to make a shot solid is to feel good about the gun they are shooting. I have a safe half full of "youth" sized guns that I now use to help other parents and look forward to using with my grandkids. All the best in your new adventure.

jebel said:

The 6.5 CM is going to recoil about a third less than the 7mm-08.

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Respectfully, I disagree. I have a heavy barreled 700 5R Gen 2 6.5 CM and a SS -08 SPS with a HS Stock. The recoil between the two is indistinguishable when shooting similar bullet weights. The only time I can tell a difference is if I'm throwing a 150 grain bullet out of the -08.

View attachment 126898 View attachment 126897 With regard to the 6.5 CM vs -08 angle, I recommend sticking with the -08. I own and load both. Weight retention is going to be key to ensure what ever projectile you choose reaches the elk's vitals. While the external ballistics of the 143 ELD-X is. very impressive, it will shed a large amount of weight. They are also frequently documented spitting out their lead cores. The high sectional density of the 6.5 won't matter if it doesn't hold together. Monolithics solve this problem, but the heaviest monolithic available is 127 grains for the .264 vs 150 grains for the .284.

I am aware that not everyone believes in monolithics, so as a baseline let's use an almost universally accepted elk bullet, the Nosler Partition for comparison. The heaviest Partition you can drive out of 6.5 is 140 grains. You can drive up 160 grain+ Partitions out of the 7mm-08. Let's stick with 150 grain for now. Assuming a healthy 2700 fps for the 6.5 CM and a equally healthy 2850 fps for the 7mm-08 and you'll find the -08 is a good margin ahead at 300 yards.

"It's a youth gun, you forgot to mention recoil." Fair point. However as I mentioned I own both and have thrown both bullets weights at said velocities. My 6.5 is heavier than my 7-08, yet I notice just a touch more recoil when shooting those two loads at those two velocities.

When my youngest started hunting elk at 12 years old I got her a cheap savage 7-08. I had a muzzle brake installed, LOP shortened and a 3 lb trigger job done. I loaded 150 gr partitions and she shot 4 elk and 4 deer over the next 4 years. I took it out and shot a 5 point bull and a cow with it a couple years ago, and a grandson shot his first elk with it last year. My grandson is shooting a 168 grain matchking load that shoots half moa... admittedly the only load I've found that shoots even close to that. If that's the only gun I had to hunt elk with I wouldn't be hampered one bit.

7mm-08 with Barnes 145 gr LR X Bullets. My wife shot her 4x4 Bull Elk on the last day of our hunt at 287 yards broadside and it fell right there. Low recoil great round. Best starter round out there for Elk. I find the 6.5 a little light for Elk, I don't care how many Moose they've shot in Sweden with the caliber. Elk are tougher than Moose.

Went through the same decision with my daughter. This was before the 6.5 Creed. I chose the 7-08 in a vanguard youth model that came with 2 stocks. Before we made bullets I loaded her with 130g AB's. She killed a pile of mule deer. Never got an elk, which killed her because her little brother shot one every year. Lol. She still carries that rifle at age 23 loaded with our Hammer Hunter 131g at 3100 fps. She has since shot elk with this combo. Consider it good to about 450y. I started my Son with a 6.5-06. About the same as a 6.5-284. These are about the same comfort level to shoot but bring much more to the table than the Creed.

I think all that have been tossed around here are good choices. As stated earlier. Make sure it fits. Get the length of pull down to about 12" and the young hunters will be in great shape.

Dry Heat? said:

7mm-08 with Barnes 145 gr LR X Bullets. My wife shot her 4x4 Bull Elk on the last day of our hunt at 287 yards broadside and it fell right there. Low recoil great round. Best starter round out there for Elk. I find the 6.5 a little light for Elk, I don't care how many Moose they've shot in Sweden with the caliber. Elk are tougher than Moose.

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How is a 140gr 7mm08 bullet superior to a 140gr 6.5 bullet?

FIGJAM said:

How is a 140gr 7mm08 bullet superior to a 140gr 6.5 bullet?

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Larger diameter?

Kimber7man said:

Larger diameter?

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Immaterial. Less sectional density? If the mass and velocity are the same, the little increase in diameter is immaterial.

You 7mm guys shooting the 180s or 195s don't make the same arguments for the 300 guys shooting the 180s or 195s?

I figure with kids, you never know if they will continue to hunt/shoot-- we all hope so but no way to guarantee it.

Also we never know if they will learn to or want to learn to reload so it's best to look for readily available factory ammo options in the caliber we are looking at.

Just something else to take into consideration

Good Luck finding a 145 gr Barnes Bullet for your 6.5. You can find a bullet of 140-145 gr but it won't hold together like a Barnes when encountering heavy bone. You are certainly free to believe diameter has nothing to do with KO power. Many will disagree with you, including every African Game expert, Bear Guides, Elk Hunters, etc.

FIGJAM said:

Immaterial. Less sectional density? If the mass and velocity are the same, the little increase in diameter is immaterial.

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Agree to disagree on the diameter. The difference comes down to velocity. The higher BC and SD of the 6.5 will be negated and over come by the 150+ fps faster the 7mm-08 is going to send the 140 grain projectile.

SpeedGoatShooter37 said:

Agree to disagree on the diameter. The difference comes down to velocity. The higher BC and SD of the 6.5 will be negated and over come by the 150+ fps faster the 7mm-08 is going to send the 140 grain projectile.

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Two bullets of the same weight and form in two different calibers, shot from similar horse power cartridges, are not simple to compare. The smaller cal will wind up with a higher sectional density/higher bc. The larger dia bullet will have a higher muzzle vel setting up the rabbit and turtle race. At some point down range the smaller caliber bullet will overcome the the larger caliber bullet for impact vel. More often than not this will take place father down range than is needed or practical for either cartridge. I did the math in a similar discussion comparing frontal area of the 7mm vs 6.5mm. If I remember correctly it was about 20% greater for the 7mm. Bullet dia defiantly plays a roll in terminal performance. Bullet construction and impact vel also play a roll. In many cases I think a larger roll. All of these thing play a roll In the selection of a cartridge. Larger dia bullets don't need as much vel to do the same damage as smaller dia bullet. In the scenario that the op posed there is less down side to the larger caliber.

SpeedGoatShooter37 said:

Agree to disagree on the diameter. The difference comes down to velocity. The higher BC and SD of the 6.5 will be negated and over come by the 150+ fps faster the 7mm-08 is going to send the 140 grain projectile.

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I think you have that backwards - the extra 150 fps from the 7mm will be overcome by the higher bc of the 6.5. At 300 yards neither the shooter nor the elk will notice the difference.