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7 mm mag bullet for Elk

milkie62

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
216
I had bought Fed premium 168 gr berger bullets for an Elk hunt next month. Also bought the Rem Corlokt 150 gr along with Hornady American whitetail 139 gr. Unfortunately with the shortage of bullets these are my only choices. Well the 139 gr Hornady shoot very well and group at about 2.25 " @ 200 yds. The Fed Premium are about 6" groups and the Remingtons about 4 " groups. Are the 139 gr American Whitetail going to be enough bullet ?
 
Its would not be my first or even fourth choice have you tried looking at buds gun shop to try ordering some thing else to try if it comes down to it try very hard to slip in right behind the shoulder for a double lunger it will work just not best option I just pulled them up and they have a few better options to try
 
If you ever watched the origional best of the west with John Burns, he used 180 bergers in a variant of the 7mm stw. I understand that at times he used the 168gr and later went to a 7mm rem mag with 168 bergers. Now, Im not saying just because that's what he used makes it the best choice but clearly it worked.
 
If the Hornady is the most accurate, and seems to be so by far, than the other ammo you have, I would use it.
Just choose the shoot wisely and keep it off the shoulder. If you can but it in the boiler room it will work.

If possible look at some of the ammo choices on Midway. the have Federal with the 140 partition and Barns with the 140 TTSX. Those would help a lot if you are shooting and any angle or close cover conditions.
Barns ammo is known to shoot very well in lots of rifles.
 
I'd run with those hornady and dont over think it. Those interlocks work great, they are not sexy but there is not an elk on this planet who could take one to the boiler room keep getting it! I've been trying to dial my 300 win in over the last few months for elk and I keep going back to the 150 American whitetail. It's shoots fantastic and has a low extreme spread.

ps interlocks, corelok, gamekings, federal blue box, Speers, ballistic tips are highly over looked projectiles and never get the credit they deserve. Best wishes On your hunt
 
The only option you had there Is point at an elk is the 168 Berger's everything which I've seen a lot of elk taken with, everything else is a liability, if it was all I had I'd be looking for a shot that would let me hit them perfect through the slats and allow you to then keep putting bullet in them. 140 gr bullets in a 7 Mag are not a good combo on elk.
 
I loaded the Federal Edge TLR 155 for my brothers 280 AI. Got great accuracy at 60 thousandths of the rifling. He took a great 6x6 last year with it. Quartering shot entered right shoulder and went all the way to opposite hindquarter just under the hide. Perfect mushroom, high bc for the weight. Tough shot but the bullet just performed. My cousin used his rife to drop a nice cow the next day. Broadside shot so no bullet recovered but it did the job.
 
At a 6" group @ 200 yds,I do not think I even want to take those with me. I did buy 4 boxes of 139 gr and a box of 154 gr sst bullets which was all the store had. Was going to pull the bullets , keep the cases and primers and jump up to the 154's.
 
I am by no means any authority on Elk and not planning on shooting over 300 yds, but if I put a bullet in the shoulder just behind the blade IMO if that bullet exerts all its energy within the lung area how would it go very far ? I figure if I shot my biggest buck 2 yrs ago while holding a Dunkin Donuts XL foam cup of coffee between my knees without spilling a drop, I think I have the breathing and calmness down pretty good. Just sayin'.
 
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154 Hornady Interbonds works for us
 
62, if you don't reload perhaps the HSM Trophy Gold loaded ammo with 168 gr Bergers would be worth a try. I've watched a lot of elk killed with the 168's with no tracking needed. The HSM ammo has always been well respected for accuracy. Good luck
 
139 are more than enough to kill an elk. I uses 120gr bullets out of my 6.5-06 to shoot an elk last year. I went with the 120 because it group the best, and now i have elk in my freezer.
 

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