26 Nosler or 300 Win Mag

[FIGJAM]

I disagree with the speed thing! Think about this..If you had the choice of getting hit
in the chest with a bowling ball at 25 FPS or a soft ball at 50 FPS which would you chose? The softball is 2X's as fast??

Hmmm...I get what you are trying to say...but a 140gr bullet and a 180gr bullet are a little closer in weight than a softball and a bowling ball aren't they, not mention made of different materials? If we are going to start saying that velocity and energy at impact don't matter we should all be lobbing 405gr bullets out of 45-70s.

 

[KyCarl]

How about 140 Vs. 230 Grains? Why limit the 300 to one of its lesser bullets?
Use it at it's full potential.

 

[jpfrog]

How about 140 Vs. 230 Grains? Why limit the 300 to one of its lesser bullets?
Use it at it's full potential.

He said 180 because 72 posts ago, the OP was asking for pros/cons for using a 140 in a 26 Nosler vs a 180 in a .300 Win mag.

Somewhere along the way we got into velocity and energy, and magic bullets and other spherical objects.

OP- you are currently better with your 26 Nosler beyond 250. If your hunt were tomorrow, I'd say 26. If it is 10 months away, practice both out to about 800 for the next 10 months and make your decision then. A lot can change between now and then.

 

[WildRose]

Elk
Wyoming
150 yds to 500yds
140 gr Nosler Accubond for the 26; 180 gr Nosler Accubond for the 300.
Proficiency same with either rifle out to about 250 yds. I'm a tad better with the 26 beyond 250 yds.

Which would you choose and why?

You can kill an elk just as dead with either if you pick the right spot to put the bullet and put it there.

A properly placed Heart/Lung shot from either will give you a dead animal quickly.

If you can consistently put both into a 12" pie plate cold bore at any given range out to your max it's a tossup, if you can't the 300wm gives you more room for error.

 

[LongBomber]

How about 140 Vs. 230 Grains? Why limit the 300 to one of its lesser bullets?
Use it at it's full potential.

Why not run the 147eld at 3350 and compare to the 212eld or 215vld at 3050? Run them both to the full potential.

 

[KyCarl]

ELD's are target bullets! OP said ELK..Not targets...One more guy who thinks the 6.5 is magic?
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/6.5mm-.264-147-gr-eld-match#!/
I'm talking more like this??
https://shop.nosler.com/nosler-bullets/partition/partition-30-caliber-220-grain-bullet-50ct.html

 

[tmmcampbell]

I did that just for you fig.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

My son shot a 4 point elk at 60 feet with a 300 WM. The Hornady interlock went in just behind his left shoulder and pretty much blew out the right shoulder. The elk went to his knees (if elk have knees) and then he was going to stand up and try to hop outta there on three legs I guess. ? As he was stretching out his neck in an effort to stand up the next shot was a neck shot and must have clipped his spinal cord cause he went over and slid 30 feet down a ravine with all fours up like a puppy wanting his belly rubbed.
I vote for the 300 WM as this elk was one tough critter. It may just be more humane.

 

[Alibiiv]

My son shot a 4 point elk at 60 feet with a 300 WM. The Hornady interlock went in just behind his left shoulder and pretty much blew out the right shoulder. The elk went to his knees (if elk have knees) and then he was going to stand up and try to hop outta there on three legs I guess. ? As he was stretching out his neck in an effort to stand up the next shot was a neck shot and must have clipped his spinal cord cause he went over and slid 30 feet down a ravine with all fours up like a puppy wanting his belly rubbed.
I vote for the 300 WM as this elk was one tough critter. It may just be more humane.

Yup "DEAD IS DEAD", understand and get that one!!!!! Question is how far or how long does it take to be "DEAD"???? In a sterile environment a .22 LR will make something dead, however......................we don't always hunt in a sterile environment; even if we think we do. If I'm away hunting for "one" week, it is the last day of the hunt and it is getting to be late afternoon and a shot presents itself. I take the shot or not!!?? It's a hunt of a lifetime, probably never be able to afford another hunt like this one. And I decide to make that ethical shot (at least in my mind), I didn't see the twig between my muzzle and the animal that I intend to take down with my one, ethical shot. The shot goes off, the animal takes off to my astonishment and also the guide's astonishment. We go to where the animal "ought" to be DRT, but only to find a blood trail, pretty good however not the greatest either. Now it's getting dark, the blood trail is still pretty good, however we have to get back to camp because we have to get back to break down camp and be ready for the float plane to take us out. Hopefully at this point we are all getting this picture. With this scenario I have the juncture, I am going to want to have the largest caliber that is going to get the job done! I just read an article about 10mm's vs 44 mag, where a poster wrote about how a guide who was hiking took out a grizzly that had charged him and he had a 9mm. I can assure anyone on this site that this guide had wished that he brought his 10mm or his 44 mag as he was tarnishing his shorts!! Yup the 9mm took the bear out, but there were better rounds to get the job done. One cannot rationalize that something ought to have done the job and didn't especially while one is hunting. Give me the biggest caliber that I can shoot with and get the job done right the first time. 79 posts and I am out of here, it's starting to border on the ridiculous at this point. My Chevy is better than you Ford!!

 

[jacknifejc]

The 30-06 is a great cartridge, and it has killed a lot of cape buffaloes. However, just because it can kill a buffalo doesn't make it the best choice. There's a reason why most countries in Africa require a heavier rifle to hunt buffaloes.

On elk we all want as clean and ethical of a kill as we can get. The .300 wm will give you that over the 26 Nosler. We're not even comparing apples to apples here. I love the .220 Swift and have shot prairie dogs out to 800 yards with it. Even though it shoots a lot faster than the .300 wm and is super accurate at 500 yards and would kill an elk if one hit it perfectly at 500 yards, it doesn't make it a better choice than the .300 wm. If we want to be honest with ourselves let's compare the .300 wm to the 28 Nosler or 30 Nosler.

 

[KyCarl]

Just like the above post I know without a doubt at 200 yards or less I could dump an Elk with my 22-250! A 70 grain VLD right in the eye at 3500 fps would do it!
But just because I could doesn't mean I would ever try it!
It's just not the way things are done!

 

[Alibiiv]

Just like the above post I know without a doubt at 200 yards or less I could dump an Elk with my 22-250! A 70 grain VLD right in the eye at 3500 fps would do it!
But just because I could doesn't mean I would ever try it!
It's just not the way things are done!

The definition of commonsense: "the ability to think and behave in a reasonable way and to make good decisions" And......with that said:

"Unfortunately commonsense is a flower that does not grow in everyone's garden!"

 

[JemezDave]

Wow, every other post is figjam must have lots of time for arguing!

Just another airhead that was born already knowing everything. There's a couple of the new generations just like him that know everything there is to know already.

 

[Pauleye]

Another 6.5 vs 300 discussion. As most people said 300 WM is their caliber of choice. I agree as the recoil isn't bad plus it puts em down. Range time is the best solution. Like any sport practice practice practice.