28 Nosler or 6.5 PRC ?

[PredatorSlayer]

True, and you can kill elk with a .243 and a well placed shot, too. But would you feel comfortable doing that? I wouldn't. At typical elk distances of 250 yards and longer, your margin for error goes up. Wind blows, animals move, etc. and what was a perfect double lung shot is now a bad gut shot. It happens. I personally believe elk should be hunted with a 30 or 338 caliber, and many other respected individuals on this site feel the same.
I was pronghorn hunting in NM last weekend. Took a nice lope at over 300 yards (has trouble getting exact range, but it was in somewhere between 290 and 370). Had a 20-25 mph wind. Shooting my 7 STW with the 175 ELDX, that meant a 2-2.25 moa wind adjustment. Well, I held 2 moa and the wind died as I squeezed the trigger. I dropped the antelope, but I almost decapitated him with the neck shot impact instead of the shoulder This may have been a bigger issue if it was at 600 yards. Glad I used the 7mm and not my 6.5 mm.

Sorry man, a larger caliber doesn't make a poorly shot elk magically die. A gutshot elk is a gutshot elk whether its with a 243 or a 338. The furthest elk we chased was shot with a 338 wm "a little back" with a mono bullet. That sucker went for miles before we put him down for good with a well placed shot from a 270win.

We hunt elk with 243's and 6mm's - we have always been very successful.

Are you trying to imply that your 7mm bullets buck the wind better than a 6.5mm bullet would? Sounds like you need to read up on Ballistic Coefficients and run some numbers through an app or something.

I am so sick of guys claiming you have to have a 300 mag or bigger to kill elk. You just have to not be a crappy shot and use a good bullet.

 

[dougduey]

Sorry man, a larger caliber doesn't make a poorly shot elk magically die. A gutshot elk is a gutshot elk whether its with a 243 or a 338. The furthest elk we chased was shot with a 338 wm "a little back" with a mono bullet. That sucker went for miles before we put him down for good with a well placed shot from a 270win.

We hunt elk with 243's and 6mm's - we have always been very successful.

Are you trying to imply that your 7mm bullets buck the wind better than a 6.5mm bullet would? Sounds like you need to read up on Ballistic Coefficients and run some numbers through an app or something.

I am so sick of guys claiming you have to have a 300 mag or bigger to kill elk. You just have to not be a crappy shot and use a good bullet.

Listen, I'm not going to get into a ****ing match with you. Shot placement, distance limitations and correct bullet for the job are what trumps everything. I've had more outfitters tell me they've had more elk lost to 7 Rem Mags than anything else because guys are over confident with them. Plus, I'm tired of so many thinking a 6.5 is some magical bullet that kills Godzilla and unicorns.
Bigger caliber, bigger hole, more energy. You get a little more room for error. That's it. Do the math.
I know ballistics very well, so I'll leave it there. Maybe you think you're smarter than everyone else. A 6.5 mm 140 gr VLD moves more than the 7mm 175 gr ELDX. I know this first hand.
A 30-06 will do a fine job on elk, so it doesn't have to be a 300 mag.

 

[dougduey]

Sorry man, a larger caliber doesn't make a poorly shot elk magically die. A gutshot elk is a gutshot elk whether its with a 243 or a 338. The furthest elk we chased was shot with a 338 wm "a little back" with a mono bullet. That sucker went for miles before we put him down for good with a well placed shot from a 270win.

We hunt elk with 243's and 6mm's - we have always been very successful.

Are you trying to imply that your 7mm bullets buck the wind better than a 6.5mm bullet would? Sounds like you need to read up on Ballistic Coefficients and run some numbers through an app or something.

I am so sick of guys claiming you have to have a 300 mag or bigger to kill elk. You just have to not be a crappy shot and use a good bullet.

Listen, I'm not going to get into a ****ing match with you. Shot placement, distance limitations and correct bullet for the job are what trumps everything. I've had more outfitters tell me they've had more elk lost to 7 Rem Mags than anything else because guys are over confident with them. Plus, I'm tired of so many thinking a 6.5 is some magical bullet that kills Godzilla and unicorns.
Bigger caliber, bigger hole, more energy. You get a little more room for error. That's it. Do the math.
I know ballistics very well, so I'll leave it there. Maybe you think you're smarter than everyone else. A 6.5 mm 140 gr VLD moves more than the 7mm 175 gr ELDX. I know this first hand.
A 30-06 will do a fine job on elk, so it doesn't have to be a 300 mag.

 

[shooterRon]

Please forgive for being somewhat off topic, but there has been mention of the 6.5-06AI on this thread. I have a custom rifle with a 26in Pac-Nor 1 in 8 twist barrel in 6.5-06. How much powder capacity does the AI configuration add and how much more performance? Is the 6.5-06 AI really equal to the 6.5 PRC? Just curious......there is some really good information being passed on here!

 

[257Tony]

Are you trying to imply that your 7mm bullets buck the wind better than a 6.5mm bullet would? Sounds like you need to read up on Ballistic Coefficients and run some numbers through an app or something.

Last I checked, .679g1 is lower than .755/.796 g1.....

No, you don't need a huge rifle to kill an elk, but if you want play the numbers game, better brush up first.

 

[dougduey]

Last I checked, .679g1 is lower than .755/.796 g1.....

No, you don't need a huge rifle to kill an elk, but if you want play the numbers game, better brush up first.

Shouldn't you use G7 numbers?
The 140 gr VLD is .307, while the 175 gr ELDX is .315, so I'm not sure what I need to brush up on. And these were the 2 bullets I've referenced the entire time

I assume you're talking about the new Berger 156 gr bullet with the .7-ish G1 BC? I'll wait for Litz to do his testing to see if Berger is exaggerating or not.

I don't understand why so many violently defend 6.5 mm as the be all and end all. Not saying they're not great. But, maybe you need to pick the best caliber for the job. It's not a one size fits all. Can you kill elk with a .223? Sure can. Is it the best choice? Probably not. Would you want to be toting a .243 or 6.5 for elk in grizzly bear country? Would you feel a little under gunned if, god forbid, you had a bad encounter with a grizzly? Probably. I brought a 338 Lapua on a Kodiak Island mountain goat hunt. Outfitter told me to bring the largest caliber I could shoot well. Part for the goat, and the other in case we ran into a grizzly. The guides carried 325 WSM's and a 300 Win Mag. Make your own conclusions there, but there's a reason they weren't armed with something less than a 300 Win Mag

 

[Deleted member 25294]

I grew up in elk country - I would go 6.5 prc. In fact that is what I am putting together right now for my main elk gun. That should get you out to 1100 yards on elk pretty easy depending on your elevation shooting 147's or 156's.

Last year I dumped all my 300 mags (3 of them) my 7mm, my 325wsm. I have been killing elk with a 270wsm the last 3 years and have settled on the 6.5 prc for the next several. You just don't need a ton of horsepower to kill elk. The 28 nosler isn't the wrong answer, its a sweet round as well. I am a big fan of 6.5 bullets.

It won't kill them any deader than a 147eld out of a 6.5 prc bro.

I'm a huge 6.5 fan, killed my last three rifle bulls with my 6.5 saum using 147's and 140 partitions.

Last year I killed my bull at 940 with a 147 and won't ever use it beyond 700 yards on an elk again...

The shot was perfect in the lungs, and the bullet expanded beautifully.
However luckily the shot was steep upward and the bullet passed through the lungs and into the spine anchoring him on the spot because he was very much alive when I hiked over.

A 180 from a 7mm is a much better choice beyond 700 yards, inside of that go 6.5 prc

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Last I checked, .679g1 is lower than .755/.796 g1.....

No, you don't need a huge rifle to kill an elk, but if you want play the numbers game, better brush up first.

True, but the 175gr berger is lower than the 156gr berger.

 

[dougduey]

I'm a huge 6.5 fan, killed my last three rifle bulls with my 6.5 saum using 147's and 140 partitions.

Last year I killed my bull at 940 with a 147 and won't ever use it beyond 700 yards on an elk again...

The shot was perfect in the lungs, and the bullet expanded beautifully.
However luckily the shot was steep upward and the bullet passed through the lungs and into the spine anchoring him on the spot because he was very much alive when I hiked over.

A 180 from a 7mm is a much better choice beyond 700 yards, inside of that go 6.5 prc

Wow, 940 yards!! I wouldn't even attempt that. Too much to possibly go wrong for ME to feel confident at that range. I give you a lot of credit to be proficient at that range. You had to feel crappy when you found the Bull was still alive. I had a cow elk move just enough on me when I squeezed the trigger at 325 yards to ruin me for life. Late season cow hunt to fill the freezer. Spined her on that first shot. Closed the distance as fast as I could to put her out of her misery as I saw her try and get up. I felt terrible that she suffered a little bit. I know it's part of hunting, but I don't even want to go through that again. So, I practice a lot. I've taken classes to get better with my technique and to dope wind better. Still, I feel I owe it to the animal to be as lethal as possible with a first shot kill. Elk are my favorite and I really revere them. So, I use my 300 wsm or 338 Lapua (i shoot them both well) to give me, what I feel, is the biggest thump.

 

[cjuve]

If you intend to hunt elk regularly then go the 28 and better yet something that starts with 3 if not the 6.5 will be fine it is always best to be a little over gunned than under.

 

[Mach 1]

On elk I'd definitely choose the 7mm cartridge Souly based on the heavier bullet selection available.

 

[257Tony]

Shouldn't you use G7 numbers?
The 140 gr VLD is .307, while the 175 gr ELDX is .315, so I'm not sure what I need to brush up on. And these were the 2 bullets I've referenced the entire time

I assume you're talking about the new Berger 156 gr bullet with the .7-ish G1 BC? I'll wait for Litz to do his testing to see if Berger is exaggerating or not.

I don't understand why so many violently defend 6.5 mm as the be all and end all. Not saying they're not great. But, maybe you need to pick the best caliber for the job. It's not a one size fits all. Can you kill elk with a .223? Sure can. Is it the best choice? Probably not. Would you want to be toting a .243 or 6.5 for elk in grizzly bear country? Would you feel a little under gunned if, god forbid, you had a bad encounter with a grizzly? Probably. I brought a 338 Lapua on a Kodiak Island mountain goat hunt. Outfitter told me to bring the largest caliber I could shoot well. Part for the goat, and the other in case we ran into a grizzly. The guides carried 325 WSM's and a 300 Win Mag. Make your own conclusions there, but there's a reason they weren't armed with something less than a 300 Win Mag

The new 6.5/156 EOL is .679 G1, not .7xx something. Many 7mm projectiles can be had that are higher than that, and can be pushed faster out of a 28 vs the 6.5 PRC.

Using G1 or G7 doesn't really matter when you just comparing which is higher.

 

[Gobears16]

This got off topic pretty quick. If the OP is going to shoot elk once every 6-8 years and stack up the deer the rest of the time then I'd pick the PRC. 143 eldx at 3000fps will kill medium game a long way out. If you do hunt elk and keep shots under 500 then the PRC would work great. It's not the best Elk cartridge but it'll definitely deflate lungs well!

 

[Seezer]

I have both a 28 Nosler (Legendary Arms) and a 6.5 PRC (Seekins Havak). Both are great cartridges, but I bought the 6.5 PRC for antelope and long range mule deer. The 28 Nosler is my elk round. I would say the 6.5 PRC is a great round to shoot with light recoil (especially suppressed) and the Havak is a 1-hole gun with handloaded TGKs from Sierra. After using a 25-06 for antelope last year on the windy plains of CO, I decided I wanted something that would buck the wind a bit more. I would not hesitate to use the 6.5 PRC for Elk with the right bullet, but if I had a 6.5 CM already I'd go with the 28 Nosler without a second thought. This ups your game and adds versatility to your rifle line-up. The 28 Nosler is a lot of gun and rounds are not inexpensive, but you have a 6.5 CM for inexpensive practice. I took an elk last year at under 100 yards with the 28 Nosler and results were instant.