7mm bullets

I had one year about 4 back or so mistakenly used one of my Elk loads using the 162 BTSP pill on a whitetail hunt in Michigan. The poor deer didn't even know what happened. After removing the hide here's the whole story in a nutshell,..

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/Warlock49766/damagetoribcage.jpg

It was shot just over 225 yards away,.. the bullet entered the opposing side right behind the front leg standing on a hillside and exited a few inches below the spine, it buckeled over and that was it! This picture is the exit !
 
I would recommend the new Nosler 175 grain Accubond Long Range bullets do to be released about a month from now. I think they would be perfect 7mm bullet for elk!

Accubond - Nosler - Bullets, Ammunition, Rifles, Brass, Reloading Data, Hunting, Shooting, Reloading, Load Data


I'm not sure BUT,... isn't it a little hard to "recommend" a product that hasn't even made it to the shelf yet let alone been tried or tested by people ??

I had done several tests using the Round nosed version of the 175 grain Hornady projectile and based on the stats had found it not any more worthy than the 160 grain classed projectiles. Unless Nosler had made some specific changes to their new offering I can't see recommending it at least until it has been tried in the field by folks and actually see what it can do.

JMO,... :rolleyes:
 
I have shot many of elk with many of bullets. Here are my experiences. Last year a load of 74gr of retumbo, 215 primer , Win cases, Browning a bolt 26 in barrel. Shot 1 Cow elk 6 times. Deepest penetration was 7 inches, some bullets went only 4 inches! Grouped .374 on paper and went to **** in the field. USE T.HIS BULLET WHAT THE MANUFACTURE MADE IT FOR! Shots were 540 yds. Used 500S&W to finish her off after 6 hr of tracking:cool:
My old school load. 175gr Sierra game king shot with 72 gr h4831 in a Savage 110 with a freebored barrel 215 primer. 3050 fps Flattens elk and bullets retain different weights depending on range/velocity of impact. No elk has ever needed two shots. Lung shots, heart shots, poor shots, They just die. Some what accurate load 1 inch at 100. All complete pass throughs with a ton of damage. Longest shot 620 yds.
Wifes load: 150 Barnes IMR 4831, 215 primer, She shot 3 elk with no recovery of bullets. Broke bones, blew holes, Elk fell dead. very light load only 2800 fps. VERY ACCURATE. one hole at 100. shots were 200 and 325 yds
Son worked up his own load to be different and better than dad. Accubond 160 shot in RUM, unknown velocity, wont tell dad his secrets, Ejector marks on case head. Elk shot at 480 yds 2 shots both residing on opposite side one retained 53 gr the other 58 gr. I believe if velocity was less they would of performed better.
Berger bullets shot 3 in at 100 yds. not used
Dads new secret weapon to out do son in 2013.. 280 gr Barnes. 111gr rl25, Win mag primer in 338-378 Weatherby. Hope to draw to test these out. We will find out in 2 weeks! Fingers crossed and going to church this weekend. How could I not draw?:)
 
I have shot many of elk with many of bullets. Here are my experiences. Last year a load of 74gr of retumbo, 215 primer , Win cases, Browning a bolt 26 in barrel. Shot 1 Cow elk 6 times. Deepest penetration was 7 inches, some bullets went only 4 inches! Grouped .374 on paper and went to **** in the field. USE T.HIS BULLET WHAT THE MANUFACTURE MADE IT FOR! Shots were 540 yds. Used 500S&W to finish her off after 6 hr of tracking:cool:
My old school load. 175gr Sierra game king shot with 72 gr h4831 in a Savage 110 with a freebored barrel 215 primer. 3050 fps Flattens elk and bullets retain different weights depending on range/velocity of impact. No elk has ever needed two shots. Lung shots, heart shots, poor shots, They just die. Some what accurate load 1 inch at 100. All complete pass throughs with a ton of damage. Longest shot 620 yds.
Wifes load: 150 Barnes IMR 4831, 215 primer, She shot 3 elk with no recovery of bullets. Broke bones, blew holes, Elk fell dead. very light load only 2800 fps. VERY ACCURATE. one hole at 100. shots were 200 and 325 yds
Son worked up his own load to be different and better than dad. Accubond 160 shot in RUM, unknown velocity, wont tell dad his secrets, Ejector marks on case head. Elk shot at 480 yds 2 shots both residing on opposite side one retained 53 gr the other 58 gr. I believe if velocity was less they would of performed better.
Berger bullets shot 3 in at 100 yds. not used
Dads new secret weapon to out do son in 2013.. 280 gr Barnes. 111gr rl25, Win mag primer in 338-378 Weatherby. Hope to draw to test these out. We will find out in 2 weeks! Fingers crossed and going to church this weekend. How could I not draw?:)
I'm curious what bullet did you use to shoot the cow with 6 times:)
 
I really did not want to state the bullet name due to people thinking the manufacture was making inferior bullets. Hornady is the manufacture of the 162gr AMAX. This is the bullet that did not perform on the elk. I want to assure you that it was not the bullets or manufactures fault. It is 100% mine. I read articles on forums and listened to the internet. People state they work great. Hornady states for target only. They now are used for target only.
 
Idaho, I agree with you. That bullet is intended to be a target bullet. It was never intended for anybody to hunt elk with and Hornady would be the first one to inform you of that.
 
Like Idaho I have killed a lot of elk over the years. Used a .270 on a lot of them. Had some problems w/ no penetration with speer over 20 years ago and went to partitions. They worked fine. A friend suggested Hornady cause they gave as good or better accuracy and cost less. I used them a lot of years and got good results. Went to the Barnes TTSX a few years ago. Accuracy was even better and penetration is superb. Been a good bullet for me. Last year as a result of my sheep hunt and some stories here I have started trying the Bergers. So far so good. I have not shot an elk with one, but my sheep guide, John Burns had taken and seen a lot taken with them.
My advice is to find a good bullet that shoots well in your gun. If you use a quality bullet and make a good shot your elk is going to die. Sierra game kings and Bergers are "softer" than a Barnes TTSX. The Accubond and some of the Hornadays are likely in the middle. I've only had one experience with the Accubond and it wasn't a good one..... I'm about 95% on drawing a cow tag this year and I'll try a Berger and we'll see how it goes. Bruce
 
I have used an off the shelf Federal Premium 165 grain Nosler Partition for years on white tail and mule deer. It has done a great job. I would anticipate this been a good round for elk. An 180 grain bullet may hit harder but the 165 has a flatter path. What does the group think about the 165 grain Nosler Partition?
 
Idaho, I agree with you. That bullet is intended to be a target bullet. It was never intended for anybody to hunt elk with and Hornady would be the first one to inform you of that.

Very true! However, others have very good success afield despite the Manufacturer's warning.

It took a LRH member 3 shots on a bull but it's 1350 yards (and that's pretty darn good) with custom Winchester model 70 30" lilja barreled 7 STW using 162gr Hornady A-max....

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/1350yd-colorado-bull-elk-37290/

It's experiences like this that makes us all wonder why but a worthwhile information nonetheless consideration for those that pushes the envelope or to the extreme, like to experiment, prove others wrong, takes risks, or whatever the case maybe. In his case, it was a success! :Dgun)
 
Impact or terminal velocity greatly affects bullet expansion. There's a huge difference in remaining velocity at 500 yards and that remaining at 1300 yards. I would call needing three shots to kill an elk as total failure. Get closer next time.
 
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