Frank in the Laurels
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- Jul 15, 2007
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...I assure you when firing it at game you'll never know it kicks...your not benchrest shooting spike !!
Best Caliber Rifle Elk
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bigngreen
Well-Known Member
True but so many poor shots are put on elk because of recoil sensitivity combine with someone thinking a 338 will some how do a better job when literally anything would be better if the shooter can shoot it very well!!
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Well that I can agree with 100 percent. But I do maintain the medium bores don't deserve their reputation. Mainly, people act like 30 caliber magnums are somehow a universe apart from .33s and even .37s for recoil and shootability. They're not. Of course they're not the same but in my (admittedly very limited) experience, in rifles of equal weight, if you can't shoot one of these well, you probably won't shoot any of them well.
I 100 percent agree, do not try proving some stupid point about how big a gun you can shoot and go cripple some poor creature because you can't handle it or are afraid to practice with it. But I also believe in using as much firepower as you HONESTLY can shoot well. And many guys are confident and competent as all get out with their ability to shoot big 7mms and .30 cal magnums but they're perhaps just afraid of the unknown more than anything else and intimidated by the .338s and moderate .375s as if they're gonna beat the snot out of them. All I'm saying is they're not as bad in comparison as a person whose never shot them might think…I had some fun a while back with a friends unscoped lightweight .375 hh and now i need one haha
Orange Dust
Well-Known Member
Great post. Being a newbie I would lean more toward a 270WSM, 280ai, 7RM. This class will get it done and done well and are relatively easy to learn to shoot well. However I cannot leave without saying the 300WM is never the wrong answer. I'm this case it might not be the best answer, but it is not a wrong answer.
Calvin45
Well-Known Member
Agreed 100 percent. The .300 wm is the answer I go for everything now haha. I by no means think that everyone needs a medium bore or anything, just that they're unjustifiably maligned.
And you're probably right, I had forgot to take into account the "newbie" status. I had shot
Other guns before but my first big game rifle that i owned and really got to know well was a .270, no regrets about that, it's such a versatile performance window of cartridge and I'd still not hesitate to take that thing elk hunting…I'd rather have my .300 tho. But I wouldn't have started out with the win mag for sure.
and i assure you I've killed 95+ elk in 40+ yrs of hunting in 5 states and I've never needed a magnum or a second shot to kill an elk, and I've never had one go more then 25 yards
and I've shot them from 12 yards out to 750 with every standard caliber there is from my 6.5 creed and 143 eld x to my 280 ai with 155 grain federals all of them were just as dead as they would be
if they were shot with your howitzer and with out the recoil. elk are not bullet proof take out the heart nd lungs and they die just as fast as any other animal
i don't shoot bench rest i i kill big game animals
yes i have I've also owned an unbraked 340 weatherby mag and a 300 rum all 3 went down the road a day after i pulled the trigger i don't do recoil that equals getting kicked by a
horse
This is a legit concern IMO…in my neck of the woods the rural hardware stores that stock ammo always have .223, .22-250, .243, .270, 7mm rem mag, .303 British (every other backwoods Canadian has a lee enfield .303 it seems), .30-30, 308 Winchester, .30-06, and .300 win mag. Some increasingly have .25-06, 7mm-08, and .338 win mag but I wouldn't want to depend on them having those even haha. Almost universally in the silver box Winchester super x power points.
Obviously some of those are not remotely considerable for elk (though sadly the .22 centerfires are now legal for big game in Saskatchewan with the exception of the hornet…i always thought it made good ethical sense to draw the absolute minimum line at the .243 but that's just me). But yeah if I was travelling somewhere in the middle of nowhere and I wanted good odds of having back up ammo being somewhat acquirable I'd probably go with .270, 308, 30-06, 7 rem mag, or .300 Winnie (and my actual preference is the .300 - but lots of guides cite the .270 as a sensible minimum for elk and it sure can and does get the job done, but if I'm on the hunt of a lifetime which for some this would be, "minimum" isn't what I'm after haha)
Ammo availability is a real issue. I regularly visit the #2 volume gun store in the whole state of Colorado. Their ammo inventory isn't even close to what you experience.
I purchased and made the .270 my primary hunting rifle about 4 years ago. Only about 50% of my gun store visits over the last year did they even have .270 Win. And you can forget hoping to ever see 25-06, 7mm-08 or 338 win mag.
If ammo availability were a top consideration, I would have to give top-nod to .308 Win. Every gun store visit, .308 has been on the shelves and usually multiple brands and bullet types. Federal Premium with 185's are hard to beat. Never has there been a shortage of .308 in my neck of the woods in the past 2 years when you could never find 7mm mag.
At 700 yards, the Hornady 200gr ELD-X with bc of .597, hand-loaded for 2,600 at the muzzle will be moving at 1868 fps and have 1550 fpe at 7,000 feet elevation. That will kill an Elk..... at 700 yards.
PS. It is a 45 minute, one-way drive to my old Range. Twice in the past 3 years, I loaded up all my gear and guns..... and flat forgot the ammo in my excitement to go shoot. Forgetting ammo seems to be an issue for some of us. If having traveled 800 miles for a hunt and I forgot my ammo, I would feel better if I were carrying a .308 rather than a .303 Brit, in hopes that fire pills could be found on the shelf of the country, general store.
100% in agreement and I have owned a few big horses myself. About 10 years ago I did an 'emotion purchase', when I found a Pre-64 action, Winchester Model 70 in 325 WSM. After a couple of boxes of 220gr canon balls, hurled down-range, I sold the gun. Just hated shooting it, but I loved everything else about it.
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Stgraves260
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If this helps. A few years ago when I hunted elk in Colorado, I picked up their hunting guid book/PWL book. The book that gives you rules and regulations when you punches your hunting license. It said the most popular caliber used during elk season is a 6.5 caliber. It didn't say if it was 260 Rem, 264 WM, 6.5-284; it just said 6.5 Caliber. Hope this helps.
Yep, the "NUT" behind the trigger remains the biggest factor.
I assure people that bad habbits aren't formed while shooting at game it's at practice and the flinch will become automatic............
BAKPAKR
Well-Known Member
@mwarizona, I saw on another thread that you now have a new Tikka in 300 WM. Congrats! I have been watching for a left hand version of that myself. I would recommend that you immediately replace the OEM recoil pad with a Sims pad. They help.
Good luck on your elk hunt.
Good luck on your elk hunt.
Idaho Lefty
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YUP,.. THIS,. ^^^ and Hence WHY, I now shoot, a .270 WSM "Lazer" with, 140 Bergers clocking, 3,185 FPS that's still going, OVER,.. 2,000 FPS at 800 Yards and Kills Elk like,.. the "Hammer of Thor" ! Yup Kills, just like my .338 Win Mag DID but without, the freakin' Recoil so that,..
I can Practice MORE and,.. Shoot,.. BETTER !
PS; My UN-Braked, 8 pound, .338 Win. Mag.,.. FLINCH, is ALMOST,.. GONE !
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