Best Elk Bullet for 300 win mag?

[Nomosendero]

180 Nosler accubond or other quality built hunting bullet. Not a fan at all of the Berger actual on game performance.

Was your experience with the 300WM on Elk, in part. with the 210 or 215 ?

 

[Phillygunner]

Whichever one you can confidently put one into the heart and lungs from whatever distance your comfortable and confident. Pretty much any bullet that reaches the vitals successfully is going to ruin your elks day.

 

[Phillygunner]

Having said that, I love the Berger 215 Hybrids, The 230 Hybrid Target and The 230 OTM. It's a toss up between the 215 Hybrid and the 230 OTM. Both shoot spectacularly in my rifle. And They are lights out on All North American game.

 

[Saracen]

A buddy just bought a tikka t3 lite 300 win mag. He is hoping to develop it into a long range elk rifle. I'm a fan of big pills, so I told him to try 200 accubonds or the 210 accubond LR. But I have also seen the devastation a 180 TSX can do. I think he likes the sound of the 190 bergers. He is open to ideas, so what do you guys think his best bet is?

Thanks in advance.

Go with Berger 230 OTM Hybrids, or failing that 215's.

 

[dougduey]

I've got a Sako 75 chambered in 300 WSM, so very similiar. It has a 1:11 twist, too. I've used the 180 gr Accubond for years and it killed every bull or cow elk I shot with it. That being said, I decided to try the 200 gr ELDX when it first came out. It's very accurate in my rifle and had no issues with the twist rate and stability. It gave me my most dramatic kill on a bull elk last year. Shot placement was perfect, and that elk looked like he got hit by lightning. Back legs gave out, head snapped back, and he was dead before he hit the ground. I was very pleased with the performance of the bullet. Had a friend shoot a monster whitetail with the 178 gr ELDX out of his 308 and he had the same results

 

[4xforfun]

Since last posting on this thread THREE YEARS AGO I have since switched from the 210 Berger VLD to the 215 Berger Hybrid in my 1-11 twist tubes. All shot at around 1000 feet elevation in temps ranging from -10 to 90 degrees. 300 WBY and 300 WSM. All three are HAMMERS!!

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

With a 1-11 twist and wanting to be able to stretch out to 600 yards, I'd advocate for the 190 Accubond Long Range or ELD-X in the 178-212 range.

 

[300sendero]

Isn't the mag length on a tikka limit you to 3.45 or less? I can't remember exactly. Any body run into issues with not enough case capacity because of seating depth?

 

[KyCarl]

Think old school..Nosler 200 Gr.Partitions..They work..

 

[Draftmule]

Pre fall loaded nearly every 180 - 220 30 cal bullet in my new built 300. Really was hoping for 210s but my barrel just liked regular 200 Accubonds too much. This years bull striding out just before summit just dropped when hit at 360 and rolled 100 yards down hill for less packing.

 

[Mike 338]

Elk hide gets pretty thick, starting at the shoulder and moving up the neck. Some shots require you poke through a tough spot. Something over 200 gr. and bonded or a copper mono will give good penetration. Or... almost anything 180 gr. and up, placed behind the shoulder in the heart/lung area.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

OP mentioned 180 TSX back in the day. I no longer shoot a 300 WM but when I did I was killing elk and mulies with 190 Berger's. I never tried anything else because they shot so well. I now find myself being an armchair quarterback and a fence sitter. I can't argue with the terminal results of the Berger's, because they killed everything I pointed them at. With that, I never really liked the way they did it. There was so much fragmentation if bullet and none that any bullet placed anywhere near a shoulder resulted in lost meat. Again, it anchored critters without issue.

Now I shoot a 7 RM and purposely worked on different recipes of Barnes bullets. The 150 TTSX shoot 1/2 minute and match my BDC Reticle perfectly out to 700 (top of post on my vx6). It also shoots the 139 LRX really well, but not a perfect match to my reticle. I chose the Barnes after reading about so many folks trusting them in Africa. I have no intentions of going to Africa but relying on accounts from folks that have seems like a good place to start. Elk are tough animals, possibly among the toughest to take down in NA (everyone says moose die easily and don't run as far, Browns/grizz seem to just roll over unless they are trying to eat you, but elk can suck up some punishment).

This year, after my Alaska blacktail Hunt I decided to do some more practicing before my elk hunt. I shot up all of my 150 loads so I loaded 60 more. Went back out to verify that these loads matched my last and things were NOT good. Groups were all over the place. Some shots showed pressure even though I hadn't adjusted powder or any other variables. With no time to figure out what the issue was, I bought a few boxes of factory 139 LRX (150 TTSX sold out - go figure). Verified drops at range and decided I'd just limit myself to 400 since I didn't have time to really get settled in and confident with the sudden mid-season switch. Shot my bull at 360. I hit him top 1/3 of lungs on shot 1, just behind shoulder. He didn't go down so I hit him again, just under spine. That dumped him and he died. I was happy with the performance and nonexistent meat loss.

I also shot a black bear, blacktail and mulie with the-50 TTSX this year, all one shot hits. I'm very pleased with Barnes. They don't have the sexy BC of Berger's but they are effective.

Just my $.02

 

[JTB]

Only shot one large bull with a tikka 300 WM but used a Berger 200gr hybrid target. One shot and drop. Hit just behind the shoulder and left 2 exit holes opposite side about 6 inches apart. Obviously separated but did a nice job at 150 yards. The bullet was seated to the ogive in order to fit in the magazine but we were able to get 2850. Ended up using the tikka action for a short action cartridge; it seems to be what it was designed for.

 

[excaliber]

It depends on the range. Out to 500 yards it's hard to beat an 180-200 Accubond