Best Elk Bullet...

Ok I'm not trying to start anything but here's my experience with Bergers and why I trust accubonds. I have killed my last 9 elk with a 180 or 200 accubond in my .300 win mag. Only two did not exit. One was driven through the front shoulder of a cow elk back towards the hind quarter at a range of 40 yards. I found the perfect mushroom in the opposite hind quarter. The other one that didn't exit was driven into the neck of a front facing bull. The bullet went through the neck into the chest cavity and didn't come out. I have not lost an elk and most only go 30 or so yards.

Now my only experience with bergers was using a 215 hybrid in a .300 win mag on antelope. 1 antelope was shot at 200 yards and the bullet hit a rib (not shoulder) and blew up failing to enter the chest cavity. The animal had to be shot again. The other antelope was shot a 200 yards as well and the bullet performed perfectly. I just can't bring myself to trust them.

Obviously with the accubonds placement is critical as with any other bullet. I usually use the meat saver shot off the shoulder. But have put them directly through the shoulder without trouble.
 
I'll throw my experience in with Berger's out of my 7 mm stw two whitetail does shot . First one was facing me at 175 yards bang flop entrance hole was fist sized and no exit dead centered brisket both shoulders blood shot badly . Really couldn't tell how much penetration actually got but enough .
Second doe the next day was walking and eating when shot kinda almost stepped backwards when gun cracked and almost dead centered shoulder again bang flop both shoulders were pretty well trashed especially the one on the entrance side the other I believe was mostly due to shrapnel both bullet and bone.
Berger's will for sure shoot and kill . Just may not penetrate a lot if bone is hit . Just my opinion
 
You might have well asked what hair color on a woman will best guarantee she's a keeper.
But seriously at ranges under 500 yards if your gun shoots them well and you are looking for a non-bonded copper/lead bullet that penetrates as deep as any other you can not go wrong using a good old fashioned Nosler partition. My firend used the 200 grn to take his first bull and the 180 to take his next two. No bull went past 60 yards.
I now use 225 Nosler Accubonds (better BC than NPART) in my 338wm and have been very happy with them but have only killed 3 elk with them. They were very accurate and performed superbly on the bulls I killed with them. Killed my first bull with a 225 grain Nosler Partition. It went through almost best guess 3' of bull elk before exiting made mush out of everything it went through.
 
crazyhorse said:
As I hit enter and let this thread go, I'm simultaneously taking cover under my desk the way they taught us in grade school in case we got nuked by the Russians!

Seriously, I've used the search function and found tons of helpful info but new technology and bullet offerings drop nearly every week and I'm wanting the most recent opinion of those here who shoot elk on the regular.

I was very fortunate to draw what for me will be a bucket list elk tag in NM this year and I'm likely over thinking this for that reason, but here goes...

Ill be using my customized 300WM M700 w/Bartlein 10t bbl. I was told to expect shots from 50 to 500yds, with 150 to 250 being the most common and elevation ranging from 6500' to 11000'. The rifle shoots the 215 Berger amazingly well with regular fist sized groups @ 1000yds. Will the Berger be a liability under 200yds? I've also started load development with the 181 Sledge Hammers getting sub-moa results on the first outing but worry about its performance if I need to get close to my self imposed max range of 500yds.
I've killed one cow elk about 10 years ago and used a 7RM with 160 Accubonds and a perfect boiler room shot sent her running up the mountain with my only follow up being a texas heart shot stopping her immediately on impact (go figure).

I guess what I'm asking is for the people who hunt/shoot elk the way I do deer, if you get the same opportunity, what bullet are you shooting and why?
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Sounds like you did your homework ! I personally like a 180 gr accubond out of my 300wsm it does the job on elk !
 
clownbuster said:
Honestly, it'll be the one you shoot the best. My daughter killed a cow elk at 280 yards with her 7mm-08 with one Berger 140 VLD. If you put it in the right place it doesn't take a freight train to kill an elk.
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I find the Bergers are great bullets at long range or at lower velocities. I have never shot them at elk, yet I have used them on Mule deer quite a bit. The damage they do to the vitals is tremendous but on close shots with high-velocity cartridges, the bullet comes apart and makes a mess out of the meat on the offside of a deer. I am sure a 180 grain or heavier bullet in 95% of cases with a Berger will do the job, but I still feel more comfortable shooting a bonded or monolithic bullet with elk, especially a big bull just in case the perfect shot changes a bit.
 
Not trying to hijack this thread but I do have a question: throughout the 8 pages of replies I keep reading about monolithic bullets like Nosler E-tips, Barnes and Hammer. I find it odd that nobody seems to use Hornady GMX bullets and I'm curious as to why that is. I ask because 180g GMX bullets shoot well from my 300WM and don't copper foul the barrel as badly as Barnes bullets. TIA for any insight.
 
Russ661 said:
Not trying to hijack this thread but I do have a question: throughout the 8 pages of replies I keep reading about monolithic bullets like Nosler E-tips, Barnes and Hammer. I find it odd that nobody seems to use Hornady GMX bullets and I'm curious as to why that is. I ask because 180g GMX bullets shoot well from my 300WM and don't copper foul the barrel as badly as Barnes bullets. TIA for any insight.
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The GMX works. I found I can't push it as fast because it builds pressure faster for some reason.
 
bobcat19 said:
I'm not sure how long I've been shooting 200 Gr accubonds, ten years I think. I live in western Wyoming and I usually kill two elk per year. And my wife usually gets one, with 140 gr accubonds. I don't use Berger's but my friends use to joke "track better shoot Berger " meaning if you want to learn to track shoot Berger. Accubonds are the best hunting bullet I've ever used, the wounds are completely devastating. I have watched every animal tip over that I have shot with them. I personally don't use a different caliber or rifle for every species. I shoot my 300 rum for everything. Yes for antelope it's overkill but I don't care I use the rifle I like. And FYI I Have 1000 rounds through that rifle with no signs of barrel degradation my FPS remains the same as the last ten years. I don't know anything about hammer bullets and have no reason to spend time developing them. I jumped on the eldx wagon and wasted a lot of time and money trying to make them shoot. In the end I stayed with accubonds and I'm glad I have, I killed a bull elk at 850 yards and he didn't take three steps and crumpled. And yes that my 2 cents
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Bobcat19 I've had your same results for years for both the Accubonds and the 180 TSX's out of my 30-378. For grins, recently I made the decision to try the 181 Hammer Hunters. I received them this past Friday and have done test everyday since with spectacular results at 700 yds. With the identical load I was using for the 180 TSX's I'm dialing in a MOA less in elevation and have shot a group over 2 1/2". I know you said you were good with no reason to change, but call Steve at Hammer and get a sample pack and load them to you to what you're loading now and you may be pleasantly surprised. I've yet to witness first hand how they will compare on game, but with everything I've read and heard, I'm expecting them them to be as good or better than what I've seen with the others. I plan on putting them to the test this year on 10 or so deer here in GA and elk and muleys in CO this November.
 
It is hard to beat the tried & true Nosler Partition. Just because its old technology does not mean it isn't still one of the best. In my opinion it is still the gold standard in hunting bullets.
 
Bonded bullets for hunting especially elk. Such as accubonds, scirocco 2, barnes, or the new federal edge tlr. My family and friends have used barnes tsx and ttsx for a long time and they work great. Best accuracy, performance and retention when elk hunting. Barnes also has the newer lrx with improved BC they just take a little faster twist to stabilize the longer heavier bullets. The only complaint with barnes is the copper fouling, but ive found wipe out to clean that up nicely. Recently we've made the switch to the new federal edge tlr because of the proven expansion and retention from close rangr all the way to 8-900 yards. Not to mention the bonded lead core which makes for less copper fouling in the barrel. In the end you have to shoot what works in you rifle. In my .243 i tried all of the above and the ttsx was the winner. With my 7mm stw I now use the edge tlr.
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