Bullet for elk ?

[Derek M.]

The only 2 deer I've ever lost in over 20 years of hunting with rifle, bow, crossbow, handgun, were shot with Nosler Accubonds. Just sayin.

1 was shot at 45 yards, the other at 98.

 

[Red hunter]

looks like we have run into a Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge. we have the Barnes, Sierra, and Nozzler votes. I guess I will need to do some reading up on the Nozler and the Barnes. I noticed we have not had anyone vote for the Bergers yet.

 

[gillettehunter]

Went to Africa last May and used the 150 gr Barnes TTSX bullets. We killed 2 Kudu, Lechwe Impala Bushbuck and others. I think all were pass throughs. Have not recovered too many in the last few years that I have used then. Good bullets that work well. Elk this fall was a complete pass through and went perhaps 50 yards. Good luck. Bruce

 

[Elkmen]

red hunter

Not exactly, the Barnes is a monolithic bullet, all copper construction, the Partition is a bonded bullet, constructed with a harder lead base, and a nose thats slightly softer whcih allows it to expand and peel back around the base. They are guarenteed to retain 60% of their original weight. They work as stated.
As my earlier post says I have used the Sierra's in the past, as well as the Barnes Original and TSX. The all copper bullets are infamous for deep penetration but not always great expansion. My experience with them has been exactly that.
Lots of people use the Bergers because they are typically very accurate. They are supposidly designed to penetrate a few inches then pretty much expand very rapidly and fragment. There have been more than a few reports of elk particulary, not laying down with a shoulder shot because while the bullet destroyed the shoulder meat and muscle it did not penetrate and break the shoulder bone. They apparently (I have not killed an animal with them) make quite a mess on the inside when they do what they are designed to do.
Thats my take on it with 50+ years in the field and lots of deer and elk on the ground!

 

[Broz]

looks like we have run into a Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge. we have the Barnes, Sierra, and Nozzler votes. I guess I will need to do some reading up on the Nozler and the Barnes. I noticed we have not had anyone vote for the Bergers yet.

You will always get the phard , Checy, dodge thing when you talk bullets on the net. Especially when elk are mentioned. And sometimes you get advice from people that have not even taken an elk, or have only taken one or two. Many comments come from what they have read on the net . Echo, echo, echo.

I will vote for Bergers and I have taken many many elk with them. Over seven this past season. All with my rifles or my sons. Plus several deer and antelope. I know how Bergers work, first hand and we didn't tarck one of these elk. In fact, I never have with bergers, but I sure have with bullets that have the reputation to not expand. I'll leave those brad names out.

The FACT is, with any bullet, you place it bad and YOU have screwed up on an elk. If you do place it poorly your only hope is a follow up shot or you better be using a bullet that both expands and fragments some of its weight off. That is what bergers do. Don't be mislead that the complete bullet goes into pieces. My experience is that it fragments off some and the rest passes through. For this reason and the fact I shoot at sometimes long distances I will choose a heavier weight for elk every time. For you, I recommend you use the 180 Hunting VLD for a 7 mag and do not shoot an elk past 900 yards. And only then if you are confident on great placement. That last line goes for any bullet at these distances. If you keep the shots with your 7mm from zero to 700 yards and put it in the crease behind the shoulder you will be golden. I have found at long distances I have the time to prepair for the shot in most cases. Unless I totally screwed up and spooked the game by walking in the open , skyliing on the way or ignoring the wind currents. Use this time to prepair and calm yourself for the shot. Also try to wait for a complete broadside shot or an angle that exits far shoulder. This is how you get the enjoyment of watching them fall and stay there.

So, you now have the vote for Bergers and from first hand experiences. Below I will post a few pics from this past season. Look for the placement on my sons small bull. It is perfect and the bull never stood up. All of these were Bergers in 30 cal and .338. Distances of 325 yards to past 800.

Above all,, enjoy the experience of hunting elk. Keep your head when the time comes and place it well. Good placement will more than make up for the differences in how each bullet will perform.

Good Luck!!!

Jeff gun)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[6mm Remington]

100 yards recovered from gallon water jugs lined-up.
6mm Rem. 90 gr. E-tip - 30-06 165 gr. Accubond - 6mm Rem. 100 gr. Partition

 

[coloradohtr]

Hi I live in Colorado and have seen many elk shoot with a 7mm Rem Mag. It is a very good elk gun. I have shot bulls with both 160 and 175 Sierra bullets plus 160 Partitions. They all worked very well. In 2010 I shot a large bull with 165 Accubonds at app. 2950 fps. and had to shoot him 5 times with 3 good engine room shots. Most of the hunters here use Winchester SuperX or Remington Core-Lokt factory ammo.

The Colorado DOW wrote in Colorado Outdoors the average bull killed weighs 437 pounds field dressed. You are not hunting 1000 pound animals and 90% of hunters will not see a 700 pound elk on public land. Most 160 or 175 grain bullets with a well placed shot will give you a fast humane kill. Good luck and good hunting.

FYI Retumbo, Ramshot Magnum and IMR 7828 will push a 175 close to 3000 fps. My 7mm has a 26 inch barrel and gets 3024 fps. with 69 grains of Retumbo.

 

[sp6x6]

The long range tv shows, Best of the West, Long range pursuit, and Mcmillians ,Exteme long outdoors or something like that all shoot bergers. Mst of the rifles are large mags. I have seen the 6.5 on there.

 

[Red hunter]

Thanks for all the info and some really good pictures. I will say that at my local range that I shot a clean hole through a 3/8 steel plate with a 150 grain cor lokt at 300 yards out of the 7 mag. On white tail it did its job very well but I did not like the way they grouped at yardages beyound that so i swithed to the sierra game king. I guess I will buy a couple different brands and see what will shoot well out of the rifles and pick one. Heck after spring turkey season there is nothing to do but load and shoot paper. Thanks again for your input.

 

[sp6x6]

As a dedicated elk junke I go big. I hung up my 7RM 20 years ago. Can I kill elk with less, yes. First 2 bulls where with my 243. I lost a bull 20 yrs. ago before the technology w/7mm and picked up a 340 WM. I was pushing the smaller bullet to far, when better stuff was there.I want my best chance on a elk of a lifetime and this is LR. I want the right package for the once in a lifetime bull. I do the same in archery, I have a dedicated elk set up.

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

True that sp6x6, I went to a bigger caliber after a few elk didn't go down on the first shot with a 7mm with 175 gr nosler partition, as for berger's and match kings, I've seen first hand that they were definitely not made for close range hunting, I would never recommend them for some one wanting an all around hunting rifle that he or she maybe was gonna shoot a long shot every once and a while, I would say use the nosler accubond, hornady interbond, swift scirocco, just to name a few. And I would also say shoot the biggest caliber you are comfortable and accurate with and run with it and shoot a well constructed HUNTING bullet and don't look back, this is just my opinion and not in any way the only way it has to be, i am sure other guys on here have had different results wich is the way it is, this is just my 2 cents. Shoot a good bullet and put it through both shoulders and you won't be tracking them. Good luck

 

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

EK338, good advice..too bad more do not follow it..I cannot for the life of me see shooting big game with less than an ideal caliber and bullet..in years past, people had to make do with what they had, but that is not the situation today...I prefer a good heavy caliber rifle for antelope, deer, elk, bear,etc. too much can go wrong between the shot and impact not to have the best we can shoot or afford...when we follow our silly follies using less than adequate calibers and bullets, it is the game that suffers...most prefer not to think of that....

sp6x6, sounds like you are on the right trail for elk ...while I have both a .340 and 375 H & H, most of my elk hunting is done with a hot .30 cal..the .340 does a fine job, just don't see much diff. between it and the .30's...but I usually shot 225's in the 340..most of my elk hunting is done in fairly open country, but I seldom shoot much over 400 yards, prefer to be close if I can...I usually hunt alone, so do not have a spotter....When I was working and time was limited, and I really needed the meat to make ends meet, I shot several elk at 600 plus..Now I have the chance to hunt everyday, all day if needed, and some prime country to hunt in...makes a whole lot of difference in what I need to do..also, with the abundance of cow permits or any elk seasons, I seldom shoot a bull..fat cows make such fine table fare, and I have little room left for elk horns on my wall, and the shop is also full...good hunting....

 

[mapsjanhere]

I used a Barned 168 gr TTSX from a 308 this year, shot through a 6x6 elk lengthwise. Elk dropped on the spot.

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

barnes bullets will do that considering there basicly a solid with a little hole in the end of them or covered in a polymer tip,good bullet choice pretty impressive for a little 308. i've done the same thing with a 225 gr accubond at 3255 fps out of my 338 RUM, man i love rifles with serious horse power. I cant remember what forum it was in on here, but it floored me, it was john burns and a teen age girl hunting elk with a 243 and a 105 gr berger, WT*,,,,,, im sure that im gonna catch some real flack for this, and i dont care but i gotta say somthing, since we are on the topic of REAL ELK BULLETS, ya it was a good shot, ya she had Burns coatching her, ya she hit it DIRECTLY IN THE SPINE, and yes it went down, BUT now give that same shot to a person that saw the video and now assumes he or she can go out and buy a 243 and throw some 100 gr bergers in it, throw a half decent scope on it and call it an elk rifle, put a not very experienced shooter behind it, throw a 5-15 mph varying from left to right wind into the equasion, and all i see is absolute dissaster, and a bunch of wounded elk with target bullets in there guts, John burns is a good shot dont get me wrong, case in point suppose we have a 243 win that you can actually get 3000 fps with a 105 gr berger, at 700 yards it has roughly 7-800 foot pounds of energy and nearly 30" of wind drift with 10 mph wind and 90" of bullet drop if zeroed at 200 yards.....now compare that to a 338 ultra 3200fps, 225 gr accubond zeroed at 200, 70" of drop, 20" of wind drift, OK OK OK now most of you are sayin "well thats not that much of a difference" ya its not, except the fact that the 225 gr bullet has 2500 foot pounds of energy on impact and is still traveling 2250 fps, i would rather have a bullet with over a ton of energy hit behind the ribs cause of the wind than one with just a little more than a quarter of that. Now im not rying to say that everybody should go out and by a super magnum and throw some huge peices of lead down range, everybody should shoot the biggest gun that there comfortable with wether its a 6.5-284 or a 338 Allen magnum, it all still comes down to bullet placement and lots of practice, LOTS, all im saying is if you are going to get into the long range game, dont just watch some video of some random person shooting a cow elk at 700 yards with a varmit gun and target bullets...i mean 243 win (sorry if you think the 243 is a perfect long range elk cartridge) do your research, ask around, ask questions on here, heck there are more guys on this site that have killed animals over 500 yards then you can shake a stick at, and they are all very helpfull and very knowlegeable, so dont feel as if there is no help out there, get the biggest gun you can comfortable shoot at long distance with a good well constructed bullet and practice alot, and only take those shots if your a 150% sure you can make a good hit on that given animal, we all owe it to them to do so ... just my 2 cents