7mm-08 120 gr Ballistic Tip on Elk?

[SloppyJ]

Bullets do weird stuff.

It’s not like I don’t have any elk hunting experience.

Last week…
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Not taking anything away from you man. I just don't strictly agree with your terminal ballistics hypothesis.

I've done it too but I think the blame gets put on the bullet for splashing or exploding when the shot wasn't as good as it should have been.

Hey, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla. Do your thing!

 

[Scorpion]

Ballistic tips suck on elk. They have thin jackets. They will work at close range, but there are too many better options to use them. Why do you want to possibly set her up for failure?

Wrong. The 120 grain BT has a much heavier jacket than most BT’s, it performs very well. I’d use it on elk with no concerns.

OP - look up Steve Tim. Old gun writer that used the 120 a lot. Killed a bunch of elk with it, usually out of a 280 AI.

 

[butcherboy]

My daughter is 16 yo and will be 17 yo when elk hunting. She has a fair amount of hunting experience with success harvesting deer, turkey, and bear. I am fairly confident in her shooting ability, however, this will be her first elk experience. There will be a self imposed range limit of 250-300 yards.

She has experience shooting .243, 7mm-08, .308 Win, and 20 gauge (TSS & Slugs).

I’m still trying to decide if there is a potential advantage to a heavier (140 or 150) bullet with elk. I am leaning towards trying a 140 or 150 at the range to see how both my daughter and the gun shoot it.

My daughter and the gun do shoot the 120’s really well.

If she is 17 when the elk hunt starts I would opt for the heavier accubond. I shoot the 140 grain accubond out of my 270 WSM for everything. Last elk I killed with a rifle was a cow at almost 500 yards blew through her and broke the offside leg. Down in 20 and rolled down the hill another 15 yards or so. My son is 13 and used the same rifle last year on his elk hunt when he was 12.

 

[freddyG]

Wrong. The 120 grain BT has a much heavier jacket than most BT’s, it performs very well. I’d use it on elk with no concerns.

OP - look up Steve Tim. Old gun writer that used the 120 a lot. Killed a bunch of elk with it, usually out of a 280 AI.

It does have a bit heavier jacket. Much heavier is a stretch. If you coat a turd in chocolate, it’s still a turd.

 

[MoeFaux]

To no one's surprise, you're getting a lot of mixed reviews. I'm actually surprised nobody's chimed in yet to tell you she should be shooting a suppressed a 223 instead of that old, over-bored Fudd gun she's got

In all seriousness, though, it sounds like YOU'RE a bit uneasy with the 120's. So I say you load up something heavier and take it to the range. If the gun and shooter perform with the heavier pill, then put your mind at ease and take them both hunting!

. . . and come back to post pics of her first elk!

 

[jazz3ring]

To no one's surprise, you're getting a lot of mixed reviews. I'm actually surprised nobody's chimed in yet to tell you she should be shooting a suppressed a 223 instead of that old, over-bored Fudd gun she's got

In all seriousness, though, it sounds like YOU'RE a bit uneasy with the 120's. So I say you load up something heavier and take it to the range. If the gun and shooter perform with the heavier pill, then put your mind at ease and take them both hunting!

. . . and come back to post pics of her first elk!

I’m leaning towards getting some 140 AB and some 150 ELD-X or 150 ABLR and seeing how the gun and my daughter shoot those.

 

[7RemMag]

Looks like it’s been mentioned a few times already, but if you’re dead set on a 120 gr projectile maybe try some 120 gr Barnes TTSX’s.

Another thought here… It seems recoil is a concern but you have a suppressor and a .308. If you have a .30 cal can why not put it on the .308 and have her run that?

I’m a 7mm fanboy for sure, but inside the ranges you proposed, a .308 is going to perform very similarly, and you’re going to have the added advantage of a larger diameter. Just a thought anyway…

 

[Steve O]

Wrong. The 120 grain BT has a much heavier jacket than most BT’s, it performs very well. I’d use it on elk with no concerns.

OP - look up Steve Tim. Old gun writer that used the 120 a lot. Killed a bunch of elk with it, usually out of a 280 AI.

Correct. The 120g 7mm Btip is a tougher bullet than the 140. It was designed that way. I believe it is “Timms”

 

[jazz3ring]

Looks like it’s been mentioned a few times already, but if you’re dead set on a 120 gr projectile maybe try some 120 gr Barnes TTSX’s.

Another thought here… It seems recoil is a concern but you have a suppressor and a .308. If you have a .30 cal can why not put it on the .308 and have her run that?

I’m a 7mm fanboy for sure, but inside the ranges you proposed, a .308 is going to perform very similarly, and you’re going to have the added advantage of a larger diameter. Just a thought anyway…

I’m not dead set on using 120’s. The gun is currently set up using 120 BT’s for whitetail hunting and just trying to decide if there is a potential advantage to using 140’s or 150’s for elk compared to the 120 BT.

Using the 120 BT would save me some time and money not having to buy 140’s and/or 150’s and sight the gun in with those. However, with that being said, my daughter being successful is much more important to me than the time or money invested into switching to 140’s or 150’s.

We (myself & daughters) used copper (TTSX) in the past and have switched to more frangible lead bullets in the last couple of years and I want to stick with lead for this elk hunt. We never lost an animal with the TTSX but had small entry & exit holes which usually required 50-100 yard tracking jobs. These were all double lung hits.

I’m taking 2 of my daughters on this hunt. My oldest daughter will be using the .308 (suppressed) with 168 TMK’s. My 16 yo daughter will be using the 7mm-08 (suppressed).

 

[7RemMag]

I’m not dead set on using 120’s. The gun is currently set up using 120 BT’s for whitetail hunting and just trying to decide if there is a potential advantage to using 140’s or 150’s for elk compared to the 120 BT.

Using the 120 BT would save me some time and money not having to buy 140’s and/or 150’s and sight the gun in with those. However, with that being said, my daughter being successful is much more important to me than the time or money invested into switching to 140’s or 150’s.

We (myself & daughters) used copper (TTSX) in the past and have switched to more frangible lead bullets in the last couple of years and I want to stick with lead for this elk hunt. We never lost an animal with the TTSX but had small entry & exit holes which usually required 50-100 yard tracking jobs. These were all double lung hits.

I’m taking 2 of my daughters on this hunt. My oldest daughter will be using the .308 (suppressed) with 168 TMK’s. My 16 yo daughter will be using the 7mm-08 (suppressed).

140 gr CX seem to do pretty well in the 7mm-08 as well if you end up opting for a heavier projectile.

I’m curious, in the past were you using light-for-caliber bullets when using the monolithics? In my experience, when using monos driven fast, the result is almost always a complete pass through, generally plenty of organ/tissue damage, and a pretty sizable exit hole.

When people complain about monos they typically cite the same reason you do, and I have to wonder how much of that is caused by “misuse” of the projectile. In my experience, that is usually the root of their problems. Not saying that is the case with you, and not trying to be a smartass. Just genuinely curious.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

I used the 140 BT in a 7-08 this year. Good size cow, sub 100 yard shot, 2 shots. I don't remember my exact MV, it's around 2700ish. As far as I could tell, very little damage. At least not nearly as much as I was lead to believe I'd have for using such and fragile and "explosive" bullet. Lungs had a clean little hole through them, no massive entrance or exit. I may use them again on elk, I may not. I'll probably shoot a few more deer with them before I decide, just to see if the lack of damage I saw on the elk was a fluke.

FWIW, there are many good reports on the 120 BT in 7mm if you Google it and check the forums. I'd have no problem using it. Only reason I opted for 140s is my gun shot them really well and I didn't want to mess with changing it.

 

[jazz3ring]

140 gr CX seem to do pretty well in the 7mm-08 as well if you end up opting for a heavier projectile.

I’m curious, in the past were you using light-for-caliber bullets when using the monolithics? In my experience, when using monos driven fast, the result is almost always a complete pass through, generally plenty of organ/tissue damage, and a pretty sizable exit hole.

When people complain about monos they typically cite the same reason you do, and I have to wonder how much of that is caused by “misuse” of the projectile. In my experience, that is usually the root of their problems. Not saying that is the case with you, and not trying to be a smartass. Just genuinely curious.

My mono experience is with 80 grain .243 TTSX and 150 grain .308 Win. TTSX. Both loads were Barnes factory loads. All shots were 100 yards or less (most under 50 yards) and broadside double lung hits (no bone). In general, the .243 shot deer required longer tracking jobs than the .308 shot deer with most/all deer traveling 50-100 yards before expiring.

The tracking jobs were shorter when my daughters were younger and using Hornady Custom Lite (reduced recoil) 87 grain SST .243 and 125 grain SST .308 loads compared to the TTSX loads.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

There’s a reason threads on lighter calibers and iffy bullets come up so often. They just aren’t the best choice.

That said, if you have confidence and understand the limitations of the bullet and are prepared to get into positions necessary to make a clean kill, more power to you.

I have 3 boys and they all shoot magnums at elk and have since they were 12 and no elk have walked away.