7mm-08 for elk?

[hunting1]

The 7-08 is a great round! Load the 140 gr of choice and kill stuff. My favorite is when this caliber is recommended for young hunters and woman but bounces off elk when men use it. It works and works well.

 

[Kimber7man]

Shot a cow with mine and Nosler factory 140 grain e-tip ammo a couple years ago. 370 yards and blew through both lungs. Took her about 30 seconds and she rolled down the hill.

Yeah, the 7-08 will get it done!

 

[CMF]

On which part?

He was referring that on a tikka you can change the "effective" action length by swapping out the bolt stop. Turning a tikka 7mm-08 from a short action to long action gives reloading options to seat heavy bullets without taking up case capacity. You would need difference magazines to hold the longer bullets as well.

I did this with my tikka in 308, shooting the 175 LRX near 2800 FPS

Answers my question

 

[Aubs8]

The 7-08 is a great round! Load the 140 gr of choice and kill stuff. My favorite is when this caliber is recommended for young hunters and woman but bounces off elk when men use it. It works and works well.

I would personally recommend whatever caliber someone feels comfortable and confident shooting out to their max range (normally that is related to recoil)...I do believe "bigger is better" to the point of consistency. For me, I have done well with with my .300 wm...I am also sure my 13 year old daughter would not have done so well and probably would have bagged the hunt altogether if I made her practice with my .300...I did a lot of research and am lucky enough to have had some options for her...personally, if I were only to own one gun for hunting especially being from the Northeast, it would be 7mm-08. Very versatile, good ballistics and manageable recoil.

The OP asked about the 7mm-08 on elk...my experience was it killed a nice bull at 330 yards...my daughter pulled the trigger...I would have been carrying my .300 WM for elk.

Mike

 

[Spartans171]

I’m looking at a 7mm-08 as a dual purpose rifle. Looking for opinions about using this caliber for Elk.

Definitely will do the job.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I love the 7-08 for elk.

I like the 120 TTSX best in the 7-08, but have seen them go down to the 140 TTSX and 140 accubond as well.

My son even killed his bison with the 150 TSX out of the 7-08.

Great cartridge.

 

[Don1969]

I’m looking at a 7mm-08 as a dual purpose rifle. Looking for opinions about using this caliber for Elk.

Isn't 7 mm kinda light for such a big animal

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[Short Track]

I killed my 2 Elk with 7mm-08. 140g Nosler Partition. They don't go very far.

 

[Blacktail22]

Great calibre

 

[MuleyFever]

Isn't 7 mm kinda light for such a big animal

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You are joking right?

 

[roadrunner]

Paired with the right bullet for maximum (optimized) downrange performance and it will do wonders.

Check into the long-range offerings in both Hornady and Nosler. My go to for my 6.8mm-.06 (aka .270) is the Accubond Longrange in 150 gr.

 

[steeleywhopper]

My wife uses my 7mm-08 Mountain Rifle shooting factory Hornady 139 grain GMX bullets. These rounds have dropped a 7x7 Roosevelt bull in his tracks and a Spilke Roosevelt bull in his tracks. longest shot was 140 yards. I have not seen any reason to get her a larger caliber rifle due to her ability to drop elk in their tracks with it.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Isn't 7 mm kinda light for such a big animal

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Well an informal poll just from this thread (so far) regarding actual Roksliders reporting actual field experience of elk kills vs. failures with the 7-08:

Hunters that report that 7-08 kills elk: 7

Hunters that report that 7-08 won’t kill elk: 0

Seems like consensus at least on this thread that the caliber isn’t too light.

 

[mtnbiker208]

I like the 140 accu-bonds in my 7-08 and have shot 19 elk with mine since 2013. Ranges from 30 yards to 622.

Matter of fact I've shot 4 with it in 2020.

This one just yesterday, pass through at 160 yards tight behind the shoulder went 10 yards and done.

The 7-08 is a mean little round...seen it.

buzz is a fricken predator!

 

[nitrobro2]

I fully intend to hunt elk this fall with my 7mm-08. I've had the rifle for about 15 years and have taken as many deer with it. Most ammo will have 1500 ft/lbs of energy at 300 yds. I don't practice much beyond 300, but I should. Some will always say more is better, but I think it's far from careless to use a 7mm-08 on elk. I'll go with tried, trusted and accurate!

 

[Ram94]

Worked up a 500 yard elk load this summer for my 7mm-08. Shooting the same bullet I had been using in 7RM for years.

162gr ELD leaving at 2750 fps will do the trick.

 

[Ron.C]

I use a 7mm-08 with 140g Barnes TTSX for everything including elk. Works just fine.

 

[Ttodler21]

What’s the longest ethical shot with this caliber?

 

[Jon Boy]

What’s the longest ethical shot with this caliber?

~15% less than a 7 rem mag

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[waitforit]

Most premium factory rounds will offer 1300-1500 ft-lbs of energy at 400 yards and using a premium bullet designed to expand at that range/speed will give good results (terminal ballistics / performance). I think 400 yards is not unreasonable.

With handloading, one could probably push to 450-500 yards. I don't doubt some can place shots at 600+ yards that deliver great results but that is farther than I practice out to. In any case, make sure that the bullet you choose will perform at the impact speed for the range you intend to shoot at. For example - some bullets will not reliably expand under 1800 FPS and I would not consider that ethical even if you can hit the spot you are aiming at.

EDIT: Almost forgot. Took at bull at 175 yards with the 7mm08 last year shooting accubond 140s.. I am positive he was dead on his feet after the first shot but I had 2 more and he was still vertical so I sent 'em...