High Ballistics Coefficients Means Squat on Elk?

[Hunter Hicks]

IMO if you are shooting 300 yards and in it is very hard to dismiss the good old Remington core-lokts 140 or 150 Grain FACTORY ammo.

@trophyhill looks like you may have went on tour cow hunt how did it go?​

 

[fmyth]

IMO if you are shooting 300 yards and in it is very hard to dismiss the good old Remington core-lokts 140 or 150 Grain FACTORY ammo.

@trophyhill looks like you may have went on tour cow hunt how did it go?​

I shot my spike last year with a 180 Core-Lokt out of a .300WM at (iirc) 200 yards. It was a bang flop. I did hit a little too close to the near side shoulder and lost a little meat.

 

[Hunter Hicks]

I shot my spike last year with a 180 Core-Lokt out of a .300WM at (iirc) 200 yards. It was a bang flop. I did hit a little too close to the near side shoulder and lost a little meat.

nice work, as they say deadliest mushroom in the woods

 

[trophyhill]

IMO if you are shooting 300 yards and in it is very hard to dismiss the good old Remington core-lokts 140 or 150 Grain FACTORY ammo.

@trophyhill looks like you may have went on tour cow hunt how did it go?​

Indeed! Unfortunately my rifle cow hunt was shortened dramatically. I had a 16E (Gila) tag. This is the first time my InReach was used for its intended purpose. My GF texted me late last night that my dog was attacked thru the chain link kennel that they stay in when I’m not home. She had went to check on them a couple nights ago when the attacking dog ran off. There is just enough of a gap between the gate to fit a dogs muzzle and my healer obviously wasn’t backing down. However she got the worst of it and the wounds got infected. I packed up and came home after 2 days. I will pick her up in the morning from the vet. They sowed her upper lip up and cleaned and sowed her wounds up on her snout and should make a full recovery.

Newberg was right about 16E. It is one tough unit to hunt. I covered many miles including 10+ yesterday in some brutally rugged country and felt my age last night asking myself “why do I subject my body to this thing they call elk hunting”? I keep coming back to “God I Love Elkhunting” there’s no other reason

 

[Comerade]

I didn't read all the posts but have used most all bullets available, so.e very fine , very costly bullets, bullets spun on a cnc lathe, vld style etc and I just default to the Nosler Partition. They always work, alway have and are still the gold standard all others are measured against. Elk are our primary game animal here, for lighter game a premium bullet is not neccessary, imo

 

[isocyanate]

I'm no expert, but my elk hunting area is always windy. I shoot high BC bullets because I figure my wind calls need all the help I can get. Not a dealbreaker, though.....

Woods has it right. I wouldn’t make compromises in terminal performance just for slicker aerodynamics, but higher BC bullets perform better in the wind.
That said, it’s 140 gamekings at 2900 for me. Shoot enough and it’s like throwing a football.

 

[jzeblaz]

It’s been an interesting past couple weeks since I have gotten back into the rifle game. And this is only out of necessity as I failed in September with my bow, and did not draw a NM archery tag. The necessity part is, I need meat! So back in April when I found out I didn’t draw a tag, I immediately bought a landowner cow rifle tag.

This meant I now had to buy a rifle. I thought I could go down to the local gun shop or just order what I wanted from Ruger. Boy was I wrong. This led me down a path with many rabbit holes. My rifle of choice would have been a Ruger M77 7 Rem Mag. Before I started bowhunting, I slayed mucho deer with that gun. But it is no longer available unless you buy used. And some of the prices I was seeing were 3-4 times the amount I had paid for a new rifle in 1995, for a used and abused gun!

I ended up doing a little homework and the choice was easy after talking to some folks. A lot easier than picking a bullet. Back then I’d load up a magazine with Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silver Tips and go kill deer. With most everyone sold out of ammo, I was now led down the path with all those rabbit holes because I’ve had to buy ammo I’ve never even heard of before. That’s how long it’s been. And the last thing I want to do is wound and not recover.

For example I’ve found a few boxes of Federal Non Typical 150gr ammo. A couple boxes Barnes Vor-TX LR 140gr. A half box of Hornady 139 SST left over from many years ago. 1 box of Federal Fusion 150gr. And I have 2 Federal Trophy Bonded 160gr coming. So these are my choices and I will have to make a decision and live with the outcome in a few weeks.

What I have is the Hells Canyon Speed 7 Rem Mag. There are tons of videos out there. Just google 7 MM Rem Mag Bullets for Elk and see what pops up.

For a beginner and someone who has never hunted elk, or the impressionable and naive, I believe there is a lot of bad information being pushed out there on what bullets are suited for killing elk. Particularly those long range target thin jacketed bullets being billed as the next best thing since sliced bread.

Hopefully some of the experienced elk killers with a rifle can or will chime in on the subject. I am certainly no ballistics aficionado on the subject, but I would think that 1500-2000 # of energy would be the minimum on what you want to feel confident. I have no doubt my rifle will do what I need to “git er done” out to 4 or 500 yards with more practice, but for now I will limit my shots to 300 yards because I know what I need to do with my scope at 300 to make hopefully a quick kill.

I’m not asking what bullet to use. My choice will be between the Federal Trophy Bonded 160 gr or the Barnes Vor-TX 140 gr. I’ve also read and heard good things about Nosler Partitions but they are scarce too.

What ammo are you using for elk, and why?

In my 280 Remington I've used 168 LRX on bull elk and 168 Berger Hunting on cow elk. Bull dropped right there and I gave him and insurance shot to ensure he didn't run. Both were recovered and showed great expansion and weight retention at the 80 yard hit.

Cow elk went a few yards and fell over from three 220 yard shot. Bullet was not recovered. I tend to prefer the lead free options and I'm working up loads using Hammer Hunter bullets.

 

[specneeds]

I agree with your results and they make sense. What I do not understand is why hunters want their bullets to still be in one piece after entering the animal. Since I don't really need the vitals and am looking for meat, so what if the bullet grenades. This increases the wounds to the animal and they seem to die quicker.

However, that is kinda secondary to the most important point, accuracy. A well placed shot will drop the animal, period. I see a lot of people shooting magnums who have questionable to horrible accuracy. No matter how you slice it, heavier recoiling rifles reduce accuracy.

Not sure where to start on your reply - yes all bullets will kill elk & broadside slipped between the ribs soft target bullets are great. I seldom have them pose waiting for me perfectly broadside but if you hunt high fence or farmland elk I’m sure you could take your time. Lead bullet fragments destroy & contaminate meat. I want every pound of the animal possible turned into delicious meals.

I understand in today’s soy latte, 6.5 is plenty, isn’t my hunting outfit cute generation that magnum recoil is seen as evil but not everyone wears lace panties at the range. If you plan to shoot 30 times at an elk recoil is a factor- for one shot not at all. A stout bullet lets you reach the vitals through bone, it gets you 2 holes for blood trails, holds up on high velocity close range shots & penetrates deeper so raking shots become ethical shots. My 16 year old grandson handles 300 magnum recoil without thinking about it & is good to 600 yards on deer vitals size targets with it using a 180 grain TTSX. I’ve killed elk with frangible bullets but after one blew up on the ribs of a big bull and it covers 600 yards before dying they aren’t elk bullets for me or anyone I reload for these days.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I wish Nosler would come out with a tipped partition bullet. That would be the ultimate cup/core hunting bullet IMO.

The exposed lead tip is very soft and deforms easily. I’ve seen this cause erratic accuracy issues so I use them sparingly even though they are by far my favorite hunting bullet of all times.

And I want a pass through shot every time. 2 holes leak more blood than one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[AaronMColeman]

I started shooting nosler e-tip the last year or so....out of necessity, couldn't find any other hunting bullets for a particular rifle.

Amazingly accurate, easy to build a bullet that is the exact same length every time. The BC is a bit lower than other rounds I've played with in the same weight range. So, good consistent bullet makes more sense for me than BC. I'll shoot out to 500y in the field at an elk so I'm not sure if that is far enough for BC to matter, but I am a fan of consistent bullets with a tip the same length every time.