Pick my 7mm elk bullet

[rootacres]

So Im building a 7mm wsm (that ship has sailed, this isn't a caliber debate) and working up some loads for it. The first critter I'm chasing this fall will be elk. What bullet should I look at? I have some 168 ABLRs right now that I will use for barrel break in.

What else should I look at? Berger? Barnes? If the ABLRs shoot well I probably won't mess with it. I would like a .6+ BC but its not a deal breaker and a weight north of 160gr.

 

[bigbaddad71]

Imo...? If elk is your primary quarry, stick with the ABLR. Hard stop.

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[KineKilla]

I shoot 160gr Accubonds in my 7mm and have no plans to change.

I load mine over 61grains of RL22 with Gold Medal primers. Standard seating depth. I get 2945fps from my 28" X-Bolt Barrel. Keep in mind that this is in a 7mm Rem Mag, not a WSM.

 

[Dcrafton]

So Im building a 7mm wsm (that ship has sailed, this isn't a caliber debate) and working up some loads for it. The first critter I'm chasing this fall will be elk. What bullet should I look at? I have some 168 ABLRs right now that I will use for barrel break in.

What else should I look at? Berger? Barnes? If the ABLRs shoot well I probably won't mess with it. I would like a .6+ BC but its not a deal breaker and a weight north of 160gr.

What’s your chamber look like? How far do you think you will be able to seat that bullet out


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[rootacres]

What’s your chamber look like? How far do you think you will be able to seat that bullet out


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Its a SAAMI spec chamber, I probably won't mess with the throat initially. Next year I might. The barrel is being built now, so I can't really give you a reference.

 

[LaHunter]

If you plan to stay within 600 yards max hunting range, the 160 grain Accubond is a good choice, and they are fairly easy to develop a good load for. In my experience, these bullets are not super sensitive to seating depth, where some of the vld shaped bullets can be.

 

[rootacres]

If you plan to stay within 600 yards max hunting range, the 160 grain Accubond is a good choice, and they are fairly easy to develop a good load for. In my experience, these bullets are not super sensitive to seating depth, where some of the vld shaped bullets can be.

Good to know. My 300 WSM shot the 180gr accubonds very well.

 

[5MilesBack]

I was always partial to 175gr Swift A-frames #1, and 175gr Nosler Partitions #2 out of my 7mag for elk. They never let me down and they always hit where I wanted them to. They certainly won't meet your BC desires, but they'll put elk down in a hurry.

 

[Dcrafton]

What twist is the barrel


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[rootacres]

What twist is the barrel


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It's a 1:9

 

[6mm Remington]

I think the 160 gr. Accubond would be an excellent choice. All my father ever shot in his 7mm Rem was 160 gr. Partitions (which are never a bad choice) but the 160 gr. Accubond had not been made yet. One 140gr. Accubond at 158 yards from a 280 AI.

 

[MuleyFever]

It's a 1:9

Then you can rule out the Barnes or any mono at that 160+ weight.

A 140 class mono out of a 7wsm will wreck an elk though.

 

[Laramie]

162 Grain ELD-X seems to meet your requirements. We have 2 people in our elk camp shooting them out of different calibers. From our limited experience, performance has been good on cow elk between 200-500 yards.

 

[MThuntr]

143 Hammer Hunters. They'll be moving dang fast and make a short work of just about anything you point them at

 

[letrbuck]

All good suggestions, I'll throw the 150 Swift Scirocco ii in there as well

 

[rootacres]

162 Grain ELD-X seems to meet your requirements. We have 2 people in our elk camp shooting them out of different calibers. From our limited experience, performance has been good on cow elk between 200-500 yards.

I may end up trying the ELD-Xs out. I want to see how the others do. People seem to really like them but in my 300 WSM I couldn't buy a good group. I burned up nearly 100 rounds at different seating depths, charges etc and never achieved accuracy better than the accubonds. This new rifle could easily be the opposite so we will see.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I use 180 Berger Hybrids and have a pile of elk to show for it. You might not have enough twist for them though. I love Berger and I'd be looking at the 168's if I had a slower twist.

If it's not to late in the game you might see if you can get an 8 twist barrel and then you'd be able to use any bullet on the market.

 

[handwerk]

145 Barnes LRX

 

[rootacres]

I use 180 Berger Hybrids and have a pile of elk to show for it. You might not have enough twist for them though. I love Berger and I'd be looking at the 168's if I had a slower twist.

If it's not to late in the game you might see if you can get an 8 twist barrel and then you'd be able to use any bullet on the market.

Yeah, the 180s are probably borderline with a 9 twist. I kinda drew the line in the sand where 168, maybe 175 was the heaviest I would go. The long term plan is to have two rifles, a 7mm small package, and a larger/longer 30 cal. Maybe 30 Nosler or 300 PRC, something like that but for now it's just the 7mm.

 

[WeiserBucks]

7 WSM is more than capable, is it on a long or short action?