Who has moved UP in caliber for elk

[robtattoo]

I jumped from a 6.5 Swede to an ought-six.
That count?

 

[HoodooHunter]

Started with 7mmRem to 300WSM to 7mm08 to 280AI. No reason just continue to switch around. I have a 300WinMag that I've been tinkering with but really find myself preferring the 280AI over everything else.

The 7mm08 and 280AI are staying in active rotation. The others will get repurposed whenever I get very bored (they'll likely live their lives out in the safe as loaners since they're Savage and have little sale or intrinsic value)

How are you liking that 280AI and wha rifle are you using?

 

[Vaultman]

Went from a .270 win to a 300 win. for elk. Not looking back.

No muzzle brake for me.

 

[MedServ60Driver]

I shot my first and only elk in 2020 at 200 yards with a 7mm08. I am stepping up to a 7mm Rem Mag for some extra range, and just as important wind bucking ability.

WIth that said, I had no issues with the 7mm08 and if I grow impatient with my 7RM I'll grab old reliable without a second thought.

 

[bsnedeker]

You guys who are stepping up to more powerful cartridges, are you using muzzle brakes?

No brake for me. I wear a shoulder pad for range sessions.

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[300 win mag]

i believe everything taken into account a 300 mag of your choosing is the best medicine.

 

[MThuntr]

How are you liking that 280AI and wha rifle are you using?

I've been shooting a Kimber Hunter Pro for 3 years now. I really like it.

The 280ai is apparently the new (old) hipster cartridge

 

[Newtosavage]

I shot my first and only elk in 2020 at 200 yards with a 7mm08. I am stepping up to a 7mm Rem Mag for some extra range, and just as important wind bucking ability.

WIth that said, I had no issues with the 7mm08 and if I grow impatient with my 7RM I'll grab old reliable without a second thought.

I'm basically doing the same thing, but going from a 7mm-08 to a long-throated .284 Win in a long action, which is basically the same as a .280ai. I just wanted a little more range with mono's, which don't have the BC that conventional bullets have.

 

[452b264]

If it goes into the heart/lungs they dont go far.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

If it goes into the heart/lungs they dont go far.

But if its a slow small bullet and doesn't then they will

 

[TREE ‘EM]

My progression
308
30/06
338
270 and holding

 

[The Fish Box]

When I first got into the “long range” world maybe ten years ago everyone was preaching heavy rifles, large cartridges and big bullets that would allow for a margin of error on the shooters part along with less influence from atmospheric conditions. Hence my first long range gun was a thirteen or so pound 338 lapua slinging 300 grains of lead. This combo is deadly medicine and a dream to shoot, then I got a little caught up in this pea shooter game and built a fast 6.5 not really light but just shy of eleven pounds all ready to go, this gun along with mono bullets left a little to be desired on a decent bodied mule deer at 600 yards granted bullet construction played a part. I have decide that for “long range” elk this combo ain’t gonna cut it, which led me to my next gun a 300 win mag set up for 200 grain monos running a touch over eleven pounds.

This is a long way of saying I don’t think the light guns and small calibers is the way to go if “long range” is your goal on elk. I don’t consider it “long range” until you get beyond 500 yards.

 

[elkguide]

I do not use a brake except on my .300 RUMs. The .300 Win Mags that I have range in weight from 7.25 pounds to 9.75 pounds but then again, I shoot a lot and while I don't think that anyone really enjoys recoil, other than my first couple of bench sessions once the snow and cold leave, I guess that I just get used to it. I do have a 6.75 pound .300 WSM that even in the middle of the summer, I only will shoot a dozen or so rounds out of it before I've had enough fun.

 

[wyosam]

But if its a slow small bullet and doesn't then they will

If it doesn’t hit the vitals, a big fast bullet wont save you from poor shooting.


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[wyosam]

I’m adding a couple .284s to the stable, not really to fix any “problem”, more because I had an old model 7 243 with a shot out tube (becoming 7-08ai), and a Tikka I wanted to build a custom out of (280ai). The 280 will be capable at a longer range than what I’m currently shooting, but then again they are all capable further than I will shoot game. Overall, I started with 30s and 338s a few decades ago, went smaller a while back with zero issues, now I’m trying the middle ground. I’ve never owned a 7 of any sort before.

I wish the 280 Ackley wasn’t the current cartridge of the month. I’ve been wanting to build one since long before they became a SAAMI cartridge.

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[Desk Jockey]

As an eastern guy and not much of a rifle hunter, I appreciate the perspectives shared. I particularly like the thoughts shared by the guides, who I imagine draw on both their personal experience and that of their clients.

I have taken 3 deer with my 6.5 creed. Two dropped within feet. One quartering single lung, liver shot made it further than I would like but still down under 100 yards. Drawing on that experience and some marginal bow shots I have made, I will be toting my 300 when I am next out west chasing elk.

 

[EmperorMA]

Started with a 270 Win and had good success. All DRT or fell within a few yards of where hit. Got a 270 Wby Mag and all were spectacular DRTs.

Then I got bit by the "bigger/faster/louder" bug and people saying things like, "Greater margin of error" and other stupid notions like that and went up to a .300 Wby Mag. Bulls died but I did have to track a couple that were well-hit and mortally wounded, with lungs, heart and shoulders taken out. One as far as a quarter mile.

Thought that I then had to go even bigger. Got a .338 Win Mag and proceeded to hit two different bulls perfectly, only to have to track both longer than I have ever tracked anything. One was about a mile, where we found him dead, with both shoulders pulverized, both lungs ripped up and his heart with a hole the size of a nickel all the way through it and a large exit wound made by a 250gr NPT. I was lucky to find that bull.

Got a .284 Win and promptly made a DRT kill. Then went to a custom 6.5x284 I had made for mule deer and pronghorn and proceeded to take my largest bull ever with it at 435 yards with a 125gr NPT. That was perhaps the single most spectacular bang/flop I have ever seen.

Then acquired a 7mm-08, .260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor over the years and had very easy elk kills with all of those .... no drama. Latest was a 208 yard shot with a 142gr ABLR from the 6.5 Creedmoor .... bang/flop.

I went bigger, saw less effectiveness and went back to what kills elk best for me. I will probably hunt elk with a 6.5 or .270 of some sort the rest of my days.

EDIT: Adding that I had a .338 Federal for awhile and it absolutely hammered the only elk I shot with it and a 200gr SST.

EDIT: Adding that I don't shoot at game over 600 yards but do practice farther than that. If I did want to shoot to 800 I'd probably do a 6.5 PRC flinging 147-156gr, 7 SAUM flinging 175-180gr or the new 6.8 Western that was recently announced, running 165-175gr bullets.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’m adding a couple .284s to the stable, not really to fix any “problem”, more because I had an old model 7 243 with a shot out tube (becoming 7-08ai), and a Tikka I wanted to build a custom out of (280ai). The 280 will be capable at a longer range than what I’m currently shooting, but then again they are all capable further than I will shoot game. Overall, I started with 30s and 338s a few decades ago, went smaller a while back with zero issues, now I’m trying the middle ground. I’ve never owned a 7 of any sort before.

I wish the 280 Ackley wasn’t the current cartridge of the month. I’ve been wanting to build one since long before they became a SAAMI cartridge.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Haven't you heard? The comeback kid - .284 Win is now the new 7mm cartridge of the month.

I'm getting on board early. Now where's that beard oil and my IPA...

 

[lyle_destroys]

My progression
308
30/06
338
270 and holding

Im going from 300wsm to 270. Just picked it up actually. Im doing a 300 rum for the long range stuff. 270 should get me to 400 pretty easily but most of my shots are under 200

 

[lyle_destroys]

Started with a 270 Win and had good success. All DRT or fell within a few yards of where hit. Got a 270 Wby Mag and all were spectacular DRTs.

Then I got bit by the "bigger/faster/louder" bug and people saying things like, "Greater margin of error" and other stupid notions like that and went up to a .300 Wby Mag. Bulls died but I did have to track a couple that were well-hit and mortally wounded, with lungs, heart and shoulders taken out. One as far as a quarter mile.

Thought that I then had to go even bigger. Got a .338 Win Mag and proceeded to hit two different bulls perfectly, only to have to track both longer than I have ever tracked anything. One was about a mile, where we found him dead, with both shoulders pulverized, both lungs ripped up and his heart with a hole the size of a nickel all the way through it and a large exit wound made by a 250gr NPT. I was lucky to find that bull.

Got a .284 Win and promptly made a DRT kill. Then went to a custom 6.5x284 I had made for mule deer and pronghorn and proceeded to take my largest bull ever with it at 435 yards with a 125gr NPT. That was perhaps the single most spectacular bang/flop I have ever seen.

Then acquired a 7mm-08, .260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor over the years and had very easy elk kills with all of those .... no drama. Latest was a 208 yard shot with a 142gr ABLR from the 6.5 Creedmoor .... bang/flop.

I went bigger, saw less effectiveness and went back to what kills elk best for me. I will probably hunt elk with a 6.5 or .270 of some sort the rest of my days.

EDIT: Adding that I had a .338 Federal for awhile and it absolutely hammered the only elk I shot with it and a 200gr SST.

This stuff is really interesting to me, the "anecdotal" evidence that many people won't accept. Sometimes bc doesn't matter one bit. What bullets were you shooting from the 270? I got some 150gr sierra game kings to try. They have a long history of killing elk.