Best Cal for a Elk Rifle

[Bob259]

I know McAlice will say the 7-08, but any other good cal's for Elk. (My friend asking is in Colorado) I have a 7MM Mag I've used in the past.

[shakes]

Funny you should ask. There's a article in the latest American Hunter magazine about the "best caliber for elk". I'll give you the somewhat short version. the author started by saying, We all know a .30-06 will kill an elk, so will a 270, so will a 7-08 and a 243 if placed in the right spot in the hands of a capable hunter. His arguement was, do you want to be tracking the damm thing to hell and back and possibly in the dark or do you want the elk to drop in his tracks or at best not make it 100 yards from where you shot him. Any caliber past a .338 magnum is "drop him in his tracks" type cartridge. The author also submitted a few of his favorite custom loads in the article as well. The whole gist of the article was any gun can be a elk gun in the right hands it's how far do you want the elk to run before he falls over dead.

[Bob Mc Alice]

7-08 for elk ? Adequate, but not best. This is a tough question to answer. There are many caliber/cartridge combinations that work equally well with proper bullets and correct placement. A good rifle shot could get by with a .243 and 100 gr.bullets. My wife has done it. She uses a M70 featherweight in .308 with 165gr. Speer hot core for antelope, deer and elk now.

With out trying to sound like one of the many hunting magazine "experts"..... big, fast and heavy bullets don't make up for poor bullet placement. I would suggest at minimum a .30-06 with 180 to 200 gr. Scirrocos or the Barnes TSX in a factory loaded round or better yet a .338 Win mag, with similarly constructed bullets. Keep shots to 300 yds. or less and put the bullet where the animal lives.....the lungs.

My own elk gun is a first model M70 stainless push feed 24" .30-06 with a 3.5-10X Leupold. The load is 56.0 grs. I4350 with a 180 Nosler Ballistic Tip. Some will argue this is a light elk combination. It has not failed me. As silhouette shooters, we have no problem making good , fatal shots on game animals.

Shakes, the latest American Rifleman has an article suggesting hunters look at going to 150 gr. 30 cal. copper solids such as the TSX for elk. Good reading with merit.

We will be out again in December filling two cow tags......hopefully.

[Jim Beckley]

I think that a 7mm Mag will work just fine. I had a 7mm Mag at one time and got rid of it, way to much gun for me, I would load that puppy up with a 160gr Nosler Partition and I would say that that combo would drop anything with hair.

[Mt_Medic31]

Like everyone above says, it's all about placement.
I use a 300wsm, with 165 grain A-max. FAST bullet, accurate, and have dropped animals in their tracks out to 400 yards, and not guesstimating, ranged last deer at 398, and he fell straight down. I would comfortably shoot an elk in that situation too. According to my Hornady manual, my load should be getting around 3000fps. Just bought a chrony a month ago, so haven't checked it yet, but I do get .75moa with it using my TIkka. Also, I did put a muzzle break on it, because it kicks like a mule, but it does its job.

Should you not like the 165 grain, you can go up to a 178 grain Amax. The change in BC goes from .447 to .495, and a decent gain in energy. I haven't, because the 165 does the job, and the lower the recoil the better shot placement imho.

[frog5215]

Nothing is "drop them in their tracks" with a bad hit.
Not many people will shoot a .338 enough to be competent with one, due to both recoil and ammo prices.
Many folks find an -06 to be too punishing, too, especially in the lightweight "mountain rifles" de riguer for high country carry.
7-08, 7x57, 6.5 x55, .270, .280, .308 with a suitable bullet (heavy for caliber) in a rifle of suitable weight (to control recoil) with a suitable optic ( come on, the rib cage is the size of a large watermelon that 14x variable with the 50mm bell is just ridiculous- a garden variety 1.5-5x, 2-7x, or maybe 3-9x, mounted as low as possible will work much better than the Celestial Observation model).

Hit 'em in the ribs, and keep hitting until they go down.

[Jerry G]

Pick a gun you can handle. It is better to track one 50 yds after a heart shot than 1,000 yds after a gut shot. You know that they alwasy go away from the road after being shot.

[frog5215]

I know a bowhunter who made a good shot, then yelled and waved, drove the bull a couple of hundred yards closer to the road.

[deadeyeky]

Lol yep, 100 grain muzzy broadhead.... Well my 7mm WSM dropped my bull at 500 a couple years ago...

[shakes]

hey Kyle you notice that there arnt that many manufactures that make the 7 WSM any more? Its mostly the 270 and 300 WSM. Whats wrong with the 7? is it not a good cartirdge. Plus when you go to the local gun store/wherehouse they maybe and i mean MAYBE have one box on the shelve. I love mine and have started to reload my ammo becuase no one carries the stuff anymore. It's like it the bastard child of the WSM cartridges. I want another one and am thinking of getting Browning's new X-Bolt, the stainless stalker in 7 WSM. Please anybody with any thoughts chime in on this, inquiring minds want to know

[Mt_Medic31]

Shakes, I used to see 7wsm at Sportsmans Warehouse up until about a year ago, but the chain closed all their stores here in Montana. I'm with you though, the 7mm bullet has better ballistics, more shooter friendly compared to .30 cal. I am pretty happy with my 300wsm considering the availability issue though.

[johnnyatkc]

The best elk rifle is what you can hit the target with consistantly and comfortably. a iss is a miss no matter what the cal.
a lot of elk have been taken with small bore over the last one hundred years, alot have been wounded to by all sizes of firearms including black powder and archery. If you are a good shot you can make a killing shot if not you will either miss or maim. practice is what counts if you can't stand the recoil while practicing you will not make good shots while the adrenalin is at full throttle

[silhouette13]

no elk in my neck of the woods but i would use my deer rig, 375 h&h mag. it is also my woodchuck rig loaded with 235gr speer hot cores almost 3000fps, recoil is not bad unles you are off the bench.

i shoot it alot, am very comfortable with it and did some reading a while back that changed my views on ballistics and what i want from a hunting rig.

deep penetration from ANY angle into the vitals. that is what will put it in the freezer.

dont care too much about speed. boat tails are counter productive. good placement with a well crafted bullet, that is what i like.

someone mentioned an amax for elk? isnt that a ligth constructed match bullet? i could be wrong but for something heavy like elk i would go bonded at a minimum.

dave

[Mt_Medic31]

Silhouette,
Yeah, I mentioned Amax. Myself and another guy I know were having problems with the bonded bullets passing right through and not expanding (I assume from the small exit holes). I am no expert, but I figured the 3000fps listed for my load had something to do with it. Switched to Amax for a softer bullet, and it works great.

[silhouette13]

good to know about the amax. makes sense to me. 'sides the written word is only a guide line ;) the proof always comes from doing.

cheers