All bullets are not created equal NOR behave similarly when impacting at varying speeds.
No doubt, the 7 mag is proven and Corelokts, yet the combo? Depends.
What I do know about them, I fired a 7mm TCU 14" handgun at point blank range into a creosote post and dug it out, it was the 150 gr, a bullet that IIRC Rem designed w/a dual bearing surface if you will, shorter riding surface area to lower friction.
None the less, I have that bullet somewhere, it looked 'Ad pic perfect' a NICE fat mushroom w/o fragmentation. Granted my MV was around 2,000 but I shot point blank range and it went thru alot of wood. I was actually fairly impressed. It was not 'field performance test' but it gave me confidence accuracy/trajectory aside, they WILL hold together well.
Mattman, when the 7/08 came out, the 140gr load actually used 139 Hornady's for a long time. Not sure if or how many other 'corelokt' loads might have used Hornady IL's but suffice to say NOW they latest 140 CL load is named 'NEW' and apparently is a different bullet. How it's construction might vary from older 'corelokts' or true corelokts - not Hornady's I cannot say.
What I do know is the 6.5 CL's fly flat, killed many deer w/120s, VERY effectively - as in all dropped on the spot w/6.5x55. In 140 gr in 6.5, I find they often are just more accurate and seem to hold up a good bit better on longer shots, like 400 yds, vs. the 120 version, and that likely is applicable to other bullets in that caliber as well.
Nice post/pics of the elk kills above.
I hear you PRM about 'when does going smaller' get too much so.
Yet my response is even though one may drop from 30 cal down to 6.5, when you use a 140 class bullet, your mass in the bullet is a great deal more than a 6mm, and often a good bit more than a 25 cal, so I think 6.5 is perhaps a 'threshold. Not that a good 25 or 6mm won't work w/good bullets, they will.
In the end, 'Good Shot placement/thru vitals + properly constructed bullets = dead critters' and that rule IMHO applies regardless of headstamp, paper ballistics, etc.
Every shooter has their limits and should know them. Inside that, every bullet has their's also, and when that is placed w/in it's 'window of effectiveness' if you will, it works.
I.E., A varmint bullet is NOT necessarily going to fail, or be WRONG, on a large animal "IF" the shooter KNOWS he must go for head/neck shots. Yet, for everyday use w/o the need to 'hold fire' on a variety of shot angles, true 'game bullet's" will provide more latitude in where you must hit to kill.
I think that 7 mag/175 CL elk, was dead on it's feet and just had not realized it yet
Sometimes those big animals can absorb alot of lead before they give up the ghost.
That said, a Partition are Accubond, or even Barnes might be my pick on a fast Magnum round that might see duty at close range on large animals. I well recall Warren Page taking one at around 475yds w/7mm Mashburn using 175 partitions. Slower impact speed helsp penetration as well.
