Ive seen a good many deer and elk shot with the 270-280-30/06 class cartridges, they all seem to give vary similar results in my opinion, stepping up velocity with the 7mm mags and 300 mags sometimes seems to produce faster kills and more bullet failures, Ive dressed out dozens of deer and elk, and at least in my case Ive seen that the larger calibers and heaver bullets in the .270 -.300 sectional density range in the .338-.375 calibers moving at sub 3000fps velocities seem to produce the more consistent results and deeper penetration.
but the fact remains that almost any projectile that impacts the heart lung area and penetrates 10"-12" thru that area ,potential delivers a mortal wound, its the projectile destroying vital organs that matters, and its both shot placement and the fact that both impact angles and ranges are unpredictable and most hunters CAN,T consistently place bullets correctly under field conditions that causes the problems, selecting a bullet that has a higher sectional density (weight for diam.)tends to increase penetration allowing raking angle shots to reach and destroy vital organs, but the main factor its the LACK of consistent hunter skill in proper bullet placement in my experience.
In my experience ,you have a better chance of a single shot kill if you limit shots to ranges where you can place shots consistently in a 5" circle and if you use a heavy for caliber expanding bullet, and on animals as large as elk Ive found the
150 grain 270
160-175 grain 7mm
180grain-200 grain 30 cal
to work reasonably well
but once you see what a 250-270 grain 338-375 caliber does its just obvious that the medium bores have a slight advantage
any of the better bullets can and do produce mortal wounds, with proper shot placement.
but Ive noticed the heavier medium bores consistently seem to impact harder and get a more pronounced reaction from game
IVE found no reason at all to swap from a 250 grain speer in my 358 win or 35 whelen, or a 250 grain HORNADY in my 338 win or 340 wby.
theres always going to be those guys that want to brag about their equipment, but you can,t really improve on almost a perfect record of one shot kills on ELK and DEER killed over 42 years with those bullets.
If you KNOW your games anatomy and have decent shot placement with a reasonable caliber and bullet weight for the game being hunted than you'll find the standard bullets work just fine!
or If I put a different perspective on this, if wounded elk consistently used those antlers to impale and kill elk hunters that could not properly place their shots I think you would find far more proponents suggesting a 35 whelen-375 H&H was a better selection than a 25/06-30/06 for use in elk hunts
Last edited by 340mag; 01/30/12.
