Originally Posted by rugerdiggs
I am wanting a good bullet to drop elk with. I have some 190gr berger vld hunting bullets but haven't used them on game. I will be taken 2 rifles and if possible would like to use same bullet in both rifles. Will be using 308, 30-06, 300wm, & or 300rum. Not sure that 308 will get much velocity but if it would handle the heavy bullets it would be less weight. Please give thoughts and opinions. Never been on an elk hunt and don't want to mess it up if given the chance for the shot. I would also like to be able to have a bullet that will stay stable out to 600-800 yds. Thanks James


600-800 yards? Not out of the questions but don't count on it. Since 1982 when I started hunting Colorado elk I've only missed hunting one or two years. For the first 30 years my longest shot was 350 yards. In 2012 I took my elk at 400 and in 2013 it was at 487 yards. No one else in my parties have gone over 400 yards and most elk - by far - have been under 300. My closest shot opportunity was one I passed on at about 25 feet but I took another at ~25 yards a few seconds later. Practice at long ranges but be well prepared for under 400 and make sure whatever bullet you use will hold up at close range (high velocity impacts) as well.

If loading a .308 Win and a .300 RUM with the same bullet, my choice would be based on bullet construction and proven performance. From my personal on-game and water jug experience, it would come down to one of these - a Barnes TTSX or a North Fork SS.

My hunting buddies and I have yet to recover a Barnes TTSX or MRX (no longer available but the predecessor o the TTSX) from antelope, deer or elk. I've driven 168g TTSX lengthwise through very close range with a .30-06 and 180g MRX lengthwise though deer at about 350 yards. My 400 yard elk kill was with this bullet on a broadside and it also exited. Based on the close range results on antelope, they expand very quickly but keep driving through, as demonstrated with the deer and elk. Water jug tests have also demonstrated they hold up well and are one of the best penetrators. We've found game drops very quickly, either straight down or within a few steps. My elk at 400 yards went about 15 feet and that was the third longest run. The longest was with an antelope that went maybe 25 yards after being shot with a 100g TTSX from my .257 Roberts. Another antelope, hit at around 300 yards with a 168g TTSX from a .30-06 went maybe 10 yards.

North Fork SS have been a favorite of mine since 2002. I've used them in a 7mm RM (140g and 160g) .30-06 (165g), .300WM (180g) and .45-70 (350g) to take elk and deer. Without exception they have held together and penetrated well, even after hitting bone. North Fork bullets have also proven very accurate in every rifle I've tried them in. My 20+ year-old (at the time) 7mm RM shot a 3-shot .262" center-to-center group with North Fork SS bullets. In my .45-70 they yielded load with an Extreme Spread of under 5fps in several 5-shot trials with under 10fps common. Mike Brady, the developer of these bullets, tested my handloads for pressure and said they were the most consistent loads he had ever seen. These bullets have two downsides - 1) they are rather pricey, and 2) they don't have as high a B.C. as many other hunting bullets. That said, the B.C.s are high enough they've never caused me problems and are not something I would worry about inside 600 yards with a bolt gun, the limit of my practice. As to the incremental cost difference, I find the proven performance to be more valuable than the money I could save. Most of your extra expense will be in load development but even that can be done for less than the cost of a good box of factory ammo. For practice I use loads that shoot to a similar POI, switching to a few North Fork loads just before hunting season. In the field the difference in cost, if saved up for several years, might buy me a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out. As with the Barnes, game has dropped very quickly. Three of the elk and all of the deer have gone down where they stood. One of those elk got back up and stumbled a couple feet so I shot it again, an unnecessary shot but one I took as a matter of my shoot-until-they-are-down policy. My elk at 282 yards with my .300WM and a 180g North Fork went maybe 25 yards, but it was dead on its feet with two holes through the lungs.

Here's a photo of three North Fork bullets I've recovered.

[Linked Image]


From left to right:

.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, 500yds from dirt, 145.0g retained
.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, ~25yds from cow elk, 133.2g retained
7mm 140g North Fork @ 3200fps, ~150yds from buck mule deer, 131.2g retained

The .30-06/165g bullet recovered from the cow elk Broke both front legs and a rib. Pretty good performance if you ask me.

The 7mmRM/140g bullet hit the buck mulie in the right rear ham and was recovered from up against the sternum. Again, excellent penetration.

We've never recovered a Barnes MRX or TTSX from game, so no pictures of them. The ones I've recovered from water jugs have been outstanding penetrators.

Good luck whatever you choose. I'd probably take the .308Win and .300WM with 168g TTSX or 165g North Forks and I wouldn't look back.

Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!

No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.

A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.