Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The 300 Wby Mag for elk- is there anything better?

True that!!

I like ice cream on warm summer nights

Perhaps the .325 WSM is the best Elk cartridge?

Actually, that would do wonders I bet....

Or the 8 mag.. I know 325 Wsm with accubonds is hell on moose.

I haven't shot that one, but I can tell you that a 150 TTSX @ 3500 or so don't suck. At all.

Laser flat trajectory. Less recoil for the guys who worry about such things.

But a 200gr Accubond has a lot of thump.

I got one of those waiting to whack an elk. I'll get back to you after this fall.

But a 180gr bullet at 3150-3200 and 200 grainers at 3050 sounds awful familiar....

You gain a little frontal diameter but give up some BC.

Especially for shooting through pine trees.

Wow what you using to get 3050 with a 200 gr bullet??

I'm not because I haven't reloaded for it yet. Gonna eat my way through a few boxes of factory ammo first to create some brass.

Is 3050 a little high? I was just going off memory, but had it in my mind that the 325 nearly duplicated the Bee at the muzzle.

I have a 325 Wsm in a model 70 extremes ersthet and 2950 is more realistic their are guys getting over 3,000 but they are pushing the envelope. RL 17 is the powder to use I also had good luck with imr 4007. I shoot 200gr partitions out of mine

A friend hunts three states for elk with a couple of his buddies. They all used heavy for caliber bullets. He used 175 grain in his RUM while the other two used 120 grainers in their .25-0'6s.

I convinced them to try the new Barnes and go light for caliber. One of the guys killed a five point bull with his 100 grain Barnes by hitting it in the tail. The bullet destroyed five of the vertebrae and came to rest in front of the right shoulder. Mono-metals negate the antiquated idea of heavy for caliber for accomplishing penetration.

Good to know. I picked up 180gr BT's and E Tips along with 200gr AB's and Partitions from Shooters Pro Shop so I'll have some experimenting to do.

Kind of like how 18x power scopes negate the need for carrying a spotter?

This post really humors me. Sounds like a bunch of old women bickering over what dress to wear 300 wea is my go to elk rifle and have taken all but 1 elk with the cal. They drop on the spot. It has bone crushing energy at closer ranged that will drive thru elk end for end yet has the legs to kill way beyond the ability of most shooters. I am pushing 200gr partitions over 3000fps with sub moa accuracy out of a win mod 70. everyone that i know who shoots the 300 wea hand loads so i dont buy the ammo sales post. Ammo can be pricey and not found everywhere so hand loading it is very common. Everyone has a pet cal and I agree the 300 wea is not for everyone but for me it is the ticket. A good break will tame the recoil down enough that most shooters can handle it. as far as the lighter guns I bet they work great for some people but it is just not the case for me for the type of hunting i do. I hunt on foot I can be in the dark timber to open areas where shots can be well beyond 500 yards yes the 300 wea will fold up elk out that far with a single shot if you put the bullet where it belongs. I have yet to recover a bullet they pass thru even at ranges further than 500 yards. anyway it always done what i asked from close to far sometimes in ass deep snow it has never failed me thats why i use it. I truly work for my elk not many people really hunt anymore but i do alone. maybe a guy dont need a big gun to shoot from a truck or atv but you chase them around on foot and the extra range of a bigger gun is well worth it not just a 300 wea but any 30 cal mag to me it seems foolish not to use one if you can shoot.

Thanks, your post really humors me too.

Everyone has their own ideas. That's for sure. I used a .333 OKH belted and a 338 Win mag for Elk. They are basically the same thing. Good cartridges for elk. Made me feel better in bear country.

Shot my first 300 weatherby today in probably 15 years. Old Mark 5 that was sitting in back of the safe. Got 180 grain partitions doing 3240 fps and about 1" for accuracy. Made me really appreciate my 7mm Rem shooting 195s and even more so various 6.5s.

I may shoot something with it just for old time sake but that much recoil is not something I shoot my best with. Have to plug some numbers into the calculator and see where my 195 EOL at 2820 passes up the 180 partition.

You're a little late to the party...

Daughter #1 took her .308 Win elk hunting this year with a 130g TTSX running over 3Kfps at the muzzle. Hunting buddy took his 7mm RM/160g Grand Slam.

A .300 WBY would have been a ridiculous choice for Daughter, who is rather petite, because she is recoil sensitive as well as for my hunting buddy because of prior shoulder surgeries and ongoing shoulder issues related to his diabetes. He is already well past the point of need a lower recoil rifle.

The 'best' choice for them was one that worked for them, not one that wouldn't.