Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting recommended projectile for 7mm-08 on elk???

Brad, I don't see the need for a monometal in a 7-08 either, but if I did, I'd want the extra speed of the 120.

Brad, I don't see the need for a monometal in a 7-08 either, but if I did, I'd want the extra speed of the 120.

My wife killed a bull with the 140 grain TTSX from a 7mm SAUM (3050 fps muzzle velocity), the photo shows the recovered bullet.



The hollow point on these bullets is so shallow that, at full expansion, the frontal area is not very large. The bullet above is expanded to the bottom of the hollow and can't expand any further.

Her first shot took out lungs and exited but the bull stayed on his feet, so she hit him through the chest again. The recovered bullet is a "finisher" that smashed bone from close range when the bull tried to get to his feet as she walked up to him. The internal damage was not that impressive, I would trade a bit of penetration for more expansion in this bullet.

Don't know if the GMX or E-Tip would be any better but I'd use something other than the 140 TTSX in the 7-08. Maybe a 160 Accubond?

My wife killed a bull with the 140 grain TTSX from a 7mm SAUM (3050 fps muzzle velocity), the photo shows the recovered bullet.



The hollow point on these bullets is so shallow that, at full expansion, the frontal area is not very large. The bullet above is expanded to the bottom of the hollow and can't expand any further.

These threads are always interesting. Not taking away from anything you said Jordan, but a single instance of any piece of critical gear not performing as expected is enough for most of us to go in a different direction, despite positive experience of most others.

If the premiums shoot well that's great but they are not necessary at 7-08 speeds.

I've killed 3 bulls with the 7mm 154 Hornady Interbond, not apples to apples though as I used a STW. Recovered two, perfect mushrooms; all three elk were dead quickly.

Well, I don't know if anybody remembers, but I started a thread about performance of the 165 gr hpbt on game sized deer and up. I had previously shot a Blackbuck in the shoulder at 160 yds, and the bullet split in two, killing it like a lightning strike. I thought to myself, If this bullet will come in two on an amimal of this size, what would it do on bigger critters? I got to do some testing the other day on an Axis buck and a fallow doe at 50 yds.

The performance of the bullet was horrible. On the buck, I double lunged him and he ran about 40 yds and died. Only one drop of blood to track with. If my guide had not been with me and seen where the buck had run,it could have turned into a 2 hour tracking job. (It was some thick stuff he had run into) I then shot a Fallow doe at the same distance where her neck joined her body. The shot was a little high and back, so it was essentially a very high shoulder shot. The instant the bullet hit bone, it exploded, crippling the deer and leaving it suffering.

I had to shoot it in the head to put it out of it's misery. So although the load out of my .308 delivers match accuracy, target shooting is all I will use it for. Yeah, it killed the animals, but overall I am very disappointed with the bullet performance. I will try to work up a load with H4895 or Varget behind a 130 gr triple shock. Had I been using that bullet, both deer might have been DRT. I would have at least had a blood trail. The doe would probably never known what hit her. Instead, she suffered unimaginably for about 2 minutes. Way to go Sierra! The techs said it was one of their toughest bullets. Horsesh#&!


The reason I posted this thread in the "Ask The Gunwriters" forum is because it is a follow up thread. The original thread was asking a gunwriter about this bullet.

My wife killed a bull with the 140 grain TTSX from a 7mm SAUM (3050 fps muzzle velocity), the photo shows the recovered bullet.



The hollow point on these bullets is so shallow that, at full expansion, the frontal area is not very large. The bullet above is expanded to the bottom of the hollow and can't expand any further.

Her first shot took out lungs and exited but the bull stayed on his feet, so she hit him through the chest again. The recovered bullet is a "finisher" that smashed bone from close range when the bull tried to get to his feet as she walked up to him. The internal damage was not that impressive, I would trade a bit of penetration for more expansion in this bullet.

Don't know if the GMX or E-Tip would be any better but I'd use something other than the 140 TTSX in the 7-08. Maybe a 160 Accubond?

That bullet must have a much shorter hole in the front than the .338 versions I've used. The only one I've recovered from an animal was .75" across the front (launched at same 3050fps).

Seems like when velocity is moderate enough to where reliable expansion of mono-bullets is in question, the Partition is generally a pretty good answer, assuming one still wants decent penetration. I'm no elk hunter, but that's what I would load in a 7mm-08 if I was taking one. Either 140's or 150's, whatever shot well.

My impression is the 150 NBT is a bit stouter than the 150 Sierra, but I'd not hesitate to use the Sierra. Can't really see the need for a mono. The 7-08, like the 308, isn't especially tough on projectiles.

I took a decent 6x6 bull with the 150 NBT season before last... bullet traveled 32" of elk at an angle. Quickest kill I've ever seen on a bull.

My first choice would be the 140 Accubond or Partition if you can get either to shoot. Otherwise, I'd not hesitate to stay with the Sierra.

Partitions are and continue to be the standard. If your rifle shoots them, use them! I used them in Africa out of my 300 Weatherby with great results. That said the locus of this thread included Sierras, which I would never use on anything except varmints at any speed in any caliber.

Partitions are and continue to be the standard. If your rifle shoots them, use them! I used them in Africa out of my 300 Weatherby with great results. That said the locus of this thread included Sierras, which I would never use on anything except varmints at any speed in any caliber.

I have no problem sending Sierra bullets at elk with 7-08. My freezer has been filled several times over using them. Experience trumps guessing.

Experience trumps guessing.

I'd feel very good with a 140 partition or accubond personally, loaded to 2800fps.

That's what I'd use.

Interesting,I would use the 160 gr NP or even a 160 gr SAF.

Anyone using the 150 PT out of the 7-08?

I use 140gr for SAMBAR, which is a tougher Animal than the Elk, will to live is hard to believe.

So no personal experience at 7-08 speeds... check.

This goes counter to my experience with the 140 TTSX. It opens wide and violent, but often loses petals, as looks to be the case with the bullet in your pic.

Below is a pic of the lungs a bull moose I shot with the 140 TTSX impacting at about 2900 fps. You can see the wound channel through the lungs. The bullet exited after a quartering shot, and was not recovered.





Here are the petals recovered from a WT buck I shot with the 140 TTSX. The shank exited. The petals were embedded in the off side. The buck was DRT.



Some more petals recovered from 140 TTSX kills on deer and elk...

I'd be perfectly happy with a variety of bullets from the 7-08, but the 120 or 140 TTSX would probably top the list.

That's what I'd use.

Our last 4 fell to 120 B-Tips. 2 in 7-08 and 2 from .280 Rem. 1 shot each from 325 to 420 yards.

With calibers that are a little light, there is only one option (IMHO): Barnes. Partitions are good and I've used them a lot, but they exit 50% lighter. Barnes are the same weight coming out that they are going in and penetration is superior to anything else out there. You won't go wrong.

I saw a VERY large cow killed yesterday morning at 307 Yds with a 7mm-08 and a 120 Grn Ballistic tip.

In one side of the lungs and out the other with significant lung damage.

It wouldn't have been my first choice for elk, but the hunter did his job and I was very impressed with the results.

I'm sure this will start a pissing match, but elk are not as bullet proof and hard to kill as many would like to make it.

Watched a cow take one long jump and fall over dead after being hit with a .243 a week ago.

Hit well they die easy. Also if they are unaware.

But hit them at all wrong or spook them, they load up with adrenalin and become pretty tough. Like shooting a truck tire sometimes.

At least that's what Ive seen. Nothing is bullet proof really.

Like people, every animal is different. But make no mistake elk and moose are NOT like deer. I'm sure no one on this site has ever lost an animal because of a bonehead shot, but there are many who have (and I've had the bad luck of having to help track many of them). "Dead is dead," but I subscribe to Elmer Keith's philosophy that there's never been an animal that has been "over-killed," because there's been a lot that weren't killed at all because folks were under-gunned or wrong bullet for the job.

I've killed far more Canadian moose than elk, but my personal experience causes me to believe that elk are tougher than moose. I've watched a large cow elk double lunged by a 7mm Mag 160 SGK. The bullet completely came apart and she ran up a hill headed for the next state (lucky follow up is the only thing that stopped her). I've watched a fool blow up a 7mm 120 NBT on a moose's rib. I've had to track bad hits on elk from .338 and seen a too close, heavy bull elk lost to what should have been a killing shot from a .270 with cup & core factory bullets. Yet, my mother-in-law used to kill a moose on her place in Telegraph Creek almost every year with a .250 Savage.

The question isn't what CAN kill an elk (that would be a .22 RF). The question is what is going to reliably kill. If you are willing to pass up poor shots, a .243 is fine. Because my mother-in-law had migrating moose going past her house every day in the fall, she could choose the perfect shot. Yet, are you going to pass up that quartering shot on a 370 bull at the edge of your range? Do you want to have to?

After using most big game bullet out there (including partitions, which are a fine bullet)from New Mexico to the Yukon border, when I was in BC, I started using Barnes exclusively on BIG animals for the penetration and weigh retention. I favor two holes that bleed over one; more penetration also means more internal damage. I had the confidence that no matter how big the bull, I could make a kill shot at any angle as far out as I was capable of making the shot. Did I always need to? No, only once, but I was glad that I had a bullet I could shoot lengthwise through a bull moose.

Like people, every animal is different. But make no mistake elk and moose are NOT like deer. I'm sure no one on this site has ever lost an animal because of a bonehead shot, but there are many who have (and I've had the bad luck of having to help track many of them). "Dead is dead," but I subscribe to Elmer Keith's philosophy that there's never been an animal that has been "over-killed," because there's been a lot that weren't killed at all because folks were under-gunned or wrong bullet for the job.

I've killed far more Canadian moose than elk, but my personal experience causes me to believe that elk are tougher than moose. I've watched a large cow elk double lunged by a 7mm Mag 160 SGK. The bullet completely came apart and she ran up a hill headed for the next state (lucky follow up is the only thing that stopped her). I've watched a fool blow up a 7mm 120 NBT on a moose's rib. I've had to track bad hits on elk from .338 and seen a too close, heavy bull elk lost to what should have been a killing shot from a .270 with cup & core factory bullets. Yet, my mother-in-law used to kill a moose on her place in Telegraph Creek almost every year with a .250 Savage.

The question isn't what CAN kill an elk (that would be a .22 RF). The question is what is going to reliably kill. If you are willing to pass up poor shots, a .243 is fine. Because my mother-in-law had migrating moose going past her house every day in the fall, she could choose the perfect shot. Yet, are you going to pass up that quartering shot on a 370 bull at the edge of your range? Do you want to have to?

After using most big game bullet out there (including partitions, which are a fine bullet)from New Mexico to the Yukon border, when I was in BC, I started using Barnes exclusively on BIG animals for the penetration and weigh retention. I favor two holes that bleed over one; more penetration also means more internal damage. I had the confidence that no matter how big the bull, I could make a kill shot at any angle as far out as I was capable of making the shot. Did I always need to? No, only once, but I was glad that I had a bullet I could shoot lengthwise through a bull moose.

Well said. I never saw a problem with hedging bets by using something that penetrated and expanded more reliably than a standard C&C.

All bullets are not the same once they hit stuff.