Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Educate me on the 308 for elks

I bought a Kimber MT 308 earlier this year to primarily use as a deer rifle. It is sweet - weighs 5lb 13 oz, is short, very nice trigger, and shoots well.

I know several use the 308 as an elk rifle primarily for backpack trips. Brad and Big Fin readily come to mind. I've never considered using a 308 because I've always had some form of 30-06, 7 mag, or 300 mag of some flavor to use. Doing more remote hunting, I see the value to lightweight rifles. I have a Kimber 30-06 but I keep coming back to the little Kimber 308. Its fun to shoot and shoots well with about any bullet/powder combination I've fed it. It seems to like IMR 4166 or Varget under a 165 Horn IL:



I'm thinking my 308 set up should work for elk. My concern is the rather anemic velocity (~ 2650 from the 22" barrel). Velocity stays above 1900 out to 500 yards which should be OK for the Horn to perform. I'd be less keen on a monolithic at the vels involved. Partition is always a good answer. I've seen Hornady be a bit hard on occasion (7mm, 175 Horn IL from a 7x57) but think the 165 IL should perform at 308 vels.

What has been the experience of those using it or having guided for people using the 308 for elk?

I'ts been a long time since I killed elk with my .308 , but I did it several times. As always,it isn't what you hit them with,but where.

I remember the first elk i killed with mine. It was in 1966. If I recollect correctly it was a 165 gr Remington Bronze point bullet, using 4064 powder. I don't know how far away it was,but it was quite a piece. I recovered the bullet and the only marks on it as from the rifling and no expansion. The elk died of course.

My brother came out from PA for many years during the 80's and90's and put down several elk with his .308 using Sierra's 180 gr round nose.

I dropped one last year with blue box 180's.

308's have killed plenty of elk.

I wouldn't over think this.

I believe the 308 is all you need for deer and elk using the Nosler 165 gr Partition or Barnes 150 or 168 gr TSX.

Cmon, overthinking is what I do. I'm leaving in 2 weeks and have re-thought about everything at least once. I love playing with gear.....

The 308 will get er done. Although the 7mm-08 will get er done better

<G>

You wouldn't think 2" of barrel would make a rifle handier but it seems to. We're talking about individual cartridges but its the rifle platform I really like, especially given its one of the best shooters in my safe. The biggest group I've shot with that rifle measures 1.6". I've shot a couple groups slightly smaller than the ones in the pic but can't find the targets. It likes Varget slightly better than IMR 4166. I'm tempted to drag it to Wyoming next week.......

I'd take it. Good thing about it it's not heavy enough to have to drag it

I know a moose isn't an elk but it may help to hear my experience with an 18" 308.

I used 168gr ttsx @2,500fps, 180gr partitions @2,400fps and settled on 165gr partitions @2,550fps.

The ttsx weren't great - I felt the bullet was too tough for the velocity.

I moved to the 180gr partitions and as rewarded with a 275yd shot - not an issue.

Settled on the 165gr partition as a better balance and shot a number with great performance. Use the same bullet in my slow 06 (2,700fps) and really like it.

I'd not be concerned about ballistics but I would consider how steady you can hold such a light rifle - after a really testing shot with my 308 M700 Ti I decided I'd bear the extra weight for the increased steadiness.

Elk aren't bullet proof. They're fairly easy to kill as long as you can properly place the shot and have a bullet that can penetrate to the vitals.

I've only taken three elk with the .308, but it seemed to work as well as other cartridges. I always used the Barnes 168 TSX BT and H4895 powder. Never recovered a bullet, but none of the bulls went more than a few steps before collapsing. Distances ranged from 266 yards to about 325.

I know all of that; I've killed a few. The purpose of my post was to solicit some feedback on the 308 as an elk cartridge. Folks I trust on the Fire have and do regularly slay them with the 308. Maybe I should have said at ranges beyond 300 yards but usually prefer to ask rather open ended questions and let folks explain their experiences.

I'm a recovering magnum-holic <G>. To be perfectly honest, I've not routinely launched bullets as slow as the 308 pushes them. My main hunting rifles have all pushed bullets around 3000 ft/sec. I know what works in the 2800-3100 ft/sec range because I've done it.

As part of recovery from magnumitis, I bought several smaller cartridge rifles in the past year. The biggest rifle in safe at the moment is a 300 WSM that hasn't been shot in a year. I'll likely hunt elk this year with a 270 throwing 150 Partitions but am exploring going smaller hence the 308 question. Most folks I've talked too seem to get 2700+ with a 165 in the 308. Mine likes 2600-2650 with 165's. That seems pretty anemic to me. But I do shoot the rifle well from all practical field positions.

Guess I'm concerned with shots over 300 yards with it. Certainly anything under 300 isn't a problem - think of a 30-06 minus 50-75 yards. But at some point terminal bullet velocity kicks in and bullet velocity envelope comes into play. I always get concerned when velocity approaches and drops below 2000 ft/sec. All bullet mfr say their bullets expand at lower vels but I've seen some of them and am not impressed at lower vels. Heck I'm not impressed with some at their design velocity. The 308 drops below 2000 ft/sec at ~ 300 yards. I've not shot an elk past about 250 but feel confident out to 400 with my 'normal' hunting rifles.

I'm sure this is all perfectly clear now.

This is useful. I think the 165 Partition would be ideal and will explore that idea. I tend to agree with your thoughts on the Barnes and similar monolithics. I've had them not work at their design velocities........

As to shooting a light rifle, hasn't been a problem. I actually have 4 Kimber MT in the safe and have spent the past 6-7 months shooting them exclusively. I've had good luck shooting them but could use a bit more weight when shooting offhand; with a rest of some sort, I don't see much difference.

I find this interesting. I shot 168 TSX in an 06 the year I had shoulder surgery. They shot well. It was also about that time I experienced dismal performance with 100 gr 25 cal and 140 7mm cal on deer. I honestly doubt they opened up. I have a picture of a deer shot through the scapula with a 25 cal 100 gr TSX launched from a 25-06. It looks like a hole was drilled through it; you can't stick your pinky finger in the hole. Plus most concerning is that the scapula didn't break; just a nice neat hole in it. The deer died but I shot another deer later that same week through the lungs. It took an honest 2-3 minutes to die. Looked like it was shot with a field point tipped arrow. Internal damage was unimpressive.

In full disclosure, I don't know first hand if this is true or not, but I've read that folks are getting greater velocities using RL15 than Varget. I'm looking to load for my 308 and I've seen that stated on numerous sites.

Take that for what it's worth.

Don't we all?

MT opens in 3 weeks and I'm still tempted to work up a load for the 7 mag, even though I didn't plan on using it this fall.

I think the 165 IL will do just fine.

But a Kimber 308 is a 300 yard gun for the most part IMO. You get to huffing and puffing in the altitude and those light barrels don't settle down very well in the field.

I've found my 308 stupid accurate and easy to shoot.

that's never been true for me in any magnum platform.

YMMV.

I'm shooting 165 Nos AB's. hope to have a field performance report in about 2-3 weeks.

My kids killed a couple elk with a Mod 600 Remington, shooting 165 Ils. It worked fine and one of the cows was a southern New Mexico monster. I would try to keep it 300 yards or less, but that is just me.

I am a Partition fan, but have yet to see anything that I killed with Interlocks, that was any less dead. At .308 velocities, the 165 Il is tops. I use the 150s for deer at 2900+ and it is fantastic.

Best cure for your magnumitis will be a dead elk from that 308! Take it hunting and report back to us! I'd shoot the Hornadays, but if you go mono, drop to the 130 and dial that speed up. Also, take another look at Scenarshooters many elk, and the ranges, that will be a nice confidence builder on the 308.

This worked for me. Great response.