Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Rifle or Ammo - which is it?

Most of the readers of this forum likely have a number of different centerfire rifles chambered for a variety of different cartridges. And those who have killed some elk have probably used more than a single rifle/cartridge combination over the years. Some will be favorites, but others worked just fine too.

In some cases, an elk hunter favors a particular rifle/action/whatever over most others, and cares a bit less about exactly what cartridge it is chambered for. As long as the hunter has his trusty Remington M700, he doesn't worry too much about whether it is a .25-06 or a .300 Win Mag.

In other cases, that elk hunter has a strong liking for a particular cartridge/bullet/whatever over other choices, and he values having the right chambering/ammo/bullet choice more than he worries about which rifle he grabbed off the rack. As long as this hunter can use his trusted Remington Core-Lokts, he is OK with shooting a Ruger Number One or a Savage bolt action.

Most elk hunters are a mixture of those two ends of the spectrum. The type of elk hunting a hunter does, the conditions under which the elk are likely to be hunted, past experiences, and a variety of other factors will all tend to make a thoughtful elk hunter favor one thing over another.

So the question is this.

As an elk hunter, which do you value the most? The rifle or the ammo?

WyoM70

Perhaps another way to look at this question is to take a peek into your gun safe.

Do you tend to find the same make/model of rifle chambered for numerous different cartridges? Or do you have five different .30-06s, with no two of them made by the same manufacturer?

All elk hunters will have had different experiences that will tend to drive them in whatever direction they find best.

Winchester Model 70 fans have a hard time using anything else. Their rifle comes first, and they tend to have a bunch of Model 70s, if they are lucky.

Successful elk hunters who have put a pile of elk on the ground using nothing but Nosler Partitions generally like to stick to the same bullet. They know it is the bullet, and not the rifle, that kills the elk.

They both matter.

But which matters the most to you?

WyoM70

For me it's easy, I like to hunt in September here in CO (during the rut) so my rifle is a muzzleloader. Make/Model is not so important but I do like my T/C Triumph because it's light and handy.

I'm a Model 70 fan, push feed or CRF, either work. .300 WM in a 7 pound model 70 is about perfect!

Have more M70's thank anything but the Sakos are creeping up.

I just like trying different things.
Off the top of my head I've killed elk with:

6mm Rem
.25-06
6.5x284 NORMA
.270 Win
various 300 Magnums
.340 Wby
.375 H&H
Bow & arrow

in:
Winchester 70
Rem 700
Ruger 77 (77 and Mk II)
Weatherby Accumark
Sako 85

With:
Partitions
Accubonds
Power points
AMAXs
Speer BTSPs
Core-lokts

I'm into trying different things lately, after shooting a dozen or so elk with a .35 Whelen and 250 grain bullets, which work with boring consistency.
This year was a 7x57 with 175 grain RN, the year before was an 8x57 and 198gr RN, the year before that was with a .375H&H and 260 NosPT. They all worked too.

The rifle -as in can I shoot it well, do I trust it to hold a zero, etc.

While I like Bearclaws and Partitions I have killed elk with Sierras and Power Points too. If I put it in the lungs they fall down. Appropriate bullet weight is nice. I have used 150, 165 and 180 grain bullets in .30 cal, They all worked though I prefer 11180's. I have only used 225 grainers out of my .338 Win Mag.

I have few different Winchesters,but all in different models 70,88, 9422, 94. Don't have favorite bullets,but in the Model 70,I shoot 220 gr RN, 180 gr Sierra GameKings and 180 gr Nolser partitions, 150 gr Rem Cor-loks, 180 gr Speer spitzers.

I have three different Thompson Center muzzle loaders. A Sidelock Hawkin, Black Diamond and an Impact, all 50 calibers.

So I guess the answer is NO on both counts

I do all my elk hunting with my only big game rifle, Remington 700 in 30/06. I used 180 "Core-lokts" until I found the internet. I then started to reload with 180 grain Hornady interlocks. Now I'm back to factory loads--Winchester 180 grain Power Points. I can't tell much difference, they all kill elk jut fine.

Fact is I use 180 grain on everything---antelope, deer, black bears, bighorn sheep, mtn goat, mtn lion,oryx and moose.

Shooting gear has got good enough so that about anyone can afford a good shooting rifle and ammo. Leupold's VX-1 is a good basic scope that sells for under $200 and mounted on a Ruger American you can have a very accurate rifle for maybe $600. Factory ammo is very accurate and a bargain if you stick to the old favorite calibers.

Reading the original question got me thinking that I spend many weekends (and too much money) comparing cartridges, testing them at various ranges, looking for tight groups.
All year long it is all about the cartridge.

When making final preparations for the actual hunt all of that goes out the window.
At that point it is all about how the gun handles, comfortable offhand? shoot off a steep slope? Am I going to be on horseback? Will I have a week of bad weather?
I grab whatever rifle is best suited for that hunt and the particular cartridges that rifle prefers.
Most of the time the heavy hardware with the big glass gets left home even if it does group tighter.

When you re-phrased the question I guess if you looked in my safe you would see a majority of 7mags there. I don't consider that better than some other caliber. It's just easy, versatile, and I have tons of premium ammo on hand so it's always convenient to select that caliber with subsequent purchases.

Which ever rifle I grab for the hunt, it will be loaded with Barnes TTSX or TSX.

So, for me, I guess you could say it's the bullet, within reason.

For me it goes like this;
1 Choose a bullet that will perform on the critter.
2 Decide how fast I want to push that bullet and pick the cartridge.
3 Design the rifle to fit that cartridge and how I will use it.
4 Choose a good scope for the conditions, size of the target, and distance I expect to be shooting.

I tend to stick with one weight bullet per caliber. I know that trajectory well. If I need more or less bullet to get the job done I pick up another rifle in a larger or smaller caliber.

So, my collection of bolt rifles include .222 Rem, 220 Swift, 243, 25-06, 270, and 7 Rem Mag. Each has one load, one bullet weight. If I ever have need of a heavier bullet than a 160 Partition I think I would twist up a 338 Win Mag.

someone looking in my safe would see the following centerfires:
1 Browning
1 Remington
1 Interarms
3 Marlin
??? Ruger (all the rest)

So far I've hunted elk with the following:
.257 Roberts
.280Rem
7mm RM
.30-30
.30-06
.300WM
.338WM
.375 Win
.44 Mag
.45-70

Most of my elk have been taken with the 7mm RM, remotely followed by .30-06, .300WM , .338WM and .45-70 in that order.

Life would be simpler if I'd sell all but the 7mm RM.

I agree, the rifle has to fit and feel right. It has to be accurate in field positions. Its got to feel like an extension of my arm and be as natural to use as well. I have the most experience with my m1917's, and that's what I mainly use. The cartridge has to be second to the rifle in my opinion....

I had to laugh at this one! I said the same thing a few nights ago, only I replaced the 7mm RM with the .30-06.

Some years ago Mule Deer wrote an article on the .30-06 in which he said "explanations are not experience". That is a profound observation in my opinion.

I guess I just have to try things for myself before I know what I like and what I don't. And that means a variety of rifles, cartridges, and bullets.

Yet I was never happier than when I just owned one elk rifle, and one deer rifle.

WyoM70

Not just for elk, but anything, I want a light rifle. Right now that is a Weatherby Mark V six lug action. If I was going to specifically go after big bears I would have one rebarreled to .338 SLR. That would be nothing more than my 6.5 SLR opened up. It matches the .338 Win Mag. It looks like it has a belt in the photo, but it does not.

is this one of those chicken or the egg questions?

The real answer is that often as not, and probably far more often, it's neither the rifle nor the ammo -- it's the shooter.