Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .260 for elk

Not to get between you guys, but you do see a fair number of .338's in the Oregon elk camps. My buddy Jerry uses one and has DRT'd two elk with it in recent years. I carry mine on the days I don't use my .325 WSM's.

Then again, you certainly see more '06's, 300 WM's, 7-mags, etc than you see .338's. I think it's the reputation they have as hard kickers (which I don't get, mine is a pussycat).

The .325 does dandy on elk, I am happy to report!

Anyway... don't want to hijack this... it's a comfort to me to use a lot of gun on elk. Even if all I'm getting is some meaningless comfort out of it.. for now, I'll take that and be happy. As I say, maybe later in life with more elk under my belt I'll be less "mad at 'em" and decide to see how lighter cartridges do.

Good hunting to all of you,

-jeff

Certain places call for certain cartridges. I've got no bones on that and the .338WM has no flies on it for elk hunting. Excellent cartridge? Yes. Gold standard? I'd have to say no. Even Wayne Van Zwoll has been polling hunters in his home state of Wash. for decades. And the .30-06 always stays at the top of the list.


For me, the .338 is out of my recoil tolerance. I'm sure I could learn to shoot one, but have no need. I've got a .300WM and its plenty. I do however, do 98% of my hunting with a .270.

Didn't mean to start a pissing match, but just couldn't leave this one alone.

Happy hunting fellas.

You know, the 300 WM seems to kick harder to me than a 338. It's sharper. My 338 anyway is more of a BIG push. My Sendero is 300 WM and even in that heavier rifle, it gets my attention.

But I hear you. To each their own. Certainly, if a 338 (or whatever) is out of a persons recoil tolerance then they'd be stupid to hunt one; they'd shoot poorly.

All this is makin' me want to go shoot my .338! It's been windy and rainy, but it seems to have broken now. Think I'll haul ass up to my long range spot and do some damage <g>!

Good hunting back atcha Kelk!

-jeff

If you are looking as shots being "ethical or unethical", then they are so regardless of choice of cartridge.

A larger cartridge will not make something unethical more ethical...atleast in my opinion.

Well... a 500+ yard shot on an elk with a .260 is probably unethical.

The same shot from my .338 isn't.

But in general, I agree with you CLB.

Lee,

Many people here have already told you they have used the .260/6.5x55 with very good results and there are thousands of people who do not post here who embrace this cartridge each season and fill there elk tags. While you might not be trying to "build a case" for the .260, you are certainly trying to dispell it without and sound reasoning or obvious first hand experience.

Jeff,

I do agree that 500+ is a stretch for a .260 on Elk.

Point I'm emphasizing here is that it's Lee's attempt to tie morality to cartridge size has no validity. It's either you are going to touch the shot off or you are not. And if one is going to use the .260 in that case, the person probably ha enough experience to pull it off. I would hope.

A shot with a .22 Hornet or .260 Remington might be unethical, whereas the same shot with a .30-06 or .338 might not.

I have owned a .260 Rem, 6.5x55 and 6.5x54.

CLB,
Most of the posters here have confidence in their various 6.5s, but no experience in shooting elk or moose with them. Some brought up Sweden, which is why I replied that the .30-06 is more popular there, with the .308 close behind. If the closets weren't full of 6.5x55s, there wouldn't be any more of them bought new there than there are here.

Lee,
You spent a Month in the State of Washington and drew and elk tag!

Do you know how difficult it is to draw an elk tag for even a resident? I have been putting in now for 12 years and still have not drawn.

Lee, What Game Unit did you draw for?

Lee,

What animals have you killed larger than elk with the 22 LR?

SU35, you guys don't have over the counter Roosie tags?

Not getting in the middle of a fight, just curious.

We can buy them OTC here- though I'm not sure if that's true for a non-resident.

Now, whether a guy even WANTS an OTC Roosie tag is a whole other can of worms <g>....

We have over the counter roosie and rocky mountain elk.

Lee said he drew a tag.

He had to put in for the tag. I'd like to know what unit he drew for.

There are no easy tags to draw here.

Lee,

AGAIN.....for the third time.

Our smaller elk are the Rocky, not the Roosevelt as you statement says

Kelk,

+1000 on 1st hand experience from people here.

In my book, 1st hand trumps all hypotheticals. Plus shooting game in the heart at 300 yds is always a great challenge no matter how often you have done it. Even more rewarding if you can do it on command at that range....

LEE, take this as a basic clue.

I have yet to see an elk take 3-5 minutes to go down. 40 yards max on those I have shot, and only 2 made it that far. Total time in seconds, not minutes. But the largest I have shot is a 6x6.

Where's Lee?

Maybe he's looking up the WA State Fish and Game site to figure out where he drew a tag from.

I believe you were quoting Boddington on the previous page. Boddington never thought much of the .270 Win as an elk cartridge either - until he took one at over 400 yards with the .270.

I don't know what the best one is,and I've never used a 260 to kill an elk,but an educated guess is that a 125 or 140 Nosler Partition is not gonna do an elk any good......likely, it'll kill'em.

No doubt,there are others as effective.

Actually, while the .30-06 leads with the 6.5mmx55 a close second, the .308 Win is a distant 3rd, not �close behind� as you claim. Unless you consider about 50% as �close�.



Your argument is a red herring and irrelevant. The fact is the 6.5mmx55 continues to be very popular. And it works very well on Swedish moose, as the statistics clearly show.

Hey - aren't you the guy that claims to have invented the Internet, designed the Space Shuttle, and engineered green grass and blue skies or some such? I think SU35 has you pegged pretty well.

I bet his perfect rifle for elk hunting would be a South Carolina stamped, Mod. 70 chambered in .375.....................