Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Barnes TSX..how light of a caliber would be suitable for elk?

Don't let the title mislead you.. I was thinking along the lines of suitable elk set up for kids learning to hunt..

My own personal thoughts were starting at the 257 Roberts with a TTSX.. that a maybe the 260 Rem with one also..

so for you Elk hunters who use Barnes TSXs on Elk, what are your thoughts?

for myself, I was thinking of standardizing on my 7 x 57 with 140 or 160 TTSXs and the 185 TTSX in the 338/06....

thoughts?

I have a Kimber 270 WSM that I shoot 130 gr Triple Shocks in. It is devastating on elk or mule deer. Shot a 340 type bull in Colo. this year with it quartering toward me and it knocked him on his ass. I also have a 257 Wby. and would not be afraid of elk hunting with it with a 100 gr. Triple Shock at all. It's a great bullet and if you can put it where it is suppossed to go I see no problem with either. A gut shot elk is a gut shot elk whether you shoot him with a 375 or a 243.

Seafire,
Aren't you THE 260 guy on the 'fire???

I think you answered your own question.

160 TSX in a 7x57 works....

Also...my wife shoots a Bob...with a 100 gr.TSX...

Ingwe

The lightest I've used on elk was this year with a 120 TTSX from a .264 Win mag. Worked pretty dang well.

Have a friend who has killed dozens of Elk, Moose, Sheep and Big Mulies with a 7mm remag and is still using original 120 gr Xs.
Every one a one shot kill from 50-400 yards, usually 100% penetration.

I shot a cow with a blue X out of a 6.5-06 (130gr?) and the performance made me think I had room to spare. I would not be trusting a 100gr .25 TTSX on the bull hunt of a lifetime, but would take it on a cow hunt without worries.

For the 7x57 and 338-06, I would settle on a pair of TSX that gave similar trajectories.

My 6.5x55 Swede using 140gr. Partition works well.

This past season I used a 6mm Rem with a 85 grain TSX @ 3450 FPS. Elk looked like it had been hit by a 300WM. I wish I would have taken pics

I've been killing elk in recent years with 100gr Partitions out of a 243--no drama yet, nothing has traveled more than 30-40 yards, all have died within seconds, longest shot was ~300yds, shortest shot about 30 yards.

Casey

i started hunting elk as a 12 year old boy in wyoming, my grandfather let me borrow his pre 64 m70 .257 roberts and it will take an elk down as long as you do your part. i wouldnt tell you to take a 400-500 yard shot but i would feel comfortable with a shot out to 300 especially with the barnes tsx. plenty of people kill elk every year with the .243win and the 6mm rem. etc.

Pyro has it right, Elk are not bullet proof, take out both shoulders or both lungs or the heart assembly and they die.
How about a 1.4 ounce 61 caliber custom cast design at about 900 fps from an 1809 British Baker flinter at 18 paces, took out both lungs, went 20 yards spraying blood like a firetruck.





that's the entrance hole, exit was same size after wrecking a rib:

I'd lean towards a 7mm-08 with a 140 grain TSX for that chore.

I think that combo is about as good as it gets - when it comes to solving the old "recoil-killing power" conundrum.

I've had great results on elk with the 25-06. But, with time, I've moved towards using higher bullet weights, with more moderate velocity.

It always cracks me up when I read that a certain combo is "good for women and kids" - I can't help but chuckle and wonder what is it about these rifles and bullets that renders them less effective, when a man uses them.

Last year's cow elk was taken with a 100 gr. TSX, out of my .257 Wby. Mag., at 300 yards, one shot. Worked very well.

Since you asked about TSXs specifically, 120 TSXs from 264's have done really well for us.

The 260 Ruger compact with 140 accubombs has proven a better mousetrap for kids and the wife.

You said how light... Inside 250-300 yards, I'd have no qualms with an 85TSX from a 243, since I personally watched an autistic 12 year old flat smoke a bison with one shot from a 223 and a TSX, which exited and was not recovered. "Guide" (and I use the term very loosely) was supposed to shoot simultaneously with my 300, but later told me he'd never shot one and was afraid to pull the trigger.... The cheers from the kid were "I shot him and I killed him and he died!"

I have never used a TSX Barnes bullet to kill an elk with as of yet, school for me is still out on those bullets performing as I want them in my rifles.

However, I did once take an elk with a 25-06 and 120 grain Nosler Partition bullet. There are certain shots or limitations for use of a better word, when using this light of a setup.

I do shoot a 338/06 and using those 200 grain Accubonds, it is the hammer of Thor! I would think that a 185 TSX would work like a charm or magic wond.

This one broke both shoulders or a bull at 410 yards out of a 7mm-08. It was a 140grain TSX. I'd think at close ranges with good shot placement, about any centerfire would do.

My 1895 USRC Winchester 1895 in .405 Win. likes them. 300 grainers .

Greenhorn, I like the elk rack in the background. Nicely done! You can't kill anything with a 7mm-08. It doesn't have a belt or "magnum" attached to it...hee hee. My daughter will be reeking havoc in the game fields this year with the lowly 7mm-08. She is 11 and just passed hunter safety. She is a heck of a shot. She can't wait to actually put the cross hairs on an elk and deer this year, instead of just watching Dad do it. She is a hunting fool! Flinch

Flinch, be sure to share the photos! Sounds like fun.

Happy Holidays.