Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best bullet weight for .308 for elk

While I've not used the 308 WCF for elk yet, back in the late 70's and early 80's my dad used 180gr. Partitions out of his Sako L579 Forester Deluxe and dead elk every time.

I know that time has passed and we have so many more choices but I think a partition would still work.

i would feel comfortable with anything from a 130 grain TTSX all the way up to 165 grain partition, accubond....some would say 155, 168, or 175 berger VLD as well

Steve,

Part of my answer was directed toward the sambar part of thw question.

While I haven't hunted sambar, I was starting to plan an Australian hunt a few years ago, but then the part of Oz that has the best hunting burned. But from what I was told by a number of hunters, sambar are different than elk. They're not as large, but they are extremely tough.

The big difference, however, is the hunting. Sambar live in thick stuff, and the big males are extremely wary. You almost never get a shot at a whole animal, and many if not most shots are at steep angles. Even finding a well-shot animal can be very difficult, due to the cover, so most serious sambar hunters favor deep-penetrating bullets, sometimes from cartridges we'd considered over-kill even on elk.

All the way up to 165gr, eh? LOL!

I've used mostly 180-gr. Partitions and a few 165-gr. Interbonds on elk and moose. Both have performed very well. Every shot was tucked behind the shoulder except two, which were a high shoulder shot and a neck shot.

I'd use those bullets again, and I would add the 165 Partition, the 165 AB, or the 150-gr. TSX or TTSX. Among cup and cores, I'd have faith in the Hornady 165 SPBT, which I've used many times on deer.

That is a pretty fair summary, John. Most folks consider the 30-06 a minimum, and probably more when they are hunting with dogs, which gives you a margin of error (in many areas dogs are not allowed). Most serious hunters are carrying the likes of 338 WM, 9.3x62, and plenty of .375 H&H are in the field these days, too. And the trend is to find the bigger rifles in the hands of the more seasoned hunters, which seems to me to be a fairly unique reversal of the general trend! Many folk's choice a rifle to do double service on buffalo and sambar. I have done a bit of elk hunting as well. Elk are very different animals and exist in a very different environment. I don't believe sambar are any harder to kill, but their shear will to keep moving when fatally wounded is something i have not witnessed in other species. And they are a species that originates from the jungles of India (think of the Sundarbuns), so their ability to move through dense forest is unmatched. I 'spose a similar contrast would be seen between the asiatic water buffalo we hunt up north here and the cape buffalo. Our buffalo are actually larger, but by all accounts cape buffalo are far more determined and dangerous game (i haven't hunted cape buffalo). I doubt that cape buffalo are any harder to kill than our animals, but it is their behaviour when hit that makes the difference.

308 works for me..just know your rifle/load & scope...be selective in your shot....make the first shot count...pic shows my late LE public land Utah bull taken last month..44/VV150 & Swift 180 gr Scirroco..Savage 308 Win..two hard hits @ 90 yds bedded down put him in the freezer and on the wall...the Nosler 180 PT was my other bullet choice...but the Swift shot better and higher BC...don't need a wiz bang magnum for elk....rough score is 338 with broken #2..

dhg,

That pretty well sums up the difference in Cape and water buffalo, at least in my limited experience with both. Though even a Cape buffalo doesn't tend to be all that mean if the first shot center-punches the right spot.

Good looking bull there Tikkanut! Congrats.

My .308 sure shoots the 165 Nosler Partition well. Do believe that would be my choice for elk, with that rifle.

When I went to Africa in 2005 my list of animals put me in Zimbabwe for a week, then to a property in Kwa Zulu-Natal for 5 days, then to another property in the Free State for 5 days.

When my PH and I arrived at the KZN property, my PH told the old (my age) Zulu tracker that lived on that property that I wanted to hunt a Nyala. The old Zulu then pointed at me and asked "Can he walk?"

As to the original question of this thread, my choice of bullets for elk from a .308 would be a 168 gr TSX, if it was accurate in my rifle. It is also my bullet of choice for elk from my .300 Weatherby.

If you handload, Barnes data shows most 168 gr loadings at 150-200 fps faster than 180 gr loadings, which would give the 168 gr a little flatter trajectory. Both bullets should expand to about the same diameter mushroom and should easily penetrate into an elk's vitals. Pick the one that is most accurate in your rifle.

Last week I tipped over a big cow elk with a Sierra 165 grain boattail hollowpoint Gameking. I was shooting my 20" Tikka .308.

Great bullet, accurate in everything I have put it through.

My NULA .308 is more accurate with the Barnes 168 TSX BT and H4895 than any of the other many bullet & powder combinations tried. A max. load gets a little over 2700 MV. I have only taken one bull with this load at a range just beyond 300 yards striking the heart / lung area and breaking the opposite shoulder with bullet's exit.

Well I don't hunt elk with the power of super heroes, but pretty much any modern bullet of 150 grains on up is going to kill an elk just fine as long as you put it where it belongs.

I've shot 3 elk with the 308... I like 165's in the cartridge. My first choice would be the 165 NP, but most reasonably constructed cup and core bullets work well at 308 velocities.

150 Accubond

I like the 168 Barnes

Sound advice right there..

The last post on this thread BEFORE today was on 12-18-11.

Do y'all reckon he's still looking for the bullet ?


However, someone else might be.


Jerry

Five year old thread

Last year's added another to the tally... I wanted to use a plain-jane, cup-and-core, one of my favorites, the Speer 165 Hotcore:



This year I'll use the 165 Accubond (all my others have fallen to this bullet), next year maybe the 168 Ballistic Tip, just because...

dhg last post on the Campfire was 5-13-14.