Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting why do so few use semi auto elk rifles?

The 3 guys I hunted Elk with all had semi-autos. 2 BAR in 7 Mag and 1 Rem in 30-06. They were accurate enough for Elk but the BARs were waaaay too heavy for the country we hunted and slow to get into action. One year in the Winaha, one BAR jammed while shooting at an Elk (ne never got another chance) and the Rem tore part of the rim off an 06 round (fortunately the Elk tipped over) -- leaving the case in the chamber. These were all factory Rem rounds.

The next year, 2 of them had Weatherbys and the Rem guy had a Model 70.

My first deer rifle was a Remington model 742 BDL chambered in 30/06 that I had bought back in the sixties at the time I only weighed 125 pounds or less and it literally kicked the living [bleep] out of me, it cured me of Semi Autos. I then went to a Marlin Lever Gun in 35 Rem and hunted with it for years until I left Florida in 1973. I didn't start using Bolt actions until the early eighties when I started hunting again here in the Northwest. Since going with a bolt action rifle I have never looked back and wanted another semi auto rifle with the excepotion of my Ruger 10/22.

I've hunted elk with semi-auto's: AR in 6.8SPC and .499 LW (pretty much similar to the .50 Beowulf) and a .308 FAL. Hunted antelope with another FAL too. Wouldn't feel out of place hunting elk with a Garand either other than I much prefer the ergonomics of the AR or the FAL. Never had a failure to feed/extract hunting with decent ammo or my hand loads but I guess it is always a possibility.

I have had a primer blow out in a bolt gun and a case head separation with another bolt gun, not to mention weak primer strikes with a Marlin .30-30 so I guess even the supposedly superior guns can screw up?? Gently reminding everyone that even the best, supposedly most reliable guns can throw a wrench in your plans when hunting.

BTW, as long as distances and shot placement are reasonable, elk will fall over when shot with semi-auto calibers as no-one seems to have informed them the rounds and rifles are inadequate.....

Posted this before here but this was with a 6.8 some years ago:





Goodwill to all here, ethical hunters all I hope, no matter what we hunt with.

Too heavy for my taste.

Good chance the case head seperation and blown primer were ammo related, not the rifle's fault.

Nice shooting with the 6.8! What bullet was used?

I used to go Tikka T3 300 WSM bolty, full bore, for Elk. Never even considered a semi. But then I invested in a levergun for Elk ... not 444 Marlin or 45/70, but rather 338MX and I have been very very happy with the decision.

The two guys that I hunt with in Colorado both use BARs in 7mm Mag. Both received their rifles as gifts (one guy from his boss and the other from his wife). I don't know if either of them would have gone out and bought one on their own. I use a single shot most of the time, but usually take along a bolt rifle with a synthetic stock for rainy or wet, snowy days.

One guy hasn't shot an elk in several years, because he doesn't keep the meat and he has enough heads on his walls. However, he has never fired more than one shot at an elk since I have known him. The other guy kills an elk just about every year and the least number of shots that he has taken at an individual elk is two. Most of the time, it's three or four.

I am a rifle looney and have taken elk with about a dozen different cartridges over the years, but most folks shoot what they have or what they like, and let it go at that.

My dad hunted elk in the thick timber of Western Montana. After decades of Model 70s, and literally dozens of elk, he switched to a BAR in '06. He mixed up a concoction of diesel and graphite that kept it lubricated and working below zero. Also had it Magnaported. He didn't care about the recoil but the porting kept the muzzle from rising as much so he could see the bullet strike through the scope. That way he knew if he hit the critter or hit a lodgepole. It was a practical outfit.

Walt

I can't see for the life of me were a Semi Auto would not do the job, they can be just as reliable as any firearm can be. I am more of a bolt or single shot guy, thou I am going back to a Marlin 336 30-30 for my deer hunting, I hunted some in th early 1970's with one. While not a semi auto, its not a bolt gun or single shot. My guess the guys that know how to keep one clean and properly lubed have no problems. They guys that treat there guns like junk well my guess they do. One of my friends hunts with a Remington 742 and dam it he always has game on the ground when ever he shoots. To each his own on this one.

I hunt with what I have, my dad left me a BAR and it kills stuff. He also left me a 336 lever, it kills stuff. Simple, really. At 58 I have sold all the super magnums I bought since, and enjoy the the guns my dad left me. Worked then, works now.

I use a bolt gun only because it was first in my closet and always does the job ...

Nobody has ever had a bolt action rifle feed a shell wrong and not work correctly? My dad had a savage that would stick the bullet nose right to the inside top of the action and wedge it there, making a second shot a real issue. While semi autos can not possibly be as reliable as bolts, even bolt actions have feeding issues on occasion.