Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which 7mm-08 bullet for cow elk

So here is the situation......my small framed, 13 year old son has drawn an antlerless elk permit for this fall/winter, public land in Northern Utah.

I have a nice 7mm-08 that has been extremely accurate and I have had very little struggle getting it to shoot whatever we have wanted to. That said, I am beginning to run out of time and have not been able to do the load development I would like. I wanted to try and get the 140 partition to shoot out of the rifle.

Right now, it shoots 140 Accubonds into about 3/4", 5 shot groups at 100 yards with Varget, Lapua .308 brass necked down, and seated to fit in the magazine. The 140 Ballistic tip shoots same point of impact with better accuracy with the same load. It has been known to shoot one ragged hole at 100 yards, but almost always shoots 1/2" at 100 yards.

I have also shot 139 Hornady SP very accurately with IMR4064.

So....I wanted to get to the Partitions and haven't been able to yet. I have 50 loaded up with various charges of RE15 and IMR4350. Hope to get them to the range this week.

If it were you, would you hesitate to just go with the known accuracy of the Accubond, or would you try to get the 140 partition to shoot well?

I have killed each of my 6 elk over the past several years using 160 Accubonds out of my 7mm Mag. Mostly very pleased with the results. I know that the Accubonds work well at the 7mm Rem Mag velocities and with the 160 grain bullet. What are your thoughts on the 140 Accubond at 7mm-08 22" barrel velocities?

I appreciate your responses.

FH

I'd try mightly to to make the Pt's work, but if the deadline is looming, and there are other things to prep for the upcoming hunt, run the Accubonds/Ballistic Tips.

Chances of drama and elk chases are less with the Pt's.....


Casey

140NPT would do it dandily.

Myself i would use the 160 gr Nosler Partition since I'm not that big of a fan of bullets under 160 in the 7mm

The Partition would be my first choice, second is the AB. Get him in close and with the elk standing if possible. I would not use the ballistic tip for elk. The kill zone on an elk is about 18", with your loads there should be no problems.

I think you have your load in the AB's. I would stay away from 160 grain bullets for a small framed kid due to the increased recoil.

Partitions are Definately your best bet. I've killed quite a few Whitetails & feral hogs with my 7-08 using 140gr Ballistic Tip's, & while they all died, I thought the BT's lacked in the Penatraition department. I would sacrifice a tiny bit of accuracy for a better bullet.

And I'm willing to bet the 140 Partitions will shoot a minimum of 2" MOA at 100 yards, worst case scenario.
That's better accuracy than most average hunters can expect when shooting in real world hunting conditions. With a vital zone of way over 10" on a Elk. I don't think your son will have any accuracy problems if he does his part. Good Luck & I hope he is able to have a great first elk hunt.

Having seen both the 139 gr and 154gr. hornady interloc kill elk rather dead rather dramatically from a 7x57, I wouldn't give a second thought to using the load you already have with the 139 gr bullet.
Get the lad some good range time so he has the confidence to place the shot, and there's not an elk on this content that combination won't cleanly take.

Just a thunk but, R15 and or R17 and a 120 NBT or TSX

3rd choice in slug along with R17 would be the 139 Horn sp

Dober

I agree. My hunting partner killed a nice fat cow elk last year with one shot from his 7mm-08 using the Hornady 139 grains Interlock bullet. I don't know the powder or charge he used. He shot just behind the shoulder at a ranged 230 yards. Dropped the cow elk right then and there.

L.W.

If it were me, I'd be using the 140 AB load and spend the time with the youngster practicing.
On the other hand, if you really want to use the 140 Partition, I'd be surprised if you couldn't throw just about any load under it and be MOE (Minute of Elk)

I was thinking the same thing. Damn guys, since when will a 140gr accubonds not kill an elk that that a 140 partition will?

Any of the above bullets will work. I'd lean towards the 140AB or 139SP myself, though.

If there was time for more load development, I'd take Dober's advise and work up something with the 120gr TTSX. Since time is short, the other bullets you mentioned would do fine from a 7-08.

+ 1

140 tsx

Problem solved !! You're good to go.

Good luck, post story and pics on return,
Claybreaker

140 Accubond should be fine

You are ready to go hunting with your son.

Me, too.

It really shouldn't be that hard.

Have killed several elk with Accubonds in the .30 cal and .338 cal..excellent performance...they do not exit like Part., but neither did they come apart..