Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting looking for good .308 bullet for elk

I am wanting a good bullet to drop elk with. I have some 190gr berger vld hunting bullets but haven't used them on game. I will be taken 2 rifles and if possible would like to use same bullet in both rifles. Will be using 308, 30-06, 300wm, & or 300rum. Not sure that 308 will get much velocity but if it would handle the heavy bullets it would be less weight. Please give thoughts and opinions. Never been on an elk hunt and don't want to mess it up if given the chance for the shot. I would also like to be able to have a bullet that will stay stable out to 600-800 yds. Thanks James

If you are talking 600-800 yards, what's going to matter most is how your rifle likes the bullet. Were it me, I'd be loading something like a TTSX in 150-168gr weight and focusing on hitting stuff inside of 450yds.

I like the 165/180 NAB or NP myself. Not sure about 6-800 yards with the 308 on elk but under 400, git ur dun!

The 150 gr. TTSX or Partition will work great on elk out of your 308 Winchester or your 30-06. But I suggest getting much closer than 600 to 800 yds. whatever you use.

If you are going to be shooting out to 600+ yards then I would suggest using your 300WM. I use a 308 as a backup gun or for Dark Timber where I plan on having shots under 300 yards. I use 180g NP in my 308 and 200g AB's in my 300 WM. I would use NP's in both but my 300 doesn't shoot the NP's as well as the AB's and visa-versa for the 308. Just shoot your bullet of choice in both rifles and see which bullet performs the best in both rifles. (If you don't what to take two different rounds.) Good luck on your hunt.

My cousin, now deceased, lived in several of the western states for many years. He killed 22 elk, almost all bulls other than a few cows on cow tags, using his pre-'64 Winchester 70 Featherweight in .308 Win.

He did not reload. I asked him once about what ammo he used? He said, "Winchester, Remington, whatever was on sale at the gun store, so long as it was 180 grains." He had no trouble putting those elk on the ground. (I don't know how many Mule deer, he killed but he also killed a couple of Black bears, and one Idaho Shiras bull moose, same rifle, same load.)

I know he never took any of those 600-800 yards shots... but he was an excellent hunter, stayed in good shape, and practiced shooting for accuracy. Got closer to the elk. Meat in his freezer.

Good luck on your hunt.

L.W.

155 gr. Scenar

rug.-165 Nosler PT loaded as fast as you can push it-Muddy

You know that a 600 - 800 yard shot at elk is extremely unlikely right?

Seasoned hunters with years, even decades of experience have taken many elk, never shooting anywhere near that far...

I'd imagine that even here on the Campfire, land of inflated egos, that relatively few will claim to have much experience with that sort of long range elk shooting. There are some, like Burns, who have made it a science. He ain't normal! (John I mean that with all due respect, and a grin on my face)

Seems like you've got several different .30 cal rifles at your disposal. I'd tend to take whichever one, or two, rifles you shoot better, and still carries easily. For bullets, there's a host of 165 - 200 gr hunting bullets avail that will do a mighty fine job on elk. Personally I've been a fan of the Nosler Partition for a very long time.

Now, my elk killing experience is limited, but I suspect you'll be hearing something similar from those guys who make a practice of filling their elk tags year after year.

Best of luck on the hunt!

Regards, Guy

I have a very good friend who shoots a lot on a 1000 yard range.I have known him for years, always told me to shoot Bergers. This year when I was at his house he changed his tune, said they shot good but not to happy with how they worked on game. I would suggest reading the web sight terminal ballistics research to study 800 yard kills on 600 pound plus cervidae. I am not only amazed at being able to shoot that far, but how the heck do you find where they were standing when you shot at em?

Works for me and my rifle over a stiff charge of Varget.

Rugerdiggs
I would strongly recommend that since you are planning on shooting at 600 to 800 yards, and apparently haven't done any shooting at 600 to 800 yards, I would strongly recommend a full metal jacket bullet. That way, those elk that you manage to get the odd shot into might al least have a long shot at surviving. I realize there will be little or no blood trail, but, what the hell, you don't sound like the kind of guy that is going to waste much time looking for an elk that doesn't drop in it's tracks. After all, if you want to shoot an elk at 600 to 800 yards, all you have to do is buy a rifle and then ask people on 24 hour campfire what bullet to use, right?
"Drop an elk?" Give me a freeking break!

165 grain Nosler Accubond!

I've shot a bunch of elk over the last 45 years. My all time longest was a lasered 350 yds. Even with the scope cranked up to 9x, it looked like a rabbit out there. It's going to take a lot more than 9x to bring in an elk at 600. If you can't get closer than 6 to 800, you need stalking skills a lot more than you need a long range bullet.

I have shot a few elk with the 308 (165 & 180 Noslers) and none at longer ranges. I tend to side with Royce on this one given the info and phrasing in the original post. BUT, let's just say you really want to and think you can make this work...

Find a 3/4 MOA (preferably better) load with the 190 VLD (try Re17) and put 100+ rounds down range each month between now and October, the majority from field positions from 200-600 yards - and if your equipment and skill allow you to be near 100% first shot hits at 600 in multiple weather conditions then, if your conscience lets you go afield and consider shooting an elk at 600... take a deep breath, know in your mind that you are capable... and then GET CLOSER.

There are a couple of guys on here that kill coyotes at twice that distance when conditions are right. But they probably have over a $100,000 invested in practice and equipment, and who the hell knows how many hours of practice.
IF you could find a bullet with a BC of 0.6 and drive it at 3000 fps, it would take it about 0.9 seconds to reach 700 yards. Add lock time, reaction time, etc, that means from the time you have committed to taking the shot and the trigger pull can't be stopped, until the bullet reaches 700 yards, is going to be over one full second. That gives the elk time to move, and since all the elk I have ever seen were moving forward, that means that bullet will likely end up in their guts.
Also, for each 3 mph that your estimate of wind is off, you are going to be 8 inches in error horizontally. Also, if that elk moves between the time you put your rangefinder down and pick up the rifle, you are going to be 9 inches off in elevation for every 25 yards the range estimate is in error. Throw in some scope parallax and a little mirage and you have some real problems. We haven't even talked about the difficulties due to finding a position in the field that even comes close to approximating bench rest stability. And then, how about changes in point of impact due to elevation and hand position changes from how the rifle was held during sight in from the bench versus firled positions?
At the risk of repeating myslf, I know there are people on this site and elsewhere that can shoot more ethically at 800 yards and farther than most can at 200 yards. I have absolutely no beef with them. But, I doubt if that what is this post is dealing with.

What state you hunting in?

I am in the camp of opinions here that believe you need to get closer. Hone those stalking skills. I have killed a few elk, the farthest was 340 yards as measured on the laser. The rest were all under 150. My fondest memory is of the bull that I stalked up a draw and shot at about 65 yards.

I have played with shooting out to 700 yards, lots of little things out of your control and they REALLY start to show up past 400 yards. I would feel comfortable shooting 450 if conditions are right, beyond that the animal would very likely get a pass from me.

I am rather fond of Nosler Partitions but there are other good choices.

600-800 yards? Not out of the questions but don't count on it. Since 1982 when I started hunting Colorado elk I've only missed hunting one or two years. For the first 30 years my longest shot was 350 yards. In 2012 I took my elk at 400 and in 2013 it was at 487 yards. No one else in my parties have gone over 400 yards and most elk - by far - have been under 300. My closest shot opportunity was one I passed on at about 25 feet but I took another at ~25 yards a few seconds later. Practice at long ranges but be well prepared for under 400 and make sure whatever bullet you use will hold up at close range (high velocity impacts) as well.

If loading a .308 Win and a .300 RUM with the same bullet, my choice would be based on bullet construction and proven performance. From my personal on-game and water jug experience, it would come down to one of these - a Barnes TTSX or a North Fork SS.

My hunting buddies and I have yet to recover a Barnes TTSX or MRX (no longer available but the predecessor o the TTSX) from antelope, deer or elk. I've driven 168g TTSX lengthwise through very close range with a .30-06 and 180g MRX lengthwise though deer at about 350 yards. My 400 yard elk kill was with this bullet on a broadside and it also exited. Based on the close range results on antelope, they expand very quickly but keep driving through, as demonstrated with the deer and elk. Water jug tests have also demonstrated they hold up well and are one of the best penetrators. We've found game drops very quickly, either straight down or within a few steps. My elk at 400 yards went about 15 feet and that was the third longest run. The longest was with an antelope that went maybe 25 yards after being shot with a 100g TTSX from my .257 Roberts. Another antelope, hit at around 300 yards with a 168g TTSX from a .30-06 went maybe 10 yards.

North Fork SS have been a favorite of mine since 2002. I've used them in a 7mm RM (140g and 160g) .30-06 (165g), .300WM (180g) and .45-70 (350g) to take elk and deer. Without exception they have held together and penetrated well, even after hitting bone. North Fork bullets have also proven very accurate in every rifle I've tried them in. My 20+ year-old (at the time) 7mm RM shot a 3-shot .262" center-to-center group with North Fork SS bullets. In my .45-70 they yielded load with an Extreme Spread of under 5fps in several 5-shot trials with under 10fps common. Mike Brady, the developer of these bullets, tested my handloads for pressure and said they were the most consistent loads he had ever seen. These bullets have two downsides - 1) they are rather pricey, and 2) they don't have as high a B.C. as many other hunting bullets. That said, the B.C.s are high enough they've never caused me problems and are not something I would worry about inside 600 yards with a bolt gun, the limit of my practice. As to the incremental cost difference, I find the proven performance to be more valuable than the money I could save. Most of your extra expense will be in load development but even that can be done for less than the cost of a good box of factory ammo. For practice I use loads that shoot to a similar POI, switching to a few North Fork loads just before hunting season. In the field the difference in cost, if saved up for several years, might buy me a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out. As with the Barnes, game has dropped very quickly. Three of the elk and all of the deer have gone down where they stood. One of those elk got back up and stumbled a couple feet so I shot it again, an unnecessary shot but one I took as a matter of my shoot-until-they-are-down policy. My elk at 282 yards with my .300WM and a 180g North Fork went maybe 25 yards, but it was dead on its feet with two holes through the lungs.

Here's a photo of three North Fork bullets I've recovered.




From left to right:

.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, 500yds from dirt, 145.0g retained
.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, ~25yds from cow elk, 133.2g retained
7mm 140g North Fork @ 3200fps, ~150yds from buck mule deer, 131.2g retained

The .30-06/165g bullet recovered from the cow elk Broke both front legs and a rib. Pretty good performance if you ask me.

The 7mmRM/140g bullet hit the buck mulie in the right rear ham and was recovered from up against the sternum. Again, excellent penetration.

We've never recovered a Barnes MRX or TTSX from game, so no pictures of them. The ones I've recovered from water jugs have been outstanding penetrators.

Good luck whatever you choose. I'd probably take the .308Win and .300WM with 168g TTSX or 165g North Forks and I wouldn't look back.

Elk are heavier boned, thicker muscled than deer. Given the range of 600-800 yards possible I would feel better served with the 300 wm, and with a chit ton of practice.

In reality, I am guessing around 300-400 yards would be more realistic for a shot given at an elk. My own personal druthers would be the 06' for a minimum period.

I am lost on the fad of using match bullets on game.... A hunter would be just or as better served for hunting such large game with a accubond, swift sirocco.