Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 300 Ultra + 180 gr Scirocco + elk = ???

Hello all. First off great sight. Now down to buisness. I am a Virginia boy born and raised getting ready to go on my first elk hunt in New Mexico this year. I am planning on taking my 300 ultra. This gun shoots the 180 grain Scirocco Rem. power level 3 ammo sub moa. Talking to the outfitter he says to expect shots in the 250 yard range maybe shorter. I feel that this bullet will get the job done at the 250 yard range but my concerns are if a shot presented itself under 100 yards will this bulet hold together and penetrate? I know bullet placement is the #1 priority but I want to have total confidence in my setup. Has anyone used this bullet for elk or similar sized game and how was the performance? I have the confidence in putting the bullet where I want it. I just want to make sure it will get the job done. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the Fire!

Personally, I'd not worry one bit. Have a super hunt!

Dober

I have taken two large bulls with the original Sciroccos and two with the Scirocco IIs from my .300 Weatherby. My load clocks right around 3,250 fps at the muzzle. All were well within 200 yards--around 130-170 yards (as close as I can remember without checking my hunt journal). It's still the only bullet that I use in that rifle for elk. It is a consistently sub-MOA performer and puts elk down as quickly as anything else that I use. I would have no qualms about shooting an elk with it at ranges under 100 yards...

That is the only round I use in my 300 RUM and it will hammer as close and
as far as you are comfortable with shooting...

When I hear the numbers 300 and 180...I close my eyes and see dead elk.

I killed a nice 6x6 bull in Utah with the 180 Scirocco from a 300 Ultra.

The bull hit the ground and never got up.

I also used 180 Nosler Partitions in my 300 Ultra,use them if you have any doubts about the Sciroccos at short range.

Either way,you'll kill any elk that walks with decent shot placement with any good 180 grain bullet in your 300 Ultra.

I use that exact bullet in my 300 RUM.
I wouldnt worry one bit about it.

KC

I have used the 300 ultra mag with the same factory ammo you are and have had nothing but great performance on elk and deer with that round. It flat out whacks and stacks! Last years mule deer was taken @418 yds with a clean pass through in the upper shoulder and the deer folded in his tracks. Didn't even take a step. I may regret this as I just traded the rifle off for a 340 Weatherby. Oh well hope I can load the weatherby and get the same performance if not more. Have a great hunt and don't sweat it. The rifle will do the work if you do yours.

+1 on it being a hammer though I'd lay off the shoulder to conserve meat. 2nd rib back ought to do fine.

Thanks a bunch guys. You have put my mind at ease on this issue. Hope everyone has a good 09 season. The mail order catalogs are starting to show in the mailbox so that always signifies the start of season for me.

Brother has killed at least 6 elk with that load now from about 50 yards out to 486 last year. That is about the ultimate elk combo in his opinion. Flat and hard hitting. What more could you want?

Practice shooting off hand, sitting on your butt, or laying over a back pack after getting your heart rate up. You aren't going to have a bench rest and wind flags ;o) Flinch

Two years ago I drew an az late season bull tag and on the last day of the hunt a very old broken up 5X6 presented a text book quartering shot at about fifty yards my 300 ultra loaded with 200 gr. Partitions was unleashed and the old bull just stood there. Flabergasted I unleashed another, this time the bull dropped like a sack of potatoes. About the time I started patting my self on the back he stood up needles to say I was distraught yet somehow overcame my buck fever long enough to realize I have a 250 yd. zero and was hitting high. With the third shot of my ultra mag I was finally able to dispatch the bull. During the postmortem I found two bald spots on the top of his spine were the partitions hit, the skin was unbroken. I am sure that I am probably the only person on the planet that has hit an elk twice with a 300 ultra and not drawn blood. I pass this along to stress knowing your drops and using this info in the heat of the moment. I now shoot at various distances to verify my drops now and I do not rely so much on charts or a flat shooting cartridge. That and a possible re barrel to 338 Lapua.

Maybe I missed something...but with a 250yd zero at 50yds you'd be just over 1/2" high. How would that cause a miss?

Hunters5325 is about right....let's analyze this.A big AZ bull is likely about 30" hairline to hairline with roughly 2/3's of that being vitals.How the 250 yard zero has a a person hittting "high" at 50 yards is a mystery.Adding to the mystery is how the second shot dumped the bull when neither the first nor second shot cut the skin.....(I'm assuming the 3rd shot actually killed him because it appears shot #3 killed him;he got up after the hit from #2,never reacted to #1)

I think I know the source of the problem with both shots going "high",and the 300 RUM is not it,except indirectly.It's called a "flinch" of mega proportions,and a rebarrel to 338 Lapua is not the solution; it fact it may make matters substantially worse.

300RUM, 180SS, MV 3350, 450yards, stem to stern.....





Tony

I hope the 100's hold up that well outa my 257Wby

I won't dispute BobinNH regarding the recoil of the 300 RUM or the fact that I was anxious to end this very arduous hunt. I'm just saying that I was prepared for a long shot at an elk and hadn't shot this load at close range. I have killed a couse buck at basicly the same range of this bull using 180 gr. A-Frame also shot from my hind legs and was centered on the boiler room. this shot was not rushed and I held on the bottom of the brisket. I held center of the boiler room on the large bull. I don't think it is a mystery why the second shot temporarily dumped the bull. I'm sure the reason he didn't run at the first shot was that he took a pretty good hit to the spine the second shot maybe eight inches back must of hit his spine harder or the accumulated shock dumped him. I have relived this scenario many times and I believe it was some kind of sighting error as I checked zero after the hunt and the rifle was on at 250 yds. I'm not saying I didn't flinch, just that if I did. I did it fairly consistently. Judging by the similarity in elevation of the bullet strikes on the bulls spine. My comment on the Lapua was an attempt at sarcasm.

I have two good friends, little younger than I but they can shoot and do shoot the .300-Ultra mag caliber. One shoots a 700 Remington and the other a model 70 Winchester in stainless just like mine. They also use 180 grain bullets, one uses the Barnes TSX (no comment!) and the other uses Nosler Accubond bullets. I use Nosler partitions or TBBC bullets for elk.

If you can handle the recoil of that .300 Ultra mag, you sure won't have any problems when you place that shot into the vitals of your elk. It will be elk steaks for the next couple months afterwards, good luck.

The only bullets I have seen shed their jackets and frag out some are Hornday and Sierra at 75 yards in the 150 and 180 grain bullet weight. However they still managed to penetrate a good ways before things haywire.

Match: Thought you were serious on the Lapua;sorry.

Sometimes we can flinch consistently and in the heat of the moment like you had that is pretty easy to do.The point is that a 250 yard zero with that load should cause no midrange issues for you at 50 yards,since the bullet will barely be an inch high(if that) at that 50 yard distance.Since your bullets(the ones that grazed the back) were over a foot above the intended impact point(center of chest?)something else must be going on......

Set up a target and fire the rifle off-hand at 50 and 100 yards to get a feel for what it's doing.