I am not curranty using a 7X57, but I have several times in m past and I have killed deer AND elk with it. It works perfectly well. My brother-in-law beat me out of my 7X57 and I never made one to replace it, but I didn't sell if for any reason related to how well it shot or how well it kills game. I sold it because he kept laying down $100 bills until I caved in.
160 and 175 grain bullets were what I used for elk. I used Nosler Partitions in 160 and 175, and also 175 grain Hornady RN bullets. (no longer made)
One bullet that I had very good luck with for deer was the 154 grain Hornady, but I also used several others and as with every cartridge, if you use a bullet that expands and hold enough weight to exit you get good kills. Used with bullets that broke up completely, the kills were erratic with some being quick and others giving long runs and tedious tracking jobs.
That has nothing at all to do with the cartridge case. I saw the exact same pros and cons from a 7MM Rem mag, a 7MM Weahterby mag, and several 300 mags, a 338 mag, a 9.3X74R, as well as from a 308, 30-06s a 270, 25-06s 257 Weatherby and 6.5 Swede.
But using a 7X57 for elk is NOT a problem at all. It's just fine.
Last edited by szihn; 03/09/21.
