I'll split this up in several sections.



Part 1: The elk hunt



I just got back from a 10-day elk and moose hunt here in north-central BC. The first full day of hunting a buddy and I got the drop on a nice 6X6. He was the herd bull in this area, and had at least 30 cows with him. My friend was using his pet M70 Winlite 270 and 140 grain partitions I had loaded for him. I had my M70 358 Norma loaded with 250-grain North Forks.



From a distance of about 175 yards, we got a good shot at the bull. The bull's right side was toward us, almost broadside, slightly quartering away. My friend shot first as I watched through my scope. At the shot it appeared the bull had been hit, but he was still more interested in looking around at his cows than in falling over. After a few seconds of this, I shot. I have had the Norma barrel on this rifle for about a year but this was the first time I fired it in anger. First observance was a "smack" louder than I had ever heard before as the bullet struck the ribcage. I've shot a large number of animals, but never had I used anything larger than a 300 Wby. Second, the bull took one stumbling leap downhill and crashed on his face. Can you say decisive?



Here's a photo of the bull. My friend hit it first, it is his bull, his first bull actually and I'm very happy for him. However, it is me in the photo as I haven't asked if he minds his photo on the internet.



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Part 2: The infallible bullet fails



We recovered both bullets from under the hide on the far side. My buddy had made a high lung shot, perhaps a bit too far back for a quick kill. I couldn't quite believe it when I recovered the bullet, it had not expanded, the front had deformed a bit and it had lost the rear core. The only logical explanation is that the bullet tipped, but there was no underbrush between us and the bull when he shot. On a rib maybe? The recovered bullet weighed 53 grains (38%).



This is a case where the "at what point in the animals death did the bullet fail?" argument doesn't fly. The elks reaction was minimal, and I have no doubt it would have run a hell of a long ways, and possibly been lost, if I hadn't finished it.



Murphy was in full effect here. This summer I had convinced my buddy that he should go to a stiffer bullet than the 150 Hornady, and talked him into using the Nosler. I stayed away from the Barnes and such as we live in different towns and working up a load from scratch would have been inconvenient to say the least. I tried to go with the 150 but the local store was out of stock when the time came to load for him. Hence the 140s. And now the first time he used the partitions we recover a twisted chunk of metal and the Hornady's look pretty good to him. Just when you think you've got it all figured out... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />



Part 3: One for the nit-pickers. Was the North Forks performance adequate?



The terminal effect on the elk was impressive. It was done immediately. My bullet entered at the rear of the right shoulder and pounded the left shoulder. I was surprised to see the bullet under the hide on the left shoulder. As you can see, it looks like something out of an advertisement.



The 250 grain bullet, started at 2810 fps, had a recovered weight of 247.2 grains (99%). The unfired bullet has a length of 1.306". The recovered bullet has a length of 0.77", the shank under the mushroom has a length of 0.49". It still has a nice long shank for straight-line penetration. Expanded diameter ranges from 0.675" to 0.736", with an average of 0.71". It did everything you could ask...but go through the animal.



How many people would happily continue to use this bullet, or would you demand that a 250 grain bullet from a 358 Norma exit an elk on a broadside shot through the shoulders?



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For the handful of people on here that care, the cartridges are the 358 Norma "long neck" on the right made from untrimmed 300 Win brass alongside a 300 Win for perspective. The bullets are a 308 cal Hornady 180 grainer, a 358 cal 225-grain B. Tip, a 358 cal 225-grain triple shock, a 358 cal Speer 250-grain hot core and the 250 grain north fork.