Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting You have a choice of rifles

Word.

Before I go out and kill a pile of Elk; I have to know if a 30/06 will or won't bounce off ??

Cigar,

My experience is that a .30-06 rifle will indeed bounce off an elk, though admit only seeing it happen when the elk in question was already dead, and somebody attempted to place their rifle on the elk for a photo.

But haven't seen it happen with bullets shot from a .30-06.

^^^^^^

yes sir....I agree....very good humor!

I will admit that I have never killed an elk with a .30-06. As a matter of fact, it has only taken one good mule deer which resides on my wall. Elk just don’t seem to show up when I occasionally hunt with that rifle. It just always seems to be the backup rifle to something else. Perhaps I should change that this year. Nah....

The .30-06 (well....atleast it's bullets) didn't bounce off this pair of elk

Back to the original question, I would vote for the .300 Holland just for the panache factor. Happy Trails

You are obviously confusing the good ol' ought six with that abortion the 270 Winchester. The 270 should be totally banned as a caliber in all states....except California and parts of New Mexico!!!

Bawhahaha

Of your choices I have 9.3x62 and .375 h&h , so I'd have to pick between them . But everything you listed will do it . So pick the coolest rifle haha .

I've been trying to find a good 9.3 X 62 load.....I have one that's great except it's accuracy seems to evade me.....vertical displacement of groups is almost nonexistant but horizontal dispersion is roughly 2 1/2 inches at 50 yards.....So it seems I have to work on the forend bedding and maybe that can alleviate the spread . The .300 H&H is currently my second choice but finding the bullet to deliver the accuracy I want has evaded me as well.....monometals don't really offer the large variety that one has in standard bullets. I gave up on Barnes and ordered some Noslers and we'll see how that works out. 165 grains (according to those of you that have posted on the subject) seems to be the ticket so I ordered that bullet from Nosler.....Hornady also makes a 165 but the published BC is considerably better with the Nosler offering, so I'll try them first.

It's a long time until elk season again but I want to have three elk worthy rifles for the trip....one to hunt, one as a backup and one for the other hunters that just might need a better mousetrap. So Far the .30-06 passes with flying colors.....so two to go!

300 H&H. Because it is was probably the first " Elk Cartridge "

My last two 9.3x62s both shot 250 ABs very well with either Varget or RL-15--there wasn't much to choose from in terms of accuracy or velocity. Ditto with the 9.3x74R. Have you tried these?

vapodog,

It sounds to me like you're trying to work up loads in the .300 H&H and 9.3x62 when there's something faulty with the the barrels or (more likely) the bedding in both rifles. I've owned/shot several rifles in both cartridges, and the only time I had any problem getting good accuracy was in a Ruger No. 1 .300 that needed some minor bedding modification of the forend.

For some reason a lot of handloading hunters still believe that finding the magic "combo" will result in great accuracy, even when their rifle has basic problems. If your rifles won't work with bullets and handloads that work in other .300 H&H and 9.3x62's, then there's something wrong with the rifle, not the load. I'd try a basic handload that usually works in both rifles, and if it doesn't shoot well, fix the rifle before wasting more range time and components.

The other solution would be to use your .30-06. It will easily so the job.

Have you read the Bible?

Do you know what “handwriting on the wall means?”

This is God’s way of telling you what the divine choice is for your hunt... don’t kick against the goads.

I'm convinced that the 9.3 X 62 has a bedding problem....and I can fix that.......but the .300 H&H has shot 200 grain A-Frames into very small groups and, believe it or not, also shot very small groups with the 125 ballistic tips.....but while the 168 grain Barnes isn't shooting really poor (Groups slightly over 2") it doesn't meet the standard I want to go on a "spendy" hunt. The .300 H&H is a Remmy 721 that I restocked....the rest is original and functioning very fine. I took it to Africa for plains game twice and like the gun....but have decided to convert to lead free bullets no matter the cost. We shall see if the Nosler bullets are any better.

that said....to your advice, I'll check the bedding to see if something may have changed.

Yes, the .30-06 will do the job.....I know that,

Why, the one that you haven't killed elk with, of course

Yup....that's why I'm working on the 9.3 X 62 and the .300 H&H.....further, I haven't killed anything with the 9.3 X 62 so far.

The .300 H&H has killed Kudu, Gemsbok, Zebra, and other plains game as well as whitetails....and I must say it does one bang up job on whitetails with a 200 grain A-Frame

Colorado Parks & Wildlife check out the link
http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/EHU-CH2-L09.aspx
The general consensus is that for a broadside shot on an elk you need 1,200 foot-pounds of energy and at least 2,000 foot-pounds for any quartering shot.
Quartering Shot Placement A quartering shot when the animal is partially facing you is the most challenging shot. You have to penetrate heavy, dense muscle tissue and the heavy bone structure of the shoulder and then still have enough bullet and energy left to destroy the vital organs.

Yes I would be one of those hunters that agree. And yes I have shot so many animals there is no way I could count them all. I have been hunting for over 40 years. Have hunted with many calibers. I stand behind everything I said earlier.

For those of you who think 150 grain bullet out of 06 is great 400 yard cartridge. I think you better study your ballistics cause 06 will not carry 2000 lbs energy out to 400 yards with any bullet. If you chose the 150 grain bullet out of the 06 you must hunt where there is no wind cause it sure wouldn't be my choice. Don't see to many long range shooters choosing the .308 150 grain bullet for long range. I'd take a .277 150 grain at 3000 fps or the .284 150 grain bullet at 3000 fps long before I'd chose the .308 150 grain bullet at 3000 fps.

The .243 is a great long range elk cartridge. Good one.

This thread is pretty hilarious though.

God Bless!!!