Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 8x57 for Elk

I am going elk hunting in early December. Does anyone have a favorite elk load for the 8x57? I'm thinking either a 200 gr partition at around 2,500, or a 175 Sierra around 2,800. i have a really accurate load with 170 gr SSTs at around 2,850 using CFE223, however I don't feel like that is a good elk bullet. At least not at the ranges that I'm used to shooting elk at. Which is usually around 50-200ish yards.

I'd look at the Partition, or either of the protected point Weldcores. I haven't used them in 8x57, but I've used them in other 8mms and I'd probably start with the Weldcore.

180 grn. Nosler bt.

I've never used Weldcores and don't know much about them. Nosler recommends the BT for deer only. Of course Hornady recommends the SST for elk in 8mm, so there you go. Anyway, I like the idea of the ballistic tip, I'm just not sold on them. I've heard a lot of bad stories about them. I know that they have been redesigned, but still. I don't get to go elk hunting much anymore and I would like to stack things in my favor.

Interesting you posted this, as I`m thinking of the same problem, with the same bullets you mentioned. I`m leaning to the 175 Sierra Pro-Hunters...I`ve used them a lot on deer here, and took that bullet and cartridge to Africa my first trip. At 2800fps using 4320 the load is very accurate, and killed everything I pointed the gun at. I also killed my last Elk with my 8mm06 AI using that bullet. Broke offside shoulder and lodged aginst the hide.
I`ve not used Weldcore, but my second choice would be either a 200 Accubond or Partition.
Agree on the 170 SST, just don`t know on Elk, but have killed water jugs to 600. Very accurate.
Do you have the 700 Classic? or something else?

I have a good friend that swears by the SST in his centerfires.

I had a few conundrums with them, but found the FTX stellar, so I think perhaps my " problems" were more my fault than the bullet.

I have harvested elk with hot cors in the 8 x 57. It was my first rifle, and yet one of my most accurate. It is a pre war post office issued nazi Mauser model 98.

I will look up the load when I get outside.

Yes, I have a 700 classic. I also have a K98k and an M48 Yugo with a Douglas barrel. I usually hunt with the Yugo. I'm not sure why, but the 700 classic is bad luck. Whenever it is in my hands I don't see any game. Kinda weird really. On the other hand, whenever I have the Yugo with me I see lots of stuff I want to shoot. I've never hunted with the K98 and probably won't. It will be made into something else at some point. Right now it is in full battle dress and kinda heavy with those awful leaf sights. My eyes don't work well enough anymore for those.

Yep I've killed steel plates out to 500 with the SSTs, but I had a really nasty failure with some SSTs out of my 7-08 on whitetail a few years ago and they just aren't my favorite bullets. Too much meat damage.

I feel better about the Pro Hunters after reading your testimonial.

I've had decent luck with the 170 gr Hot Cors as well. Just never on elk sized game.

You're talking about 200 yards or so on the outside. Why not load up the 200 Partition to full power and be done?

The 180 grain Hornady GMX or the 200 grain Nosler Partition are both good.

I killed a nice bull with 170 grain SSTs 3 years ago and I will not try it again on elk. Good for deer, but penetration was less then I like and one of the bullets came apart leaving only the jacket and penetrating only about 14".

I have used the 200 grain Partition with perfect results in the past and so I will likely go back to that in the future but I put together some loads with the GMX and they shoot under MOA so I am confident they would do fine too, despite the fact I have never killed an elk with one of them. They shoot a bit flatter, and with 95 to 100% weight retention, I feel confident in saying they will go through too. Complete penetration with an exit is my goal and weight retention is one way to gain penetration, but if I get a good wound channel of reasonable diameter and an exit in a fairly straight line, I am satisfied with the load.

My 8X57 is a full-stocked carbine and with only an 19" barrel I give up a bit of velocity. My best loads shoot super well, but most times they are not "red-hot" and the rifle seems to shoot it's best at about 2400-2500. But with 180 and 200 grain bullets.

I find the 200 grain Speer shoots to the same point of impact and is just as accurate as the 200 grain Nosler, and that is my main reason for choosing the Nosler 200 gr Partition as my hunting bullet. I shoot the Speer, sometimes up to 1000 per year, as a practice round and then I need only buy 1 box of Partitions for killing game. This is typical of the accuracy I get from both the Speer and the Nosler.
PC070001 by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
PC070002 by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
I have found the Speer to be very prone to come apart too, which on deer and antelope is not a big deal because even when it comes apart it's still large enough to exit.
Here is a picture of one of them sectioned to show the jacket thickness. It's next to a 270 Remington bullet made in the 1970s
PA130001 by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

However I get a lot less fragments and ruined meat with the Partitions, so I'd even stick with them for hunting small deer just because I don't need to use anything else. I can do all my practice with the Speers and just shoot Noslers for game. I had an 8X57 which I used when I was in my 20s and for some (dumb) reason I let it go, but I did kill several head of game with it. I made the short barreled carbine for myself about 6 years ago, and have killed deer, antelope and elk with it too.

40 years ago I used some 185 grain Remington Core-Lokts and they did very well for me, but Remington has stopped selling them, so I am back to the 200 grain Partitions.
As I said, I have full confidence in the 180 grain GMX too, but that is just from tests in saturated news paper with cow bones. So far I have not killed an elk with one.

I was using sierra pro hunter 175 grain. # 2410

I M R 3031 regular primers.

Correction to above post.

Good question. That is probably what I will end up doing.

Anyone have a magic load with Partitions? Say 2,600-2,650 fps?

That load I showed in the pics above would be a very good place to start. 46.0 of 4064 with the 200 grain Nosler.
It's slower in my rifle, than many others, but remember my rifle has a short barrel.

Your rifle may be faster.

But even being on the slow side, I can tell you that with the 200 gr Nosler Partition, it's very good for filling freezers with elk meat. And as you can see from the pics it's quite accurate. Around 5/8" at about 100 yards is what I expect from it if the rifle has a good bore and chamber.

(My range is set at 107 yards because the gully in front of the berm is at 100 ,and targets are below ground level there)

My only comment on SSTs is that I’ve seen core-jacket separation on a couple of occasions on deer and elk from two 7mm’s. Dead critters but did not exit.

PA110001 by .com/photos/156296479N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

I agree.
In my opinion SSTs are deer bullets and not even always the best bullet for bigger deer. Depends of the caliber and bullet weight of course, but I have tried them in 270 Winchester, 8X57 and 338, and so far I am not overly impressed with their penetrating qualities.

For accuracy they are superb, and I'll give them their due in that department. My 270, my 8X57 and my 308 all shoot SSTs into ragged hole groups at 107 yards. In the case of my 8X57 it's been the most accurate bullet I have ever used.

The 2 fired bullets in the picture above were fired from my 8X57 and recovered from a bull elk. One stayed together and it's weight in the picture is 129 grains. The other is an empty jacket and it weighs 39 grains.
I have 2 others from the same rifle fried into large mule deer and I only recovered the jackets.

I used the 140 grain from the 270 and it failed to exit a large mule deer doe. Instant death, but I get that from bullets that exit too.

My friend Bob used the 225 grain from his 338 mag and killed a rag-horn bull elk, and again we recovered only the jacket. That elk was tracked down after the hit and it ran about 150 yards through the trees before falling. It was a bit challenging to track him because there was very little blood.

I always want exits if I can get them with my elk rifles.

They're a bonded protected point (and other designs) soft made for near-100% weight retention originally designed for use on African plains game and large Asian game. They are comparable to something like an A-Frame, but easier to load since they don't ramp up pressures and require special data the way an A-Frame does.

A number of online vendors sell them in the US.

Two of the instances I mentioned above looked just like the jacket remains in the photo above. No trace of exit or core. I’m just not into picking lead shards out of my meat. Happy Trails

I will start there for sure.



Thanks. I will look into that also.

szihn ,you sure RP quit selling the 185's? Seems like I bought a couple bags 2 years back. Haven't loaded them yet in my 700 Classic as I just use it on deer so it gets 150 gr Hornady SP's. MB

Yea...I got a bag too, Calela`s I believe, a few years ago. Could never get them to shoot "just right". I`m sure I`m nit picking.
Also tried some 175 btsp Prvi`s. They shot well, but are very soft IMHO. I killed two deer with them a few years back. Big holes in and out. dropped them now.

HadsDad..hear you on lucky rifles.. mine is called Killer.

Mathman...I`ve boxes of Partitions in various calibers, including 8mm, but have never used any on game. Hard headed I think.