Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How many different rifles have you killed elk with?

.54 cal muzzle loader
.270

Back in 1968, I hunted with my Grandad within the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains of northern Wyoming. We both carried 30-30 Winchesters with iron sights. I shot a medium sized bull at about 80 yards through the chest but it only flinched and started to gallop away. I shot again and missed. Grandad told me to wait for the animal to lie down while he rolled a couple smokes from his packet of Bugler tobacco. After what seemed like an eternity, we hiked down the slope to find the bull dead. This elk had traveled about 150 yards before expiring. The next evening, Grandad toppled a young bull with a neck shot at about the same distance. The animal dropped in its tracks! Neither of us read outdoor magazines and had no idea that 30-30 rifles were considered inadequate for elk hunting. Years later, I bought a Savage 99 in .308 and topped it with a Redfield 2-7X scope. This rifle accounted for several more elk. My longest shot ever at a bull elk was about 225 yards or so. My impression is that elk do not react to a lethal double lung shot like deer but they don't travel very far. Most of my relatives in Wyoming hunt with 30-06 rifles but one cousin has had very good luck with his Marlin lever gun in 35 Remington. This rifle shoots a 200 grain bullet at about 2200 feet per second which seems un-impressive on paper charts but slams through elk ribs with great authority.

Sherwood

Ruger 77 30-06 165 grain Nosler Partition
Ruger 77 7mm Rem Mag 160 grain Accubond, 250 grain NBT, 150 grain TTSX
Weatherby Vanguard 300 Wby Mag 180 grain TTSX
All glass Zeiss Conquest of different flavors

308 win a frame, rem 700 Ltr
7x57 Mauser 160 partition
30-06 220 core lokt pre 64 70
300 win mag 200 partitions

Only a handful with the top three combined, the bottom one has killed most of my elk. I have one bull with a bow.

I can’t remember all the rifles my clients have killed elk with. But have pretty much run the gamut from a blr, pre64 70, factory bolts of all kinds, long range rigs.

My daughter has killed elk with an ar-10 and a tikka youth, both shooting 308 150 federal fusion ammo.

338 win mag
7mm rem mag
30-06
308
7mm/08
270 win
6.5 creed
358 win
257 Weatherby
270 Weatherby
284 win
338/06

MRKbass said

4 years ago I got a cow with a 2005 Acura TL at 60 mph. Pretty low velocity round, but lots of energy

I do not recommend that "bullet". It's a soft point and the "expansion" makes it stop working well right after it's used, (like all soft points) but the replacement to get ready for a 2nd shot is REALLY expensive! And I do mean REALLY expensive,------ even more then Swift A-Frames.

I find it interesting that the original question of "how many different rifles" has been answered so many times with "how many different cartridges" - I'm curious, do many people only try one rifle in a particular chambering? Not me, Have used several in .308 and 30-06 and .35 Whelen, so I'm trying to figure out why so many answers that apparently miss the question? Please help me understand.

castnblast, I was 50% correct with my answer! Does that count? memtb

shure that counts, all the answers are good, I'd just like to know what rifle was used to fire those cartridges too!

castnblast, When answering for my wife, I only listed calibers. As she was only 20’ish with her first elk (a borrowed rifle) .make and model unknown, though the caliber was a .243 Win. From approx. 1975 thru 1995, she killed numerous elk with a Ruger Model 77 in .270 Win. From 1995 thru present, her only hunting rifle has been a Winchester, Model 70, SS in .338 WM. Question......mostly answered! memtb

One critter so one rifle.

T/C Icon Classic in .30-'06. Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40. Leupold PRS rings. Factory Federal with 180 TBBCs. 365 yards. Cow. December 2014.

300 Wby
375 JDJ

Depends on where you hunt. Next elk tag will be filled with a 358 Norma. Why?? Because I believe in carrying a big enough rifle to get a griz off of ya. If I ever go over to the Big Horns - there are no griz over there. I could take a 6.5-06 or 280 AI.

They (grizzlies) may soon get there! They’ve been seen near the Gooseberry Rest Area, and the Wyoming Game &Fish had to destroy a sow with cubs near Powell. You may never get to use those “small-bores”! memtb

My notes say 19 elk using 13 different rifles/calibers. From pre-'64's to modern-day options. From 6.5CM's to the 338WM. The goal is to put a respectable bullet in the heart/lungs regardless of the bullet diameter.

300 Win Mag
300 RUM
6.5 Creedmoor

1 with a 54 cal. Lymans Great Plains mzl
Quite a few with a .270 - wanted more knock down power so moved up to a 7mag.
Probably shot as many with my 7 mag, wanted to reach out a little further so went with a 300RUM.
Probably shot as many with the RUM as I did with the 270 and 7mag, but got tired of lugging around a 10lb rifle so built a light weight 7mmSTW.
Probably shot a half dozen or so with the STW so far, its definitely my favorite elk gun of the bunch. Will probably add two more elk to its total this fall.
Not sure how many elk I've killed, probably 40-50.

Nothing with a 223...

How many different elk have you killed rifles with?

4 elk with 4 different guns

Ruger M77,, 338 win mag 225 core-locts.(Factory) Huge Cow
Husqvarna 30/06 180Nosler Partitions.(Handloads) Young cow
Remington 700 338win Mag 210NoslerPartitions,(Handloads) 5point Bull
Browning Stainless Stalker 300WSM 180 Nosler Partition( Protected Points) BigMature Cow

of the four, the Browning is the only one I still own.

300 win
30-338 win
338 lapua
20ga slug