Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The elk killing rifle

The 160 TTSX at 3K and the 210 NPT at 2,750 or so would be the best two loads, so far in this 338-06.

I'm curious how they'd compare on elk or WT's or most anything else. Any terminal performance observations would be appreciated.

DF

Although not my favorite bullet, I think the 210gr NPT is probably the best all around bullet for this cartridge. Has worked admirably on deer and elk. Recovered on out of an elk that had lost it's front half.

The 180gr NAB has worked very good on deer for a friend of mine. No elk results yet... maybe he will draw a tag in 2020.

200gr Hornady SP has worked on deer/antelope.

210gr TSX is fantastic on elk, but a little hard for deer IMO.

200gr Ballistic silvertip was used on two deer this past fall and seems a little soft, tremendous meat loss and recovered one that had jacket separation. Was hoping for a little tougher bullet as MD has always stated the 200 BT was tough. I am not going to risk a bucket list hunt on bullet performance I am not 100% behind.

My son and I are going to SE Alaska this coming spring for a black bear hunt. I was always taking a 338-06. Just found out my next 338-06 should be coming back from the smith's in the next week or so. My son was planning on using my 300 H&H, but is now going to use the 338-06.

Going to work up load using the 210gr TTSX after the experiencing the softness of the Ballistic silvertip. If the rifles will not shoot that bullet, will try the 210gr TSX, then 200gr NAB, 210gr NPT and finally the Hornady 200gr SP if needed.

IMO experience black bears are soft animals, but I want two holes. Especially if they make it off the beach into the thick stuff.

Would love to see photos of that rifle when you get it set up.

Great info. Just what I was looking for.

Thanks.

DF

Indeed. Generally an incompetent and dangerous SOB to be in the woods with. The Dunning-Kruger Effect applies very much to guns, hunting, fishing, etc.

Tom

I had never heard of the Dunning-Kruger Syndrome. Thanks for posting, learned something today. But it is spot on.

One of things that has always stuck with me from school is the statement made about professionalism.

Know what know, know what you do not know, and be able to learn what you do not know.

I'm a bit suspicious of the application of the Dunning-Kruger effect. It postulates that those with little skill typically over estimate their skill set, acting accordingly. And, there may be some emperical evidence to support that.

BUT, politically, it's getting a lot of traction these day among elitists who apply this principle to Trump supporters and "deplorable Walmart types", who obviously know nothing, but think we do. Of course the lib professsors who postulate such stuff are positioned on their perceived cloud, peering down at us peons

SO, the Dunning-Kruger hypothesis, IMO, depends on where the observer is positioned and the observer's predetermined bias. It's possible that the proponents of this theory are inadvertantly their own victims...

DF

I did not take it as everyone with little skill, overestimates their skill, just some.

Just like the blanket statement man with one gun is not universally true.

Some of those guys may have the Syndrome, some of the one gun guys you probably should be aware of, and some are just too busy, practical, or utilitarian to have more than one rifle and waste time and money on ammunition.

My Dad has pretty much used a 760 in 270 since the very early 70's. With the exception of a 7600 I had rebored to 338-06 for elk hunting. He used it for three elk hunts and went back to his 270 and 150gr partitions.

Up until his age related decline (currently 81 yo), he was a very good shot. Growing up in the 40's and 50's he supplied many small game meals for his family and shot many pheasants in the head with 22's for the table.

He was warned to maybe pull a few shots while qualifying in the national guard because they were looking for Vietnam snipers. Has put plenty of critters in the freezer over the years. Elk, caribou, black bear, deer, antelope, coyotes have all fallen.

Now if you look at his fishing gear....that is another story. He is a certified fishing looney.

Dunning-Kruger - " a man has to know his limitations " Dirty Harry. I have killed elk with the 30-06 and 7mm mag. one with buddies 378 weatherby that was handier when we saw them. they all worked fine. my personal statistical sample is only 8. but I have helped and guided to 40 +. With that number I have experienced what works well. It is hard to get drawn in Arizona but we have some good sized ones.

Wise advice on not showing all your stuff when they looking for snipers.

I had a cousin who, like you Dad, was an experienced hunter by the time he went to boot camp. They issued him a Springfield and he just loved that rifle. Loved to show his buds how he could "stack'em"... Well, he was picked for sniper duty, served over three years in that capacity in the European and Pacific theaters during WWII. I asked him how he stayed alive so long, his comment, "I knew when to retreat".

I think if he had to do it all over, he'd have been wise like your Dad.

Good story, thanks for sharing.

DF

I'm thinking very strongly about this!

Elkhunter3006, I'll give you $20 for that Savage 99 in 30-06. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

He related the fact that sniper life expectancy was pretty good motivation to pull a few shots.

I’ve shot a decent variety with the .338 160 TTSX. 1 bull Elk, kudu, waterbuck, Impala, blesbok, and a Gemsbok. Never had to track anything. Massive internal damage, excellent penetration. Nothing over 200 yds so I can’t speak to performance once it slows down. All were heart/lung shots, no CNS, and nothing went longer than 4-6 seconds.
The bull elk was short range to the chest. Looked like a small grenade went off where he was hit, he ran maybe 30 yds and was down.
After playing with different bullets each season I’ve decided to just use the 160 as my go-to in my .338.

Thanks prm for that info. It looks like it would work, just good to hear your testimony about how it actually did work. May have to try it.

DF

Also, Barnes load data has a few powders going over 3200 FPS with the 160 TTSX in the 338-06. It’s exceptional at ~3050, 3200 is even more goodness. That will turn the insides of any elk or bear into soup.

Thanks for the report on the 160's. I shot a few of them at the range, but never hunted them.

When the 160 TTSX is mentioned in 338-06 discussions, typical responses are reasons why it probably won’t work. Here we have a first hand account of not only how it worked but how well it worked. That’s good because it’s a very accurate bullet in my rifle and one I may want to try.

DF

Part of the Barne’s performance ideology if you will is to use a somewhat light for caliber bullet. The old moly coated 168 (?) grain Barnes-X were absolute hammers in my 300 Weatherby and accounted for numerous moose, sheep, Sitka Blacktail, and both black and brown bears in AK.

I’d go light before I went heavy in a TTX bullet. Just my humble opinion.

I've seen what the 168 TTSX can do out of a 300 RUM and a 30-378. Hunting buds used that bullet in their big 30's with devastating results.

The Barnes is gonna be long for weight due to being a mono. In the 338-06, some have said that the 250 is a bit long, taking up too much case space, moving too slow and I tend to agree. I'd save 250's for the 338 WM. 200-225 gr. C&C seem about ideal for the 338-06.

I've not measured the 185 TTSX length compared to C&C bullets in the 200-225 range, but think they'd be pretty close. The 160 TTSX at 3K+ fps should be a hammer. The 185 TTSX is reportedly a good one, too. I'm thinking the 160 TTSX would be about ideal for our local WT's and hogs, the 185 TTSX also, maybe better than the 160 for bigger stuff. Hope to prove these theories one of these days.

Good info.

DF

Regarding relative bullet lengths, here is a sampling of .338 bullets. The recovered bullet is the one 160 TTSX I’ve recovered. It was in the very thick offside hide of a Waterbuck. The 185 TTSX has also worked well for me, but I do believe the 160 does a bit more internal damage. Splitting hairs, but I prefer the 160 to kill things.

The bullets left to right are:

160 TTSX
175 Cutting Edge
180 Woodleigh
180 AB
180 BT
185 TTSX
200 Woodleigh
200 North Fork
200 BT
200 SST
200 AB
200 Hot Cor
200 eTip
210 Partition
210 Scirocco II
210 TTSX
215 Gameking
225 Partition
225 AB