Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .300 Win Mag or .338 for elk

Bout like everything gets over estimated, that’s not over 100 lbs guts feathers and all, guaranteed

Daughter #1 will be using a new-to-her .270 for elk this year. 150g ABLR @ 2910fps. Fairly mild recoil, 2000fps and 1500fpe to 740 yards. Given her comfort range of 400 yards I think it will be adequate. Hope she gets an opportunity to prove as much.

You gents with actual experience have it all wrong.

I hear a .223 speedmire with 88s is the ideal elk medicine especially when topped with a 6x super chicken

CH, how are you getting 2000FPS/500 Ftlbs of energy at 740 yards with a BC of .543 (Litz tested in a 1-10 barrel) and a 2910 start speed? I am getting a retained velocity of 1768 FPS and 1041 Ftlbs at 750 yards? Not questioning your load it just sounds a bit high. I ran it through a couple of ballistic calcs and can't make my numbers match yours.

I used the Nosler value of .620 and 7000 feet altitude. Ballistic calculator was 'Point Blank', the original version. Using the number you attribute to Litz (.543), I get 2124fps and 1502fpe at 650 yards.

Regardless of actual B.C. value, we verify drop at actual ranges to 600 yards. During load development I was shooting sub-half-moa groups at 100. Pretty sure the load will work at her comfort range of 400 yards (2409fps, 1933fpe @ 7000 with Litz B.C.).

I appreciate the question. Should have specified the parameters.

Oh yeah, not questioning the lethality of the load one bit CH. I have used a 270 quite alot and love it. I just can't make the inputs come up with the same numbers you came up with.

Even at 7000 feet with the numbersI got using the Litz B.C.?

I got pretty close to your numbers. I don't know what you used for atmospherics, but I normalize barametric pressure for altitude, and that has worked for me out to 600 with many, many bullets in a few cartridges including the 270 with the 150 ABLR. I used 30 degrees and 50% humidity. I get 1498 ft/lbs and 2121 at 750 using the Litz BC. I shoot usually around 4000-4500 ASL, and hunt 5500-6500 ASL. I use 6000 and 10 degrees with average humidity 50% when I run charts for hunting. Has worked well for me.

I got a bit closer using 30 degree temp, 50% Humidity, 7000 ft elevation, 2910 start speed, .543 BC.






Thanks for running that down fellas. I was racking my brain as to how he came up with the numbers. Ain’t no doubt if you could put the bullet on point at 750 you’d make a dent.

I’ve killed dozens of elk and seen another dozen or so killed (most with a 300 mag( win and wby) and a 338/340by. Most shots have been between 300 and 400 yards. My gun of choice is a 340wby, and if I didn’t have it, my old 338. In my experience, the 300 mags shooting non premium bullets (corelocs or Interlocs) kill a touch faster than the 210 partitions I prefer in .338 bullets. When the 300s were used with partitions, there was no discernible difference. I prefer the bigger slugs because even at range, there’s never been a doubt about having hit an elk. I can’t say that about the 300s. I also prefer the the heavier partitions because I can use them at point blank range and not worry about busting shoulders or raking shots like I would if shooting non premium bullets. Recoil? In my rifles, I’ve always found it to be sharper in 300s. Trajectory? When sighted in 31/2” high at 100, out to to 400 yds, there is not a difference that will ever be noticed in the field. Accuracy? My Mark V and Ruger 77 alway shot exceptionally well (factory loads for the 340 and handloads for the 338). I’d be comfortable shooting either caliber for the rest of my hunting days. Given a choice, I’d always pick the bigger diameter. Just my 0.02.

I normalize my barametric pressure to my altitude. The standard pressure is only for sea level. As you go up in altitude, there is less air to be pressurized. I learned this some years ago, and it corrected errors I was seeing. I kept impacting really high on targets. I thought it was my velocity. 7000 ft ASL barametric pressure is typically between 22 and 22.5, I believe.

I may be double-factoring, but it works for me. I notice not many guys adjust barometer for elevation.

Beretzs -

I see you used 50% humidity. Please try around 10-20% and see what you get.

FWIW, the 'Point Blank calculator I used does not have a humidity setting and I don't know what it uses. Also, I used the default 70 degrees. If I knock that back to 50 degrees the numbers are more in line with yours - 2096fps and 1462fpe at 650 yards. 50 degrees, 7000 feet, .543 B.C. (Litz #), unknown humidity, Point Blank 1.0..

The last elk I shot was with a 250NPT out of my 338, it was very effective at a long range of about 160yards. But after reading about MD and His wife’s experience with the 130TTSX I’m probable going to take my little 308 this year with 150ttsx.....it’s a lot lighter and easier to carry. If the elk is too far... I just won’t shoot. It seems to me when I see elk they are either a mile away or inside 200 yards.

Ben

I had the same question as the original poster years ago. When I graduated and got my first job out of college, me and some buddies planned an elk hunt. Seeing the only centerfire rifle I had at the time was a 30-30, I went shopping. The local gunshop I frequented had a NIB tang safety M77 in .338 (this was in 2001; this particular shop had LOTS of old new stock). I put a 3x9 Vari-X II on it and haven’t looked back. If that exact gun would have been in .300, I would have bought it, put the same 3x9 Vari-X II on it and not looked back. I can shoot it well and it has done right by me. Is that to say a .300 or 7 Mag wouldn’t have done the same?
I will say that the only elk I’ve ever killed with it was a 60 yd neck shot using 210 NP’s, heck my 30-30 would have worked for that, so I can’t comment on the performance differences between the two (200 gr Speer HotCores do a number on Texas whitetails though!).
Like was mentioned above, getting a tag and finding the elk is the hardest part of this game. And, as a wise man once told me, the most important piece of equipment when hunting elk are the keys to the backhoe.

Started out in 1982 with a 7mm RM and Hornady 162g BTSP handloads. Was unimpressed with the job the BTSP did on my first elk a couple years later, even though it died. Switched to 160g Speer Grand Slams and it too 20+ years to recover one. During that time I took more elk with that load than any other cartridge since. Took another with that load in 2015 at a lasered 411 yards, 4 steps and down.

During those years I wondered if I had made the right choice getting the 7mm RM as my first centerfire. In 2005 Sportsman’s had a closeout on Ruger Boatpaddle rifles and I bought one in .300WM. Since then I’ve used it to take several elk. Can’t really tell a difference in results between the two.

Then I got to wondering about a .338WM. Cobbled a Ruger MKII boatpaddle together from parts in 2010 and have taken multiple elk with it, including my longest ever at 487 yards. While it definitely makes larger holes, time from shot to down is has not been noticeably different than with the 7mm RM or .300WM.

My belief is that placement is primary and that increasing caliber is a game of diminishing returns. Choice of bullet matters more to me than cartridge.