Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The BEST damn elk rifle?

Teeder wins! His award is he gets to send his rifle to Muleskinner, for thorough testing and a complete mountin speak write-up. The decision of the esteemed judges is final.

Thanks, but can I at least go with it? That may be the only way I can go back after elk for a couple more years.

On second thought, I'd trade the use of the rifle for a season in exchange for a take of the elk steaks!

You go with the more 'powerful' cartridge for elk but not moose?

I've never moose hunted, but the conventional wisdom is that that are not nearly as "tough" as elk...

-jeff

Interesting. The moose is clearly the larger animal, on average (maybe 200lb. more). Fortunately, .270 Win is adequate for either, with decent bullet placement and performance. I'm not sure that I would place such a high 'value' on the 'toughness' factor that I would consider .338 Win Mag 'more' necessary for elk than for moose. Of course it perhaps comes down to personal preference etc.

The moose is the larger animal, but elk are infamous for their ability to take a lethal hit and then run a long ways, usually down into some kind of hellhole. I've seen it myself a couple times. As I say, I've never hunted moose but the conventional wisdom is that they are not difficult to kill and they don't have the reputation of traveling long distances after the shot. In fact more likely, the stories I've heard is they stand there looking at you while you shoot them again.

I'm relying on heresay WRT the moose. Elk, I know the sumbitches are tough, and I know they are prone to traveling far after being shot, and I for sure know that in the terrain that I hunt them in, traveling far after the shot can be disastrous from the hunters perspective. So while a .338 is not necessary by any stretch for elk, it's desirable as far as I'm concerned. It does everything the smaller calibers do, only more of it. Whatever mojo a person believes that say a .270 or 30-06 has, the .338 has more of it since they operating in similar velocity ranges but the .338 has a bigger, heavier bullet. So if you believe that hitting a game animal with a premium bullet at a speed of around 2600-2800 fps is ideal, well then that's exactly what the .338 does but it's making a bigger hole and probably making it deeper, too.

-jeff

As long as one is able to shoot a .338 Win Mag as well as he can shoot a .270 Win, then I agree you are to some extent better off with the .338. Of course you've also got the other trade offs, such as probably a heavier rifle with a longer barrel. You've also obviously got a bigger muzzle flash, a louder 'report' and more recoil. A hunter should know himself, as well as his game and his rifle. If you're giving up even a little bit of accuracy, due to flinching, with the more powerful round, you're probably better off with the smaller round with which you shoot more accurately.

Regarding the difference in animals, yes I agree that it seems that a moose is more likely to 'bed down' in reaction to being wounded whereas an elk is more likely to 'take off'. On the other hand, a moose might just decide to 'bury' himself deep in a bog or something, and then you'll be wishing you had used the larger caliber on it as well.

Good thoughts all.

Personally, I shoot my .338 as well as any bolt rifle I own, so for me it's not an issue, but I know that it's well into the "flinch" category of rifle for many folks. I think it has as much to do with how a person is wired as anything- it's not a macho or lack of macho issue as far as I can see- so I am total agreement that NOBODY should hunt with more rifle than they can accuratly shoot.

Elk (and moose) are big targets and an inch this way or that isn't going to matter except at extreme ranges, though.

Finally, I'd hunt moose with my .338 too. But if "all" I had was my 30-06 I'd have no worries, really. Same with elk for that matter.

-jeff

That's why I split the difference for my "Big" gun and built a .338-06! It's the best of both worlds.

Yeah, when I rebarreled my 30-06 I thought long and hard about .338-06!

What bullet do you use? What velocities are you seeing?

Nice Ricky in your avatar, BTW!

-jeff

The BEST damned elk rifle?

I'm thinking that it is the one that you have in your hands.

Many times, I've been hunting with a few tags in my pocket (during combined seasons) and the rifle I've carried was the one I chose for the species I had the best chance of killing. Usually the rifle has been a .280 Ackley or a 7SGLC with bullets appropriate for mule deer or whitetail.

I have whacked a bunch of elk with mulie/whitetail gear. And I've never had to shoot twice.

The BEST damned elk rifle? The one in your hands. Every other rifle is at home and this is the one that HAS to do the deed. And it will, if you hold tight and just plain friggin' drive the life out of 'em.

Steve

I can shoot my 375 H&H as well as any through about 1 box (20) of shells and then I have to take a break from the pounding. Shooting at game I don't notice it. I love the authority this caliber has.
It's a left-handed model 70 built by Bob West.

If one shoots an elk in the right place, they are no tougher than any other 500-1000lb critter out there. If one doesn't hit them in the front half, they can take an incredible amount of gory punishment.......

Six of the last 7 elk I have killed have been with a 243W and 100gr Partitions..........none ran more than 40 yards.....so far.......

Casey

My vote is for my 30-06AI with 180's and 200 grainers

But in reality it's more cartridge than I need to kill elk--my 270's have killed them at every which angle and out to 400+ yards........

Casey

I've shot elk with a 30-06, 270wsm, 7mm-08, 7mm STW and 338 win mag. The 338 is my favorite...Elk are tough and IMHO it is perfect elk medicine.

The thread / question was about elk hunting.........

MM

A guy in my camp shot a spike through the lungs. It ended up dying only a couple hundred yards from where he shot it, but the path it took to get there was almost 1/2 mile by the GPS. They found it 2 days later and the meat was spoiled. That was with a 30-06. Another time I met up with a young man (early 20's) with a 6" piece of elk lung in his pocket. It'd snagged on a stump as it jumped over it. He'd been tracking it up and over 2 different ridges/drainages. He never did recover it. That was with a .308.

Elk are tough. Sometimes you can hit them right and they go way, WAY more than 40 yards.

-jeff

Ummm, yes it is. However, you made the first mention of moose. Further, IMHO, it is still related to elk to discuss why one may, or may not, require a more powerful cartridge for elk than one does for a larger animal such as a moose. However, you are of course free not to answer the question if you prefer not to.

My "big" bullet is a 225 Grandslam at just shy of 2700fps.
Deer bullets are either a 200 Hornady Spire or Speer Hot-cor slowed down to 2600'ish. When I get off my butt and get some loading done, I'll be giving the 185 and 210 TSX's a working over.



Thanks! You're the first person on here that new what it was. It's a 4001V63. I have a Fireglo one just like it too. They're my main gigging basses.

That's a very respectable elk cartridge, sounds like.

I get just shy of 2900 fps with 225's in my 26" .338 WM, but then I'm soaking up more recoil and carrying a bigger rifle, too.

I worked in a vintage guitar shop, Mckenzie River Music:

www.mckenzierivermusic.com

for too many years. Bought and sold many an old Ricky! I'm a guitar player myself, leaning towards Martins, Tele's, and Strat's and old Fender or Mesa Boogie amps... but I own a recording studio business that is still going strong even though I have walked away from it to do real estate, and I have... uh... I think I have 3 basses out there, and an old Ampeg flip-top tube bass amp, and an SWR Bass 350, and a Bag End 1x15 cab... but no Ricky!

We better stop talking music gear or everyone will start thinking we are freaks! :-)

-jeff