Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Cartridge for elk

Seen a semi-custom 338 win mag that shot lights out with 210gr NPT's... nothing fancy just a old winchester with a fresh barrel and a McMillanhandle.

I had a 338 Lapua built a tad to light and sold it as i couldn’t get comfortable with the recoil. Unbelievably accurate with 300 grain bullets and had her going out to 1500 yds when I was chasing long range game. Now I roll with the 300 WM and am happy. Last year in New Mexico there were three guys in camp doing the 6.5 game and all killed an elk. The furthest was at 500 yds with the 26 Nosler.

I think my .300 wby with 168 gr TTSX is pure magic on elk. My Shiras bull moose had complete pass through and broke both shoulders at a ranged 400 yards. He took 2 steps and they were both backwards.

He probably full of Schidt and this elk most likely didn't get whacked at 1000yds with a Leupold on a .264 Win Mag.

Nice bull, John.

I suppose you used a Berger bullet too??

Nice bull.

300 PRC will do.

I will be reloading. Really drawn to the .340 but recoil is a concern as well as cost. 300 win mag or prc makes sense.

I have them all. They all work well.

My dad uses a 300 win mag with a brake. I don't think it kicks any harder than my 30/06. Recoil is an important thing to consider. A softer recoiling rifle is easier to shoot accurately. Plus with the .300 or a .338 you can buy ammo almost anywhere people hunt elk. Neither of them are barrel burners either, at least as far as magnums go. Whatever you happen to choose practice, practice, practice from field positions.

Personally I subscribe to the old adage that shooting elk is the easy part, and finding them is the hard part. Depending on where you hunt of course, if you have access to quality private land then the equation changes.

Assuming that finding elk is the hard part, you'll be doing a lot of walking, maybe in steep terrain, maybe not. So I tend to go with the rifle I want to carry in the mountains. I have a few purpose built "long range" rifles and they tend to be on the heavy side so I don't normally find myself reaching for them when it's time to head up the mountain. I can't really get behind the idea of a lightweight .338 LM or .340 Weatherby, setting aside the fact that they're not really needed. So to me, out of the cartridges on your list I'd go with the .280.

If you can't kill an elk with a .280, it's not the cartridge.

What smoke said....

couple questions: What is long range? 400-500y? or 700-1200y?
what elevation is the hunting going to be at?
are these long hike in, OTC tag, rough country hunts? or private land truck hunts?
any concern about barrel length? 26" barrel no big deal? or a 20-22" mtn rifle barrel is better?
Do you want to be able to buy ammo at store? a store near where you elk hunt? a store in a remote settlement in Alaska? Africa?

here is my set up, i live in the mtns of CO for 25y and only shot one elk twice. the remainder just one shot, DRT or only a short run and drop. try not to yawn: 30-06, 20" barrel, 165g hornady superformance, 2880-2900 fps, 0.45bc, hunt at 10,000 ft so there is a bonus to the ballistics, 2000ft-lb energy at 400y. I have shot 3 elk at 400-450y, the rest shorter. no big deal.

if you want to be able to buy ammo at the store, 300 win mag, if you want a little less kick 280AI, If you want more horsepower 338 win mag, more hp with a shorter barrel 9.3x62, 250g accubond handloads will get 2700fps

338L/340 weatherby are in a different club,

Good point. “Long range” has changed from maybe 300-500 yards decades ago to 800-1000 yards of late. The right gear, understanding the system, and practice make it possible. However, I wonder how many critters suffer a serious and eventually fatal hit but get away before their end. Oh that fickle wind that that can blow in opposite directions on opposite sides of a canyon.

I would think it’s a relatively small subset of hunters who are skilled enough to do it regularly.

My long range endpoint was 500 yards under very good conditions and 500 yds. was the actual distance of my longest shot and kill. I never had the opportunity to practice and shoot out further. Thus I didn’t need the extra necessary gear. That it would be more fun than golf is without a doubt however.

When I started hunting elk in the late ‘80’s we didn’t have Uber BC bullets with throats that allowed the proper seating in their cartridge, and the fast-twist barrels to stabilize those long, sleek bullets, so many hunters went to relative high speed cartridges (magnums) to get that bullet with the BC of an ashtray out to 400 or 500 without dropping to the ground.

I’ve never been but, I’d take my 338 Sako if I had a chance to go.

Long range animal is 600 yards. Targets out to 1500 yards. Im a handloader. I never owned a 338 in any configuration. 280 AI is appealing for efficiency and lack of recoil.....add a 8 twist barrel and shoot 168s and it should be decent. I've been eyeing a Weatherby Accumark in .340 or .300 weatherby and figured i could use it on a once in a lifetime moose hunt ect.

The weight and to a lesser extent the recoil are becoming the deciding factors for me. Your 308 with the right bullet is perfectly capable to 400 yards or so if the shooter is. The big cannons are only needed for really long range shooting, farther than most people have any business shooting.

A 300 mag for me should weigh about 8 lbs. for me to be comfortable with shooting it a lot. My 7mms weigh half to one pound less and usually get first pick if there is much walking involved., and there usually is.

If building I would pick one of the 7mm's between 280AI and 28 Nosler and twist it to shoot up to 190 grain bullets. The Hammer 177 grain looks interesting and a 1-8 will spin it fast enough. What I have used personally are the 280 AI and 7RM with several 160 - 175 grain bullets from Barnes and Nosler. They worked well but now if I could get them to shoot I would use the 168 in the 280 and the 175 LRAB in the 7RM and the only limiting factor would be getting to and finding the elk. Both of these can shoot farther than I should be shooting. If worried about ammo then the 7RM gets the nod, but with hand loading and say the 308 as backup then anything goes.

I was looking at the 300 prc and 30 nosler. 30 nosler caught my attention because it fits in a standard action. 280 AI is another build im considering.

I shoot a 7mm Rem Mag, 162 Eldx at just under 3k mv. I won’t shoot at an elk at 600 yards but the combination has plenty of juice out to that distance.



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Any of the faster 7mms or 30s would be ideal. Not sure about the 30 Nosler but I hit a recoil threshold with the 300WM and 200 grain bullets in an 8lb. or less rifle. I don't know why but 7mm 175 grain bullets seem to kick less than 180 grain 30s at similar velocities, it makes no sense and the rifles both fit me. I think the 30 has more momentum or something else that makes perceived recoil greater. The charge weights are within about 5 grains of each other so it is not powder mass.

A 280 AI could be built lighter than the PRC and Nosler and still be easy to shoot. I am thinking about recoil as the 30s could be built lighter too.
For some reason the 280AI seems much milder in recoil than the 7RM even when the velocities are close. More powder in the 7RM plus blast and noise so maybe not surprising.

For me the 280AI hits an ideal balance for a 7mm, the other one is the 7mm Mashburn Magnum. I could be happy with either or both.