Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best .308 round for Elk at 300+ yards??

Now days my bullet choice is Barnes TSX's.....

This is what I just love about this forum. A guy asks a simple, straightforward question, and even describes his rifle and yardage. It's a good question, because shooting an elk at over 300 yards with a .308 is pushing the envelope. The part I love is all the "extra" advice he gets, unrelated to his original question. Advice like dump your rifle and get a lighter one, or try to get closer for the shot. Advice on the kinds of bullets that will "work just fine" and cost less. Comments on someone's pet handloads when the guy clearly said he's looking for a factory load.

IMHO, if a guy is going to contemplate and be ready for shots at elk at over 300 yards with a .308 and bases his choice of ammo. on the cost (he isn't thankfully), he's barking up the wrong tree. Add up all the money you'll spend to go on an elk hunt, and save $20 or $30 on two boxes of ammo.?

Advice that proper bullet placement is key is always good, and as a matter of fact a .243 will do just fine when you punch both lungs. But at 400 yards, even the best marksmen will miss by a few inches now and then, hence the question about the "best" factory load (not bullet).

Personally, I would hunt elk with a 150 TSX any time, or better yet, a 168 for my style of hunting. But then again, I won't be shooting at over 300. If I hunted with a long-range rig and thought I might, the 150 TSX would not be my choice, based on the fact that a good 180 is a better long-range bullet and will retain much more wallop past 300 than a 150. Remember, we're talking elk at over 300 with a .308. And we're talking the "best" bullet, not what will work.

Now the other thing is, although I've never killed an elk with a TSX, the one knock I've heard fairly consistently is that at low velocities, they tend to not open up. Anyone who's killed an elk at long range with a TSX at similar velocities care to comment on that?

I am no expert but have well over 50 big game kills and have never shot a so called a Texas Heart shot yet. For that matter I never plan on one either. I have turned more than one elk or deer down because of no decent shot was offered. I have yet to be sorry, IMO it is the right thing to do. I have never tried to break a shoulder either, heart lungs work, has been my experience. It takes blood and oxygen to live and without it nothing moves far.
We use 30 calibers ( '06's and 308's) with 150 grain bullets they work, again IMO you don't need the latest greatest magnum or the several dollar apiece bullets to reload. Somewhere close to 100 animals have fallen for me and mine the last few decades with either the Federals or the Core-Lokt's.
There is nothing wrong with $3500 rifles or $5 bullets but again IMO unnecessary.

I followed a fella's advice who had "got his elk" 17 years in a row. He used a 30-06 with 150 grains reloads, the elk have not changed. What worked then works now. How much time and money do you suppose Remington spent developing the core-lokt bullet? Nearly every bullet I see advertised in the gun rags looks almost identical when recovered as what I have seen with what few I have recovered.
I'll get off my soap box, but the bottom line to me is hit em where it counts is first and foremost. Hunt responsibly don't shoot just cause you can hit a animal any ol place from any distance.

I've never shot any animal in the backside either. A buddy killed a spike one year using a 30-06 and 180grs. The bull was only 60 yards away or so, but I probably wouldn't have taken the shot.

Acutally, every elk I've killed has been within 30 or 40 yards (maybe 50 yards one time). And all of the ones I've let go (some not-to-shabby 6ptrs), have been within 50 yards or so.

Other than antelope and a couple of mule deer, I don't think I've every killed any big game at over 200 yards.

Still, I want to be ready if some of them bulls, I've been letting go for the past 4 or 5 years have made to 7 or 8.

Friday I will take the rifle out and shoot it at 100, 200, and 300 yards (maybe 400 if I remember to bring a portable target holder) and see if the load will work with my rifle.

smokepole:

I know what you mean about asking a straight forward question and people going off on different tangents. These threads seem to take a life of their own sometimes, but it always makes for some interesting reading.

Good Hunting to All:

700LH, you make some very good points. And no one can argue with results. Also, no one said that core-lokts aren't good bullets, or that 150 grain bullets won't kill elk just fine, or that you should use a different bullet.

Here's how I look at it though. If someone asked me which is best for 300+ yard shots at elk, a .308 or a .30-06, I'd say the 06. That is not to say that the .308 won't work, that's an entirely different question. And in my mind anyway, the 180 grain bullet at 2,700 gets closest to what an 06 delivers.

I can personaly testify that a 180-grain Nosler Partition works on elk well past 300 yards when started at a measly 2700 fps.

JB

I can second that notion, cept mine was always started at 2650 being as I am such a conservative fella........grins

Anyone buy into that?

Dober

You're just one of those wimp-loaders....

JB

Now that would be me...grins

Speaking of load wimp loaders, you wanna go and break in that .340 on Friday?

Dober

Thanks, but I wil probably still be nailing trim to the new upstairs flooring....

Though they did re-open the rod & gun club range--and the sky is clear enough that I may even be able to "scout" for my embra borrego with the spotting scope while shooting! Might try that tomorrow morning before having to hammer some more.

JB

Buff Hunter,

There are a pile of bullets that work well at 308 velocity. Since you want something like the Sierra Matchking, I'd try the Sierra 165 BTHP Gameking. The Sierra hollow point hunting boattails are actually built tougher than their boat tail soft points according to the folks at Sierra. I know a lot of folks use this bullet at close range here without problems so it should work fine on elk in open country.

Britt

Britt-that is the bullet I am presently running in my lil 308. It is big time accurate but has the BC of a spud. Turrets of course can help out with this.

I've not used it to date in a 308 on game but have taken a plethora of game with it in the .06 and the 300's.

Personally I feel it is the toughest bullet that Sierra makes and is every bit as good if not tougher than all the other non preme's out there.

Just wished its BC didn't suck to bad...

Dober

But when this one hits it's a sweet tater LOL!

Britt

Got that right!

I'm thinking I should field test the lil 308 out of a stand on an island in eastern Mt on the Jellystone. Now if I could just find someone who had land out there....grins

Perhaps I'll need to show some property about Nov 12th, which just happens to be my birthday!

Dober

It's an accuracy favorite of mine for my LVSF 308, but the only thing I've shot with it was a small pig. I wasn't really worried, but having read your comment I'll have no qualms about busting a big buck with one. Where I'll be hunting 300 yards is a long shot, so even launched around 2650 fps I'm sure the spud will do all right.

mathman


Oops, I forgot we were in the Elk section.

Dobs,

Don't ya know, you're supposed to write on the side of your cases with a sharpie "2800 FPS"? That way it will kill'um deader!
I think some wise-ass writer said that somewhere!

Well, I got back this morning from shooting the Fed HE 180s. They worked like a charm in my .308. I carefully resighted my .308 with the Fed MKs 168's and shot 4, 2-shot groups at 100yds that were each about 3/4", with scope adjustments made between each group. The final group was about a 1/2" from perfect (2" high at 100 yds)for dead-on at 200yds. I then shot 1 2-shot group with the Fed HEs 180's, which measured 1" and was about an inch left from perfect (wind was starting to pick-up blowing maybe ~20 MPH from right-to-left).

Due to the wind picking up, the remainder of my shooting was done exclusively with the Fed HE 180s. Here are the results.

I then moved on to 200 yds and shot 2 2-shot groups that each measured 1 1/2", and were about 1 1/2" from dead-on (wind was starting to gust and I tried to squeeze off in the calm spots).

At 300 yds, I shot 1 2-shot group of 6" (wind was gusting pretty bad and maybe up ~25-30 MPH). Each shot was no more than 4" from dead-on, with the closest about 3 1/2". I was using the 300yd recticle of the scope, and giving the wind, I was pretty much satisfied with the results.

All shots were fired from the bipod, without any sandbags (just using my left fist, under the stock for fine-tuning adjustments).

I believe on a nice calm day, I could stay within MOA to 300yds without too much trouble.

Again, thanks for all the good advice!

I bet you could do it further out than that...

But hunting conditions are rarely calm, at least where I hunt elk.

-jeff

Jeff,

I also thought of that. I could probably push to 400-450 yards, provided the wind was dead calm. I think I will limit myself to about 350yds for elk (and hopefully get a big bull at a much closer range).

For a bear hunt coming up in a week, I'll probably limit myself to 350yds as well (not too crazy about crawling into srub oak after a wounded bear!).

For a deer hunt, in mid-October, provided the wind was right, and I had plenty of time for a second or even third shot, I might stretch it to 450 yds.

Again, not shooting long range, unless I need to.

BH

BH,

At closer range bullet construction becomes more important, of course. I was under the impression that this was pretty much strictly a long-range affair. If that's not true, then do be sure to choose a bullet that will hold together.

-jeff