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#16522507 10/13/21
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A friend of mine is going Elk Hunting. His rifle is a 308 bolt action. He has killed a fair share of Deer with it.
He want's to know if it will be OK on Elk. He has 150 gr. Rem.--Win--Fed.-ammo, all soft point factory loads.
I told Him true the boiler room and He will be OK.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Dirty Harry

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150's work, 165's work better, and for short range work 180's seem to have a drop em where they stand affect.


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Don’t shoot bone,keep it in the armpit at a (mostly) broadside angle.

It would be nice if he could find ammo with a premium bullet, like a Partition, mono’s, or a bonded bullet.

And yes, lots of elk are killed with plain c&c bullets, and lots of dead elk are never recovered. I find them almost every year around our high country place.


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Many elk have fallen to smaller calibers. The smaller 7mm-08 is very popular with elk hunters and if it'll handle them, the 308 is better. The 308 and 165 bullets is great. As for 150's, I've killed a lot of elk with 150's from a 270.


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Originally Posted by alpinecrick

Don’t shoot bone,keep it in the armpit at a (mostly) broadside angle.

It would be nice if he could find ammo with a premium bullet, like a Partition, mono’s, or a bonded bullet.

And yes, lots of elk are killed with plain c&c bullets, and lots of dead elk are never recovered. I find them almost every year around our high country place.


You stole my words. I wouldn't stay at home with a 308 and a plain 150, but I for sure wouldn't try driving it through the front leg bone on a quartering to shot.


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A 30 cal is hardly a smaller caliber.

The .308 is more than enough for any elk. This last weekend, while out in the mountains with my elderly father the topic came up about how many elk we had taken in the region (we had no idea, but it was a bunch). Then the topic went to what we used rifle wise, and I had used a .308 for the vast majority of them. From one singe 50ish yard snap shot, to a 615 yard shot, they all fell over dead. The average shot (for me) was in the 400s. Not by choice, but due to environment/terrain.

I would suggest a 155 Scenar pushed by Varget .

You don't need premium bullets BTW, but if it makes you happy, go for it. Before I switched to 155 Scenars, I used Sierra 165 grain hollow point Game Kings, and they were absolutely deadly on mule deer and elk. The reason I switched was that past 5-600 yards the 165 HPGKs started to really get blown around by the wind, due to their profile, whereas the Scenars shot tight groups at all ranges. I never had any intention of shooting at the longer ranges, but the Scenars external and terminal performance was hard to ignore.

If your buddy can shoot, then he will not have any issue. Killing elk is not very hard. Getting them back to the truck is the hard part.


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My only experience with a .308 Win was limited to 165 gr factory loads with Speer Grand Slam and briefly with Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets. Both worked fine on mule deer and cow elk. I never had an opportunity on a bull with that rifle, which I still have. The .308 has enough gas to take elk at sane ranges with good shot placement. I think I would tend to keep shots under 300 yards with it and other medium velocity cartridges. But most of us would do well to keep shooting at critters somewhere close to that range regardless of cartridge. Good luck on his hunt.


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Yep, unless a better bullet go 165's ,180's would be better.


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I have one in the back of the truck right now headed for CO first season. Lots of bullets will work within design limitations of the bullet in question. If it were me, I'd take the 308 if he has confidence in it - but would try a couple other bullets in 150-165 gr versions. I'd lean Nosler, Barnes, Fed Trophy. Bullets are the cheap part of the equation......


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I lived in UT in the late 70' thru the mid 80's. I used a .30-06 with Hornady Frontier 150 gr Spire Points (cheapest Ammo a kid could afford). SHOT PLACEMENT is where it's at. If you do your job, the .308win will do it's job.[u][/u] Over a 10 year period, I took 7-8 elk in the Monte Cristo area between Huntsville and Woodruff UT.


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My late cousin who lived in a number of the western states owned a Win. 70 Fwt. .308 Win., to kill 22 elk over the years. He was a good hunter and a good shot. He used 180 grains bullets and never had any trouble killing elk.

FWIW.

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I have killed a few as well a bear with great success. I find it hard to grab other rifles since it has proven itself and is so nice to carry. Good luck!


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I've packed a few of my Dad's elk out of the woods over a ten year span. He used my Grandfather's Win 70 Featherweight in 308win exclusively. He used 165gr bullets.

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I used a 308 on my first elk hunt. I used Speer Grand Slams.

I would not use 150 grain soft points on elk.


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Originally Posted by alpinecrick

Don’t shoot bone,keep it in the armpit at a (mostly) broadside angle.

It would be nice if he could find ammo with a premium bullet, like a Partition, mono’s, or a bonded bullet.

And yes, lots of elk are killed with plain c&c bullets, and lots of dead elk are never recovered. I find them almost every year around our high country place.

What would you suggest? I have also found dead not recovered elk, but I can't say any of them were because a .308 didn't do its job! Even with old green box, ammo. No way of telling with what caliber they were shot. Could have been a .22 or a 460 weatherboom. Shot placement.

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Grew up in CO hunting elk. Have personally shot about 25 of them and have been in on the taking of over 100 others. I wouldn't hesitate to use the 308 on elk as long as I'm not shooting more than 250 yards.


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He’ll be fine, know a family that kills elk every year with a .308 and Fusions.

There’s also a young girl that gets her picture posted here quit often with dead elk and believe she also uses Fusions, along with Mackay’s daughter and target bullets.

Curious of the hunt type, “elk hunt” has a pretty broad range?

Like the guy that claims “ laid my bull out” to find it was a 1 1/2 year old spike.

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I’m planning to elk hunt this season with a .308 as well. Have bullet options including Speer HC, Nosler PT & E-tip, all 150 grain. Am confident that with sound shot placement (within reasonable range, as others have mentioned), a clean, quick kill can happen. The hardest part remains finding them...

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Originally Posted by dirtyharry

A friend of mine is going Elk Hunting. His rifle is a 308 bolt action. He has killed a fair share of Deer with it.
He want's to know if it will be OK on Elk. He has 150 gr. Rem.--Win--Fed.-ammo, all soft point factory loads.
I told Him true the boiler room and He will be OK.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Dirty Harry



The cartridge is fine, the bullet and weight suck.

Top tier bullets: A-Frames, Bonded Bear claw (any version), Northforks
Second tier (still good): Barnes X-bulelts (any version), Weldcores, Partitions

In .308 you want 180s or custom loaded 200s if you rifle is twisted for it. You can go lighter with Barnes.

Last edited by Llama_Bob; 10/13/21.
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Originally Posted by MrAjs04b
I’m planning to elk hunt this season with a .308 as well. Have bullet options including Speer HC, Nosler PT & E-tip, all 150 grain. Am confident that with sound shot placement (within reasonable range, as others have mentioned), a clean, quick kill can happen. The hardest part remains finding them...


With the 150g Partition or E-Tip, ,just shoot them in the front half and the bullet will do the rest........


Casey

Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.
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