Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What would you recommend for an elk cartridge?

Yes, although not in the firearms industry.

Fair enough, but if 06 works for someone why poop on it?

You're greatly overestimating the effect small arms fire (of any sort) had in WWII. We know for a fact over 10,000 rounds of small arms ammo were shipped to the European theater for every one German killed by ALL CAUSES (including areal bombardment, artillery etc.). In other words it took pallets of ammo to kill one Kraut.

Hence why the Navy was right to decrease bore diameter, case size, weight, and cost. Because one noisemaker is much the same as another. Of course, that approach proved very right in the end as we and every other major military eventually moved to a ultra-short-action varmint round for infantry. The Navy was way ahead of their time with the thinking behind the 6mm Lee. So far ahead in fact that it took the army 70+ years to catch up.

I have no problem if it works for someone. There are many firearms applications that to be honest aren't that demanding. You could use any hunting bullet in any bore from 6mm to .510 on any base case from the .30-30 to the .505 Gibbs and the only thing that would know the difference is your shoulder. Most deer hunting is that way.

Western elk hunting is one of the more constrained problems though with a hard-to-drop heavy animal, terrain where you don't want them to go very far, shots that can easily exceed 400y, a desire for light rifles and in may areas the presence of grizzly bears. That tends to favor the combination of big cases, medium bores, light short action rifles, and premium low drag bullets.

Now, can you use a .30-06. Sure. Will it work? Sure. Will you sacrifice capability compared to people who make a better choice? Sure.

Just a simple online search for ammunition will show that the availability of .308 in both premium and standard hunting ammunition choices far surpasses anything else offered.

Surely the import of that doesn’t esacape everyone!

S M H




Jerry

I did do a simple search on ammo seek and 30-06 was very prevalent in both standard and premium offerings. I guess you didn’t do that.

S M H

I'm always amazed at how "garbage" cartridges are used to kill the most animals, then and now. 06, 30-30, 308... all trash! But that takes us back to the track record discussion... which someone clearly didn't understand how to define.

Imagine if Patton's 3rd Army had been packing 338WSMs. War is over in 10 minutes 😂😇 (On a more serious historical note, in modern wars involving campaigns of mass infantry supported by mechanized cavalry and air, you can't just look at how many men were literally shot and killed by a small arms rifle round. Millions of 06 rounds were fired in concert with other moving parts, re: fields of fire, suppressive fire, etc. And when a round did hit home, it did its job. Unless you've uncovered archival evidence of German soldiers uttering "that was a garbage cartridge and he's only lucky!" as they died...)

You’re clueless. The 308 is far more available. Here on the shelves in elk country, and on the internet. Doesn’t make the 30-06 a bad choice, but makes the 308 the better choice based on the OP.

Hard to comprehend obviously…

I've spent all my life reading about firearms and cartridges and I have never heard that drivel uttered by anyone but you. Apparently no one else ever realized this. There may be a good reason for that

300 win mag guy here

Before I read that you weren't interested in reloading, I was bound and determined to recommend a 35 Whelen. Lots of 30-06 brass available to be resized, and most stores still have .358 bullets on the shelves since they are not so popular. Seems to accept a pretty wide range of powders. Haven't got to shoot it at any game yet, but outperforms several of my other rifles on paper. (both target paper and ballistics calculations). Then again, mine carries a super heavy 24" barrel that I'm not sure I would want to lug on an elk hunt. Oh well.

So sanitary engineer, right?

You mean to tell me the firearms press is a big self congratulatory circle jerk? Imagine that...

You may not have heard it, but the Navy was well aware the army was adopting an inferior cartridge when what was needed was to chamber the 6mm Navy in a Mauser. But ultimately the Navy didn't have the funding to go it on their own and were stuck piggybacking on the 1903 failure.

I do have the ability to reload ammunition, I've been doing it since 1997. However, my question stemmed from conversations at a gun counter at Sportsman's Warehouse. Both gentlemen were looking for new rifles, one for a .308 and the other for a .300 PRC. Both didn't reload, and weren't interested in starting. I just thought the guy looking for a .308 had a better better idea, since there were multiple types of .308 on the shelves and absolutely nothing in .300 PRC.




Did you search .308 Win? I did search .30-06 and after you filter out FMJ, match, and Garand ammunition you have around 70 choices. You filter out steel cases, FMJ, tracers, match ammo and a few others you come up with nearly 300 hunting ammunition choices for .308 Win

It takes 300 rounds to kill an elk? .30-06, .270, 7MAG, .308 and others in the 7MM and 30 caliber range. Personally, I would use my .280.

Hmmmm…… I’ll play this game. Let’s see hunter has no rifle doesn’t reload going elk hunting….. Get yourself a 30-06 . Stick in the mud old fart here that has never understood this whole “short action” thing…..

Where did I say you need 300 rounds to kill an elk? I said "nearly 300 CHOICES" in ammunition.



It isn't a long action vs. short action "thing". It was always about what's going on with the current ammunition supply, and recommending the most available cartridge based on that supply. .308 hunting ammunition is simply more available to elk hunters in the lower 48 than any other ammunition offering at the moment.

I was in 3 different shops today getting some stuff and none had any 30-06 but they all had many types of ammo in .308. There’s nothing wrong with the old government round but the .308 ain’t no slouch. It’s my all around hunting caliber and I’ve never felt undergunned. With the right bullet choice and shot placement it’ll kill anything that walks.

My elk rifle is either a .338wm or 35 Whelen…..only because they’re extremely accurate and I like the extra bullet weight for hard angling shots.

taylorce1, comment about short actions not really directed at you. Several posters brought it up. It’s just something I’ve never really wrapped my head around. Seem to hear a lot of this cartridge is better then that cartridge because it’s short versus long when both perform similar.