Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Is the .308 a 300yd. elk cartridge?

So, I realize that deer aren't elk, but, I shot 4 deer in the last week. 2 with 140gn TSX's from a 270Win (150 and 325yds), 1 with an 85gn TSX's from a 243 (200yds), and one with a 300Win and 200TSX (50yds). With the hide off, you couldn't tell which animal was shot with what rifle. Performance was virtually the same. Throw in the cow elk I shot at the end of Oct (200gn TSX, 300Win, 150yds) and the performance is still the same. Caliber size entrance wounds, 50 cent to golf ball sized exit wounds.

After seeing what I saw last week I could be happy with a 308 or 7-08 for elk @ 300 yds for sure, and a fair bit further with a bit of practice with said rifle.

Whatever you've ever heard about a 30-06 as far as killin' power is just about equally true of the .308... they are near-twins, about as close as calibers get really... so factor that into your "sizing up" of the .308. Ifa 30-06 would shoot through an elk and embed the bullet 2" deep into the tree behind it, my guess is that the .308 would embed it 1.5"!

I would only use a Nosler Ballistip Tip on an elk if I had to. It would work, but I'd lose shot angles and, perhaps, my only chance. I'd hunt with a NBT looking for a broadside, head, neck, or slightly quartering-away shot. Shooting through the shoulder might be a little dicey. I've never done it, I'm just guessing that's the case.

Load that exact same rifle with a Partition or TSX or the like and I'd take about any shot angle into the vitals except the most extreme ones! NOW you are hunting elk!

A Ballistic Tip on a deer out of a .308 would be about perfect, though.

If the BT's shoot for you, you should try dropping the same-weight Accubond into that load. I've done that a couple times and it's worked great. As always standard disclaimers apply: work up to it if it's a hot load... check the ogive if you are loading close to the lands with the BT... etc.

That's all I got and probably not worth much. I think the low light levels are making me want to hibernate. Grr. Duh.

-jeff

Some gack to consider,

A 200gr Accubond at 2500 fps, or a 180gr Scirocco at 2650 fps will both be moving over 2000 fps, and delivering over 2000 ft-lbs at 300 yards.

That's significant killing power delivered via appropriate bullets, and easily done with a 22" 308Win.

And that is exactly why a lowly 308 will take elk cleanly well past 300 yds day in and day out.

I mean seriously what the heck happens at 301 yds.......jeesh

Killing elk is not rocket science, well it is to those who've not taken many if any I guess.

Bottom line is you take out the machinery that runs the bod like the lungs/heart etc and you've a dead elk. And a 308 can easily do that to a heck of a lot farther than 300 yds.

More gun gack!

Dober

The B-tips will work but I will tell you something.....if you handload these 165 B-tips,switch the bullets over to Accubonds and you will have the exact same POI with your current load(atleast I have in the several guns I have done this with)

As far as the 308, that is what I shoot and will shoot for a long time. I currently have 2 loads that I use depending on what I am hunting:
1. 150gr Barnes MRX for deer,antelope,etc
2. 168gr Barnes TSX for bears,moose and elk

I have sucessfully used load #1 twice this year and swear by it,first on an Alaskan Mountain Goat and then on a big Whitetail Buck last week.Devastating wound channels and droppped in them in their tracks. I love the little under-rated .308 Win,gets the job done without breaking the bank or your shoulder in the process.Very easy to load for and always puts the bullet where i aim.

Tim

Tim

Yes it will work. It would not be my first choice in fact it would not be in my top 10, maby even my top 20 but if that was all I had I would kill elk with it.

Well, my tagline says what I think about caliber choices. I have always been partial to the .308 family (7mm-08, .243). My grandfather killed a ton of elk with a little .243. Of course, back in the day it was a step up from the old .30-30 Model 94. Of course, he shot the .243 year 'round. I always felt the best rifle to take for elk was the rifle you like best. I have known more than my share of hunters who would drag a big magnum into the field because they thought they needed it for elk... but the only time they shot it was to put a few rounds in over the bench to check zero. If my grandfather were alive and I was making some noise about some huge magnum I wanted, he'd buy a few boxes of shells for it and say, "Why don't we go shootin'"? He'd grin, and insist we stay 'till dark or when all the rounds were fired. The .308 is perfectly adequate for elk and carrying one needs no explanation.

A lot of good thought here but there was one that needs a longer look. Ray Atkinson brought up long distances and steep angles involving penetrating a lot of elk muscle, stomach contents and bone. Now I haven't seen a lot of blood on the ground or snow after a good ehtical hit. Elk just don't bleed like a deer.
Without snow, the tracking can be difficult. I am wondering then if a 150gr. or 165gr .308 will handle the job? I will agree, with broadside shots but turn the animal and the .308 may not be up to the task? Especially at some distance?

I think the TSX or the like is your best buddy with a .308 and elk...

-jeff

Jeff, my 308 has its dots sorted to 525 yards with a 150 TSX... under favorable conditions 550 yards is about as far as I'd use the 308. Guess that means it's a 301 yard elk cartridge

Yep! At 525 I'd want a pretty much broadside shot, but that's what you mean by "favorable conditions" presumably. Calm conditions, calm elk.

You still hunting this year, or is it all over?

I took the .325 Kimber Montana up again today... great rifle. As soon as I can afford, I am gonna pull the Vx-III 2.5x8 off it and send it up to the Mothership for a reticle, and then we'll see how that cartridge relates to the dots... I would expect about like any other 2900 fps cartridge. In other words I expect it to work well with the B&C reticle.

The scope on my .338 has the dots, and i keep getting tempted to steal it off that rifle, but I have it so sorted out, I don't want to borrow it. Superstitious I guess. It's what Dober calls an "honest" setup at this point, I totally trust it. If someone called tomorrow and said "get your butt over to XXXXX, I have an elk tag for ya!" I'd grab that thing in a heartbeat, and it's hard to "undo" a rifle that's been well sorted-out.

Anyways... hope to see a pic of your .308 elk ASAP.

-jeff

People that start this "hard angle" and other such are just trying to convince other folks they really do know what they're talking about. Unfortunately it don't fool many folks with real experience.
Anybody that's had the pleasure of trying to roll and elks gut out of the way on a side hill , by yourself is soon going to realize the folly bullspit of thinking a bullet is going to pass thru that jumbled mess of ground up goo and water and get to anything particularly important. Most elk guts are gonna out weigh a whitetail doe.
The guy that said anybody using a 308 doesn't need to appologize for it, is closer to something to listen to than the hard angle bunch of bullspit.

Mando, it's 22" and I 've chronoed them once and they were right at 2,700 if I remember correctly. I believe they advertise them at 2,740 or 2,750.

smokepole,

That should have read 2,900 FPS with the Hornady 165 grain load.

This might amaze you, but Rem 180 grain Core-Lokts chrono at slightly better than 2,700 FPS out of my rifle.

The "little" .308 Win, at least for me, sure has lived up to its billing. It is a great round for all my hunting needs. I keep getting a hankering for a Sako 85 in .270 Win, but I ought to buy another Baja tuna trip with that money instead, but that's another thread entirely!

Ranch 13, I take it you like the little .308 for elk. You have a "western way" of speaking your mind - minus the bullspit.

Bigwhoop I've used and like quite a few cartridges on elk. The 308 is plenty fine, 150 and 165 gr bullets do quite well. In fact it does alot better job than most of the folks who's greatest amount of elk shooting has happened either on the internet, or perched solidly in their easy chair watching the Outdoor Channel, can even begin to imagine.

I cannot imagine why so many hunters "hate on" the .308 Win. Before I contemplated buying one I hadn't given that cartridge much thought. But when I decided to buy a lightweight backpacking rifle, I did considerable research. Since I hunt in Wyoming where there's a slight possibility I could run into a mean critter, I wanted a cartridge that would protect me while providing ample power to fell all ungulates. Since I knew I would probably never have use for projectiles larger than 180 grains, the .308 Win looked better and better. I read articles by Ken Waters and others. I talked to hunters, including many in Wyoming and Utah who hunt with the .308 Win. I listened as I was told how it worked on elk and Shiras moose. Finally I knew that while I could've opted for a more powerful rifle, I felt completely confident with a Featherweight stainless in .308 Win. Unlike other purchases, I have yet to experience even scintilla buyer's remorse. In fact, I would buy the exact same rifle again in a heartbeat.

My son's getting to the age where he wants a deer rifle. I will let him select the caliber of his choosing, except I will not let him buy a rifle that is based upon the .308 Win case unless it is a .308 Win. I do not want the possibility of chambering the wrong round in a rifle while we're hunting. But if he asks my advice, I'll tell him he can't go wrong with the .308 Win!

Duuuude, knock off the common sense,

We're talking GUN STUFF . . . .

BMT

The reason so many hunters hate the .308 is that it is TOO SHORT. How can you trust a cartridge that's essentially a midget? Doesn't anybody here KNOW that "killing power" is directly related to the length of the brass? Or maybe it's the length of something else, I forget. But I read it in a book one time and kind of remember something.

Some years ago I was with a hunter who shot a big elk cow with a HK91 using a 165gr partition.
1 shot through the lungs at around 350yards.
That cow dropped like a stone...
Sample of one, I realize, but I was impressed with the 'little 308.'