Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7mm Rem Mag bullet for elk

Took an elk this year with a Tikka 7 RM and 140 gn TSX handloads at around 3200 fps. First shot, slightly high, just behind the shoulder on a slightly quartering away bull, put a hole through the top of the lungs, damaged the ribs close enough to the spine to paralyze him, broke the offside shoulder and was found just under the skin. Put a second shot into the neck at about 40 yards when he was facing me trying to get up -- that bullet also found just under the skin near the first. Both bullets when recovered had lost their petals -- though judging from the damage to the ribcage from the first shot, I would guess that that bullet still had not broken up at that point.

My conclusion from this (and it's admittedly a very small sample) is that next year I'll be shooting a heavier bullet for elk and moose. Penetration was solid, though not spectacular, and if that first shot had not broken the shoulder and paralyzed him, there would have been a very sparse blood trail for what might have been a tricky tracking job.

So I'd suggest a 150 or 160 grain TSX.

As a further note, the deer I shot this year with the same load, I lost a lot of meat on the entry side -- despite hitting behind the shoulder. Also, that bullet, I'm guessing from the size of the exit wound, probably lost its petals as well. So I may have just got a wonky batch of TSXs, in which case you might want to disregard my advice.

Though I was only shooting the 140s because I took the same rifle sheep hunting, and if you don't need the flat shooting lighter bullets, you might as well just stick with something a little heavier.

wonder if the TIPPED TSX will perform differently as I am trying some in my 7mm rem mag in 140gr

It looks like that consensus is 160 grains and a TSX, Trophy Bonded Tip or a NP. I talked to a representative of Federal the other day and they recommended the Trophy Bonded Tip. I understand that is a boat tail, so it should fly fairly good as well. Thanks everyone for their response and if you have other ideas, keep them coming.

I'm thinking the new 150 grain E-tip might be a good choice - split the difference.....

Good elk bullets I have used in 7MM include the 160 gr. Speer hotcor, 175 gr. Hornady spire point and the 175 gr. Remington PSPCL. I tend to shoot behind the shoulder or in the neck just in front of the shoulder blade and consider elk meat too good to waste by shooting into the shoulder.

Bend- I am assuming your comment comes from your own tests and experiences right?

I guess I don't see it that way, as I've worked with BAR's in 243, 7 Rem and 06 and not one of them had this velocity loss you're speaking of...?

What cals did you work with?

Thx
Dober

The one you suggested would work great. It is a well constructed bullet that will make holes in internal organs, so go practice.

Dober,

I ran same loads over a chrony out of a couple of BAR's last spring.

25-06 Rem Factory Core Loct 100 grs did 3250ish out of my 26" B-78, 3100 out of a 22" Savage 110, and 2950 out of a 22" BAR. About the same with 55 gr H4831 and 100 gr Hornady's.

280 Rem, 59 gr Hunter and 120 gr Nosler BT's did 3050 out of a 22" BAR and 3185 out of my 22" SUCKS PB&J.

I'm detecting a pattern. Then again it MUST be the radical terrain of the Red River Valley between Georgetown, MN and Argusville, ND ... it is notorious for bending laws of physics. Kinda like the Bermuda Triangle ... but cold and the crystal blue water ... HAS to be schnapps ... I hope it was schnapps ... Aw S$!^ who gave the lab anti freeze again ... and why do I like it?

That aside, BAR's are slower over the chrony.

GE

I like the 175 gr. Nosler partition as well as any bullet in the 7 mag..you have to seat bullet pretty deep in the 7 mag for the Browning auto, and the Partition is shorter than the TSX and works better through the action I have been told.

You assume correctly. My statemnent has been confirmed by Wildcatshooterlongrange on this board and the Browning BAR tech's. I've worked with the 7mm Remmag and 300 Winmag. Only the heavier bullets came close to advertised speeds.

YMMV

I load the 7mag for my wife's uncle and a close friend. I use the same load for both rifles and both think that they own a death ray.

Win WLRM
61.0gr. IMR-4350
160gr. Speer Grand Slam (I still have a large supply of the old style GS with the two seperate sections of hard/soft lead.)

I also load for a neighbor's 7mag and he just switched from a 154gr. Hornady to a 160gr. Accubond using RL-19.

The more elk I see killed every year, the more I believe that as long as you use a well constructed bullet, it really is about shot placement.

Elk Country

For both elk and moose, I have used the 175 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, the Barnes TSX and Winchester FS. All performed well. Each penetrated very well at ranges from 40 to 250 yards. Each yielded quick and effective kills.

Atkinson - that's the bullet I used - the 175 Nosler Partition. Holes in and out and a dead bull in between. It shot accurately and worked well.

Regards, Guy

Rick,
Just EXACTLY how well do those hot-cor bullets perform?

Well, I'm not rickt300, but I have a fair amount of experience with Speer 160g Grand Slams - 20 years worth on elk, plus another 6 or so by my hunting buddy plus a few more from my mentor back in the early 80's.

Suffice it to say there were zero failures of any kind, a many bang-flops and with the exception of a cow my buddy neck-shot that went 120 yards, none went more than a few yards. I had two go about 25 yards but they were the only ones I shot that went that far.

Ranges varied from close to 350 yards. It took me 20 years to recover one. Speer changed the build process and went to a single core so I started looking at other bullets in 2001, starting with the Barnes XLC's which proved unsatisfactory. Ended up killing three more elk with the Grand Slams before settling on the North Fork bullets. Now that North Fork is out of business I suspect the Speer Tipped Trophy Bonded bullet will become my mainstay - it is very similar to the North Fork design but with a poly tip. (Of course I have enough 140g North Forks to last a hunting lifetime...)

Coyote Hunter,

Thanx for the input. I too had used the Grand Slams and was proud of them until Speer changed them. No more for me. I made a Texas Heart Shot on a coyote with a 308 165 at roughly 50 yards and literally turned the dog inside out.

I went the North Fork heartbreak route too. Now I am an exclusive Swift user. I considered the Trophy Bonded, way too expensive for me.

To be honest I just bought a 500 count pack of 7mm 150 gr Rem CoreLokt Original. I have taken countless critters with them from my 280 and have never wanted for more. I might wind up using them exclusively once the smoke clears.

My .270 is 100-150 fps slower too. I've never chronographed my 30-06.

I've had a couple (out of thousands) of uncrimped bullets move in their cases with the 270, so I always crimp, just to be safe. I use only bullets with crimping grooves in them for the BARs nowadays. For a 7mm bullet with a cannelure, I'd use a 175 grain Hornady interlock spitzer, if it was accurate in your rifle.

I use way different bullets in my 7mm STW bolt gun, but for a BAR, I love those old interlocks.

I would use 160-175 Partitions or Accubonds for such...although
I would prefer 225gr Partitions in my 338...