Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 308 ok for my first elk rifle

O.K. Ziggy, Now that You've made Your choice. Think of this - If You are going to spend some Tinga Tinga on an Elk Hunt, do not be cheap and use Standard Bullets. Go with the Premium Bullets that shoot well, and like everyone else has said - Practice,Practice,Practice.

If you use it properly and do your hunting BEFORE you shoot...

308 is an excellent caliber rifle for elk. I used it for the first time 2007 season with great success. For years a used a 7mm mag because it was the caliber of choice at the time. Since then my hunting buddies have moved on to the newer magnum calibers and I chose to go to the 308. I do believe this will be the last Elk rifle I buy. VXIII 1.75X6 is the glass I use. Federal Premium TSX 165 grain does the job for me. Hope this helps.

I shot an elk with my Savage 99 in 308 and couldn't see any difference in how dead it was versus all the others I've shot with everything from a 280 to the 45-70, including what some folks insist is the minimum, 338WM. I shot 3 or 4 elk with the 338WM before I tired of losing meat to bloodshot and went back to cartridges that work with a lot less fuss. I leave the magnums for the viagra crowd.

The 99 wears a Leupold Vari X-III 1.5-5 and shoots 165 grain Speer bullets with Re 15 or IMR 4320 quite well.

That was then...this is now. Simmuh down now, simmuh down.

Obviously you don't have enough experience and didn't know what to look for...

My choice was Leupold VX-II 2-7x33. Now I'd get it with the LR duplex feature, for $30 over your limit, but worth it. A Burris Fullfield II is a bit heavier but quite a bit cheaper, around $179 with a similar balliplex feature. The Leupold is trimmer and lighter with keeping with the .308 Win typical rifle. My caliber was .308 Win with 165 grain Barnes XLC, no longer made, but the TSX BT 165 grain would be almost as good, only slower. I used 49.0 grs. BL-C(2) for 2900 fps in 24 inch barrel, Remington Classic, the only 24" barrel model I could find. The maximum the Barnes web page mentions is AA2520 48.5 gr for 2738 fps or Varget 45.5 grs for 2712 fps. I doubt the elk would know the difference but trajectory would be a bit steeper.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I have a virgin (in my hands).308 Win that I plan to take elk hunting. That would be as in �this year�. (It would have gone last year but I decided to give my .30-06 and .30-30, also virgins, a go instead.)

The rifle is an M700 BDL, purchased used but in nvery nearly perfect condition. (It was missing the rear sight, which I replaced, only to discover I had to remove it to mount the scope.) This load will be a 165g North Fork pushed to around 2700fps. The scope is a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10, also purchased used.

I practice out to 500 and occasionally 600 yards with this rig and while I might hesitate at those ranges any deer or elk within 400 yards will be in deep trouble, providing of course they match my license.

My Sako in 308 topped with a Leupold VariX-II 2x7x33 and stuffed with Federal Premium loads with 180 Partitions worked well for me in 2007.

In 1966 I shot my fist elk with a .308. Can't remember the weight , but it was an old remington Bronze point. The elk was aways out there,definitely over 300 yds,but there were no range finders back the and it was across a small canyon above timber line. It didn't move more than a few steps before it went down. I shot a few more with it,and some where in about 1969 or so I bought a 7 mag and shot quite few elk with it. I would not say it killed elk with more authority than the.308. About the same, in my opionion. Then I shot a few with a 45-70. Same thing. I then switched to a n.06 and have been shooting elk with it ever since, except a few years with a muzzle loader and a 44 mag carbine. As long as shot placement was where it was supoose to be, I have never seen any major difference in the elk falling over.
I believe the guys who expound on the extra killing power of the bigger cartridges,just tend to hit the elk where they need to and would see the same thing with smaller ones.

The .308 is no light weight when it comes to killing elk

Howdy.

The .308 Winchester, like it's slightly milder mannered parent, the .300 Savage, cannot seriously overstress a conventional 180 grain bullet at typical hunting ranges. I wouldn't sweat not having premium 180 grain bullets in a .308 and being in pursuit of elk. I would suggest 165 grain conventional bullets as a minimum weight for elk in the .308, but the 165's would certainly make for a fine deer/elk combo load.AW

I've used 165 Sierra BT's successfully on elk. I have also used 150 grain Power Points.

I believe I would use a 165gr premium bullet today. Which one would depend on the country i was hunting and how it shot in that rifle.

Look at the vx-2 line or a bushnell 3200!!!!!

Ziggy - Welcome to the Campfire and what Dober said!!!

Thank you

The .308 in factory form shoots almost identicle to factory .30-06 loads. When handloaded, the .30-06 out paces it by about 150-200 fps. The .308 isn't a "Limited to 300 yard elk caliber" any more than the .30-06 is. If that is the case, then the various .300's are only 400 yard rounds if you follow that nonexperienced train of thought. Get my drift? Too much is put into energy and numbers. The .308 will handily kill elk way beyond 300 yards (ONLY IF YOU CAN SHOOT BEYOND 300 YARDS) and you sure don't need premium bullet either. They often poke caliber sized holes through elk with very little tissue upset. I have killed elk and moose for years with the boring old .30-06 and with cup and core bullets. I tried premiums for a couple of years and was REALLY disappointed in the terminal performance and went back to Hornady 165's flap base bullets. Winchester silver tips and PP's work great too. Flinch

Well said there Flinch

Dober

Good choice Mr. Ziggy. Time to get to work. When surrounded by those at some fire with big Mag rifles remember the advice given to you here by many. Don't doubt youself. Geez you can kill them with a bow/arrow. Stick whatever .308W bullet where they should stick an arrow and make some memories.

Battue