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160gr bear claw and a 7mm-08 for elk out to 250yds good choice or not?.

Good choice. Now go run some hills.

Yeah, it should be fine at that range.

There are other fine bullets out there that will do the same job.

The key is Marksmanship.

Wish you luck
HD

TBBC's are my go to bullet on elk...like a stick of dynamite!

For Elk I'd prefer something more than a 7/08, but that's me.

Here's a 225gr TBBC out of a 338 Win Mag; found on the off-side of a 6x6 Oregon elk

You mean it didn't exit? The elk must not be dead!

Aha! Good point - you'll notice that he never claimed the elk was dead, just that the bullet was recovered from the off-side. Best, John

i too would prefer a bigger gun, just my preference. the tbbc is an excellent bullet for elk. my son in law has killed several with both 165 and 180s out of his 30-06.

Your 08 will do just fine. I personally would go with the 140gr TTSX. I am not a fan of large bullets for the 7mm08 but the TBBC is a good one. Many seem to think that a bigger rifle is better but if you shoot the 7mm08 the best and are confident with it then by all means you will have elk steaks!! HAPPY HUNTING

My friend Elk's sons have killed a number of elk with the 7mm-08, no losses, no problem. I do not have the same amount of experience with the 7mm-08, but have killed a lot of game with the 7x57 (same ballistics) including wildebeest, kudu and moose, also with no problem. The longest range had been around 250 yards on big stuff (have shot smaller animals to 400) but I have a hard time imagining any would have survived if shot at 300 or more. A hole through both lungs generally does it.

The 160 TBBC Federal factory load is my elk load in my 280.I've shot 2 with this load and they where DRT.I also shot one with a 165gr out of a 30-06 with the same results.If you recover one it will look just like the pictures in the above posts.Great bullet if it shoots good in your gun.

My comments refer to the older style bullet/cartridges which I laid in a large supply of. It is an amazing bullet. Relatively large wound channel,little bloodshot meat, excellent penetration and few bullet fragments. If they had been available a bit sooner I would likely not own a .338. They are that good.

A 7mm 160 gr will do fine, you might even consider a lighter bullet if it shoot better in your rifle [i.e. my FW does not shoot the 180 TBBC HE load well so I use 165's in it]

Having used Bearclaws in 30-06 165 gr standard velocity, 180 gr standard velocity and 180 grain HE as well as 180 gr handloads They are plenty for elk.

I have also used .338 225 gr Std Velocity, HE and handloads and .358 225 gr factory and handloads.

I have only kept one Bearclaw in an animal, a doe mule deer running for the border. It was poorly hit and quartering away. I didn't lead it enough and it started at the lower rear leg and ended up under the skin after smashing the off shoulder. It looked like the pictures.

The bulls I have shot all gave me recoverable bullets just under the skin on the far side, with one exception. A 6x6 I shot at 175 yards with a 180 grain partition and it happened to zip through the rib cage and lungs, not hitting anything other than soft tissue all the way through. I better go back and check on my others like MD said and ensure they are indeed, dead. For what its worth, the only bull that covered any distance was the one with the complete pass through...all the others were D.R.T.

If you can poke a hole in both lungs, he ain't gonna go far....its as simple as that.

Best of luck this year. I have to stay at home and repay college loans on the kids($$$$). Y'all kill a biggun.

30.06 310 yards. 165 TBBC recovered after breaking both shoulders on a 6 point rag bull.



BeanMan

BeanMan
Nice recovery.

Thanks for the picture.
HD

Haven't used the Bearclaw,but have used the Bitterroot,which served as Jack Carter's inspiration for development of the Bearclaw,and the Bitteroot is every bit as good,behaves in a similar fashion.Godogs and Dancing Bear are right as to type of bullet performance,wound channels, etc., IMHO,and I'd prefer either to the TSX,or any derivitive thereof.Swift Aframe is another real good one.

Don't know if they still make it,but it always struck me that the Federal HE 140 BearClaw for the 270 Win may have been the very best factory load ever produced for the cartridge,for all-round use.

I guess they have gone to inserting the little plastic non-sense in the new TBBC.More trendy silliness... good for varmint bullets but utterly irrelevant in a big game bullet,unless your bullets don't expand well;then it helps.

The Trophy Bonded are one of the best bullets available, IMHO. My buddy shoots them in his 7mm RM and has yet to recover a 160g.

Are the bear claws too tough for good expansion in deer?

Not that I have seen..I think they are a great choice just a little expensive!

I shoot the Federal 165gr TBBC in my 30.06, which now appears discontinued, dang it. Got full length penetration of an elk at about 275yds to opposite hide on one occasion, and the recovered bullet (which I somehow later lost) looked remarkably like the one above.