Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 6mm Remington 100 grain bullet for elk hunting.

The 25-06 has a fine reputation on elk.
A young fella I know had one, but got talked into the belted magnum nonsense, shot a couple of elk with the thing, but alway brought his 25 along for a backup rifle. One afternoon he decided to go out for the evening hunt and as elk hadn't been real thick in the valley we hunted decided to take his 25, about an hour after he left camp he came back bloody hands, tag filled from a one shot bang flop on the biggest bull he's killed to date. Remington 120 gr corloc factory loads as I recall.
An outfitter I know that works the Greys River, carries a tc encore in 25-06..

I was sort of thinking that a 120gr 25 caliber bullet ought to do about the same work as a 130 gr 27 caliber bullet when both are at roughly the same velocity.

I hear what you're saying, but no guarantee they'll shoot worth a darn with a .243, either. If they're going to make a bad shot, might as well be with a heavier round.
Most of the time, the shooter who is bad with a 300 magnum, is also a poor shot with a .22.

When my son was seven, he stepped up from a .223 deer rifle to a .308 deer rifle. Seems like he killed 9 or 10 whitetails that season with it. Recoil didn't appear to be a factor for him. I really don't understand trying to find the minimum caliber to kill big game animals.

What does a "heavier round" get you? What bullet do you shoot in the 300 mag that turns a gut shot elk, into a not gut shot elk?

There isn't "power" in any cartridge. Bullets kill by destroying tissue. How much tissue is destroyed depends on how deep and how wide the wound channel is, and where that wound channel is placed.

I see A LOT of people shoot, including children, and have seen the exact opposite from what you believe. Take anyone with a flinch and give them 200 rounds (or 1,000 rounds) of 300 mag and they won't fix their flinch no matter how much time you give them. Hand that same person a 223 and within 20 minutes they're over it.

Having taught and taken a bunch of first time hunters and shooters to their first animal, including elk, I absolutely would rather them take WHATEVER gun/cartridge combination they hit the best with from field positions, whether it be a 223 with bonded bullets or a 338WM.


Personally I believe it's ludicrous that people take anyone hunting after 20-30 rounds of "practice" and think they are ready. I've watched plenty of people take they're children/wives/girlfriends/friends hunting for the first time after the usual shoot a few rounds from the bench (some never had them shoot at all), and see the frustrations, failure and disappointments that usually result. There is a lot of reasons for that, not the least of which is not knowing to use the gun they have.


I, and those I hunt and shoot with have a 100% success rate when we let a new hunter choose what they carry after truly teaching them how to shoot and handle whatever weapon they are using competently from field positions while being timed (make it a game). Teach them, make them apart of the entire process and let them choose what they use. Very often they will choose a very low recoiling round, and they will kill with it just fine.

No doubt in my mind that the 243/6mm wouldn't work with the right bullet,just like the 223 on whitetail

Holy Cow!! 32,000 views on this thread.

Damn. Was planning a 6x57 VZ24 in an old Mannlicher on hand for stillhunting deer. Rereading this old thread is leaving me thinking I'm over-gunned...again.

May have to make that a 22-250 fast twist...

6.5x284 + 140 gr Nosler Partition + 52.5 gr IMR 4831 = hopefully 1st elk in Oct!

Thats not a 6mm

Didn't the GREAT Elmer Keith - who killed a mule deer at 400 yards with a short barreled .44 mag revolver, say that bullets from a .270 would bounce off an elk?


Mike

Know an individual that does elk with a 243. He is extremely careful taking only the most sure of shots. I personally would go a bit heavier.

Placement...

Worked on a moose (.243, 100 gr). Exit wound. Penciled through. between ribs, jellied the lungs. Mostly I use a .30 or .338, on moose. They don't need it, but a brown bear might. . I have only ever used the 100 gr. in .243. No need to f*k with very good enough!

If in doubt using an AR platform, just shoot it 10 or 20 times...

excellent post and right on target!

well I have read through this thread and thought I'd throw in a few thoughts

I have a friend in Green River that started hunting elk in his young teens with a Winchester M88 in 243. He killed 8 elk with that rifle. He said the use of a good bullet is the trick (no big surprise there) He still have the M88 and he still stand by his conviction that a 243 is fine if you are a good shot, and if you use a bullet that will penetrate well and not blow up. His comments mirror what I have seen as an elk hunter and guide for over 40 years.

However the other side of the coin is that he now uses a 308 and a 270. When asked why he simply said "The 243 was good but the 270 is better". It shoots a heavier bullet and penetrated deeper making a larger hole.
I asked him how many of his 243 bullets exited the elk he killed and he said about a third. When asked about the 270 (he shoots 150 grain Partitions) he said "all" That's been my experience too.

So I would never tell a good marksman not to use a 243. Just get good bullets for it.
But if you were to go out to buy a rifle for use on elk I would recommend a 6.5MM or larger, just because you get into bullets of 140 and larder as soon as you get to the .264" diameter and the extra weight of the larger bullets can help in breaking bone and still going deep. I have never been one that believes you need a big magnum for elk. I do use them when I like, but that because of only 2 reasons. #1 I own some powerful rifles that I like, so I hunt with them. I don't need that power, but I just like the rifles.
#2 many times I hunt where there are LOTS of grizzlies. Then I do feel like I should have some power. I am not hunting the bears, but I understand they may want to hunt me. My 9.3, 375 or 404 would make me feel a lot better shooting at something big, very close and getting closer fast. But years of experience killing elk have taught me that you don't need a huge magnum for elk. if you like them and you shoot them well go ahead and use them. But don't bad-mouth those that use a 243. You may have to eat those words if you do.

I hope to kill my elk this season with a 6.5X54 M/S. Not exactly a powerhouse compared to my 300 mags or my 9.3, or my 375. It fires a 160 grain round nose bullet at about 2250 FPS. But it shoots as well as I can hold it, and the penetration is good. So I think it will be fun to hunt with it, and the 6.5 M/S had a wonderful reputation on large thin-skinned game in Africa and India for many years, and I am sure it's as good today as it was in 1920. In energy, it's only a smidgen ahead of a 30-30, but shoots much flatter.

I can always grab a scoped more powerful rifle is I hunt the elk and feel like I am not able to use the old Mannlicher as well as I should. In early and late light I can't see as well as I did when I was young, so I may have to concede to my age and grab a scoped rifle, but I'll try the 6.5 for a few days before I do.
Should be fun.
Killing game is much more about the hunter than it is about the tool he is using.

Different experience here with deer. I've killed two whitetail bucks here in NE MInnesota with a 6mm Remington, 50 yards, standing still perfectly broadside, both heart shots, hot handloads with a 95 gr partition. Neither bullet exited. Both bullets came apart radically, without the partition holding up. I found the empty cup bases. Maybe I was too close? They were about 230 pounds each. Anyway, I switched to Barnes and killed one buck with an 85 grain x-bullet: it exited. Admittedly, not much experience, and the partitions certainly killed both bucks. The broken-up partitions scrambled their innards well. However, I consider the 6mm marginal for big deer (an unpopular view) and demand an exit wound for better trailing. I've killed about 130 whitetail and feel that my BAR in 30-06 and 180 grain Hornady soft points is the ultimate woods gun for big deer. I like 7mm STW or 270 Win for open country. I would not use a 6mm for elk unless I had a very good reason like I could not handle recoil, had no other gun, or just wanted to try it as an experiment. I've only killed a few elk and all but two were with muzzleloaders. I used a 35 Whelan on the two firearm elk. IT exited both times. I liked it. IMHO

I use my 6mm mostly for pronghorn.

Bill

Even a stopped watch is right twice a day... use enough gun... a .243 for elk is not it.

I have seen a few failures with .243 and .25 caliber rifles on elk, but not to say they won't kill an elk. Anything less than a stout 7mm is off the menu for me on an elk hunt. All the anecdotal evidence presented won't make a 6mm an ideal elk caliber, but use whatever lets you sleep at night. Happy Trails

If you can afford the elk hunt, then you can afford a .30-06.....gunbroker is full of them and with a little patience you can get a very serviceable gun for well under $350

Will the .243 kill elk?....of course it will, but if you don't get that broadside rib cage shot at 100 yards and are forced to take a very nice bull quartering away from you, you'll be very happy to be throwing a 180 grain bonded bullet. Call it an insurance policy if you like.

I'm always curious how many that say a 6mm/ .243 is inadequate for elk/deer/chupacabra have actually used one on said game. I'll take pretty much the same shot with an 85 gr. tsx .243 as I will with a .270 etc. and fill my tag without incident. BTDT