Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7mm Elk bullets, AGAIN

Greetings,

I am wondering which of the plain vanilla 7mm cup & core bullets in 160gr to 175gr weights will work on Elk out of a 7mm Rem Mag with muzzle velocities of 3000fps and 2900fps respectively.

I have used Accubonds on deer and antelope and have no doubts they kill Elk very well as well as Partitions and Barnes and so on.

I simply am looking to develop a load with less expensive bullets that work(they worked before all of the premiums other than the Partition existed didn't they?)

My picks at this point are Hornady 162BTSP, Sierra 160HPBT and Sierra 175BTSP.

I would appreciate your suggestions.

Thanks.

I would think all the ones you mentioned would work just fine.(With the exception of the 160HPBT) The key is to stay heavy for caliber with cnc bullets in the 7mag

Work up a load for the Hornady, Sierra or Speer AND either the Barnes or Partitions. Practice with the first and hunt with the second. Not saying Hornady Sierra or Speer don't kill elk but if you want two holes with one shot, go with the Barnes or Partition on your elk hunt

Nailbender59 �

I harvested my first elk with my 7mm RM and a Hornady 162g BTSP back in the early �80�s, range about 110 yards on a full broadside. The bullet hit a rib dead center going in, leaving a crater on the back side, then passed through the vitals, missed or maybe slightly nicked a rib on the off side and came to rest under the hide. The bull dropped straight down on the shot and was done for, although I used another shot to hasten the inevitable.

That was the first and last time I�ve used standard Cup & Core bullets in the 7mm or any other bolt rifle. Although the bull was gracious enough to drop, I was not impressed with the bullet�s performance. The challenge to its integrity wasn�t that great but the bullet retained less than 50% of its original weight. The next year I switched to Grand Slams and it was 20 years before I recovered one. When I did it had destroyed both shoulder joints of a 5x5 bull before coming to rest under the off-side hide, retained weight over 70%.

My concern with the Hornady InterLock was that it might not have the ability to penetrate if a shot went wrong or if I had to put down a fleeing and possibly wounded elk. I have no regrets about making the switch. These days I hunt with AccuBond, North Fork, MRX, TTSX, A-Frame and Scirocco II bullets.

Regarding costs, I work up two loads that shoot to a similar Point Of Impact with a similar trajectory (rarely if ever identical in either case, just close enough � I don�t even use the same bullet weights in some cases). One load uses a bullet I intend to hunt with, the other a less expensive bullet for the bulk of my practice. Then, just before hunting season, I check the rifle with the �good� loads and go hunting. Considering bullets fired while hunting, I figure the cost delta between the hunting and C&C loads, if saved up for several years, would buy me a glass of cheap wine with dinner out.

As far as I�m concerned, you would do yourself a favor by working up some AccuBond loads with Ballistic Tips loads for practice. Or Hornady InterBond/SST. Or Partitions and whatever � you get the idea.

My experience over 20+ years, where the 7mm RM was the only bolt gun I used, convinced me a 160g bullet that holds together works fine for elk. Never tried the 175�s but have seen them work as well.

My elk hunting partner was a die hard Sierra cup and draw man up till the point we watched him pop a nice 6x6 seven times in the heart lung area with Sierra Game Kings....seven shots, seven seperated cores.....we were very lucky that evening....it eventually dropped after some tense moments.

Whatever your choice in bullets are for elk...just make sure they are capable of doing the job 100% of the time...not just when the shot is 'perfect'.

Godogs57: That has been my experience w/Sierra cup & cores for DEER with velocity 3000 fps or higher.

There's no way I would go after ELK with Sierras IN a high velocity round. There are better c/c bullets + we have so many premium bullets that can be trusted implicitly.

JWALL
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VEGETARIAN.........Indian Word For Poor Hunter

i've killed the with
speers
sierras
nosler partions
nosler ballistic tips
etc,etc,etc
they all work if you hit them in the right place....

Lots of good bullets out there for elk, including the 7 RM. For the most part out of my 7 Mashburn Super I use the 150 NBT along with 7828.

But, over the years we've used the 175 Horn, the 160 Sierra HPBT (next to the NBT my fav), the 154 Horn, 150 SMK (gasp...), 139 Horn flat base, 162 Horn and probably a few more that I can't recall right now.

If I were looking to use a non preme (which from my experience will work just fine) then any and all of these will do one well.

The 168 Berger would be another good one as would a Scenar if they'd bring out a 7.

Lots of good options and like ravener said, if you hit em right they'll all do you fine.

As usual it's best to look for and consider advice in regards to this from those who've actually done it...

Dober

i could be wrong here, but from purely going off specs and reviews ive read, id look at getting the nosler BT for practice and whitetail sized animals, and then get the same size accubond to use on elk..since the design of the bullet and BC is the same on them..if im out in left field let me know but that looks like the most cost effective route if they do actually shoot the same like ive heard

Dober
i think you and i could "get along"
whats a mashburn?
i'm kinda "in love" with my STW

7 Mashburn Super, wildcat from the 50's/60's speed wise close to the STW and more than a 7 Rem mag. Page, Hagel used it a ton and Bowman was a big proponent of the big 7's.

Originally they used a 300 H&H case to form cases from, when the 300 Win came out they started using it cause one didn't have a bunch of trimming to do.

If you're interested pm me your email and I'll send you an article that Hagel wrote on it.

Dober

Bull taken via my 7 Mashburn Super and flight 150...grin

Dober

Nice bull, Mark!

Hey Dober: You and I are usually on the same page AND I think we're not very far apart now.

IF you had bullet failures on DEER, would you consider using the same on LARGER game? I can not in good conscience and I find it hard to believe you would.

You may have had success w/bullets I've not had and I AM GLAD. I would not enjoy trailing and recovering an elk in SOME of their habitat and I'm glad you haven't had trouble. I just would not risk it WHEN we have other choices in bullets. ? ? ?

JWALL
__________________

VEGETARIAN..........Indian Word For Poor Hunter

I had something interesting happen guiding my dad a couple of years ago. He shot a spike at 38 yards using his 7Mag and 168 Berger's. The spike took two steps and I could see a big hole right behind the shoulder. I told dad he was done but dad decided to put another in his neck.

The funny thing was that after the first shot, the spike barely moved, just stared at the horses the entire time like it was no big deal. When I rolled the elk over, the hole on the other side was as big as a grapefruit. Just massive damage done, and when we skinned him to quarter the exit damage was unreal.

That was my first experience with the VLD's from a 7Mag and I was so impressed with the hole they punched through that animal. I was equally impressed and downright baffled at the spike's response. He wasn't going anywhere, but I've seen elk fold up when hit in the same spot with much less damage.

My perspective in the use of cup and cores on bigger deer has all been moose. However, based on them, I would probably opt to run the 175 Interlock or GameKing/Prohunter. FWIW, the 190 Interlock has worked well on old alces a few times out of my '06. I don't think there is anything wrong with plain old bullets for hunting. I do think a person using them takes on more responsibility for choosing a proper weight and placing the bullets correctly. And the placement isn't necessarily one of greater precision as much as it is location.

Jwall-it depends on what happened and why I felt it was a failure. I kind of look at it in terms of if one uses a bullet long enough sooner or later it'll give me reason to go hmm....what was that all about.

I look more for trends, and that can be tough at times especially if something really weirdo happens.

Case in point, bud of mine shot a cow (elk) facing us at a bit over 100 yds. She took the hit and hiked off, we found her hanging out in some brush in a ravine a couple hundred yards away. He shot her in the neck and down and out she went. Why did she travel? When we opened her up we couldn't find or trace the bullet path just the entrance. Like I said some kind of weirdo stuff. Oh yeah the bullet a 175 Noz Pt out of his STW.

Nuther time comes to mind, wife shot a lope doe as it laid about 90 yds away. She popped it behind the front, the lope got up and took off. I told her no worries we'll find it over the hill. We got over the hill and the lope was still wandering away at about 450 yds. Wife grabbed the Mashburn and took the lope out in a high wind, down and out game over.

The bullet was found in the arm pit, and it had not opened up...223 with a 53 TSX, it should of opened up and planted that bugger.

Two good bullets, to weirdo things that will most likely never happen again. Now should I dare to use these slugs again or not?

Bottom line, I feel that the need for Preme bullets is grossly overrated. And we can do just fine with Sierra's, Speers, Horns etc.

If I was a small big game hunter (IE deer/lopes/black bruins) I'd have no need to ever consider a Preme.

One last side note, (and this is just an observation and not a slam) but I've noticed that the farther people live from elk the bigger the rounds they feel is needed and the more often they feel a Preme bullet is needed. Not wrong, just different is all.

Dober

Klik--good call on the 190 Horn, I really likey that bullet! Ingwe turned me onto to it many moons ago and I could easily use it for all that I'd use a 30 for.

Dober

Dober: 10/4 understand. My experience with some c/cs is the same as Godogs. Consistent seperation. I have tested bullets in nearly everything you can imagine except gelatin.

I have had TOO many seperations in mediums & deer from 6mm, 270 Win. & 30 cal.

I don't use premiums for deer. U R right don't need um. I use and have used Hornady & Rem. core LOKT, they work for me.

I still hope and pray to get to hunt elk before I get too old. I have more than enough weapons to choose from and all the components to load UP. YES, I do plan to use N Ps and there other GOOD premes but I already have NPs.

BTW, that's a GREAT bull in the pic, just the WRONG hunter sitting behind it. LOL ! !

JWALL
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VEGETARIAN........Indian Word For Poor Hunter

dtspoke,

I have seen at least a couple of spikes do the same thing when hit in the same place, just stand there with a 1000-yard stare for at least 10-15 seconds before keeling over. But they were shot with premiums, the 140 TSX and 150 Nosler Partition....