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

Thankyou for the replies all.

I have not hunted or shot anything with a premium other than the accubond and am happy with its performance with 110gr in a 25-06 on deer and 165gr out of 30-06 on antelope.
I have a good 140gr load for my 7-08 as well but have yet to shoot anything with it and I have no doubts it will work.

Typically anymore when working with a new to me rifle I will try accubonds and a cup and core, either Hornady or Sierra.
the purpose being to have a premium load and a plain vanilla load. My experience is that if a rifle wont shoot accubonds it may have other issues

I just bought a used Ruger Hawkeye all weather in 7mm RemMag and in a perfect world I would be able to use 20 bullets from a box of 50 for load developement, 10 more for sighting in and go hunting with 20.

I don't know about you guys but I am never that fortunate. Closest I came was with my 25-06 that was a piece of cake to develop loads for. 2 sessions, 2 bullets, one powder and primer and that was that.

On the other hand my 30-06 was and is a royal pain in the butt to develop loads for and I would hate to know how many dollars worth of Accubonds and Partitions I have sent down its barrel.

At this point I have usable loads with 165 and 180 Accubonds for it.

I have 162 gr Hornadys and 160 Accubonds(leftovers from the 7-08 development) loaded now over RE22(per Mule Deer) and IMR4350 for the 7 Mag.
I rediscoverd IMR4350 last year and find that most calibers suited to it respond well with it.

Even though I have a load for the 30-06 with the 180 Accubond I have been working with the 190 Hornady BTSP and think I have a load that rivals the Accubond for accuracy and velocity so one or the other will go elk hunting this fall.

I have tried Partions in 257, 277 and 30 cal and have had about a 50% success rate in getting them to shoot well. My big game accuracy standard are loads that average under 1.5 inches and usually beat that.

The 7 mag was bought as a rotten weather alternative and a backup to my 30-06 CDL or a spare rifle if someone in the groups scope goes kerploey etc.

I'm a little tired of spending so much money on load developement. If the 160 Accubond shoots well right out of the gate it will probably get the nod, but honestly if it balks and a suitable Hornady, Sierra or Speer shoot well it gets to go hunting.

Nothing against the Premiums when they shoot well, but if they won't it changes from fun to work.

Thanks for you input

As a new guy on the forum and a longggg time elk hunter, reloader, shooter, etc I thought to share my thoughts on this. I agree with several of the other posters. Nosler bullets are cheap insurance, I myself do not practice with them. My go to rifle shoots 180 gr Sierra BT 1 1/2 inches to the left of the 180 pt. My first elk in 1961 was shot with a PT I have shot them at point blank and at a measured 428 and beyond. Perhaps there are some better bullets for hunting but I have not found them or seen them used. They preform the right way every time regardless of distance. My 02

Nailbender-how often can you draw a tag for elk in SD? Once upon a time I thought it was a once in a life time kind of thing, or maybe that was just for the bulls?

And what states do you normally hunt elk in?

Thx
Dober

Mark,
I have not put in for the drawing in South Dakota. I am not even sure of the odds for bulls.

I have a cow tag for Wyoming this coming fall. Will be my first time.

The hook will be set deeply amigo.

That is the longest 10-15 seconds ever recorded in the annals of seconds recording.

After I told dad that the spike was done but still standing, dad put one in his neck and it dropped. He looked over at me and responded with "Bullets are cheap".

I'm pretty sure that was the 4,732 time I've heard that in my 40 years. If they are standing, dad is shooting.

"Dad" is a smart guy IMHO......unless they are down with the shot,I pour another in.....and one Alberta buck dumped in heap as he ran across a field got a second one, even though he wasn't even twitching.

150gr Nosler Partition

That is my philosophy as well.

Well I currently hunt with a 7mm Remington Mag and have done so for the last 5 seasons after a long Hiatus. My second centerfire rifle was a 7mm RM and it was even a Remington 700, That will make Swamp happy. I took said rifle to Africa in 1971. In a nut shell I shot 175 gr Nosler Partitions out of it. Yea they were pricey then if you look at that you got just 50 bullets vs 100 out of a box or Hornadays or Speers. But the fellow that I looked up to then hunting wise, told me, save yourself some head ache and load the Partitions in that cartridge, its cheap insurance. I have shot a lot of Speer SP's out of it over the years. Good deer bullets and yea a 160 or 175 gr will work fine on elk. I don't like bullets like bergers for game shooting, just looking at what it dose on game, it seems a bit excessive in my view, yea I know the shoot very accurately and that they will shoot a little flatter. I personally would rather get closer and as long as the bullet is accurate enough to hit a grape fruit, Its plenty by me. The hard part in all of this is finding an Elk to shoot.

Your idea is sound in general but doesn't really work in this case. There's 140 and 150-gn NBT's, but 140 and 160-gn NAB's...

Nailbender, you've gotten lots of good advice and I've only killed deer with 7mm bullets so I am not experienced on elk with them. BUT I'd implore you to look at the big $$ picture here. In the context of the whole out of state elk safari, is an extra (say) $100 spent working with premiums finding a load really a problem? If it IS, then it is, and buddy I'm poor this year too so I get that. But in my experience, $100 is nothing in the big picture of an elk hunt.

Then there's this. Elk vitals are big. Unless you are going to set up this rifle for longer range stuff, and then practice extensively with it, even a 2MOA (bleah, I know) load will work out to 400 yds or so!

I'm going to include a couple pics of the cow elk I killed on my only out of state elk hunt. Beast was HUGE; physically bigger than the raghorn bull I killed a week later back in Oregon. IMHO- and again I'm no expert- the bullet is the last place to get too frugal here!

I'd find a decent load with the 160 Accubond at $30/box and rock on...

Good luck!!!

Nailbender, I have quite a bit of experience with the 162 grain Hornadys on elk and deer. They are without a doubt, the most fragile bullet I have ever used, especially for the 162 grain weight. I shoot them at just over 3,000 fps in my 7mm mags. They are scary accurate...but.

I busted a nice 3x3 buck a couple of years ago and blew a hole through him you could drive a truck through. I hit him broadside in the front shoulder at 40 yards. MAJOR destruction of all edible parts.

3 weeks later, I was in Colorado on an excellent bull elk draw unit with same load. I busted this big 5x5 bull pictured at 100 yards quartering away. He was running, but didn't even slow down. This is the only elk I haven't anchored on the spot when shooting the 7mm mag. I tracked the bull for several hours with NO blood at all. I knew I couldn't have missed.

I came back early the next morning and did the wide circle search method for several hours. I found the bull dead about 300 yards from where I shot him. I couldn't find a visual bullet hole, due to no blood. I looked him over carefully and found the bullet hole about 12 inches behind the shoulder right where I aimed(he was quartering away when I shot). The bullet had gone in a few inches and exploded. I nearly lost this trophy bull. I was about ready to give up when I stumbled upon him.

I have always wanted a big 5x5 with whale tails. I finally got him, and nearly lost him, due to a crummy bullet. Don't scrimp on the bullet.

I would highly recommend the 160 accubonds or 154 Hornady flat base interlocks MUCH more than the Sierras or the 162 Hornady. The 162 grain Amaxs are another winner. Flinch

Nice bull, Flinch! Was the meat OK?

So Flinch, the 162 Amax doesn't come apart too easily in your experience? I've been shooting them in my 7-08, in fact I'm heading up here shortly to fling some more of them... and I'll be giving them a run in my 7WSM when it arrives. I haven't been thinking of them as an elk bullet though.

Thanks!

What is the savings here $35-$40 per 100? I'd find something else to save money on .....

Navymans hit the nail on the head.....some of this stuff is too simple,and with all the good bullets out there today it is just not a problem to have a load with a cheaper bullet for practice,and substitute something tougher, (or more fragile, or whatever suits your pet killing theory),but possibly more expensive,with pretty much the same load and use the "better" bullet for hunting.

For me, this means "tougher".....for example, my present 7RM and 70-RL25 starts the 150 BT and the 150 Partition at about 3120 or so, and POI is pretty much the same clear to 500 yards...ditto 68 R22 and 140 AB's or Bitterroots,which go exactly the same place to 300-400 yards. If I could posts pics I'd dig up the targets to demonstrate.

Like so many questions posed on the Internet, a lot of the "answers" are easily arrived at by simply "shooting" rather than say "this" or "that" won't work....in many rifles it works very well....and for years I have had loads in various rifles that would stick Partitions or Sierra's with the same loads to the same POI....Bitterrots ,too.

What this means is the cheaper bullet is good for practice, and the more expensive(better?) bullet can be loaded for hunting......if you take 10 of them on an elk hunt, you should come back with 8 or 9 of them.

To paraphrase a certain well known booking agent....."Good bullets cost nothing...."

Hunting Elk has been a long time dream. Hoping to enjoy the experince and not make myself crazy with rifle stuff.
Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions.

Part of the issue for me in expending $$$ for load developement revolves around economic changes in my houselhold over the past 6 months and being frugal by upbringing and nature I am usually looking for ways to do things cheaper.

I tend to favor heavy for caliber projectiles and while some of you have suggested bullets of less than 160gr I simply am not comfortable with those. Not to say anyone who does not share my view is wrong or asking for trouble.
Experince has produced results you trust.

Whether I go with a premium or a cup and core I really am leaning toward 175gr to add whatever advantage they give me realistically and mentally.

Thanks for sharing your real life experiences with various projectiles and specifically the ones I will work with at first.

I am not dead set on using either the 160gr Accubond or the 162gr Interlock. I am using them because I have them and want to find out if the rifle will shoot without any messing with it.

If this rifle is anything like the rest of my rifles bought in the last two years it will show a preference for Noslers. Seems to have become my destiny with bullets.

Not really a bad thing.

Thanks for sharing the pics of your sucessfull hunts. It all seems like a far off dream to me right now

AMAX's have been awesome. My buddy and I have killed a pile of elk, deer and African game with them. Flinch

Mark, the Custer State Park tag for any elk is a once in a lifetime tag.Unless you win the one they raffle off for the Elk Fdn.
The Black Hills any elk is every 9 years(after getting drawn it takes 9 years to be eligible again) Any resident can apply for leftovers on antlerless elk after the 2nd draw(no such thing as a left over any elk tag) You can apply for a antlerless CSP elk every year until you get one(tag) and then aren't eligible for 9 years.The Prairie units are run the same way eligibility wise as BH Any or antlerless. Then there are the archery tags.... No there are no nonresident elk tags. Elk in SD are at a low end on numbers right now because for the last 5 years the GFP over issued the tags to bring the numbers down to please landowners and we have a major Mountain Lion problem. Magnum Man

It still works. Use a 162g SST or even an A-MAX. Or any other bullet � doesn�t even need to be the same weight. Might need to tweak the powder a bit to get a similar trajectory but inside 500 yards it isn�t hard to get close enough.

A 150g BT @ 3047fps and a 160 AB @ 2942fps (Nosler 6th data), both zeroed for 250 yards, will have a calculated difference of only 6� at 1000 yards. If zeroing for Maximum Point Blank Range for a target 6� in diameter, the difference in MPBR is about 6 yards and there is a whopping 2� difference at 500 yards.