Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7x57 and elk

I have eaten more than one deer taken with a .22LR. I would sure hope the 7 would have enough of everything for deer.

When I mentioned getting enough velocity I was referring trajectory not killing power.

I've used Mule Deer's 160 gr. Sierra/NPT technique to great effect 6 times through the years
Cheers

My favorite bullet in the 7mm of any kind is the 160 gr regardless of who make it, but if going for Elk with my 7x57 it would be the 160 gr Nosler Partition loaded with H4831SC

I've used the 7x57 for 20 years or so, only a couple years I used a different rifle and calibre and I felt like I was being unfaithful.

That said I have had 100% good results on elk and everything else with the Nosler 160 Partition. My rifle shoots the 160 Speer flat based spitzer more accurately but the Partitions give me more confidence. Shoots flat enough for my style of hunting, out to 250 and maybe a few more yards. For prairie goats and small deer the 130 Speer flat base shoots lights out, kills like a bolt of lightning, and with a flat trajectory. The 150 Partition is tempting but I've yet to give it a try.

I've kind of taken the 150 gr NPT as my fav for bigger stuff. I'm seeing it do pretty well in three diff 7's - 7wsm, 284 win, and 7-08ai.

Used it in my 7wsm to take my one and only elk ever in NM in 2009 at 322 yds. Based on that bullets performance - broke both shoulders and exited - elk staggered about 15 steps and went down - it looks to be up to it.

Almost all of my rifles have gotten this treatment that JB describes,and lots of load development starts with a like-weight Sierra,and ends with the Partition. It's rare that they don't stay close,clear to 400-600 yards.

I piously promise myself that I will use the Sierra for the deers,save the NPT for larger stuff,and have, but don't bother anymore and use the Nosler for everything.

Partitions from 140 gr up will work on elk from a 7x57.

Any 154 or 160 conventional projectile will work fine as will the Partition. I would hesitate to use a bonded premium over 140 as they will penetrate but not expand as well.

PastorDan,

The 160 Sierra load I use gets just under 2700 fps at the muzzle--about like the standard 180-grain load in the .30-06. I normally sight-in 2" high at 100 yards, which means a typical spitzer is dead on at 200 yards, 3" low at 250, 8" low at 300 and two feet low at 400.

I've made a number of shots at around 400 yards with both the 160 7x57 and 180-grain .30-06, using the old-fashioned hold-over method and a Duplex reticle. (Maybe it would have been easier by twisting the elevation turret, but so far my 7x57 and .30-06's have had standard scopes.) The longest shot with the 7x57 and 160 Sierra was 375 yards, on a springbok in South Africa during a cull hunt, and have regularly taken other animals out to 250 yards with the same load.

One trick that makes 400-yard shots relatively easy with either the 160 7x57 or 180 .30-06 is to fiddle with the magnification on a variable scope until the tip of the bottom post of a plex reticle is 6" below the intersection of the crosshairs at 100 yards. This means it's two feet below the intersection at 400--just about where the bullet will land with a 2" high sight-in at 100 yards.

Thanks for all the info guys.

Now you've got me wondering if I shouldn't take my 7x57 to Wyoming this fall instead of the 300 WSM that I intended to.

donsm70

Good info, I recently bought a 7X57 mountain rifle. Its been 20 years? since I owned a 7mm mauser. I am going to try the Sierra 140's and 140 Nosler PT's in mine. First load through it was factory Hornady Custom 139 BTSP's and it looked good with the first group at 1 1/4 or so and the second at 3/4" or under (took more time shooting this group). It'll be my backup deer / elk rifle.

I've been following this thread with great interest. However, I have certain misgivings on using my 7x57 on my upcoming cow elk hunt. It is a December hunt on very spooky animals as I found out when I hunted that ranch in December 2010. I took two rifle with me back then, a .35 Whelen and .300 Win. Mag. as back up in case shots would be at long range. Those were more than spooky. As we were driving down the road to where we wanted to hunt, a small group of elk well over 400 yards away saw us and were up and running as fast as they could pick 'em up and put 'em down. The elk I did get wasat 100 yards when we saw her and by the time I got my shot off, she was at least 150 yards out and running flat out quartering slightly to the left. The .35 Whelen did a beautiful job of elk smack down one the first shot so I know that if I take that rifle again it will work.My biggest problem is arthritis is doing a number not only on my shoulder but both knees and one hip. I was thinking I could use the 7x57 and maybe a 150 or 160 gr. bullet this year but my big worry is just how well will it work on a seriously adrenalized elk that's running all out? I'm not worried about getting a good hit but with my hip and knees, hiking after a wounded elk at 9,000 tp 9,500 feet MSL is not something I'm looking foreward to doing. Pain does not make a hunt fun. The 7MM bullets I have on hand are 150 gr. Nosler Partitions, 160 gr. Speer Hot-Cores and 160 gr. Speer Grand Slams, both the old and new style. I also have a very few 160 gr. Nosler Partitions. I have two rifles in 7x57, a Winchester M70 Featherweight that is quite accurate and a custom built on an FM Mauser action that is equally accure so if using a 7x57, I would go with the one most accurate. Kind of hard to do as both are tackdrivers.
What say you gentlemen?
Paul B.

If the shots could be longish, the 300 Win surely has an advantage over the 7x57 on elk, assuming you shoot them equally well.

I don't trust myself to take shots at animals moving at more than a walk so that isn't an issue for me. I greatly appreciate the invaluable input on the 160 bullets. I found a partial box of old Nosler 162 gr. Solid Base bullets that I forgot I had from way back in 80's that I am going to do my initial load work with. Will probably switch to partitions if I get loads that look promising.

I went out and shot this weekend with variety of loads. I use the Lee scoops and have found, as a general rule, that if a bullet/powder starting load with the scoops shoots under 2" I am pretty certain that I can work up a useable load with that combo.

All I currently have on hand is IMR4350 so that is what I started with. With that powder, Speer 130 Hot-Cor's and Sierra 140 GK's were HORRIBLE but 150 gr. Ballistic Tips and the 162 gr. Solid Base bullets both showed real promise. The 150's came in at under 1.5" and the 162's shot just over that.

Both bullets shot close enough together that I figure I can use the 150's for deer and the heavier bullets for elk without having to change scope settings. I have been sighting in 3" high at 100 yards for quite a few years now after doing quite a bit of work with a ballistic calculator. With the loads I shoot if I have to hold over on an animal it is probably further than I should be shooting (once again, a man's got to know his limitations!). As none of the calibers are super high velocity it works pretty well.

I am not sure what your "shots at animals moving" refers to, if it relates to my post.

As my user name indicates, I am a big fan of the medium capacity 7mm rounds. Elk are also a big target, easy to hit, and not armor plated. All that indicates that a 7x57 ought to be more than sufficient. The problem for me is that getting the chance to shoot at an elk is the hard part. I have gone an entire season, hunting hard, and never had a shot. Or I have ridden 40 miles on horseback to get one shot. Or I have walked 20+ miles for that shot. Or this year it looks like I will not draw a tag.

I think a 300 Win Mag would add 100+ yards to my comfortable shooting distance at elk over my self-imposed limit with a 7x57. I would want that advantage in the open country I hunt in the Rockies.

But I also concur with the other opinions that the 160 Partition is a killing sumbitch.

PastorDan you might want to consider keeping things simple and just find a 150 gr load that rifle can live with. They haven't built the elk yet that a 150 gr bullet from the 7x57 would penetrate from one end to the other at 200 yds or less...

This is a fine cal that will do anything you want it to do then some game kings are great .Yhis is a better then a copyed 7mm08 Also federal an winchester along with remington regular stuff works great 160 gr

Sorry, that my comment came across weird. You had questioned your taking a 7x57 because of the context of your elk hunting and I was simply commenting on my own context. Probably comes from me reading too fast and trying to respond while I should be working!

I know a 150 gr. bullet of adequate construction should do fine but I prefer having a little more weight/sectional density for an elk if I can. I'm not preaching it as gospel, it's just what makes me more confident on a less than broadside shot.

This post by Topheti - Code 4 on Nitro Express is a revelation on the 154Interloct and the 160gn Woodleigh is a good read.
http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=196029&an=0&page=1#Post196029

The U-tube vid shows the test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIPnl3IRS4I

Topheti runs the 160 gn at just over 2400fps in his 7x57 and 2900fps in the 7mmRM and with the penetration versus expansion give me the best of both with it running at 2700fps from my own 7x57. There isn't anything short of DG I wouldn't be confortable using the 160gn Woodleigh on.

Von Gruff.

I currently shoot the 175gr Hornady SP interlock from all my 7x57s. All three rifles are Rugers and all three shoot about 1 inch groups at 200 yards (My FN/Flaig's Mauser is at the gunsmith for now). My load is 45gr of H4350. Don't know the exact speed but it should be around 2400 fps if my manuals are any indication. I haven't killed an elk with them yet but I have killed many whitetails. Those big bullets always exit and leave a gaping hole. I've never recovered one of those bullets and never lost a deer shot with them. If you punch through both shoulders the deer drops like a sack-o-taters and it makes a bloody mess inside them. In my ignorance, I would not hesitate to shoot an elk or any other non-dangerous game animal with it at up to 300 yards, and that only because I'm not very practiced beyond that range. I got a 416 Rigby on the way for the really big bucks.