Which Bullet for Elk in .280 and 7RM?

[jasonprox700]

I will be finding out sometime this month if I'm going to Montana for a combo elk/deer hunt.  I am now trying to decide which bullet to use.  I will be loading for both my .280 and my fathers 7mm.  Out of the choices above, which would you pick?  What other bullets should I look at?

[dpe.ahoy]

Any of the premium bullets in the 140gr on up will do just fine for someone visiting.  The ones you listed are all good but the Elk are not wearing flak jackets.  Put the bullet in the heart/lung area and there is meat on the ground.  Living in Montana, we are not as rushed to take a shot and many are harvested with 243's on up with factory loads pushing good cup and core bullets.  DP

[Coyote Hunter]

My first elk fell to a 7mm RM and a 162g Hornady BTSP with a broadside shot.  The elk graciously died, but the bullet performed poorly.  It hit a near-side rib dead center leaving a 7mm hole on the way in and a rib-width crater on the back side.  The bullet may have nicked a rib on the far side but basically slipped between them and was recovered from against the hide.  There wasn't much left of the bullet even thogh the challenge to its integrity was relatively little.

The next year I switched to 160g Grand Slams.  My buddy and I have taken quite a few elk with this bullet and it always performs well.  In fact, it took me exactly 20 years to recover one.  That one wrecked both shoulder joints and was recovered from against the hide on the far side.  At 71.1% its weight retention was much higher than the 47.7% for the Hornady Interlock, which just about turned itself inside out. 

That was the year, however, that my buddy and I decided to use true bonded-core bullets.  My choice was North Fork and my buddy chose Trophy Bonded.  Both have worked extremely well, providing good expansion and high weight retention with deep penetration. 

Two years ago I was using 140g North Forks and had an 'easy' broadside shot at a buck mule deer at 80 yards.  Just as the trigger broke the buck stepped forward and turned.  The bullet caught him low in the right ham and was recovered from up against the sternum.  Needless to say, the buck dropped straight down.  That shot, and the possibility of others like it, are the reason I use premiums, especially when hunting elk. 

Any of the bullets you list will do the job with broadside shots.  I would suggest, however, that you prepare for the unexpected or for quartering away shots and use bullets you believe will hold together and penetrate deeply in such situations, at ranges near and far (from near muzzle velocity to 2000fps or below).

The bullets I would use include the following:

Tipped Trophy Bonded (Federal load)
North Fork
Tipped TSX
Trophy Bonded
A-Frame
TSX

Partition
AccuBond
Grand Slam

The Hornady GMX looks like a great bullet but I would want to see some field results before using it.  I would test it by firing them into water at 3000fps and again at 1800fps or so.  Ideally the bullet would expand in both cases in in the faster case it would retain its petals.

[BBF]

I voted for the partition but would also consider the  heavy Grand Slams, Hdy 175 gr and the Sierra 160 gr HPBT for the 7mm Rem and the 150 or 160 gr Sierra Spitzer for the 280.

[Silvertp]

If you do your part, any of the bullets listed should do fine on elk out of either the .280 or 7mm Mag.  I personally prefer bullets of 160 grains in both my .280 AI and 7mm Remington.

I shot over a dozen bulls with 160 gr Sierra BT's before I "learned" that you were supposed to use premium bullets.  Most of these were across canyon type shots and the bullets performed very well.  Friends who used the Sierra's had poor results at closer ranges as the bullets were not holding together under the higher impact velocities.  I never personally experienced bullet failure at close range with the Sierra's.

However,...I switched to 175 gr Nosler Partitions out of my 7 mag.  This bullet has produced mostly 1 shot kills on elk for me but I did loose one bull that was spinning as I touched the trigger resulting in a shot that raked the near shoulder..my fault, not the bullets.

That said, I now load 160 grain Barnes XXX in my both my .280 and 7 Mag but have yet to take an elk with either.  They work great on mule deer but I do most of my elk hunting these days with my bow or muzzleloader.

Find a bullet that shoots well in your gun, and build your confidence in making shots out to 300 yds.  Oh, and enjoy your Montana hunt.

Silvertp

[kudzu]

No BEST OF THE WEST fans. How about the 168vld Bergers. I will soon be tring the 180vlds in my 7rum

[Coyote Hunter]

No BEST OF THE WEST fans. How about the 168vld Bergers. I will soon be tring the 180vlds in my 7rum

Thank you, but not in this lifetime. 

A bullet that is advertised as functioning essentially like a varmint bullet is definitely NOT what I want.  Dramatic kills are often the result but when a good angle turns bad just as the trigger breaks things can get ugly in a hurry with a bullet that is designed to disintegrate within a few inches.  I want my bullets to hold together until they reach the vitals, even if that is at the opposite end of the animal.

[kudzu]

I myself am very fond of the Accubonds and Scirrocos. Have had great sucsess with both. My next (and movin fast to the front) is the Fusion. Hope they will be availible for reloading soon. Will still load the 180vld's in my 7rum (mainlly to play) just to see what I can get out of it.

[jro45]

For Elk hunting I would use my 300 RUM using a 180gr bullet or I may use a 200gr bullet

[Skunk]

For Elk hunting I would use my 300 RUM using a 180gr bullet or I may use a 200gr bullet

You sure that would be enough for an Elk, Jro45?

[41 mag]

Personally I would go with something in the 150gr range for the .280 and step up to something in the 160gr range for the 7mm.

As has been mentioned, elk do not wear flak jackets, and the time you have to hunt should not dictate the shot you take. Whether it be one day or 100, you should make the shot count by putting it in the boiler room and you will do fine.

Folks have been taking elk with lesser power rifles than your heading out with, many years before any of the so called premium bullets came to be. I would pick something that shoots well, and is affordable enough to get in a LOT of practice with and head off on the hunt knowing you can do your part.

If you shoot one in the ass and it gets away it isn't the bullets fault, its the fool who pulled the trigger. When you COUNT on something to make up for a lack of time or patients, your not hunting anymore your just out to shoot something.

Count on your ability to hit the right place at the right time, if the right time doesn't present it's self, then you still had a great hunt and know that you did the right thing.

When I got my first hunt in Colorado, I went with the attitude that I would do my best to get the job done, if that wasn't good enough so be it, but I would have rather come home empty handed than to have taken a bad or hurried shot and then lost what I worked so hard to find. In the end the elk had moved on from our area, it happens. I passed up several nice bucks as they were just not what I went out there for and ended up taking a nice one with a 24" inside spread, at about 35yds. Great hunt no two ways about it. Not the biggest deer on the mountain, but to me a trophy and he never moved from the spot I shot him.

I wish you the best on your hunt and hope you get it, and get your quarry. Just don't get overly caught up in the bling bling of the latest and greatest thing since sliced bread. Use what shoots the best and you can afford to shoot a lot of. Practice hard from actual field positions and improvised rest, not form a bench.

Good Luck and have fun.

[KAYR1]

I was reading Elmer Keith last night and he says we are all wrong! You need at least a .333 OTK, .338 Win Mag, or better yet 338-378 Weatherby for elk!

Seriouly, I would not scrimp on bullets on a hunt like this, and woud go the premium route. The Partition, TSX, or Accu-Bonds would be my choice. As mentioned above, jsut about anything will do for standing broadside shots through the slats, but sometimes the game animals dont read the script. 

[Drilling Man]

Personally I would go with something in the 150gr range for the .280 and step up to something in the 160gr range for the 7mm.

  Me too,

  And make them "partitions" please...

  DM

[jro45]

For Elk hunting I would use my 300 RUM using a 180gr bullet or I may use a 200gr bullet

You sure that would be enough for an Elk, Jro45?

Well I would hope so, That 200gr bullet killed a Zerba over in Africa. They are tuff  at 280yds