7mm mag or .308 for elk??

[Europe]

So our core group has hunted Elk together for 40 years, they are all 10 to 12 years younger then me. In that group we have three 7mm Remington. I would guess those three combined have killed no less than 100 elk. I can recall one lost elk to the 7mm.
One of the guys used a 270 for about 5 years. He lost two or three elk before buying a 7mm. Same hunter, same skill set with a rifle, hasn't lost an elk since. He has always been a poor shooter, but he is an outstanding hunter, always gets close.
In any event, given my limited data set, I give the edge to the big 7.
Good luck hope you and your lovely bride both draw.


Green8

And after the above post/guidance/real life expierence-the discussion is closed! Great post Don--there is nothin like getting the answer from someone who has been , done that and we have several of those types on this forum.

All posts before Don's are also accurate and from experienced hunters ( excluding myself ) but reread the post from Salmonchaser and then run dont walk to the gun store and pick up a 7mm

Don, while I am here, glad you got your roof cleared off and thanks for thanking me, but if you look back at the post it was Cheyenne giving you that advise, and good advise it was, from someone 60 years younger than I lol

 

[elkhunternm]

Get a .270 Wby.

 

[salmonchaser]

So our core group has hunted Elk together for 40 years, they are all 10 to 12 years younger then me. In that group we have three 7mm Remington. I would guess those three combined have killed no less than 100 elk. I can recall one lost elk to the 7mm.
One of the guys used a 270 for about 5 years. He lost two or three elk before buying a 7mm. Same hunter, same skill set with a rifle, hasn't lost an elk since. He has always been a poor shooter, but he is an outstanding hunter, always gets close.
In any event, given my limited data set, I give the edge to the big 7.
Good luck hope you and your lovely bride both draw.


Green8

And after the above post/guidance/real life expierence-the discussion is closed! Great post Don--there is nothin like getting the answer from someone who has been , done that and we have several of those types on this forum.

All posts before Don's are also accurate and from experienced hunters ( excluding myself ) but reread the post from Salmonchaser and then run dont walk to the gun store and pick up a 7mm

Don, while I am here, glad you got your roof cleared off and thanks for thanking me, but if you look back at the post it was Cheyenne giving you that advise, and good advise it was, from someone 60 years younger than I lol

You are of course correct. With you and Cheyenne looking out for me, I'm covered.


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[Charlie-NY]

If buying a new rifle specifically for elk I'd get a 300 Win and be done with it. A small margin of extra insurance provided by the increased bullet diameter and (potentially) heavier bullet. Plenty of great ammo around for the 300 Win and I'm sure someone is retailing 180gr mono-metal bullet ammo for the 300. if you want to stick with a non-lead core bullet.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[preacher]

OR...you could get a 24" barreled 30-06, use quality 200gr loads and do everything the 7mm Mag will in elk country. OH sure, 400yds is tougher to do, but its tough to do with about anything at that range. At 400yds, IF you don't hit him hard enough to drop him ( very rare with anything) and he runs into cover ( he won't be far from cover or to the next ridge top.) can you walk over to his "exact" spot he was hit and find blood/hair/running track? Its tough. Many guys can do it, but its no shame to pass on those kind of shots. Think this way...90% of the time, 90% of the elk will be in 90% of the thickest cover. Choose your percentage.

 

[Polaris]

I'm going to go on a different tack here, not far off of the .308, just a tad longer. Speaking strictly in terms of ballistics, the 7mm Mag would be superior, but there is another variable here. The shooter. OP states primarily a bird guy, so OP needs considerable rifle practice to even approach 400 yard capability with any rifle. He will not get said practice with the price tag of 7mmMag Ammunition.

My suggestion is to get a 30-06 caliber rifle as similar as possible to the existing .270. Shoot the hell out of both of them with inexpensive ammo, then work up to proficiency at distance with a proper Elk bullet in the 165 grain range in the .30-06 and a ballistically similar inexpensive load. I would recommend the 165AB and various 165BTSP or 168BTHP value loads as a ballistic pairing for practice to hunting.

 

[preacher]

Solid advice Polaris! The factory 165-168 Premium loads will be easier to hit with than the "factory" 200gr Premiums. A handloaded 200AB or 200 Sierra SBT are no slouch at 400 comparably, but if the OP isn't into handloading, he is not in bad shape with a 30-06. "In my mind" and not a few others, a properly loaded 30-06 is right with a 7mm Rem Mag on heavy game. I'd rather have the lighter, faster handling '06 than a heavier 7mm Mag...for the way I like to hunt. Some don't mind carrying even 10# plus rifles elk hunting. My arms turn to rubber at the end of a long day in the Mountains, ha. (Not to mentioned my legs!)

 

[Rol_P]

A few years ago I first came on the forum looking for advise on how to become a 400 yard shooter and I received several excellent suggestions. The big step toward that goal for me was to change from a simple duplex reticle scope to one with hash marks on the lower half of the vertical portion of the reticle, calibrated for ranges that extend your zeroed distance quite accurately.
My preference is the KISS method, (keep it simple stupid) I range the distance and place the corresponding hash mark on the reticle at the appropriate point and proceed to fire. No need to range the target, dial the scope and then take the shot.

There is a scope on the market with little circles on the lower half of the vertical reticle. I tried it and was frustrated wondering, do I use the top, middle or lower edge of that circle? I sold that scope.
To me the hash marks are more precise and practice with the same loads you intend to us in hunting at possible ranges will build confidence. Interesting discussion. Good luck.. Rol

 

[mjcmichigan]

...

There is a scope on the market with little circles on the lower half of the vertical reticle. I tried it and was frustrated wondering, do I use the top, middle or lower edge of that circle? I sold that scope.
To me the hash marks are more precise and practice with the same loads you intend to us in hunting at possible ranges will build confidence. Interesting discussion. Good luck.. Rol

That would be a Nikon with their BCD reticle. As they don’t know your bullet weight, BC, and velocity, their recommendation is to make a dope card. 100 zero, 200 top circle, 300 middle of the 2nd [HEAVY LARGE CIRCLE]️.

I had a 3006, 150 gn Rn at 2800fps.

It carried good through the first two hundred yards, but with the RN and 150 gn weight, it shed speed quick..

So each circle can give you three aim points.

This does require advanced testing.

It does require you to write a dope card and carry it or remember it.

It worked like more little hash marks.

Like you, I like KISS. I think the circle give it a cluttered look.

I have one scope I can dial, but have more learned how to adjust and return to zero. Maybe this spring/ summer.

That thread on becoming a 400 yard shooter would be good for us guys who are in near sighted states. (Typical shot 75 yards)


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[truck driver]

I guess I'm just old school and prefer a simple reticle. Biggest thing is learning where your rifle shoots at different ranges with one setting and then learning to stalk game that is out of range.
Around here it is a scope set for 1" high at 100yds to cover everything I need to shoot at but for out west it was a 3" high 100yd setting and that allowed me to make 400yd hits on a 12" target off my pack. Granted I'm an old fart and have put enough rounds down range to wear out several rifle barrels and the rifles I carried to MT had several hundred rounds fired down range before I went and was very confident I could hit my intended targets.

 

[ShadeTree]

I guess I'm just old school and prefer a simple reticle. Biggest thing is learning where your rifle shoots at different ranges with one setting and then learning to stalk game that is out of range.
Around here it is a scope set for 1" high at 100yds to cover everything I need to shoot at but for out west it was a 3" high 100yd setting and that allowed me to make 400yd hits on a 12" target off my pack. Granted I'm an old fart and have put enough rounds down range to wear out several rifle barrels and the rifles I carried to MT had several hundred rounds fired down range before I went and was very confident I could hit my intended targets.

That's how I do it. 1"-1.5" high at 100 fits all my needs with a standard scope.

 

[FOTIS]

7mm if you're expecting 300 yard plus shooting. :wink:

 

[1100 Remington Man]

I won a Savage 99 in 308 Win. never fired it and gave it to my Brother. It sits in a gun safe still never fired.
I never saw a use for a 308 Win. I would buy the 7mm Rem Mag. and never look back.

 

[SJB358]

I’d run the 270 and just practice a bunch. A 150 of excellent quality at 2900 or better will be indistinguishable from a 7 Rem Mag with a 160 at the same speed. No big thing to get a 150 over 2900 with many powders and with a few, 3000 is very easy.

Unless you just have to have a new rifle there isn’t an elk alive that I’d worry about with quality bullets from my 270. This is coming from the guy that uses a 338 or big 7 mainly for elk. If my 270 was as all weather as the other two I’d use it without a thought.