Rifles for Elk

[SJB358]

Thanks Charlie. I am thinking right now, the Whelen is going along as one rifle. Hoping the new stock comes in for the 338 soon. It does shoot good enough with the current stock, but I wanted to get the new one on before I do any serious load work. Scotty

 

[OldMan]

I have a lot of rifles in a lot of calibers and have shot bulls with most of them, but when I reach for an elk rifle my hand always goes for the 300 wby. It has never let me down, the second rifle I would reach for is my 300 Win Mag as it never fails either. Next would be my 7mm RM with 175 gr Hornady at 2960fps, come to think of it, it has killed a pile of elk too. Too many rifles and not enough tags!!!

 

[Oldtrader3]

Thanks Charlie. I am thinking right now, the Whelen is going along as one rifle. Hoping the new stock comes in for the 338 soon. It does shoot good enough with the current stock, but I wanted to get the new one on before I do any serious load work. Scotty

That is why I bought that .340 Bee. We are supposed to move to our lot in Sweet Home, OR and I wanted the rifle for the eastern areas. For around here I can use the .338 Federal or .45-70. Even so, it is nice to have the smackdown of the .338 WM for elk, even in the rainforest.

 

[SJB358]

I like both the Whelen and the 338WM overall. I imagine once I get the 338WM tuned up with the 250gr PT's it should be excellent for any elk, any place. Although, since I have a great shooting 250gr load in the Whelen, I might drop back some weight in the 338WM. Don't know yet. Just kinda depends on how it likes the 250gr PT's. They are some really stout bullets and I like em! Scotty

 

[SJB358]

I have a lot of rifles in a lot of calibers and have shot bulls with most of them, but when I reach for an elk rifle my hand always goes for the 300 wby. It has never let me down, the second rifle I would reach for is my 300 Win Mag as it never fails either. Next would be my 7mm RM with 175 gr Hornady at 2960fps, come to think of it, it has killed a pile of elk too. Too many rifles and not enough tags!!!

What is your load for the 175gr HDY in your 7RM? Sounds like a great one. Scotty

 

[OldMan]

I have a lot of rifles in a lot of calibers and have shot bulls with most of them, but when I reach for an elk rifle my hand always goes for the 300 wby. It has never let me down, the second rifle I would reach for is my 300 Win Mag as it never fails either. Next would be my 7mm RM with 175 gr Hornady at 2960fps, come to think of it, it has killed a pile of elk too. Too many rifles and not enough tags!!!

What is your load for the 175gr HDY in your 7RM? Sounds like a great one. Scotty

It is a heavy load of 7828 that might be way too much in modern guns so I won't let it out! I actually had it over 3000 with no visible signs of pressure. The chamber in my gun is longer than present standards, I tried to work up the same load in a browning A-bolt and had to stop way sooner. After using this load on a few bulls I came to the conclusion that a long heavy bullet that opens up quick and can afford to lose some weight was the way to go!

 

[SJB358]

Thanks Old Man! Sounds like a great load. Never messed with IMR7828 much in the 7RM, but what little I did with seemed pretty promising. I do have a box of 175gr HDY's also that I used for the 7828, just never finished the project. Might have to come back to them in the future. Scotty

 

[Oldtrader3]

I use IMR 7828 with the 160 Partition in the 7mm Rem Mag. My rifle takes the max load that is in some of the manuals. It is my most high velocity load with great accuracy. IMR 4350 also works great for accuracy, but is not as fast.