Cow elk rifle

[Robg2]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

 

[Hams42]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

I've had the same thing happen with a 7 mag though. Bad shots a bad shot.

 

[Robg2]

I've had the same thing happen with a 7 mag though. Bad shots a bad shot.

I knew someone would say that. Yes, bad shots are bad shots, but they are worse with smaller calibers.

 

[brockel]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

Depends more on the bullet you use. An all copper would be my last choice in bullet on a paunch shot. A bullet that rapidly sheds weight will do you more good in that situation like a Berger, hornady eldm or eldx, nosler ballistic tip, Sierra tmk. Have seen more than a few people bailed out by bad shots with rapid expanding bullets. Have also watched people have lots of rodeos with controlled expansion bullets not driven properly. In my circle we’ve seen animals die quicker from first shot to hitting the ground with bullets that come uncorked vs controlled expansion bullets.

4 years ago buddy and I were cow hunting. Came up on a herd. I already had an elk in the freezer so I let him shoot first. He put three 200 grain accubonds started at 3200fps right behind the shoulder of his cow. She still went 75 or so yards. After his first shot I got on mine and my cow took one 140 grain Berger started just over 2800fps and stumbled 30 yards and tipped over.

 

[Hams42]

Depends more on the bullet you use. An all copper would be my last choice in bullet on a paunch shot. A bullet that rapidly sheds weight will do you more good in that situation like a Berger, hornady eldm or eldx, nosler ballistic tip, Sierra tmk. Have seen more than a few people bailed out by bad shots with rapid expanding bullets. Have also watched people have lots of rodeos with controlled expansion bullets not driven properly. In my circle we’ve seen animals die quicker from first shot to hitting the ground with bullets that come uncorked vs controlled expansion bullets.

4 years ago buddy and I were cow hunting. Came up on a herd. I already had an elk in the freezer so I let him shoot first. He put three 200 grain accubonds started at 3200fps right behind the shoulder of his cow. She still went 75 or so yards. After his first shot I got on mine and my cow took one 140 grain Berger started just over 2800fps and stumbled 30 yards and tipped over.

I quit using accubonds for this exact reason. I started loading Hammers last year and I am switching all of my guns over to them. Similar to bergers but better IMO.

 

[El Jason]

“Right behind the shoulder” is a highly variable definition IME. Where you aim “behind the shoulder” can vary with the style of bullet you are using.

In the end, a bad shot is a bad shot.

 

[mtmuley]

The Berger bailing out bad shooters cracks me up every time. mtmuley

 

[El Jason]

“Right behind the shoulder “

 

[El Jason]

The Berger bailing out bad shooters cracks me up every time. mtmuley

I think it does happen. I watched a kill shot video on Rokslide a guy posted. It was a terrible shot. In his mind it was “right behind the shoulder” and a classic double lung. I told him it was a high gut shot and he got lucky because his bullet was volatile enough to cause lethal damage.

He likely hit back liver/hepatic artery/renal artery/kidney. At the end of the day, it was a dead elk in fairly short order. But, he got lucky and to his credit was humble enough to stay engaged and learn something about anatomy and physiology.

The same shot with a Barnes might not have yielded the same result. But, I misjudged crosswind in a saddle and I hit a WY cow right in the gut with my .243/85 grain TSX. She humped up, walked over the hill and bedded down. One finisher later and she was dead as a door nail.

 

[mtmuley]

I think it does happen. I watched a kill shot video on Rokslide a guy posted. It was a terrible shot. In his mind it was “right behind the shoulder” and a classic double lung. I told him it was a high gut shot and he got lucky because his bullet was volatile enough to cause lethal damage.

He likely hit back liver/hepatic artery/renal artery/kidney. At the end of the day, it was a dead elk in fairly short order. But, he got lucky and to his credit was humble enough to stay engaged and learn something about anatomy and physiology.

The same shot with a Barnes might not have yielded the same result. But, I misjudged crosswind in a saddle and I hit a WY cow right in the gut with my .243/85 grain TSX. She humped up, walked over the hill and bedded down. One finisher later and she was dead as a door nail.

Yeah. Maybe. Everyone has different ideas of what they want. I have pretty extensive experience with a certain bullet. I've never put three of them in anything. And, I went the frangible way. Once year and done. I also killed a lot of game with Core-Lokts. Before the internet though. mtmuley

 

[Hams42]

Yeah. Maybe. Everyone has different ideas of what they want. I have pretty extensive experience with a certain bullet. I've never put three of them in anything. And, I went the frangible way. Once year and done. I also killed a lot of game with Core-Lokts. Before the internet though. mtmuley

I am incapable of not shooting the shoulder blade so core-lokts were my worst nightmare.

 

[mtmuley]

I am incapable of not shooting the shoulder blade so core-lokts were my worst nightmare.

I have watched my son in law wreck two bulls and several deer and antelope with the tipped version in .30-06. More impressive than the 6.5 and eld-x he started with. mtmuley

 

[Hams42]

I have watched my son in law wreck two bulls and several deer and antelope with the tipped version in .30-06. More impressive than the 6.5 and eld-x he started with. mtmuley

Wrecked as in they did the job or Wrecked as in they just made a crater?

My buddy shot an antelope at about 150 yards with the soft nose .308 win CL and it made about a fist size crater about 4 inches deep.

Also I swore off the eld-x in 6.5. I was not getting the performance I wanted. Worked great in my 7 mag but just punched pin holes with the 6.5 CM.

 

[mtmuley]

Wrecked as in they did the job or Wrecked as in they just made a crater?

My buddy shot an antelope at about 150 yards with the soft nose .308 win CL and it made about a fist size crater about 4 inches deep.

Also I swore off the eld-x in 6.5. I was not getting the performance I wanted. Worked great in my 7 mag but just punched pin holes with the 6.5 CM.

Killed them. Quickly. mtmuley

 

[MTLabrador]

I have watched my son in law wreck two bulls and several deer and antelope with the tipped version in .30-06. More impressive than the 6.5 and eld-x he started with. mtmuley

I’ve heard that the tipped core lokt is actually an SST, and they certainly look like it. Not that that’s a bad thing, heavy for caliber SSTs are killers. I’ve only ever caught this one.

 

[brockel]

The Berger bailing out bad shooters cracks me up every time. mtmuley

Might crack you up but it is what it is

 

[mtmuley]

I’ve heard that the tipped core lokt is actually an SST, and they certainly look like it. Not that that’s a bad thing, heavy for caliber SSTs are killers. I’ve only ever caught this one.

View attachment 409732View attachment 409733

Does an SST hold together that well? Limited experience but I saw one out of a buddy's mule deer that was missing the core. mtmuley

 

[mtmuley]

Might crack you up but it is what it is

Not something I look for in a bullet. mtmuley

 

[MTLabrador]

Does an SST hold together that well? Limited experience but I saw one out of a buddy's mule deer that was missing the core. mtmuley

The recovered bullet in the first photo I posted is a .308 180 grain SST. It’s the only one I’ve not had exit, and I’ve used them a lot. .30 180 grain and .270 150 grain especially. Even watched my buddy use the 150 grain in a .308 quite a bit as well and it worked great. Typically a lot of damage in the chest cavity and a 1-2” exit or so.

I do think the current versions are tougher than the original SSTs, similar to Nosler ballistic tips.

 

[mtmuley]

The recovered bullet in the first photo I posted is a .308 180 grain SST. It’s the only one I’ve not had exit, and I’ve used them a lot. .30 180 grain and .270 150 grain especially. Even watched my buddy use the 150 grain in a .308 quite a bit as well and it worked great. Typically a lot of damage in the chest cavity and a 1-2” exit or so.

Well, whatever the 180 Tipped is, it works. He has since moved on to a 7mm Remington and 160 Accubonds. mtmuley