Which Caliber for Elk

Big Fin said:
I've shot more elk with a .308 and that 75 year-old design called a Nosler Partition than I have any other cartridge-bullet combination. And most of those were out of a 20" barrel, including the 2022 Wyoming elk. The options you have will do just fine. Make the first shot count and you'll have a dead elk.

Good luck.
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Imagine that...a 308.....
 
Caseknife said:
Yep, you will run out of energy before the velocity drops below 1500 fps.
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Heck of a deer load, though. Still, 250 is acceptable to try and get in on an elk. 300 or so is my max comfortable range to shoot.
 
Not another which elk load thread!!

I sure have gotten a lot of good information.

Much appreciated. I need more powder for load testing.

Basically, run through all that folks suggested and the most accurate and comfortable to shoot will be the choice.
 
I would build an AR10 in .308 and hunt anything in North America. My buddy built one and has killed deer and antelope and elk with his and the recoil is no worse than an AR15 in .223
 
Energy calculations leaves out a lot of the formula. Just ignore that section on the ballistic tables.

Just worry about staying above minimum expansion velocity.

All of your cartridges you posted in the beginning will take an elk with Remington core lock factory ammo…..I’m not suggesting you use Remington ammo….I’m suggesting not to over complicate this decision in your head.

I use the 130 BArnes in single shot handgun and have taken elk at 350 yards…..getting a lot less velocity than you will with a rifle.

Once again…..from the guy who uses a wee little wheelgun to shoot elk….
 
6.5CM. It’s not too light. Why would a 7-08 with a 140 be good for elk, but a 6.5CM shooting a 140, with a higher SD, at essentially the same velocity not be enough? The truth is, the higher SD suggests it might be ever so slightly better than the 140gr 7mm. It’s at least enough better to make up for the near meaningless decrease in velocity compared to a 7-08.

The same can be said for a 270Win with reduced recoil loads. You’re not beating a 6.5CM by much if anything.

If you could handle the recoil, then by all means, shoot a full power 270Win with 150+gr bullet or a 308Win with a 168.
 
Take the guns that you listed out and shoot them. Whichever one you shoot the best at the distance you plan on hunting should be the gun you take hunting. All those calibers will kill an elk.
 
USAF Ret said:
250 is about the max I would go with the Ft lbs of energy

View attachment 268399
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Just comparing a 270Win and 6.5CM

A 270Win pushing a 127gr at 2700fps uses about 48gr of powder, and a 6.5CM pushing a 140gr bullet at 2700fps uses about 41gr of powder. Plugging both of those into a recoil calculator actually resulted in identical recoil energy. So, there is no advantage of one over the other for recoil.

Looking at ballistics, the 6.5CM kicks the 270Win’s butt, producing 1798ft*lbs ke @250yds compared to 1438ft*lbs from the 270Win. 350ft*lbs due to increasing bullet weight and BC, all while having the same recoil due to the decrease in powder charge, and that’s at only 250yds. You can literally go to 450yds and have the same energy as the 270Win at 250yds.

The bullet in the calculator was a 140 Elite Hunter, but bullets of a lower BC than the Berger will still have a substantial advantage over 270Win due to the increase in mass and decrease in diameter. I compared a 130gr, .277” Classic Hunter and got numbers not too far off of the Lehigh.
 

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USAF Ret said:
I reckon 308 it is. Thank you for sharing your experience with me. Will be looking at some of the lower grain Barnes bullets as well. Time to do some accuracy testing. I can say, the CVA eats up Norma Whitetail with sub-MOA groups. Hoping I can do that with my handloads.
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The .30 caliber 137 grain Hammer is proving pretty deadly. Lower recoil in the. 308. mtmuley
 
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ImBillT said:
6.5CM. It’s not too light. Why would a 7-08 with a 140 be good for elk, but a 6.5CM shooting a 140, with a higher SD, at essentially the same velocity not be enough? The truth is, the higher SD suggests it might be ever so slightly better than the 140gr 7mm. It’s at least enough better to make up for the near meaningless decrease in velocity compared to a 7-08.

The same can be said for a 270Win with reduced recoil loads. You’re not beating a 6.5CM by much if anything.

If you could handle the recoil, then by all means, shoot a full power 270Win with 150+gr bullet or a 308Win with a 168.
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Yeah, can't do a full load with 270 and I usually run on the low to mid on 308. 6.5 is definitely a sweet spot for me on recoil.
 
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