What are some good bullet choices for 7mm Rem Mag on elk?
What are some good bullet choices for 7mm Rem Mag on elk?
- Thread starter Performance Shooting
- Start date
TheOtherZilla
Pull my finger
140 Nosler Partition..
anyone tried Berger VLD hunting on ELK? Its what my gun shoots the best?
L.Sherm
Silver $$ Contributor
Bang, flop dead!
Got my bull last year with Berger 180’s at 450 yards and he went less than 30 yards.
wboggs
Gold $$ Contributor
I like Barnes trex. Accurate and deadly.
Bill
I wonder how one of those would have performed on John Nosler’s famous moose shot???
If that's the bullet your gun shoots the best, load em up and go hunting.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
Remember this:
My first two bulls was with a 7 Mag loaded with the old lot, first production of 140g Nosler ballistic tips. Both shots were running shots with the bullet hitting dead center of the body, both length wise and height. They were grave yard dead at the bullet strike with their nose plowing the ground, front legs had both quit working. One never kicked, the other kicked a hind leg a couple of times.
There is not one ounce of BS in the above statement.
I had to skin and cut up both elk to put in panyards on the mules. The gut sacks of both of these bulls were jello, hard to believe that much internal organs could have been turned to mush. Mush internals is an much more important factor than complete penetration to a guy that is skilled and has the presence of mind to place the shot or not pull the trigger.
Now we have learned that these old style nosler ballistic tips are pone to blow up on the surface, even though they never have to me because I have never had a shot on an animal less than 100 yards.
With all the elk that I have killed and seen killed, I would NOT want to shoot a bullet that is extremely tough and NOT give traumatic hydraulic shock to the internal organs, especially the lungs. We shot a lot of cow elk with the 95 and 100g Nosler partitions out of a 243 with around 41g of IMR 4350, they flopped or went no further than 30 yards.
I never wanted to shoot another bull, as cow tags were much easier to come by. If I were to go after bulls with my 7 mag, a 160g NOsler partition with a load of around 71g of Retumbo and a 215 would be my choice or a 160g Nosler accubond. The shock that a Partition puts on an animal is nothing short of amazing, we skinned and butchered all of our elk in the hunting party. A friend shot the 160g partition in a 270, and another riding partner shot the 180g partition in a 30/06. Massive, massive damage to internal organs with these partitions. We never had a bad tracking job till we took dudes from the city, that could not ride a horse, could not shoot(did not practice), could not take a crap in the woods, could not stand not taking a shower every day. Stories about non hunters going elk hunting abound, from a guy missing a 7x7 standing at 50 yards to hitting them in the butt...lots of heartbreaking instances(my neighbor's Kin.)
I have held that a 900 lb bull elk is easier to kill than a 200 lb jacked up White Tail that is chasing a doe.
Since hunting elk usually involves shooting up or down hill at some pretty good angles, you had really better know what you are doing if you shoot more than 250 yards. A properly placed shot with a 243 Winchester with a 100g Nosler partition is better than a low gut shot with a 300 Weatherby mag. On a running shot, you can blow the kidneys up from not leading them enough, and they may travel 75 yards max, so know the anatomy. I killed a smallish bull where all I could see was his Head and butt end, kidneys, about 125 yards.
I think that it is crazy to even want to shoot a bull or prepare to shoot a bull through the shoulders, better carry a cannon if you do. I have no faith in barnes bullets as I have shot bucks that ran like a cat with a small bag of dried peas tied on their tail.
IN a 7mm, I can't get my head wrapped around those tiny HP. I would feel more comfortable with a sierra 175g spbt, which kills very well.
Remember that a lot of elk country is also black bear country. To watch your wounded elk run off, shot in the late afternoon, you find it the next day under a pile of limbs with bear crap all over it is a scary thing. It is difficult to impossible to control a mule or horse that hears/smells a bear at very close range. To loose your ride with the gun still in the scabord is a disaster when you are 14 miles from the truck.
I hate those TV shows with long range elk shooting. For everyone that they kill, I fear that a dozen has ran off. We hunted deer and shot from ridge to ridge...strange things happen to bullets going across canyons(deer usually bedded down on the sunny side of the hill & mules always spotted the deer). We practiced all through the year, and felt proficient to 450 yards. We drew straws to see who would shoot first. One or two guys would hold the mules, another would spot for the shooter, the shooter had a bi pod on his rifle, 4x16 power scopes were popular in our party. 140g Nosler partition in a 7 mag is DRT killing proposition on deer. Marketing today has caused a sensation on BC vs killing ability of a bullet.
To the OP, what ever bullet you choose, practice, practice. Shoot at various ranges that you may encounter, and know your limitations.
Alex Wheeler on this site is a world class gunsmith that has a lot of experience in building the 28 and 30 nosler for long range elk hunting. I would trust what he says on bullets and calibers.
Best wishes
My first two bulls was with a 7 Mag loaded with the old lot, first production of 140g Nosler ballistic tips. Both shots were running shots with the bullet hitting dead center of the body, both length wise and height. They were grave yard dead at the bullet strike with their nose plowing the ground, front legs had both quit working. One never kicked, the other kicked a hind leg a couple of times.
There is not one ounce of BS in the above statement.
I had to skin and cut up both elk to put in panyards on the mules. The gut sacks of both of these bulls were jello, hard to believe that much internal organs could have been turned to mush. Mush internals is an much more important factor than complete penetration to a guy that is skilled and has the presence of mind to place the shot or not pull the trigger.
Now we have learned that these old style nosler ballistic tips are pone to blow up on the surface, even though they never have to me because I have never had a shot on an animal less than 100 yards.
With all the elk that I have killed and seen killed, I would NOT want to shoot a bullet that is extremely tough and NOT give traumatic hydraulic shock to the internal organs, especially the lungs. We shot a lot of cow elk with the 95 and 100g Nosler partitions out of a 243 with around 41g of IMR 4350, they flopped or went no further than 30 yards.
I never wanted to shoot another bull, as cow tags were much easier to come by. If I were to go after bulls with my 7 mag, a 160g NOsler partition with a load of around 71g of Retumbo and a 215 would be my choice or a 160g Nosler accubond. The shock that a Partition puts on an animal is nothing short of amazing, we skinned and butchered all of our elk in the hunting party. A friend shot the 160g partition in a 270, and another riding partner shot the 180g partition in a 30/06. Massive, massive damage to internal organs with these partitions. We never had a bad tracking job till we took dudes from the city, that could not ride a horse, could not shoot(did not practice), could not take a crap in the woods, could not stand not taking a shower every day. Stories about non hunters going elk hunting abound, from a guy missing a 7x7 standing at 50 yards to hitting them in the butt...lots of heartbreaking instances(my neighbor's Kin.)
I have held that a 900 lb bull elk is easier to kill than a 200 lb jacked up White Tail that is chasing a doe.
Since hunting elk usually involves shooting up or down hill at some pretty good angles, you had really better know what you are doing if you shoot more than 250 yards. A properly placed shot with a 243 Winchester with a 100g Nosler partition is better than a low gut shot with a 300 Weatherby mag. On a running shot, you can blow the kidneys up from not leading them enough, and they may travel 75 yards max, so know the anatomy. I killed a smallish bull where all I could see was his Head and butt end, kidneys, about 125 yards.
I think that it is crazy to even want to shoot a bull or prepare to shoot a bull through the shoulders, better carry a cannon if you do. I have no faith in barnes bullets as I have shot bucks that ran like a cat with a small bag of dried peas tied on their tail.
IN a 7mm, I can't get my head wrapped around those tiny HP. I would feel more comfortable with a sierra 175g spbt, which kills very well.
Remember that a lot of elk country is also black bear country. To watch your wounded elk run off, shot in the late afternoon, you find it the next day under a pile of limbs with bear crap all over it is a scary thing. It is difficult to impossible to control a mule or horse that hears/smells a bear at very close range. To loose your ride with the gun still in the scabord is a disaster when you are 14 miles from the truck.
I hate those TV shows with long range elk shooting. For everyone that they kill, I fear that a dozen has ran off. We hunted deer and shot from ridge to ridge...strange things happen to bullets going across canyons(deer usually bedded down on the sunny side of the hill & mules always spotted the deer). We practiced all through the year, and felt proficient to 450 yards. We drew straws to see who would shoot first. One or two guys would hold the mules, another would spot for the shooter, the shooter had a bi pod on his rifle, 4x16 power scopes were popular in our party. 140g Nosler partition in a 7 mag is DRT killing proposition on deer. Marketing today has caused a sensation on BC vs killing ability of a bullet.
To the OP, what ever bullet you choose, practice, practice. Shoot at various ranges that you may encounter, and know your limitations.
Alex Wheeler on this site is a world class gunsmith that has a lot of experience in building the 28 and 30 nosler for long range elk hunting. I would trust what he says on bullets and calibers.
Best wishes
centerlineseal
Gold $$ Contributor
I've killed quite a few elk with the old 150 gr Nosler Solid Base, lead tipped. Still have a few hundred in the box.
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