I will be going on my first Elk hunt this year and need recommendations on what to do. I have a couple of older model Remington 700 30-06's and then everything else is 6.5 and below. I have done some load work for the 30-06 and got decent groups at around .75" at 100 yards. I was thinking of rebarreling one or just getting a Tikka in something like 7 mag. What do you guys think? My problem with the current two 30-06 is my confidence level in longer shots is not real high.
Rifle For Elk
- Thread starter jpistolero02
- Start date
I have killed almost 50 elk and seen at least 100 others shot. Maybe a bit anecdotal, but all of the ones not recovered by others have been with 7mm on down. My Dad shot a cow elk at 80 yards with a 7mm Mag in the chest 3 times and the elk was still grazing. He thought he missed. I handed him my .30-06 and he shot it...bang-flop. He put a nice clean set of 3 pencil holes through the lungs, no rib hits. I shot an elk at 425 yards with my .30-06 with a Winchester 180 grain Silvertip, DRT and the bullet is sitting on my desk, 110 grains recovered between the off side rib and skin. Elk are tough and yes, placement and a good bullet are important, but it is hunting, not the range. I tracked an elk someone else shot with a 7mm Mag a few years ago, 5 miles in 10F weather, 18" of snow and with a blood trail so easy a 5 year old could have tracked it. It was a good shot right through the lungs, just missed the top of the heart. The blood and air pumps on elk put everything else to shame.
I use a .338-06 now, but my 15 year old now shoots my R700 .30-06 for elk. I limit myself to about 600 with the .338-06, furthest I have shot was 505, DRT. I would pick a .30-06 over a 6.5 or 7mm every time. The only caliber I like more than the .338-06 is one of the .375s (but I am having a 300NM built)
Take a look at the .338-06 and consider a rebarrel of one of your R700s. It is an excellent cartridge.
I use a .338-06 now, but my 15 year old now shoots my R700 .30-06 for elk. I limit myself to about 600 with the .338-06, furthest I have shot was 505, DRT. I would pick a .30-06 over a 6.5 or 7mm every time. The only caliber I like more than the .338-06 is one of the .375s (but I am having a 300NM built)
Take a look at the .338-06 and consider a rebarrel of one of your R700s. It is an excellent cartridge.
Having shot dozens of elk and seeing hundreds shot here is my two cents. 30-06 is a great old round and will definitely be enough for elk. What you need to determine is what is the max distance you will shoot and get something that will hit a six inch plate at that range first shot every time. Even here in Montana where we have very wide open spaces it is rare to have to take more than a four hundred yard shot. 70% of my kills have been 200 yards and in. Longest have been 698 with a 7mm rem mag and 996 with a 338 Lapua. Both one shot kills. The later shot we could have gotten closer but wanted to test out the 338 at range. If you have a rifle already capable of .75 moa spend your money to get it bedded if not already and put great optics and mounts and shot it until you are comfortable. Of course if you want a new rifle get one in time to again get comfortable and figure out your dope. 7mm Rem mag is probably my favorite round for elk and you can get ammo any where. 300 win mag is also stellar with great ammo availability as well. 6.5 Saum is about the only 6.5 I would feel comfortable with for longer 300yrd+ shots on an elk. They are tough SOBs.
Back country rifles can get beat up so you want it well bedded and again don't skimp on base and rings!
All that hat being said I'm going to build a 28 Nosler as a pure elk gun and try that out
Back country rifles can get beat up so you want it well bedded and again don't skimp on base and rings!
All that hat being said I'm going to build a 28 Nosler as a pure elk gun and try that out
Build confidence in what you already have. If you don't feel confident in longer shots, don't take them. I use an 8mm-06 but would not hesitate to grab my 30-06.
Thanks guys. I did have one of the rifles bedded and lugs trued a couple years ago. It sounds like the 30-06 would be more than adequate for what I am doing. The gentleman that is taking me has a big ranch in NM and says 400 yards would be the max he would be comfortable in letting me shoot. I might just look for a deal on a .30 barrel and good synthetic stock. Thanks again for the help.
You've got the gun, spend the money on ammo (for practice), boots, binos and lrf if you don't have them.
190 gr bullets and 4350 work great in an 06.Spend your money on optics and scouting. Good repeatable scope and binos to find the animals.
Killing is the easy part IMHO!!Congrats where's your Tag?
Killing is the easy part IMHO!!Congrats where's your Tag?
If your Remington is truly a 0.75" shooter at 100 yards, that is more than accurate enough for an elk. The .30-06 or 7mm Rem Mag will be more than adequate for an elk at 400 or even 500 yards, depending on projectile of choice. Center punch an elk with a 155 grain scenar out of a .30-06 and you'll have a dead elk. HINT
I've seen seen the 30-06 take a lot of elk. Unless I was looking for an excuse to get a bigger rifle, I would just load up some 180's and use it. IF you are looking for a new rifle a 300 WM or Weatherby would be at the top of my list.
Where you are hunting plays a huge part of the selection though. Around here 100-200yds is about average.
Where you are hunting plays a huge part of the selection though. Around here 100-200yds is about average.
Metric fuck tons of elk are killed annually by archery hunters specifically aiming for a double lung shot . Any modern rifle, 6.5 on up , will take elk with the right bullets at the right range.
A 30/06 will take elk just fine, use a bullet designed for hunting, Berger at the minimum. Accubond, Partition, or TTSX are better for elk in my opinion. In my experience the shooting and killing is the easiest part of a hunter if you come prepared. Finding the critters and getting in range is out of everyone's control.
Control what you can , show up with a good rifle and a mag full of appropriate ammo
A 30/06 will take elk just fine, use a bullet designed for hunting, Berger at the minimum. Accubond, Partition, or TTSX are better for elk in my opinion. In my experience the shooting and killing is the easiest part of a hunter if you come prepared. Finding the critters and getting in range is out of everyone's control.
Control what you can , show up with a good rifle and a mag full of appropriate ammo
You have already identified your only problem. You don't trust your rifle. The '06, with a good bullet, is more than enough to kill an elk at 400yds. You have plenty of time to correct the problem. If your guide says the max your shot will be is 400yds. then practice to 500yds. With reasonable atmospherics, 400 will be a chip shot. I looked at some of your posts and if you have confidence in your system this will be a walk in the park.
Of course, your first elk is the perfect reason to buy a new rifle and break it in. Such opportunities should not be wasted.
Of course, your first elk is the perfect reason to buy a new rifle and break it in. Such opportunities should not be wasted.
I have been considering a 338 win or 358 Norma mag as my next bear and elk gun. No real need as I have a 7 wsm and 300 win. 338 lapua barrel for the DTA too. The option I was leaning towards was a simple rebarrel of an 06 to 35 Whelan. I really only wanted a light bear cannon. After really thinking about how much I don't need it, I settled on loading some ttsx up for my 300 and saving some cash. The friends and family I have in Wyoming mostly use 06s and 300s. I think we tend to over think building a better mouse trap for special hunts. I know I sure do. That being said, a big bore boomer would fill out my collection...
I was told thats that's the difference between a shooter and a hunter. I'm a shooter like you, any excuse I can to buy a new gun.
That sounds about right. I look at them as tools. Sometimes it helps to have the right one for the job.
Simia
It varies state to state. In Colorado it must be larger than .224 (so 6mm or up) for big game which is deer, elk, moose, bear, and for the lucky few sheep and goat.
I say the '06 with any bullet you can stack em in tight with and practice crappy shot positions a lot. the bullets that destroy the lungs will work great. I have used Amax and SMK, as well as Hornady SST once. I carried Nosler Partitions for a season but didnt shoot anything. Was so much easier to be comfortable and dialed with a basic affordable bullet I went that route.
The Tikka T3 '06 is pretty sweet hunter with some talley one piece rings and a decent scope.
It varies state to state. In Colorado it must be larger than .224 (so 6mm or up) for big game which is deer, elk, moose, bear, and for the lucky few sheep and goat.
I say the '06 with any bullet you can stack em in tight with and practice crappy shot positions a lot. the bullets that destroy the lungs will work great. I have used Amax and SMK, as well as Hornady SST once. I carried Nosler Partitions for a season but didnt shoot anything. Was so much easier to be comfortable and dialed with a basic affordable bullet I went that route.
The Tikka T3 '06 is pretty sweet hunter with some talley one piece rings and a decent scope.
Ah thanks mate. We have two smaller breeds of deer here (compared to elk) but some of the states run a .270 minimum restriction on them, when I'm sure that smaller calibres would suffice. I don't know how elk act after they've taken a round to the engine room but the sambar deer here will dump a 44 gallon drum worth of adrenaline and run a couple of hundred meters dead on their feet (unless there is CNS damage of course). In thick scrub they are a pain in the arse to track, so a round that will dump all of its energy in a short distance is very desirable. The more popular calibres on them are 300WM/WSM, 9.3x62 etc (I'll be looking at that 10x68 when it comes here), and all I've shot bar one have been inside 70m - I have found a 286gr projectile out of a 9.3 to be very effective inside 100m.
Cheers for the info mate, just curious to compare minimum requirements.
Good call on the weight and energy requirements. I use something bigger or go bow hiking (Like bow hunting only i never see anything) so I never think about those rules.
Be careful with those TTSX and TSX. I used them in my .338-06 and .30-06 thinking how great they would be. Impact velocity really needs to be at about 2200 or more in the .30 caliber and up in order to expand. You have more of that in the 300, but it is still range limiting. There are better bullets for longer distances. I won't use them for elk anymore, am slowing using them up on Deer inside of 400.
In the 22 to .28 caliber, they expand at a little lower velocities, but they still need a good bit, just easier with the smaller bullets.
Inside of 300, I have a 7 Bren and want it's big brother the 9.3 Bren, mostly for hogs but will use it for elk also.
Where I bear hunt most shots would be inside 100 yards but a few places may be 3-400. What bullet are you moving towards? Most of our bears are 150-300 lbs but there are quite a few 500+ up there.
Sounds to me like piss poor bullet selection and bad luck. How the hell do you manage to shoot something 3 times in the rib cage and not hit a single rib? Odd, but it happens, but a well designed bullet would not require a rib hit to expand. Of course, if he would have hit it in the heart, things would have worked out differently.
You suspiciously left out where the .30 caliber bullet landed.
The 7mm bore is world renowned for terminal performance on game.
From the venerable 7x57 up though the modern magnums evrything has fallen to the 7mm, even elephants.
For christs sake, some folks use the .243 and even the 6.8 SPC to take elk.
That being said, nothing at all wrong with the '06 as an elk rifle, plenty of power, good accuracy and excellent bullets available.
He was using 160 Remington Core-Lokts. The .30-06 hit a few inches further forward and lower, also no rib on the way in. He killed several elk at further distance with the same bullet and gun and had okay performance. I won't defend his bullet selection or luck...But I did say "Maybe a bit anecdotal".
I'd look at the hornady 165 interbond.
With the relatively small case size, you're going to have to choose carefully.
However, if you are reasonably certain of shots not exceeding 300 yards or so, you could look to the 180 grain offerings.
My concern would be the velocity at impact in regards to the bullet performance.
