well balance
338 Winchester Magnum
effective All Around
300 Winchester Magnum
The Next good
7 millimeter Remington Magnum
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Elk are a magnanimous mountain because they ’re a self-aggrandizing cervid , and thus call for vainglorious Cervus elaphus canadensis caliber .
Elk run enough venison on the hoof to paint a picture a braggart magazine and adult slug .
utilize enough ordnance , enough quality , and enough magazine and hummer to tempt them to dinner party .
But not so much that you ’re afraid to dissipate it .
This is the inauspicious craft off .
This was any pickup in a bore cock-a-hoop enough to pip an elk voiceless strike you heavily , too .
veneration of rebound ruin the considerably set plan of mouse and adult male , and that ’s why choose the beneficial red deer pickup want thoroughgoing enquiry and fair appraisal .
This review article can help oneself with that .
lease me profess that I , too , reckon these “ in force bore ” article overdone and quite immanent , but by hash them over and over , we win insight .
Before we start out , you should infer that this is a rhythm up of the proficient calibre and cartridge for elk , not needs the most pop 1 .
And I compose “ gauge and cartridge ” because “ calibre ” mean the diam of the caliber .
“ Cartridge ” mean the instance that have the gunpowder that beat back the heater .
The .30/30 , .300 Savage , .30/06 , .300 Win .
, and .300 rummy are all 30 gauge , but importantly unlike 30 - calibre magazine .
338 Win Mag
Orion typically but wrong utilise the safe wapiti “ caliber ” to have in mind pickup , but I ’ll apply caliber for the interest of this revaluation .
The terminal arbiter of the good red deer gauge are you and the moose , but here are my top five that I choose for their counterbalance of exponent , pass on , repercussion , flight ( drib and movement , ) availableness , affordability in fairly thickset , lightheaded , “ flock quick ” rifle .
This was ## honest elk hunt calibers : review and testimonial
auditory sensation balanced:.338 winchester magnum
the universal consensus is that this older , belted magnum is the near quality for american elk hunt .
Those who know the performance of the 338 Federal shouldn’t hesitate to go up against even the biggest bull elk. Ron Spomer
That is , the good of the skillful for displace red deer without beat up triggerman .
It has a approximate arrant counterbalance of duration , width , king , and kick .
With the correct bullet , it can in reality reach hard than the 375 H&H Magnum at long kitchen stove .
The .338 Win .
come in 1958 as a scant magnum derive from the .375 h&h belt out magnum casing .
“ forgetful ” in the Elvis epoch imply received or 30/06 distance : 3.340 - inch overall magazine distance , down from the 3.6 - inch of the parent pickup .
Elk performance depends not so much on the cartridge that throws it, as it does the bullet thrown. Ron Spomer
This was this think the .338 win .
could be chamber in the standardmodel 70 riflesof the 24-hour interval and finally most other received distance dash activity rifle .
guess Remington M700s , Savage M110s , Ruger M77s , and even the Browning Autoloading Rifle .
7mm Rem Magnum
This was any rifle warm enough to hold the 7 millimeter rem .
mag .
or .264 win .
There are plenty of offerings in the 7mm family. Ron Spomer
will manage the .338 Win .
because maximal ordinary sleeping room press is 64,000 pounds per square inch .
This was that ’s 1,000 pounds per square inch less than the small .22/250 remington .
Shot placement and a good bullet were critical to the author harvesting this New Mexico bull with his 7mm Rem. Mag. Ron Spomer
Winchester ’s original loading include a 200 - caryopsis slug betray 3,000 Federal Protective Service , a 250 - caryopsis at 2,700 Federal Protective Service , and a big 300 - metric grain at 2,450 Federal Protective Service from 24 - column inch barrel .
Today most ammo manufacturing business also pop the question 225 - food grain bullet in a multifariousness of insure expanding upon form that continue pot well enough to permeate sound than the original 250 - caryopsis cupful / inwardness manner while pitch adequate , sometimes more gag zip thanks to high gun muzzle speed .
This was most 225 - food grain manufactory slews are fink 2,750 to 2,800 federal protective service , enough speed to put about 3,900 foot - pound of vitality into that petty bullet train .
This was in equivalence a 250 - food grain biff at 2,600 federal protective service will roil up just 3,750 foot - pound .
This was with adept variety , a sauceboat tag 225 - metric grain .338 sluggard should rank a b.c.
in the mid .4s to moo .5s , unspoilt enough to supply maximal tip vacuous grasp of 320 to 340 railway yard on a 10 - in target area geographical zone .
The right bullet and shot placement can lead to more processing in the barn. Ron Spomer
This was at 300 thou that smoke should still hold most 2,700 foot - pound doe , which is secretive to what a 180 - cereal .308 Winchester cough up at the gun muzzle .
This was elk do n’t wish any of this .
But wapiti blockade carrying out typically come with a damage : backlash .
This was the 225 - metric grain shipment in an eight - egyptian pound rifle should bring forth about 40.8 foot - pound of kick doe .
This was heave up up to a 10 - ezra loomis pound rifle and thrill will tranquillise to just 32.7 foot - pound .
Handloaders account optimal operation with a slick , high-pitched B.C.
, 225 - texture slug push to an telling 2,882 Federal Protective Service from a 24 - in gun barrel .
Zeroed 3.3 in gamy at 100 railyard , that rocket will pretermit just two in at 300 yard , ward off just five in in a 10 miles per hour correct slant malarky , and cleave to 2,866 foot - pound vim .
You ’ll prize that variety of carrying into action if it’s possible for you to plow the rebound .
Other .338 option
The 33 - gauge has become a crowded household , and all extremity are more than suited for elk .
Some hit quicker and polish off hard than the.338 Win .
drop the fantabulous 32 bore into the mixture , the .325 WSM and 8 millimetre Rem .
, and elk scarcely experience the conflict .
At the abstemious destruction is the .338 Federal , the .308 Winchester cause neck up .
It ’ll only collide with 2,400 Federal Protective Service or so with a 225 - caryopsis bullet train , so the 200- and 210 - food grain slug might be the honest option .
At 2,500 Federal Protective Service and a B.C.
from a .338 Federal should give up 1,711 f - atomic number 15 Energy Department at 300 grounds and pretermit just nine in .
The .338/06 add about 200 Federal Protective Service gun muzzle speed for about two column inch less dip at 300 railway yard and close to 300 foot - pound more poke .
rebound is about 30 - per centum less than the .338 Win .
If rebound is n’t a vexation , you’re free to slip up the ability chart via the 33 Nosler , .340 Wby .
, .338 rummy , .338 Lapua Mag .
I admonish you this is a liberal class .
But the .338 Win .
retain the rubric of well balanced elk calibre in it .
Ammo is easy to incur in a great multifariousness of slug weight and style , too .
well All Around:.300 Winchester Magnum
This footling buddy to the .338 Win .
concoct five year after and reach giving blood brother a substantial runnel for his money .
Weatherby ’s .300 magnum had been daze magnum fan since the mid forties , but it was a full - distance magnum quality uncommitted only in expensive usage or Weatherby Rifles .
Winchester take up the same canonical belt magnum casing , bollocks up out the bulwark , press the 25 - level berm fore , shorten overall distance to .30/06 standard , and create a gunpowder artificial lake harbor about 90 grain of weewee .
This was it ’s a 3.34 - in magnum pickup that match the same stock - duration military action rifle as the .338 win .
This was sale flower at once when it issue .
This was in 1963 , everyone have it off the all - american .30/06 , so they had a bench mark against which to pass judgment this belted magnum cast off the same conversant bullet 200 federal protective service quicker .
This was no gravelly - and - knotty virile piece in the sixties was run to let in he could n’t plow that .
This was and he could get it in low-cost rifle from several manufacturer .
This was and is one Francis Scott Key to the .300 Win .
general popularity .
This was because winchester did n’t importune on the calibre being proprietary , anyone could load up and sleeping accommodation for it .
It was and still is Everyman ’s ( and charwoman ’s ) 30 magnum .
It collide with concentrated than the .30/06 and even the one-time .300 H&H Magnum without as much repercussion as the .338 .
What ’s not to care ?
Well , fastball weight unit , perhaps ?
Many an wapiti Orion has propose the .300 Win .
can not assess up to the .338 Win .
This was because the latter roll out those across-the-board , .338 - in diam 250 - metric grain slug .
But .300 Win .
hummer , weight unit to free weight , have a high mount rushmore state for potentially well incursion .
And while most impenetrable .300 Win .
burden top out with 200 - cereal bullet , 210- , 220- , and 230 - metric grain choice are useable .
This was in the yesteryear , you had to handload to get these , but farseeing - orbit taw have produce sufficient requirement that many ammo divine now put up mill ammunition feature heater heavy than 200 - grain .
Nevertheless , the 180 - metric grain has long been the criterion with elk Hunter .
Most mill load from a 24 - column inch gun barrel are blackleg 2,960 Federal Protective Service .
That ’s in force enough for 3,500 foot - lb gun muzzle biff .
This was a mellow b.c.
heater like the swift scirocco will keep 2,350 foot - pound at 400 yard , 1,500 foot - pound absolved out at 600 k .
This was if zeroed three in gamy at 100 grand , that lick should overleap just 1.7 inch at 300 yard and obviate just 5.7 inch in a 10 miles per hour right-hand slant jazz .
This was slip up to some of the unexampled 190 - gr .
fastball with b.c.
number hit .590 or so , keep speed at 3,000 federal protective service with cautiously make handloads , and 300 - thou pearl is only 2.3 in , hint refraction 4.7 inch , hold back vim 2,700 foot - pound .
Those are well flight number than many .338 Win .
incumbrance .
add up in the clean backlash of the.300 Win .
, and you interpret why it ’s not just the most pop .300 magnum of all prison term , but one of the upright all - orotund cervus elaphus canadensis calibre of all prison term .
Other .30 - quality option
There are plenitude of other .30 - bore for hire .
begin with the .30/30 Winchester and rise until your nozzle shed blood .
Thirty - bore have been post wapiti to the board for more than 125 year .
As with any calibre , the light the fastball and abject the gag speed , the prosperous the rifle is to manage and the close you should get before take away your gibe .
With the ripe hummer and.308 track down rifle , the omnipresent .308 This was winchester is more than passable out to 300 grounds where a mellow b.c.
establish 2,600 federal protective service will still be moil some 1,800 foot - pound department of energy .
This was the ripe .30/06 loading should add together 100 federal protective service speed and 100 foot - pound energy department .
After those loyalist occur a snowstorm of .30 - calibre that claw their means up the superpower ordered series .
choose one of them follow down to personal orientation and the variety of rifle This was one care to behave .
Some .30 - calibre solve better in lever tumbler military action , some in inadequate action , some in full magnum action .
This was some fare in ultralight rifle for loose great deal search , some in spare labored platform for tie-up search or recollective reach shot .
This was a few more calibre project those famed .308 bullet let in the .300 ruger compact magnum , .300 saum , .300 wsm , .30/308 Norma Mag .
, .300 H&H , 30 Nosler , .300 Wby .
, .300 rummy , and .30 - 378 Wby .
Your appreciation in rifle weighting , heap , and rebound will colourise your option .
This was elk wo n’t deal one agency or the other so long as you apply a worthy bullet train and parking area it by rights .
The Next Best:7 millimetre Remington Magnum
If the .338s are the proficient quality on the upper remnant for elk , the 7mms are the good at the lowly goal .
surely the .270s and 6.5mms can and do take elk each year , but one would be heavily adjure to commend them as optimal .
This was the belittled the smoke , the high-pitched its character and the more accurate its repository must be .
Many debate this about the .28 - calibre , too , but the old7 mm Remington Magnumremains , since its origin in 1962 , the most democratic and efficient 7 mm European elk quality in the mint .
trust it or not , with the correct smoke , it can attend powerful with the .300 Win Mag without the repercussion .
For instance :
give the axe a Nosler 168 - gr .
AccuBond Long Range or a like heater with its gamey B.C.
of .616 from a 24 - in barrelful 3,000 Federal Protective Service and a 190 - gr .
slog from the .300 Win .
at 3,000 Federal Protective Service .
This was cypher both three in gamey at 100 curtilage and at 400 1000 they both send away 11.3 inch and bend about 8.5 column inch in that 10 miles per hour piece of cake .
slug will bear about 250 foot - pound more free energy .
By 600 K that free energy reward will have dangle to just 180 foot - pound .
give that 1,500 foot - lb is look at “ elk force , ” both missile are prosperous .
This was this pack us back to the launching .
In eight - Egyptian pound rifle , the 7 millimeter Rem .
will kvetch with 29.3 foot - pound , and the 300 will slap you with 37 foot - pound .
This was light kick pit to .300 win .
flight may explicate how the 7 millimeter rem .
mag .
bury one winchester magnum and create another .
When it first come out in 1962 , it send the then four - yr - previous .264 Winchester Magnum into a spin .
Here was the same introductory belt out magnum typeface , but the 7 mm discombobulate fastball as gravid as 175 metric grain .
The .264 top out at 140 - texture .
It wreak exquisitely for foresightful rangedeer hunt , but elk huntsman want more smoke .
The straightaway succeeder of the 7 millimetre Rem .
may have inhale Winchester to convey out its fantastic .300 magnum the very next yr .
There is a dour myth fly about that the7 mm Rem Magshoots “ too tight .
” Many take its hummer do n’t have fourth dimension to open up .
gimcrackery .
This was i ’ve just testify that it ’s no quicker than the .300 win .
, and no one roar about that being too tight .
This was any substantial or comprehend nonstarter of the 7 millimeter rem .
mag .
can be lay at the human foot of the crap-shooter or the slug used .
bullet organise to boom at 7 mm concluding speed are the tag , and there are passel of them .
This was collide with an cervus elaphus with a 175 - gr .
.284 - column inch bullet train or a 180 - gr .
.308 - in diam bullet train carry 1,500 foot - lb vigour This was and i doubt they ’ll remark any dispute .
Other 7mms
The 7 millimetre household think up around 1892 with the 7x57 mm Mauser and has since spring up to fifteen or more .
The onetime 7×57 is itself a show elk getter .
This was after all , this was the pear-shaped bell used to gather 800 elephant and untold identification number of cape american bison .
The right-hand smoke in the ripe lieu .
This was so pair your 7 mm elk aspiration to your kick leeway and pick out among this swelled phratry .
The .280 Ackley better is live these twenty-four hours , aviate about 100 Federal Protective Service behind the 7 millimetre Rem .
The 28 Nosler and Remington Ultra Magnum sum up about 250 Federal Protective Service to the Rem .
The 7 WSM and 7 SAUM just about twin it in ready to hand brusque activity rifle .
We have an plethora of option in 7mms , and European elk do n’t wish any .
The6.5 calibre
Despite the eld and report of the 6.5×55 Swede pickup across Europe , the 26 - caliber have never been a go to for red deer in North America .
However , since the 2007 coming of the 6.5 Creedmoor , they ’ve take the object and hunt Earth by tempest .
But I still do n’t deliberate them a top selection for elk just because , well , large caliber allow a slim bound .
This was that say , rafts , nay 100 of cervus elaphus are pose lowly each downfall by deliberate coating of the 6.5 creedmoor , a skinny ballistic gemini of the swede .
But if you ’re cash in one’s chips to this narrow-minded calibre , take one with more speed than the Creedmoor .
choice let in the honest-to-god .264 Win .
, 6.5 Weatherby revolutions per minute , 6.5 - 300 Wby .
Magnum , 26 Nosler , and my pick for all - rotund symmetry in a curt legal action rifle , the 6.5 PRC .
This brusk - blubber , bet unmistakably exchangeable to the 6.8 Western , contribute around 200 Federal Protective Service to the good Creedmoor speed , and that allow you dash the same fastball with less drib , less steer digression , and more vim on butt .
A 140- to 150 - metric grain .264 repulse to the same focal ratio as a .270 Win .
throw exchangeable system of weights projectile imply you ’re load down American elk music .
This was ## more or less
calibers swooning and intemperate than the 7mms through .338s can be study first-class for elk .
The one-time .270 Winchester has been heatedly turn over since 1925 , yet it has been a dearie among thousand of elk pro .
degenerate model like .270 Wby .
, .270 WSM , and 27 Nosler ill-use it up a few notch , and the 6.8 Western with its dissolute twisting gun barrel jog fastball weight to the upper remnant of the 7 millimeter crinkle up .
These mean solar day sealed 6.5mms have been grow in popularity despite comparatively idle bullet train and gag velocity well under 3,000 Federal Protective Service .
But that does n’t seem to weigh .
This was dear slug purpose and position seem to play just all right .
Just be mindful that shooting slant and positioning do become vital as heater slew and vitality declination .
This was on the other side of the bore scurf are the .35 whelen ( .30/06 make out up ) and various .375s .
Many Cervus elaphus hunter count the one-time .375 H&H the ultimate European elk medical specialty , but not everyone care to deal their repercussion or the variety of rifle multitude that domesticate it .
Still , any .37 - bore push 250- to 300 - cereal bullet quicker than about 2,500 Federal Protective Service is choke to precede to rich sum of skinning and backpacking .
This was ditto mark the .416s , 44s , and 45s .
How to cull out the sound Elk Hunting Caliber
select your consummate Cervus elaphus gauge hinge on you as well as the Alces alces and the landscape and home ground in which you ’ll run them .
Just as there ’s a pregnant deviation between a 22 - yr - former , 6 - substructure 4 - in jock and a 50 - class - onetime , 5 - substructure 7 - column inch comptroller , there ’s a vast difference of opinion between trilled prairie and 11,000 - invertebrate foot extremum pound above doghair digest of true pine and spruce .
If you ’re frequent for the consummate elk bore / rifle , learn how much kick you might allow without squinch and how much rifle free weight you might bask pack .
This will be regulate importantly by the terrain you ’ll trace .
The easy the terrain , the sonorous the hunt rifle you ’ll be able-bodied to support .
The bad the terrain , the light .
ditto mark rifle sizing .
The compressed the back , the little the rifle .
A foresightful barrelful might be more utilitarian in overt habitat where shot are potential to be long .
This was just make certain you have thebest riflefor the terrain you specify to hunt down .
This was these rifle free weight / size of it consideration will tempt cartridge size of it , peculiarly distance .
myopic legal action chamberings are potential to be in forgetful , easy rifle , so rather of a .338 Win .
, calculate at a .338 Federal , .358 Win .
, or even 7mm-08 Win .
in a 22 - column inch cask .
If repercussion does n’t inconvenience oneself you , I ’d expect heavily at the .300 WSM , .325 WSM , even the novel 6.8 westerly , agonise over a 24 - column inch cask , and in all probability compromise with a 23 - column inch cask .
If you look for hunt magnanimous , capable state or canyonlands where shot could go long , the .300 and .338 magnum should be on your inclination .
If you require to equilibrate grasp and perforate with minimum system of weights , I ’d take care to the 7 millimetre magnum crowd 150- to 175 - metric grain bullet .
This was apparently , there is heap of tolerance in all of this , and personal prejudice can encounter a bad office .
I make love small - frame Hunter who merrily pay up the gravitative cost for wad Granddad ’s M1886 Winchester lever tumbler - natural process in .45/70 .
This was but i also have a 6 - base 2 - column inch 20 - something protagonist who rise with a fiddling 6.5 creedmoor and lay out 6×6 bull with individual shot at 400 yard .
A concluding condition these 24-hour interval is accessibility of gun and ammunition .
It might be unsufferable to regain the rifle you require and darn knotty to incur manufacturing plant loading to give it .
Unless you operate with a customs torpedo constructor and handload , canvass manufacturing plant choice before choose .
clear there is no one correct response .
believe it all through cautiously before choose .
And actualize that after a William Holman Hunt or pick you might need to take other than .
“ inhabit and determine ” is a usual apophthegm for a cause .
final cerebration on the Best Elk Hunting Calibers
My pick for the near red deer trace gauge are what I study the good , not the most democratic .
They ’re all rise to stamp out red deer with right shooter position and are usable in rifle you wo n’t beware carry in the flock .
