Elk Rifle - What do you shoot?

[jvidrine]

I?ll be getting a new rifle next year and I?m not exactly sure what caliber I want to get. Interested to know what everyone shoots and what kind of cartridge?

TIA

 

[RJW]

weatherby Caamilla in .243 win

 

[ScottR]

.30 caliber bullet with 180 weight or better will likely suit your purposes just fine. I have a .300 Win Mag Savage Model 11 that has now killed 4 bulls with relative ease.

My .300 WBY Mag has a long kill count and I have a load worked up with 180 grain bullets it likes really well.

My .30-06 has the highest death count of all my rifles and truth be told is probably the gun I am most confident with. That thing likes just about every factor load out there and has dropped plenty of elk.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I shoot a custom .300 Wby. A friend of my Dads knew I was retiring and moving to Colorado. He was an avid big game hunter all his life. He was 88 and just couldn't do it anymore. He gave me his .300 that he had hunted all over the world with. It was commercial Mauser that was sold by Stoeger in the 60's. I couldn't get it to shoot, so took it to my 'smith. He said barrel was gone. So he rebarreled it with a Shilen match SS barrel. I restocked it with a B & C pillar bedded stock and added a Leupold VXIII 4x14 with a ballistic turret. Shoots sub moa out to 500 yards.

I load all my own ammo. I use a 180 gr Nosler Partition over 86.5 gr Reloader 25 powder. 3125 fps.

 

[Hilltop]

I shoot a 30-06 with 165 grain Hornady Interbonds. I have taken 20+ elk with this setup. As a hunter and guide, I have seen a gob of different calibers kill elk and I'm not sure there is a perfect, one size fits all for everyone. Recoil, shooting distances, and ability are all things to be considered. I personally don't shoot high recoil guns very well so I stick with my 30-06. Better to have a non-magmum in the boiler room than a marginal shot from a magnum.

 

[JimP]

My go to elk rifle any more is a .340 Weatherby shooting 225 grain Barnes TTSX at 3000 fps hand loads.

It has dropped everything that I have shot at with it.

 

[mcseal2]

From now on it will be my Rifles Inc lightweight 70 in 300 win mag with a Swaro Z5 3.5-18x scope with a ballistic turret. I shoot handloads with 180gr Accubonds at 2956fps. I haven't drawn an elk tag since getting this rifle built last year.

In the past I've taken bulls with a 7mm Rem Mag using 175gr CoreLokt factory ammo, and a 270 win with 150gr Partitions or 140gr Accubonds. They worked fine too. I wanted a bigger gun for a moose hunt I have coming up so I had the light 300 built to be my "everything bigger than deer" gun going forward.

 

[Doe Nob]

I shoot 165 grain Barnes TTSX in 300 win mag. The rifle has a muzzle break but is a joy to shoot with hearing protection.

 

[jtm307]

Savage 110 in .270 Win. I use it for everything. 130 grain soft points do just fine on elk. I don't take shots over 300 yards. I always hit exactly where I'm aiming.

 

[kidoggy]

.270 win extreme weather-- 3x9 v-x 2 leoupold scope

 

[MOHunter]

Savage 16 in 270 WSM. Shooting 140g Accubonds

 

[Timberstalker]

Since 1997 it’s been a Winchester M70 black shadow .300 win mag with a 4x12 Leupold VXII. I recently bought a Kimber Hunter in 280AI, I robbed the scope off the .300 for it. It will likely take over the rifle elk duty. Entirely due to weight of rifle, I’m getting old a lazy.

 

[6mm Remington]

My elk rifles are as follows.
30-06 Springfield in a Ruger 1B single-shot rifle with a 4x Leupold scope on it. I use either 165 gr. Partitions or Accubonds at 2940 fps chronographed out of this rifle.

.280 AI in a custom Winchester Model 70 classic sporter I had built. It has a 4.5-14x40mm Leupold with the B&C reticle and a Shilen SS match grade barrel on it. I load 140 gr. Accubonds or Partitions at 3230 fps chronographed out of this rifle.

6mm Remington in a Ruger 1B single-shot rifle. It has a 6x42mmm Leupold scope on it. I use 100 gr. Partitions in this rifle at about 3150 fps. It's light for elk but I've taken one elk with it.

 

[mallardsx2]

I have never shot at an elk with a gun.

But if I did it would be with this gun.

300 WSM Winchester Silvertips

I'm pretty sure it will kill anything on this continent and it has minimal recoil.



Bring your earplugs. You'll need them.

 

[88man]

Either a 7mm Dakota with 180 berger vlds or a 300 win mag with 180grn accubonds.

 

[AKaviator]

Wow, lot's of nice rifles being carried!

 

[Alaskabound2016]

I will be buying (hopefully soon) a Browning Hells Canyon Speed in 300WinMag to take elk with and pretty much everything else as well!

 

[Timberstalker]

I should add the main reason for my Kimber was for my daughters. The .300 Win would knock them on their butt. I mostly bow hunt elk so it’s not likely I would have strayed from the .300 if not for them. Recoil doesn’t bother me when shooting elk, I’m in dreamland when I squeeze the trigger.

 

[Colorado T]

Remington model 700 LSS .300 Win Mag. Killed my bull with it this year with custom loads using sierra game kings.

However, having said that I have killed several elk with my trusty .270.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I hunt everything from jackrabbits to elk with my Rem. 7mm mag. 175 grain bullets for elk and 150 for everything else. It's been deadly on every elk I have ever shot except for the one I missed. I've never needed more gun or thought it was too much. Not bad on recoil either.
My son used the wife's Rem. 270 with great results as well using 150 grain bullets.