Spike Camp

need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk

weatherbynoob

need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« on: January 07, 2010, 06:20:01 PM »
hello new to the weatherby and i reload i have bin looking for the perfect elk ancoring bullet for the .300 wby shot the rifle a bit still have not had time to break her in yet i got the rifle for the colorado elk and not had the the chance to use it on that big game. i have hornady interlock 180gr spire pionts but read many reviews about how some time they fail.i was thinking about coming up with a load for the nosler accubond or partition but also read some bad reviews about them need a good but not pricy projectile opinion like barnes.  ???

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2010, 06:40:54 PM »
i get .5" or less 3 shoot group @100yrds with 180gr tsx and rl22@about 3290-3300fps.
Good Hunting And Shooting To all
Derrill

weatherbynoob

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2010, 09:51:15 AM »
thanks alot for the input going to go all copper i have seen a vid about lead contamination on game meat an eye opener. I have been looking at nosler e-tips any experience with them ???

zonie

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2010, 11:30:29 AM »
My Dad years ago used almost exclusively the innerlock in his later years and killed many elk, but he wasn't taking shots at a country mile usually under 200, and was a very good shot.  I have used his rifle and loads on a couple elk and results were the same.  Since his passing 23 years ago I have no doubt surpassed his elk count, but have always been a little more into bullets than he was. If you take any good controlled expansion bullet Remington core-lok and better you won't have any problems on elk.  The bullets today are as good as they get. There are some bullets out there by design really condsidered match bullets and not what I would consider elk bullets, and have had them blow up on shoulder shots. Needless to say I don't use them on elk anymore. The one thing about elk hunting and comes from years of hunting them is anything that can go wrong sometimes does.  I much prefer a bullet that drives thru breaking everything in it's path and exiting. This is extremely helpful on less than ideal angled shots.  I still use the remington core-loks, Speer hot-cores, but for the most part have used Nosler partitions for the last 25 yrs, and Barnes TSX the last few years.  My son-in-law uses the Accubonds with good success.  No experience with e-tips.   

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2010, 06:04:08 PM »
i had a 300wby years ago that liked the180gr speer grand slam. i took a half dozen or so bulls with this bullet and they all dropped where they stood. i've taken two deer with a 250gr partition in a .338-.378. one at a lazered 499yds worked great, the other at 20 yds resulted in total bullet failure. hope this helps.

doctorforfinethings

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2010, 09:46:48 PM »
Hi, there !!! there is a wide choice of good bullets available on market. I live in Denver and I hunt elk  in Rockies for a long time here. Most of the shots are taken at 100 to 150 yards in dark timber and you certainly need well constructed tough round. Something so fast like 300 wby mag with softer round will simply explode upon impact on shorter distances. My friend took a shot on big bull at less than 60 yards 3 years ago using softer bullet which exploded upon impact. His elk got away. I have very positive experience with hornady interbond ammunition. They are on pricier side but worth every penny. If you are after big bulls in natl. forest they will be in dark timber 90% of the time. I just laugh very loud when I watch all this youtube videos when people take e'm down in some open meadows. Most of those are guided hunts on private ranches. Keep on mind that if by any chance you have to take longer shots that due to air density on higher elevation your bullets will fly slightly faster than in some close to sea level states. So far I had no need for nothing biger than 270 win, 270 wsm. and 7mm rem. mag. Good aiming and tough rounds will do job well. For hunting elk in Rockies good set of lungs  is a must, everything else may slightly vary.

zonie

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2010, 01:10:42 PM »
weatherbynoob :  I do agree with Doc a lot depends on where, terrain, and vegetation you are hunting.  Where we live in AZ a little bragging here is very well known as the trophy elk capital, extremely hard to get drawn even for us unless it's cow.  Our terrain at the house is very thick juniper, travel 3 miles down the road and you are in open meadows 2 & 3 miles across then going into heavy timber all public land.  There are a couple 370's and a few lone 400 + as we speak pushed down from the snow into the flats that we see almost daily near dark.  They head out into the meadows at night then bed in the juniper thickets during the day.  It's almost impossible to get on them,  probably why they get so big.  Both my son and I didn't do well this year in my case 1 very nice bull  I couldn't get to him fast enough where my buddy spotted him, and lost him in the fog, and my son archery hunting as the crow flys 4 miles from the house passed on a small 5 by, and had 350 + bulls on him every day for 2 weeks before and after work that hung up out of range with no way to pattern them just ambling along, very weird year.  Everyone thought it was too warm in my son's case, and the peak rut started late.  Got a little side tracked there, sorry.

We watch the treelines at the meadows right at daylight and dusk where they generally wander down thru some honey spot canyons into small creeks & grassey areas. This year I counted over 150 cows and honestly lost track during my hunt, and about 3 week earlier at least a dozen herd bulls that just vanished guess they knew it was hunting season.  My friend and his son both took 370 & 380  late rifle about a hundred miles to the west along with another friends family in the same area 6 for 6 cows/bulls archery.

In our area you really do need a long range rifle in the 270 class on up althought the 308, and  smaller bullet diameters do work pretty good if you hit them right with the right bullet.  When we were kids on the reservation all any of us kids had were 32 specials and 30-30's with just plain jane factory winchester or remington/peters and to be honest the elk didn't know the difference.  Many old cowboy & indians to this day still use beat up old carbines because that's what they grew up with, granted some of them have much nicer rifles, but a lot of us still carry old beater/truck rifles in my case a 6.5x55 mauser just in case that is fully capable of taking the largest elk just so long as I'm not trying to shoot country miles.  The one thing with the Partition and have used them for years is if you are very close with a broadside shot usually they blow through, sometimes and have had this happen more than once the nose section comes off reducing penetration and finding the remainder of the bullet when butchering. I have used some Sierra Game Kings and Speer BTSP in a 270 win at under 100 that just grenaded I didn't lose them, but it was a mess, they were fine for deer.  I do have a good friend from calif that hired a guided hunt private ranch in New Mexico last year that took a 370 7x7 with 30-06 Innerbonds not a long shot,  and he said worked great.  I have pretty much switched to Barnes TSX for elk, but I still have a pretty good supply of partitions, coreloks, & others that I wouldn't hesitate using.  At least for me a lot of it depends on which rifle I using.

 I have seen X-ray pictures of bullet fragmentation with lead bullets and would say that's probably true in some cases with less than good bullets.  In CA I know there is an issue with the Condor range as we do here in Northern AZ,  but as of yet we here are not resticted to copper only.  Waterfowl is a different subject.  We could probably argue till the cows come home on the subject,  but I'm still not sold on the issue, and think there is a little more bias on their part concerning findings especially having first hand knowledge of how some of these groups work.  I do my own butchering and use good bullets and never had any issue, but I can see if a person wants to be on the safe side it's really up to them.  The only reason I use the Barnes and it's usually on elk is I want complete penetration.     Ron






wiltznucs

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2010, 04:23:49 PM »
I second the recommendation for the 180 gr Barnes X...

sseden

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2010, 10:06:18 PM »
I'm shooting a 168 gr Berger Vld hunting bullet. Fantastic accuracy, Extordinary terminal results. Picked up on this bullet from the Best of the West Videos and Web site. I'm Shooting this bullet in a 300 Win Mag Vanguard.  :-* BOTW Boys like this bullet in the 7mm bore for long range shooting. 1000 yards. The 30 Cals just don't carry as far as the flatter shooting 7mm. Check out Bergers Web site. Also my Gunsmith only stocks Bergers. Need not ask him Why?

weatherbynoob

doctorforfinethings
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2010, 11:46:18 AM »
 :o thanks for your imput big time i also am from colorado and now i feel like i have tooo much gun never bin hunting new to that this coming elk season. probleby go with my mosin nagant since i master the rifle and reloading of this round some what similer to the .308 in performance. :'(

Dave55

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2010, 08:32:59 AM »
Ive been following this thread with alot of interest,hopefully ill get drawn for an elk tag or more likely a moose tag here at home.In the mean time Ive got kind of an interesting hunt for elk a friend was on in Colorado,his nephew invited him out to hunt with himself and 2 of the nephews friends.Donny had bought a new 300 Win and when he got there 2 of the guys were hunting with Marlin 336s in 30-30.the end result was 1 bull taken by one of the resident hunters with the 30-30 Marlin,true story.Dont know what would make you want to use a 30-30 to go elk hunting but they did.

fuonlynu

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2010, 09:12:37 AM »
They are probably hunting the DARK timber areas or just the real thick stuff ? when Elk hunting in Oregon the locals were using winchester lever guns 45-70 and the Marlin guide gun also 45-70  some used the newer 450 Marlin I saw that four of them took Elk cows and bulls ,they know something we dont? I took nothing, hunted with my Sako 06. well maybe next time?

zonie

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2010, 10:25:38 AM »
weatherbynoob :  I noticed on another post you are concerned about using a 300 wby.  It's one of the finest overall elk cartridges out there. You were speaking about using the Nagant and only know one guy that uses one but certainly fine for elk.  A very good friend living in West Yellowstone Montana  at the time before he got tired of the snow used a 257 roberts and never had a problem with elk.  It's probably the lightest in bullet weight I would personally go, but this guy is a really good hunter.

I agree with Dave & fuonlynu someplaces a lever gun from 30-30 to 45-70's is a good thing.  My dad retired to Oregon and hunted with him on the coast & the east and will say that coastal area is awfully thick.  I have an older friend in his 70's that usually uses a custom Saimese Mauser in 45-70.  We were out here a few years ago and he shot a little bull under 100 yds off hand on the run and just dumped it.  Almost like I did on a rag horn at a full gallop where the elk fell head first trenching the ground with his antlers. Man he hit the ground hard.  It's not the gun it's who's using it. 

james7mmwby

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2010, 08:29:16 PM »
The reality where I live is you can hunt everything including moose with a 30/30, the bush and terrain seldom offer up more than 150 yds. I like rifles that's why I have Wby's and others, if I could only keep one it would be my Marlin 336W 30/30.
There has to be more than one reason this 100 year old rimmed cartridge has lasted so long. Just my 2 cents.

James.

dulutheran

Re: need an opinion on best .300 wby bullets for elk
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2010, 07:52:05 PM »
dropped a very nice male calf at 190 yds with 165 grn. Weatherby factory load.