.264 Win Mag for Elk

ebueker

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2008
Messages
6
I'm getting 3100 fps using 140 gr Berger VLDs. Is this round (bullet) sufficient for Elk?

Thanks for any input.
 
Short awnser is YES. I was just reading some old Threads and there is one about a rifle Shawn Carlock built for a lady in 260rem and she took a nice elk at over 600yds with a 140g AMAX.

I know its not a popular show here but if you ever watch the best of the west they take elk at sick ranges with the 140g Berger all the time shot out of a 6.5x284 so with the speed you are getting in your 264win it should be a no brainer.

Send it
 
Welcome to LRH and enjoy! I'm sure it will be OK as long as you stay within its limitations. Shot placement is the key. Having said that, it will not be my first choice. Good luck and happy safe hunting/shooting.

Ed
 
I guess I should have worded my post better. I was really concerned about the Berger bullets being substantial enough for elk. I shot a Canadian whitetail last fall using the same load. The shot was just behind the front leg. The entrance hole through the rib cage was about 6"x3". Only recovered bits and pieces of the bullet, no exit hole. It was like the bullet just blew up. Heart and lungs were mush. I should mention the shot was at about 75 yards. I would like to try Barnes TSX, but the heaviest 6.5 is 130 grains.
 
I think the Barnes is worth a try. An all copper bullet is a different animal than a lead core bullet. The retained weight will be higher than the jacketed bullet, thus during the impact will act like a heavier bullet than the 140g. For the distances your going to be shooting at elk any sacrifice in bc's will be minimal.

I have experience with the Swift Scirocco 130g out of a 6.5-06 on elk. Last season my son shot a big cow at 375yrds through the big bone in both shoulders and took out the front of the lungs. We recovered the bullet in the far shoulder and it retained 82% of it's weight. The bc's on this bullet are fairly impressive. Worth a look in my opinion as well.

Good luck,

Steve
 
This is a long range forum...thus what terminal performance you expect on a shoulder spine hit at 10-300 yards and respective velocity does not apply for 500-850 yard shots. I have used the 7x57 160gr X bullet for a one shot kill on a cape buff at 142 paces but doubt it would open up much at 500 yards going 1375fps. Shot placement is much easier for a hunting weight rifle 8-91/2 lbs in .264 WinMag than a .3xx Rumchester Mag for the vast majority of us hunters. Unless you can train as a sniper time and money wise...your initial intuition was correct. Leave the .338 Lapua etc. to those guys that make a living with them and stay in shape to ENJOY CARRYING 15 LBS AROUND.
 
Leave the .338 Lapua etc. to those guys that make a living with them and stay in shape to ENJOY CARRYING 15 LBS AROUND.[/quote]


I carried a .340wby in a sporter model and shot a black bear at 483 yards. Its fairly light and I dont mind the recoil, and I'm defenatly no sniper. If your uncomfortable with the big stuff then i agree, go with the .264. its a great round, although the big stuff is better IMO. but... there would be quit a few guys that can outshoot/hunt me who will say otherwise. the biggest thing is being comfortable with your weapon, if you can go big, go big. If not, you'll be the responible guy that knows how to shoot his gun, slayin elk while guys that cant handle their guns are missing and wounding game. just my 2cents.
 
One of the nice things about not buying a new pickup every few years is going to Africa. When you get to kill ( notice I did not say "harvest" ) 19 one shot kills in a row out to 407 paces (pre laser) with your little ole 7x57 {Karamojo Bell was onto something and from examining one hell of a lot more dead critters than me } you study terminal ballistics in the REAL laboratory. It is about shot placement with an ADEQUATE Bullet. For short range hunting out to 400Y that ADEQUATE Bullet is now on the genre of Barnes X and its later itterations and copies/patent infringements= Winchester FailSafe etc.. Short range and small frame animals can sometimes be stunned with hydrostatic shock from super magnums that are poorly placed due to recoil induced flinch (though ever so slight in some shooters>>tell you what>>>shoot your .340 Wby off the bench for a 10 shot group and then shoot your .22-250 . If you are the normal man there will be a difference ; it you are a real stud that likes the recoil ...you my friend are in the minority. David Tubbs did not create the 6XC to save gun powder. The number of 1000y 30/338 cal guys in the "lighter" gun category has plummeted while their groups have shrunk by a factor of 3X.
By the way , I do appreciate the right axe for the big tree; my .375 AI accounted for a large portion of the other 27 animals ( I was allowed by the government game scout to shoot meat for the village of Adunda ) on that Tanzania Safari. I was very proud of hitting a gourd floating in a pool 378 paces / well 368 paces to the waters edge / laying in the branches of a tree up on the high ground and my Christi hit it too / both of us on first shot using the ole Kentucky windage through a 1.5x5 duplex Leupold.

With the Leica bino/rangefinder and the BDC and Turret Tuned scopes let alone the Bors or NF+palm pilot ; things have changed since the days of Elmer Keith. Plus. I am a big lean ( no thick layers of "Decelerator" fat to absorb recoil ) guy that does not get moved by recoil like little man / big hat Keith...and as an old trap shooter I tend to creep a stock and thus end up either absorbing all the recoil or litterly "taking it on the nose" (or eyebrow). IMHAWTOO
Here in Texas we enjoy the "cross fertilization of ideas" let those Left coast libs call it Bovine Excrement while surely you would recognize BS.
All to say I appreciate your IMHO for it makes me formulate in words my own reasoning and it's basis in experience. The thought process was stimulating and a lot more enjoyable than listening to talk radio chronicle the Socialization of our Democracy. As little boys we generally fought our rivals, then they became our best friends...lets hope this exchange of pleasantries results in the same. cratxn CR Rains 254-897-7293 If your voice works faster than your fingers like me, give me a gingle and I'll call you back on my dime. Thanks again for your time.
Somewhere Between Ignorance & Arrogance,
CR Rains
 
i like your style (and agree with your conclusions) CR. i bet we could spin some yarns around a bottle of the appropriate fermented beverage. i would love to hear some of your tales of the dark continent.....write them down and share them with us, you seem to have a knack for the written word. AJ
 
i like your style (and agree with your conclusions) CR. i bet we could spin some yarns around a bottle of the appropriate fermented beverage. i would love to hear some of your tales of the dark continent.....write them down and share them with us, you seem to have a knack for the written word. AJ

AJ, Sir you are an officer and a gentleman and you make me happy that I did not anger you with my self evaluated IMHAWTOO (in my humble an well thought out opinion) response. God has been very good to me and I truly love to listen to myself as I reexperience those moments when time stands still...or at least slows down in the mind's eye ; but for now I'd better finish that mile I want to walk in you LRH's shoes. You can see by my few "posts" that I am new to this forum and the mile and an eighth has many more "posts" to ride this pony past. I keep a few dusty bottles of pain killer in the pantry and should you travel through central Texas call 254-897-7293 and I make take a dose with you.
 
I think the Barnes is worth a try. An all copper bullet is a different animal than a lead core bullet. The retained weight will be higher than the jacketed bullet, thus during the impact will act like a heavier bullet than the 140g. For the distances your going to be shooting at elk any sacrifice in bc's will be minimal.

I have experience with the Swift Scirocco 130g out of a 6.5-06 on elk. Last season my son shot a big cow at 375yrds through the big bone in both shoulders and took out the front of the lungs. We recovered the bullet in the far shoulder and it retained 82% of it's weight. The bc's on this bullet are fairly impressive. Worth a look in my opinion as well.

Good luck,

Steve

Steve/RockyMntMT/Post#6
This is great to know someone who has used the Scirocco II 130gr ! I picked one up at the Swift booth at the DSC Convention a couple years back before they listed the BC (.571). It will be my first bullet to try in Christi's (my wife's) Savage BTVC 6.5x47 (custom barrel) we are putting together. If your son recovers any of these fine bullets on LRH biggame please share with us how its terminal performance was. Do you know the MV he is getting out of his 6.5-06 ?
 
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