Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
Articles
Latest reviews
Author list
Classifieds
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Hunting
Elk Hunting
1500 ft/lb energy requirement?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="bigngreen" data-source="post: 1571022" data-attributes="member: 13632"><p>Breaking an elks shoulder then continuing on into the vitals has more to do with momentum vs resistance to penetration both from the frontal diameter of the bullet and the shoulder.</p><p>Energy doesn't really mean much IMO, it's a nice number to look at to compare possibilities but nothing more.</p><p>I've hit elk with 3500 ft lbs of energy in the shoulder and not had the bullet make it to the vitals, add a few hundred yards on that and it would have been much more likely to penetrate OR pull that same shot back 10 inches and it's won and done.</p><p>On the other end I've hit an elk with 1400 ft lbs of energy and blew through BOTH shoulders but the impact speed was such that the bullet momentum was able to over come the resistance because it didn't blow open wide and penetrated.</p><p>Up close I won't trust anything smaller than the heaviest 30 cal bullets to penetrate every elk shoulder into the vitals. </p><p>Hitting an elk in the shoulder is the highest percentage way to wound and loose elk, I've seen more elk recovered easier being gut shot than hit in the shoulder and not having the bullet make it into the chest.</p><p>If I get forward into the shoulder with even my 28 I just assume I'll be shooting it a second time, a good percentage will be fine but it's not as good as punching through the slats. If I were a guy who had to break the shoulders I would be only running a 338 RUM class case with 250+ he bullets with a preference to 300 gr bullets.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="bigngreen, post: 1571022, member: 13632"] Breaking an elks shoulder then continuing on into the vitals has more to do with momentum vs resistance to penetration both from the frontal diameter of the bullet and the shoulder. Energy doesn't really mean much IMO, it's a nice number to look at to compare possibilities but nothing more. I've hit elk with 3500 ft lbs of energy in the shoulder and not had the bullet make it to the vitals, add a few hundred yards on that and it would have been much more likely to penetrate OR pull that same shot back 10 inches and it's won and done. On the other end I've hit an elk with 1400 ft lbs of energy and blew through BOTH shoulders but the impact speed was such that the bullet momentum was able to over come the resistance because it didn't blow open wide and penetrated. Up close I won't trust anything smaller than the heaviest 30 cal bullets to penetrate every elk shoulder into the vitals. Hitting an elk in the shoulder is the highest percentage way to wound and loose elk, I've seen more elk recovered easier being gut shot than hit in the shoulder and not having the bullet make it into the chest. If I get forward into the shoulder with even my 28 I just assume I'll be shooting it a second time, a good percentage will be fine but it's not as good as punching through the slats. If I were a guy who had to break the shoulders I would be only running a 338 RUM class case with 250+ he bullets with a preference to 300 gr bullets. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Hunting
Elk Hunting
1500 ft/lb energy requirement?
Top