7mm bullet on elk

[lloydsmale]

I guess if i were you id consider staying with what worked. Dont judge a bullets performace by one experience. Chances are if there would have been 5 elk out there at that range the one you lost would have been the only one you lost. At that range bullet placement is the trump card. Put a target out at the range you intend to hunt and if those gamekings lays them in there i wouldnt look back. Keep in mind that just a couple years ago sierra bullets were the ones long range shooters measured them all by. My take on it is sure you can go out and buy bullets that cost 3 times more but will they gain you 3 times the performance. Personaly id buy 3 times more sierras and spend that money on good old shooting practice.

 

[upacreek]

The amax shot a cow this year at 640 something and it did great she took a few steps and died, didnt see the bullet. The accubond does great out to 800 and holds up good just not as high of bc.

Just curious, did you not see the bullet cause it passed through or just did not recover yet inside the animal(no exit hole)?

 

[upacreek]

I guess if i were you id consider staying with what worked. Dont judge a bullets performace by one experience. Chances are if there would have been 5 elk out there at that range the one you lost would have been the only one you lost. At that range bullet placement is the trump card. Put a target out at the range you intend to hunt and if those gamekings lays them in there i wouldnt look back. Keep in mind that just a couple years ago sierra bullets were the ones long range shooters measured them all by. My take on it is sure you can go out and buy bullets that cost 3 times more but will they gain you 3 times the performance. Personaly id buy 3 times more sierras and spend that money on good old shooting practice.

To be clear I have shot the 160 HPBT game kings since '98. I have practiced routinely out to 500 yards. The particular bull that got away was out farther and beyond my confidence range. Bullet placement was the key I am sure. I have recovered the hpbt's on elk past 600 yards and they did not 'explode', they held together. I believe lack of velocity. I think they run around .430BC. I want to build my rifle to be 100% confident to 600yrds and want a better BC. I have almost decided on 175-180grain bullets, but would like input on how bullets perform on elk to help make this descision. 160's have always been enough for me and if something performs well I don't want to be closed minded. I am closed minded about having bullets pass through the animal. I want ALL the energy given to the animal, not the tree behind it.
Thanks for your input.

 

[kennygss]

I have had outstanding performance on Elk with the 168 Berger VLD hunting out to 600.

 

[88man]

180 grn berger vld out of my 7mm dakota: ELK> 505yds, 400yds. ORYX 275yds, Bighorn Sheep 350yds. ALL pass thru. Really like the performance on game.

 

[lloydsmale]

just keep in mind with elk or something that size you still have to break some pretty good sized bone. I do shoot alot of deer (not elk) at long range. I can get some pretty decent expansion out of seirra prohunters or nos bt at that range out of a mag rifle. Ive found though that i DO LIKE an exit wound. Most times game hit at that distance dont just crumble on the spot. If i have to chase them a bit id much rather have an animal leaking out of two holes! You also have to keep in mind that a bullet that is so fragile it comes apart even at long range can expand enough that combined with low velocity can underpenetrate especialy if it does hit that bone. Im not here trying to convince you to change your mind just giving you something to think about.

To be clear I have shot the 160 HPBT game kings since '98. I have practiced routinely out to 500 yards. The particular bull that got away was out farther and beyond my confidence range. Bullet placement was the key I am sure. I have recovered the hpbt's on elk past 600 yards and they did not 'explode', they held together. I believe lack of velocity. I think they run around .430BC. I want to build my rifle to be 100% confident to 600yrds and want a better BC. I have almost decided on 175-180grain bullets, but would like input on how bullets perform on elk to help make this descision. 160's have always been enough for me and if something performs well I don't want to be closed minded. I am closed minded about having bullets pass through the animal. I want ALL the energy given to the animal, not the tree behind it.
Thanks for your input.

 

[lloydsmale]

by the way how has that seirra 160 hp game king bullet performed for you on game. Does it hold together. reason i asked is i just bought a couple boxes of that same bullet to try in my 7mag ruger. Have you tried the 140 version?

 

[upacreek]

by the way how has that seirra 160 hp game king bullet performed for you on game. Does it hold together. reason i asked is i just bought a couple boxes of that same bullet to try in my 7mag ruger. Have you tried the 140 version?

I hunt to put meat in the freezer. I DO NOT HIT BONE. I can't remember loosing a shoulder. The game kings have done awesome! I routinely hit between ribs and the hpbt explodes making a 4-6" hole most the way through the chest cavity. I can't remember an elk go more than 20 feet. My dad barrowed my rifle and shot his 7x8 bull at 630yrds. The bullets recovered made it 4-6" in and mushroomed. The only time I have had them do that. Penetration was sad.
To answer your question, if I never planned on shooting past 500yrds I would shoot nothing but the game kings because of the success I have had. My dad experiments with different bullets and I have not seen anything that drops elk as quickly as these. I think dad shot a few elk with his .270 and the hpbt game kings, but I don't know anything about the 140gr bullets.

The only elk I have tracked blood trails had bullets pass through. NOT FUN! One my dad shot leaked lots of blood and we tracked him for almost a mile. I traveled across an area dad gave up 200 yards before me and when I quit I was literally on my hands and knees with a 300 yard drop below me. Never did find that one. Last year dad shot a bull 3 times with .270 sst's before the bull went down. 1 in the boiler room, 1 in the flank and trough the rear leg, and 1 broke the front leg. It was moving he said, none the less the sst did not drop the bull.
The 7wsm I bought for last elk season dropped a bull at 200 yrds 1 shot. I was using the 160 Winchester supreme bullets. Some kind of hollow point with a black coating. Bullet performed just as well as the sierra hpbt game kings, yet I don't gut my elk so I never recovered the bullet as much as I wanted to. We just ran out of time for exploratory surgery. That was the first factory ammo I have ever used hunting in my life and it did well.
Hope this helps.