I thought I read somewhere that the 175 SMK was a good performing bullet on game. How are the 180 VLD Berger hunting bullets? Any other high BC stuff that will take out an elk? Thanks.
Shot a cow elk last year with the 180gr VLD, she was 125yds away and running thru the aspens. Hit her perfectly right behind the front shoulder, nicked the top of her heart and she only went about 35yds after being hit. Ray Charles could of followed the blood trail, I've never seen one like it, it looked like someone had taken a 5 gallon bucket of blood and flung it down the trail she left. I was shooting my 7mmSTW.
Factory 7 RUM's have a long freebore, the 175 SMK can handle the long jump to the lands better than most other bullets. The 180 berger would also be a good bullet, but the large jump may reduce accuracy compared to the 175 SMK. The other bullet to try is the 200 gr Wildcat. One of the members here is making them, do a search on Wildcat to find his name. Stu.
I have had very good results on deer and antelope out of my STW with the 180 Breger. Ranges from 350 to 1055yrds. No elk yet with this bullet/gun combo, but I would never hesitate to shoot at an elk with one. aroshtr
The main thing in selecting a bullet it its performance at the longest range you intened to use it. BCs are important but so is accuracy and terminal performance. I would recomend a good Bonded or monolithic bullet around 160 to 175grains because the 7 mm RUM will hum them and will be to much for some non bonded bullets. With the amount of free bore in the big magnums unless you are going to single load them a standard ojive bullet is what I recomend. I have Three classes of bullets that I use for intended range in BIG HOT MAGNUMS and they are as follows = For 300 yards and less I use a well constructed bullet like the Barns X ,Triple Shock , A Square, Swift A frame and the Nosler Partition. For ranges 300 to 800 yards I like controled expansion and normally want to use a Bonded boat tail bullet. For extream ranges I prefer an expanding type (Like the Ballistic Tip) or the hollow point boat tail design. Note; If using match bullets I like to use a me plat trimmer and just trim the tip off a little to improve opening at lower velocities. This is just the way I have found that works best for me because of different POI velocities and the operating range of individual bullet types. J E CUSTOM
