Best Elk Bullet for 300 win mag?

[aaroncarp]

A buddy just bought a tikka t3 lite 300 win mag. He is hoping to develop it into a long range elk rifle. I'm a fan of big pills, so I told him to try 200 accubonds or the 210 accubond LR. But I have also seen the devastation a 180 TSX can do. I think he likes the sound of the 190 bergers. He is open to ideas, so what do you guys think his best bet is?

Thanks in advance.

 

[trazman]

I was using bergers vld 190, but I have now bergers 210 vld. It gives me some more range. I would also consider 215 hybrids, but my twist is 1-11 so I can not. If your friend has a 1-10" twist then it is a good option. What is the range that your friend is expecting to hunt?

 

[Jumpalot]

The 215 grain Berger is devastating on elk.

 

[alaska]

300win Mag

Nosler 190gr ABLR
Reloader 22
WW brass
Fed 215GM

5r with 1-10

 

[bigngreen]

The Berger 215 or 230 grain are my two top choices, if a 30 cal won't shoot either one then I rebarrel it!

 

[aaroncarp]

He does have an 11" twist which kinda limits him.. I shoot 210 vlds out of my RUM but I don't think these will stabilize from his.

 

[aaroncarp]

Also, to answer the range question. He is hoping to develop a load accurate out to 1000 yards, maybe a bit father. He says he doesn't plan on shooting at an animal with the gun past 600.

 

[FEENIX]

He does have an 11" twist which kinda limits him.. I shoot 210 vlds out of my RUM but I don't think these will stabilize from his.

I have 1:11 in one of my .300 Win Mag and it will stabilize it; according to the recommended twist, it's marginal but perhaps it's because of my elevation - range is 3K' and hunt from 5-8K'.

+1 on the heaviest bullet recommendation. In 2013, my hunting buddy shot a bull elk just shy of 400 yards with HSM' s 180 Berger VLD in .300 Win Mag - DRT. With just a few minutes apart, I was also blessed with a bull elk. Shot him at 931 yards with 190 Berger VLD also .300 Win Mag, however, he managed to run ~200 yards before expiring.

Three weeks earlier, my other hunting buddy, shot a bull elk using factory 180 Barnes TTSX in .300 Win Mag. It took 3 shots on vital area to finally drop him.

IMHHO, all bullets used performed as advertised, but the elk expired differently.

I will be loading 210s and 215s for my .300 WSM for this season.

Good luck and happy safe shooting/hunting.

 

[lilharcher]

Killed my Elk this year with a 180 gr. Barnes TTSX........recovered the bullet and it retained 90% of the weight.

 

[bigngreen]

Hard to understand a manufacture building a 300 win with a 1-11 barrel but it is what it is, personally I'd go to the 200 gr Hybrid Berger since the top two are out.

 

[FEENIX]

Hard to understand a manufacture building a 300 win with a 1-11 barrel but it is what it is, personally I'd go to the 200 gr Hybrid Berger since the top two are out.

Me too! My SAKO has 1:11" and my friend's CZ UHR has 1:12" ... must be an EU thingy.

 

[ATH]

I have always been happy with AB performance. I use the 200. Doesn't mean others don' t work well too.

 

[frankinaustin]

I'll jump in and post - does anyone use 208 Amax for Elk in their 300 wm??? Over Thanksgiving I was laying on my mother-in-law's couch scrounging the interwebs and read an article where the author was extolling how great Amax were for killing game. I think he liked Amax because they exploded somewhat like a Berger. Was an interesting read.

Has anyone had good or bad or mediocre results killing Elk with Amax? (really any cartridge?) I live in Texas and have never hunted Elk.

 

[jonthomps]

With a 1-11" twist I'd stick with the 190 berger. Maybe try the 200 AB or 210 berger, but I'd want to do a lot of testing at distance to make sure his barrel would stabilize them.