I am in the process of building a 308 win mountain rifle on a rem 700 action. I am going to top it off with a Leupold fixed 6x42 and plan on using it in high country. I don't have experience with this caliber on large game and was wondering was the consensus was on the 308 win as an elk cartridge.

I have never killed an elk with the .308, but I have killed other big game with it.

It wouldn't be my first choice for elk - because I like to err on the side of too much power.

But by the same token, I wouldn't hesitate to use my .308 on elk with good 165 or 180 grain premium bullets.

No problem at all. A good handloaded 165 grain northfork or A-Frame will tip over elk just fine.

It,ll dofine,
But you better get fairly close, 250 yards, and I would try a 168 grain tsx barnes...tj3006

I took a medium sized bull with a 165 grain Hornady BTSP at 215 yards with my 308. I was a little disapointed when the bullet broke the near shoulder and exited out the ribs. I was hoping to recover the bullet.

.45 & .50 cal. roundballs did it for muzzleloaders for a long time; I doubt a .308 would be a problem. Shot placement...

It works fine on moose. I used one with 165 barnes X boattails. Did fine on a moose for me. Would expect it to kill elk too.

165 gr Nosler Partition and 45 grains of Varget does it for me.

All a .308 Win with a good 165 grain bullet will do is force you to hunt, vs, sitting on a ridgeline and taking a 450 yard shot.

As long as you stay within 250-300 yards, it will do what my -06 will do with a 165 grainer. I'd stay away from the 180's. the 165's will give you a little more speed and still penetrate well.

Now, I'd prefer to use my .338 Win Mag, but if all I had was a .308 and a good 165 grain handload, I'd be out there with it!

I may be mistaken, but believe I read a few years ago in a book, that Clay Harvey took a nice elk with a 180 partition in a 308 at 450 yards. That may have not been lasered, but I believe it proves that the ctg is more than capable.

Shot placement would be more an issue than penetration with that combo.

I would think 300 yds and less with a good 165 would be a good bet on elk and smaller.

Great choice. A well placed .30 caliber bullet will kill anything in North America. The great thing with the .308, there are many great bullet choices. Good luck.

The .308 is a 06 just 50-75yds closer. The only down side is a 180gr bullet is really max. for the small case, but w/ todays better bullets, I don't see why a 165grNP, NAB, TSX, NF or Swift wouldn't drop elk jsut fine.
regrdless of a few kills being made beyond 300yds, I would hunt harder & stay under that. Sure, it would "kill" beyond that but a big bull will be unimpressed w/ the hit.

Don't sell the .308W shooting 180's short. Depending on the area of course, many shot's are closer than it's max effective range. (more correctly that of the shooter) The 180 ROUND NOSE is one of my favorites in my short barreled .308 because they are very effective.

Longer shots are trickier regardless of cartridge used. I prefer my .338WM first for elk, but have several others that can go as a back up. Usually the 7mm RM goes. It is flatter shooting, but not as big a hole as I would like. It goes because I shoot it a lot and am good with it. Smaller, faster, less expanding bullets are not always the ticket.
An elk that doesn't go down quickly, goes down in the worst places. The big boys hide where it's steep & deep anyway. Why let them make it harder for you? Keep the shots closer and the bullet holes bigger, and you'll be a happier fella. Nate

my 2 cents worth,limit your range too 300 yds max,shoot barnes tripple shocks from 150''s thrugh 168''s and you will do just fine,what length tube you going with? that 700 is a great action to build on ,please keep us posted ,regards jjmp

.308win is the most popular rifle caliber in Finland and about 90% of moose is killed with it. Most popular bullets are Finnish: Lapua Mega and Naturalis and Sako Hammerhead.

A 165gr. bullet will do just fine and it need not be a premium bullet.

A fair number of years past I loaded a lot of 165gr. Speer RN bullets in .308 Win. for a few Colorado elk hunters that swore by them. Never heard anything disparaging. roger

150gr barnes X, loaded .065+ off the lands...

jeffe

In its heyday the 300 Savage proved its worth as an Elk round using 180 gn slugs. The 308 will best it with 180's by nearly 200 fs.

Magnumitis has always been overrated IMO. And by the way, a 300 Savage will STILL kill a big bull in spite of their evolved brains and armor.

I find it ironic that no one questions the 06 as an Elk round, and yet the 308 gets all of this scepticism even though the 06 IS ballisticaly a 308 @ 50-75 yds.

If you cant get any closer than 300 yds to a bull Elk, then I reccomend hunting varmints..

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
The .308 is a 06 just 50-75yds closer. The only down side is a 180gr bullet is really max. for the small case, but w/ todays better bullets, I don't see why a 165grNP, NAB, TSX, NF or Swift wouldn't drop elk jsut fine.
regrdless of a few kills being made beyond 300yds, I would hunt harder & stay under that. Sure, it would "kill" beyond that but a big bull will be unimpressed w/ the hit.

I don't necessarily agree with the 180 gr. bullet being max for the case.
At one time and for quite a while, the old 30-40 Krag with a 220 gr. bullet at 2,000 FPS was considered a better elk rifle than the 30-06 at 2,400 FPS. Of course, the problem was bullet construction. However, a .308 Win. can push a 220 gr. bullet to somewhere between 2,200 and 2,300 FPS in the .308 win. depending on the individual rifles preferences. Considering that the advertised velocity of the 30-06 with a 220 gr. bullet is only 2,400 FPS, seems like a lot of "egg- spurt" gunwriter BS to me
Now I figure that if the old 30-40 Krag was a good elk gun way back when, why not a .308 with the same bullet weight at almost 300 FPS faster?
For those curious enough to try it, powder is W-760. Starting load is 42.0 gr. for 2177 FPS at 42,000 C.U.P. and the max load is 44.0 gr. for 2295 FPS at 46,900 C.U.P. My Win. M70 gave 2,300 FPS on the nose average and a Ruger 77 with 18.5" barrel gave 2250 FPS average. Accuracy was sufficient in the Ruger and excellent in the Winchester.
Of course, in this day and age where a bullet must fly 3,500 FPS or more, kill to 1,000 yards, plus gut, skin and hang the hunter's game, plus cost at least $5.00 a bullet to be conisdered barely usable for hunting, the .308 with a 220 gr. bullet would be considered just a joke. I wonder. It wouldn't be all that different from the old 7x57 that made a serious reputation shooting 175 gr. bullet at 2,300 FPS on some serious sized game animals. besides, it would make it hunting and not sniping.
Would I use that load for hunting elk? If I knew that the area I was hunting was fairly think and most shots under about 150 yards? Absolutely! I would make the same choice with the 7x57 and 175 gr. bullets, should I be hunting in those same conditions.
I have great respect for the .308 Win., it being one of my all time favorite cartridges. While I would normally use something bigger for elk, I usually use a .300 Win. mag., I would have no problem using my .308 Win. on an elk hunt. I'd just have to change my style of hunting slightly. That is, I'd just try to stalk a bit closer.
Probably, if the truth be known,more elk have been brought to bag witht he 30-06 and .308 than anything else, the "egg-spurts" in the gun rags notwithstanding.
Paul B.

In all fairness wstrhuntr, sometimes you can't get closer than 300yds. I think the magnums come into play for shots just like that.
Tha last bull I shot was a bit over 325yds & I could not get closer in the time left for shooting. So I got comfy over a nice big rock & took the shot w/ my .338-06 & got my bull. I would have felt a bit better, as I was setting up the shot, if I had another 200-300fps because I was estimating my range. It all turned out well, but there are times you just can't get any closer & it's hard to say no to a good 6pt bull!

The 308 will take elk just fine but your choice of scope might not be the best. I have hunted mountains for elk since 1981 and feel the 4x is better than a 6x. A lot of shots will be at moving elk in the timber and at close range. Some will be farther out but still a 4x is plenty of magnification for elk or deer out to 400 yards.

I have a .308. The times i`ve failed to kill any animal, I couldnt blame on the caliber, nor the rifle. It has always been my fault! Not many calibers hold the same precision as a .308 win. That is , ordinary hunting calibers. Learn how to use your rifle and you will have great success with the .308.
Cheers!

I'll be replacing my 06 with a .308 that's almost a pound lighter. When I made this decision I thought the .308 would be just a deer-hog gun and only a backup elk gun. Nah, the posters here are correct, if youre under 300 yards the .308 is plenty if you choose your loads well. See if it shoots Hornady Light Mag ammo, 180 gr Partition at 2740 duplicates my 06 load. Or load up the 168 TSX. Winchesters new XP3 load is worth trying out also.

The only elk I shot was the first one I shot. He was far enough away for a 180 grain partition to hang in the knuckle of his shoulder. Took a few shots on that one, but it was fast. Most people I knew in New Mexico used either a 30-30, 300 savage or 308. Californians used the 7mms.