With all the recent drama about Accubonds, this oughta be interesting. For elk this year I am bringing two rifles with me to camp. My trusty 300 Win and my dependable 7mm.

In my 300 Win I am shooting 200 grain Nosler Accubond handloads. approx. speed is mid 2900's (don't own a chrono)

In my 7mm I am shooting 160 grain Barnes TSX Handloads. approx. speed is also mid 2900's

Both bullets group extremely well out of their rifles and I shoot both rifles equally well. With speeds, groups and my ability to shoot each rifle, all equal, Which would you give the nod to on opening day? Why?

I know which one I am going to use, but am curious to hear your reasonings.

Let me sum it up for you, Do you go with the 200 gr. Accubond which is heavier by 40 grains at close to same speeds but bullet is known for rapid expansion and relatively decent weight retention?
OR do you go with the 160 grain Barnes TSX where you know there will be better than 90% weight retention? (Past Barnes tempermental issues are not an issue here, my gun shoots them and groups them wonderfully)

With all else equal, what would you go with? Why?

Thanks,

Autumn Pulse

Got a coin? Flip it. No you asked for opinions not objectivity. If my objective was to kill elk most effectively, I would pick the 300 bullet. Proven weight and bullet performance over many decades now. Larger frontal area and more initial impact weight also. (I am a frontal area kind of guy. I use a 375 for deer). I took my 300 winmag to Zimbabwe in '99 and took zebra, kudu, and eland with it. I hit a limb on the Kudu but did retirieve it. All else was great. Bullet performance was textbook. Now if on the other hand your objective is to do some ballistic experimentation on live game using the new TSX bullet, elk meat will give you a better medium than ballistic gelatin. So what is your objective? Good hunting. "D"

It won't make a bit of difference, I'd load a 175 Nosler in the 7mm however, that probably wouldn't matter either!

I'm gonna side with Blue. But, regardless of which rifle I selected, it would have a Nosler Partition or a Speer Grand Slam loaded in it. Why? 'Cause I know they'll work. I can't really say that one or the other calibre worked better for me but I have used both to kill elk. From your description of "dependable and trustworthy" I assume you are well practiced with both of them. So flip a coin and then switch out each day. If you consistantly take one and leave the other in camp, the one left behind will start to pout and won't shoot worth a $hit when you need it most.

I'd go with the 7mm as I have more experience with it and know how it will work. I really don't see a lot of difference between them though. Which one feels best? How well does the good feeling one shoot? How heavy?

I'm picky but these are things I'd think about more than the round itself. Nate

The 300 Winnie...

I'd always go for the larger bore and more weight, esp for things larger than deer.

If you shoot them equally well, it's hard to argue w/ bigger bullets, bigger holes, I would go .300 WM.

ps: get those loads to chronograph, you may be surorised just what vel. they are going.

Someone more knowledgeable than me can confirm what would be the case, but I would think the heavier bullet would retain more downrange energy being as they are starting at similar velocities, so... I'm thinking that one can often have pretty long range shots at Elk so that might tip the odds toward the 300 Win. I also think Blue is right, you can run around quite a bit to get your shot at your Elk, so a light rig can be welcomed.

Good Luck--D.

I would go for the .300 win mag or if you had of mentioned a .375 H&H loaded with a 270 gr woodleigh or Barnes X then I would have gon with that

i agree with beemanbeme, since this is just opinions asked for.. i am not personally a fan of the 300 winnie.. i prefer 7mm & am a confirmed Nosler Partition man.

both opinions are due almost exclusively to lots more familiarity & personal history than anything quantifiable.

mike

my 7 is as testy & fickle as an exwife.. handloaded 160 gr NP and it groups better than I can hold it... anything else & it patterns like a shotgun.

Autumn Pulse



I would take the 7mm mag any day. Nosler partition is my favorite bullet, but any good bullet should work. If you want more ummph, look at 8mm or more.



7mm mag offers nice performance and almost no recoil



Cheers

/ JOHAN

My own go to gun for large game is a 338 WM so I would probably opt for the 300 WM and 200 Grain bullets. This is based on 30 years with both standard and magnum calibres. Now for my explanation of the heavier weight bullets it seems to me to be the whole point of going to a magnum calibre is to use the heavier weight at the same speeds as a standard calibre especially for large game. Otherwise you might as well use a 30-06 or 280 Rem. Therefore I would advise 200 grains for a 300 magnum and a 175 grain bullet for a 7mm magnum. You can use Accubonds at a reasonable distance, say 200 yards or more but I don't care for their performance on closer shots. One other poster suggested Partitions and there surely is enough people that swear by them. My own preference is a similarly shaped bullet called the Swift A-frame which is a tougher bullet based on my own experiences. Hope this helps.

As others have said, either will get the job done fine if you do your part. The 7mm TSX certainly won't leave you wanting for penetration, but the 200 is going to make a bigger hole and give a much bigger "thump" when it hits--and the farther the shot is, the bigger the difference will be.

I've already chosen the 200 AccuBond for the next time I'm after elk (about exactly a year from now) except I'll be shooting them a bit under 3200 fps. Why did I make this choice?

If terminal performance similar to a 200 Partition isn't good enough for me, I need to work on my shooting. Getting that performance from a bullet so extremely accurate and resistant to wind drift (the two go hand in hand out at ranges where accuracy actually matters) makes it a great all around performer in my book. We all know how important shot placement is--just imagine the confidence I'll have on a 300 yd shot on game when I've been shooting sub MOA groups at 600 yds in practice. There's no substitute for that....