If you had to pick one bullet weight for hunting Elk and stick to that weight in every situation,what would it be?

200grn Nosler Partition

I am coming to prefer the 180 Gold PT., but, generally, I would agree with Jimmyd223, there is NO such thing as too much bullet for Elk, IMHO.

Lots of .30 calibre rifles out there.

Out of a .300 Savage class rifle use a 150 partition.

Out of a .308 - .30-06 class rifle go with a 180 partition.

Out of any of the various .300 magnums use the 200 grain verson.

I agree wholeheartly Cariboo.180-200.

I have to agree with the other guys here, elk are big animals. Ive always prefered heavy for caliber when it comes to elk. 180-200gr. in most 30's.
Jamie

I would consider any premium bullet from 165gr to 180gr ideal but I use 180gr non-premium bullets myself.

My vote goes to 210 grain NP out of a good .338 Win mag (two elk killed with this outfit). Early in my elk hunting efforts I killed two elk with 175gr NP out of a 7mm Rem mag....but quickly switched to the .338. I think the 210 grain NP shot from any of the .338 caliber rifles (.338 Win mag, 340 Wby, .338 RUM, .338-378 Wby) makes an excellent elk (or caribou, black bear, brown bear, or moose) combination..

Well, when I hunt with the 30/06 or 300 Win Mag ( which is less and less often), I prefer what has not been mentioned yet by anyone:

I need a Real Premo bullet then the 220 Partition SSP.

NON Premium: 220 grain Round Nose.

Honorable Mention: Speer 200 gr SP

I WISH a few other manufacturers made a 220 grain Semi Spire Point like the partition's shape. It, and the 160 grain SSP in 270 caliber, and what you don't see stateside much, only in Nosler Factory seconds, the 105 grain 6.5 mm SSP Partition, are my favorite 3 hunting bullets for max performance.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

Up to a certain point, bullet construction counts for more than sheer weight. Assuming a premium bullet, so far I have prefer 180s in the .30-06 as well as the .300 Win. Mag. In most cases the 180s have gone clear through and made exit on the bulls I've shot with them, and in most cases the elk have gone down straight away, so I haven't seen the need for 200s or 220s. Especially in the case of Winchester's 180 gr. Fail-Safe (I haven't used Barnes-X), I simply haven't seen the need to go heavier for elk hunting.

I like the higher velocity and lighter recoil of 180s over 200s, and I've taken a number of animals with 180gr Trophy Bonded, Nosler Partition, and Fail-Safe bullets out of the .300 Win. Mag. that are much heavier than any elk, and again, penetration and killing effect have been all that I could have asked for.

For the fun of it, I may just go with 200s though for a while in the .300 Winchester, simply because I tested some Federal High-Energy 200 gr. Nosler Partition ammunition recently that was absolutely outstanding in one of my .300s. I chronographed this stuff at 3002 fps. out of my rifle's 24" barrel, and accuracy was in the .400" range. It was not only fast and accurate, but consistent. I went back to the store I purchased that ammunition at and bought the rest of that lot number that they had in stock--enough ammo for several year's worth of hunting. I also was able to negotiate a lower price since I was willing to buy the whole batch!

AD

I have seen little difference of effects from the 180 and 200 Noslers in the .300 on Elk.Either is a good choice in my opinion.I might have to try some Bear Claws and see how they work as they are my choice now in .270(140 grain).An awesome bullet with really good results for the .270.

Most all of the premiums are a good choice for Elk with heavier being better in most cases.

Just my opinion.Jayco.

rwj, I believe the post referred to a 30 caliber bullet for elk, not .338.

Papershredder, I shoot a .300 Win Mag and have killed a number of elk with it...all with 180 grain projectiles. Hornady BTSP's, Nosler Partitions, WW powerpoints and Swift scirocco's. Hopefully get to give the accubond a workin over this fall.

On the standard 30 cal. (30-06 etc) I would use 180 grain bullets. On magnum 30's I would use 190 or 200 grain bullets.

For .30-06 and up, a 180 NP or similar is plenty, although there's nothing wrong with 200's.

For .308 or .300 Savage, I think I would prefer a 165, simply because the heavier bullets limit your velocity and arch your trajectory a little more than is desireable if you hunt in country where longer shots may be expected. But then maybe if you're hunting elk with one of these calibers it might just be wise to use a 180 and limit your shots to the point-blank range of the load to compensate for the lesser energy of the smaller 30's.

I guess what that all boils down to is that it's hard to go wrong with a 180/.30 for elk, no matter what the cartridge.

I have taken Elk with the 180 grain and 200 grain bullets through my .300 Win mag. My rifle shoots the 180 grain Nosler Partition or North Fork with the best accuracy, with the 200 grainer of both bullets not far behind. A buddies .300 Ultra Mag absolutely loves the 200 grain North Fork, to the exclusion of all others. The slow .30 cal rifles shoot the 150 and 165 grain fairly fast, the Mags shoot the 180 and 200 grainers fast, as they were designed to do. Good shooting.

Hey everyone;thanx for all the replies,I kinda figured we could get some pretty good opinions on this one.As for myself I have also always used 180's and preimum bullets for hunting.However this season I am kinda thinkin' of feeding a 200 grain Nosler Accubond to a bull to see how he'll like it.My .30 cal. is in .300 Ultra Mag,so if I can work up an accurate load I just may break routine and try something different than the old 180 Partition.I've also heard alot of good things about the 180 Swift A-Frame.Sounds like alot of good excuses to go to the range to me.My wife always loves to hear new ones!!!

My vote would go to a stoutly const. 180gr for general hunting. If timber hunting only, a good 200gr bullet would get the nod.

200gr NP or Speer Grand Slam, whichever the rifle shot the best.

300winnie:

You are absolutely right...the Subject header asks about .30 cal bullet weights. I responded to the initial post, which didn't mention caliber specifically. I didn't realize it would introduce confusion. (I was not the only one that mentioned other calibers.)

Hey Beeman;have you ever pulled one of those bullets into the next postal zone?

I've not taken a bunch of elk, but have quite a few moose. Neither ever needed more than 180s. Partitions are the standard by which all other bullets are measured, but the second year I was in B.C. I switched to Barnes X and never looked back. They are superior in every way (w/ the possible exception of accuracy). They have so much higher weight retention and penatration, if I was going to use a 30-06 and there was the possability of long shots I wouldn't hesitate to shoot the 165-168 X. If .300 mag is what's happening (as it was for me) - 180s will shoot through a moose lengthwise and still weigh 170 grs. just under the hide on the far end.

, No but when I was shooting an 8mm RM off the bench, I found I could get better groups throwing the bullets at the target.

I feed my .300 H&H 200grn Partitions for everything.