300 um elk load?

[RHINO]

Im having trouble finding a good elk load for my 300 um. This will be my first time hunting elk with a rifle. I was wanting to go to a heavier bullet prefferably a 200 grain. I thought I had found it, shot a .4 inch 3 shot group at 100 yards but when I stepped back to 400 hundred it was at 9". I have a good deer load that I use, 180 grain barnes ttsx, should I just stick with 180's? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[missedagain]

If the 180 ttsx is shooting well for you there is no reason to change.

[firstcoueswas80]

180 TTSX is what I was going to suggest from the beginning.. Use that bullet... My brothers cow fell dead in her tracks from a 100 TTSX.

[Antmo23]

The 180's out of a 300 ultra will put a hurtin on every animal in North America. And if your gun is shooting them well and they're what you're framilar with, why change anything? I'm a big fan of the TTSX, I use them for coues, they are one nasty bullet! That bull won't know what hit him.

[RHINO]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give up on the 200's and take that monster bull down with some 180 barnes.

[Antmo23]

Make sure you post the pics of your monster! What unit/hunt did you get drawn for?

[azgutpile]

Accuracy tends to be more important than bullet performance.

 

That being said, if you can figure a way to get the Accubonds to shoot as good as the Barnes, I would use the Accubond hands down.

 

What kind of groups do you get with the Barnes at 400 yards?

[RHINO]

I was lucky enough to draw the early rifle bull in 3a/3c. This will be my first rifle elk tag. Ive been shooting the 180 ttsx barnes for a while. My best group was a hair over 4" at 800 yards. I shot it the other day while working on my 200 grain loads with wind and was able to get under 4" at 400 yards. In good shooting conditions Im confident with the 180's out to 800 on a coues. At 800 yards I still have 1200 ft-lbf, do you think that is enough for an elk? I may be confident with my accuracy at that range, but I have never taken an animal of this size with a rifle before and I want to make sure I put him in his tracks.

[sjvcon]

I don't know what the difference in energy is at 800 yards with a 180 vs a 200 grain, but if you shoot the 180's well, I'd stick with that.

 

As to the energy, you will get a lot of debate over that issue. And it is really more a matter of how the energy is delivered to the animal that will determine it's ability to get up and go, or to drop on the spot. The better expansion you get, typically the better the transfer of energy to the animal. I love Barnes, and I use them a whole lot. Killed my first big Mulie with a TSX and it rolled up right where I hit it. The knock, however, is that at lower velocities it will not expand like a an Accubond or Partition (at least so "they" say). You get out to 800 yards, your velocity is starting to drop a lot faster than in the first 500 or so. If I were planning a Super Long Range hunt, I might use something that is known to have better expansion at lower velocities. Someone is certain to say I am full of it, and that is fine. They may say 1,000 or 1,500, or even 2,000 ... all numbers I've heard. But if your bullet isn't expanding, are you doing more than just poking a hole?

 

I don't know ... I think you can get a heck of a lot closer than 800 to a rutting bull ... and if you get half closer that Barnes is a winner in my book (like I said ... I love 'em). Then again, if you don't you will need that longer shot ... so ???????????

[RHINO]

I too love the barnes. I have killed alot of coues with them. Most likely i will be shooting within 200 yards, but I like to be prepared for every situation you never know what is going to happen. Thanks for your input. I've made up my mind and to shoot my 180 grain ttsx.

[azgutpile]

I've heard with Barnes you need to have an impact velocity of 1,800 -1,900 fps for the bullet to open correctly. At 800 yards you should be good, but you are getting pretty clost to that velocity.

 

This is one of the reasons that the guys that shoot game a very long range tend to use softer bullets and bullets that expand a lower velocities and Bullets with higher ballistic coefficient that retain their velocity further.

[Antmo23]

Watch, after all this talk of 800 yards, you're going to have a bull run right into your lap and smoke him at 30 yards, lol.

[Mike S]

A buddy of mine dumped a big bull in the early hunt with a head on shot at 15 or so yards with his 300 Ultra Mag and a 180 scirroco. He said the bullet made it to somewhere behind the diapragm, so you might consider that for a premium bullet that will hold together at close range. I expect it would also expand better at very long range than the TSX monometal types. Good luck with your hunt!

Mike

[reganranch]

A buddy of mine dumped a big bull in the early hunt with a head on shot at 15 or so yards with his 300 Ultra Mag and a 180 scirroco. He said the bullet made it to somewhere behind the diapragm, so you might consider that for a premium bullet that will hold together at close range. I expect it would also expand better at very long range than the TSX momometal types. Good luck with your hunt!

Mike

+1

Barnes cant hold a candle to Sciroccos.

[AZkiller]

Where in 3c are you going to shoot that far? I had that tag 4 years ago and I would figure 150yds MAX. Its lots of fun. You would be better off practicing shooting at 75, 100, and 150 off hand, kneeling and leaning against something. Sounds silly, but when was the last time you had a screaming bull running at you 80 yds away? I was so high on adrenaline that I flew one right over that 390. But if you insist, burger 210 95gr retumbo.