This is because target or match bullets usually aren’t designed for optimum terminal performance on big game animals and you may run into issues with poor penetration. Varmint style bullets are out. I do NOT recommend using Nosler Ballistic Tip ammo for bigger game like elk or moose. Cost. Note: some of the links below are affiliate links. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to create free content that’s useful to hunters like yourself. First time elk hunting with rifle and I would prefer to use a 150 grain non lead bullet but the options seem very limited. You can stretch that a bit if conditions are good, but the 6.5 Creedmoor is not a 400-yard elk cartridge. Your.308 is an excellent elk round. For this reason, I strongly recommend using premium quality controlled expansion bullets that are 165 grains or heavier (ideally 175-180 grains) if you plan on using the .308 Winchester for hunting really big game like moose and elk. If you’re on a strict budget and can’t afford premium ammunition, then I’d suggest using the 180 grain Remington Core Lokt load above any of the other “budget” .308 ammo options. Have taken caribou and moose both at or just a bit beyond 400 yards with a .308 and it certainly does the trick. I think the ELD-X is perfect for deer sized game though. Also Available at: Brownells, Cabela’s, Natchez Shooters Supplies, Optics Planet and Palmetto State Armory. Personally, I prefer a tougher bullet for elk sized game (like the Terminal Ascent that’s next on this list). Like I said, I think this is the best .308 ammunition for moose or elk hunting. This often results in a short tracking job and a very easy to follow blood trail (if the deer runs at all). To be perfectly honest, the cartridge is a little on the light side for really big game like that though. Also Available at: Brownells, Natchez Shooters Supplies, Optics Planet, and Palmetto State Armory. The Federal .308 Winchester load using 180gr Nosler Partition I previously mentioned is my #1 recommendation for elk and moose. Take the old and lame .308. They don’t call it the “deadliest mushroom in the woods” for nothing. I have seen heart & lungs totally destroyed. Put that load in the boiler room and it will kill any elk on this earth. 12 oz. With that in mind, this is also perfect .308 ammunition for an African safari where really large or tough game like zebra, blue wildebeest, kudu, or eland are on the menu. Outlining the hunt you plan on having will go a long way in choosing your cartridge rifle combination. With proper shot placement, this ammunition will deliver excellent performance if it hits bone or soft tissue. AccuBond bullets are pretty darn aerodynamic and will reliably expand at lower impact velocities. At the same time, the .308 Winchester doesn’t have the case capacity to generate high velocities with a 180 grain bullet. By … Ballistics. In Europe, the 6.5 mm Swede (A Latvian Eagle favorite) is preferred for moose hunting. I’ll also go over the strengths and weaknesses of each individual load and so you can select the right ammunition for your specific needs. Hi all. Those features make this load an excellent choice of .308 ammo for longer range hunting situations, especially if you’re a proponent of the “energy dump” school of thought when it comes to selecting a hunting bullet. Just don’t expect a complete pass through (even on a broadside shot), especially on bigger bodied animals. Also Available at: Brownells, Cabela’s, Natchez Shooters Supplies, Optics Planet, and Palmetto State Armory. Like the Extreme Point, I think the Ballistic Tip bullet expands far too rapidly for use on big game like that. Being short action and also soft recoiling this cartridge has a lot going for it as a candidate for an ultra-lightweight rifle. In fact, the Winchester Deer Season XP line has one of the lowest costs per round out of all the .308 Winchester ammo choices on this list. Picking the 10 “best” or most favorable cartridges for hunting any animal is a highly subjective and challenging task. Loaded with a 180 grain Nosler Partition bullet, this load has over 2,600 foot pounds of muzzle energy and is perfect for hunting really big game where it’s really important to use a heavy, well constructed bullet. I was lucky enough to pick up a Sawtooth B tag for Idaho, trying to figure out an optimal load for my 270. Though they do quite often deliver match grade accuracy, the Berger Hybrid Hunter is not a run of the mill match bullet. Fortunately, hunters now have access to a great selection of controlled expansion bullets that perform very well on really big game like elk and moose. Make sure you follow The Big Game Hunting Blog on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. This is where there’s little room for debate. My.308 is a Winchester Featherweight which weighs 6 lbs. It’s not quite as tough as the Nosler Partition, but these features make the AccuBond a much better choice for an elk hunt than typical cup and core bullets. The size of elk varies greatly so consider what you plan on taking. Splitting hairs with arguments like the age old “.308 vs .30-06” are pretty much a toss-up. So, not only is this some reasonably priced .308 ammo, but it also has a solid reputation for producing a giant wound channel and minimizing the distance deer run after being hit. I have used it for Bear & Elk with great success. His recommendation... the .308 caliber for a moose … In .308 it is very hard to beat a 168gr premium bullet for elk. Some of the more specialized .308 Winchester loads (which I’ll also cover in this article) offer better performance in specific circumstances. That said, the ELD-X is still a little too fragile for my tastes. Haven't killed an elk though so maybe it wouldn't work. The .308 cartridge it’s self is very well balanced and not overbore and lends it’s self well to short barrels around 20 inches. Heavier bullets with a higher sectional density (like this 180 grain bullet), tend to penetrate pretty well, even if they don’t have a cutting edge design. All three loads are also 100% copper, which makes them an ideal choice of .308 hunting ammunition for use in states like California that that don’t permit the use of lead bullets. The Lyman 50th Edition (p205-206), and Hornady 10th Edition (p364-369) reloading manuals were used as references for this article. 2. A happy medium almost always works best. All things considered, this ammunition is tough enough for close range shots on big game while at the same time providing very good extended range performance. The 308 caliber rifle likes the 150 - 165 grain bullets. While you can certainly kill an elk with a .308 the question becomes is it sufficient for humanly hunting a wild animal of the size and toughness of elk. The 180g and above are there if you need them for moose and elk. It wasn't that long ago that a.308 Win. The .308 with 150-165 grain bullets will do what a 30/06 will do, and it is a solid performer on elk with premium 180-200 grain bullets. Bullet Style. It has plenty of power, if you can shoot it accurately. From my experience in shooting either the 308 or the 3006 there are a couple of bullet choices that I recommend. First of all let me tell you I am biased in regard to my answer. Much like when judging the distance to a target, a larger gun will allow for more flexibility for a given shot and lightly constructed bullets of smaller calibers can only reliably take game with broadside or quartering too shots. Though the ELD-X does not have a bonded core like the Hornady InterBond, the ELD-X does feature a thicker jacket and a the Hornady InterLock ring to help increase weight retention, control expansion, and minimize the chances of core-jacket separation. Finding elk is hard. Rifles can be had in your models for younger, smaller statured hunters or women. To be perfectly honest, the cartridge is a little on the light side for really big game like that though. There’s no such thing as a free lunch though. It will also work extremely well on that same sort of game at closer range. At Creedmoor velocity, it’s also not generous in the energy department. The 12 Best Cartridges for Elk Hunting. Back in the 1980s when I was an elk guide the bullets weren’t the quality that they are now and in my experience a 7 mm Remington Magnum caused Elk to get wounded. Using a rifle chambered for .308 has its drawbacks and its advantages but more than anything it comes with responsibilities. These factors limit the effective range of this particular .308 Winchester load to a certain degree. While the Swedes use the marvelous 6.5×55 to harvest thousands of moose per year, Alaska moose hunting and Swedish moose hunting is a bit different. Instead, it’s designed to provide devastating terminal performance on many species of big game. Yes, you can kill elk with .308. The .308 Win has long been a favorite of hunters who want a short action cartridge that offers a good balance of accuracy, a relatively flat trajectory, moderate recoil, and adequate killing power on medium and big game. The .30-06 pushes slightly heavier bullets slightly faster while the .308 is cheaper and lighter weight. Additionally, while they can be very accurate and are certainly capable of killing big game animals, I don’t recommend using bullets designed for target shooting or marketed as match ammo like the Sierra MatchKing or Hornady A-Max and ELD Match for hunting. A 180gr .308 will do just fine even on Elk out to an easy 300yds. Choose your rifle and stock it with the best ammo you can get your hands on and get into the woods! These bullets are known for exceptional accuracy and for being extremely aerodynamic. Lightweight 125 grain bullets are great for deer hunting, but hunters who use those lighter bullets on larger game will very likely experience issues with poor penetration, especially on steeply quartering shots. Additionally, Deer Season XP ammo is designed specifically to compete with other popular whitetail deer hunting ammo options like Federal Fusion, Federal Power-Shok, Hornady American Whitetail, Winchester Super-X, and Winchester Ballistic Silvertip in terms of price, terminal performance, reliability, and accuracy. By far one of the biggest advantages of the .308 is the cost and availability of ammunition. Always carry shooting equipment like shooting sticks or a bi-pod and use them whenever possible when using marginal calibers. The Nosler Partition is a very old bullet design, but it remains one of the best hunting bullets around and has a proven track record over the course of many decades and won’t let you down at the moment of truth. In … If you shoot an elk with any caliber and then watching that elk run off a cliff is going to be an awful site, no matter what you shot it with. The first that comes to mind is the .308 Winchester. Maybe it’s a high tech new age rifle or maybe it’s the hand me down rifle that you took your first deer with, either way hunting at its core is a recreational activity and the more you enjoy your hunt the more you’re doing it right. My dad is a handloader, so he made some reduced power loads that were very pleasant for me to shoot, but still deadly on whitetail deer at short range. 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