Elk rifle set up

Hey,

So just a quick weigh in on what you guys think about the following elk rifle set up:

Savage 111 in 7mm rem. mag.
Leupold vx2 4-12x40
Warne Rings and bases

140gr Barnes TSX over 65gr RL22 at 3100FPS

What do you think about this set up? Any big weaknesses (other than it weighs a ton)? Any suggestions for further upgrades? Good choice on optics? Good choice on load? Any stories on the effectiveness of the 7mm rem. mag on elk are appreciated. It will be my primary rifle, with my 11FCNS in .308 being my backup.

--SRS

There's a video of the guy from GunWerks kid taking an Elk at 1300 some yards with a 7RM. Think they use the 180 Berger Hunting VLD's though. Highly capable round the 7RM!

I consider myself set with a 308 using Nosler e-tips. If your setup isn't good enough, elk are wearing ceramic vests plates or something.

I'm only good out to 400-450 yards though. Nosler says to keep them over 1800fps.

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

There's a video of the guy from GunWerks kid taking an Elk at 1300 some yards with a 7RM. Think they use the 180 Berger Hunting VLD's though. Highly capable round the 7RM!

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Take it to the bank that for each video you see showing a 1300 yd kill, there would be lots of others that didnt make the cut.
Especially with a 7 mag. But id agree on the heavier bullets for elk especially.

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Originally Posted by yobuck

Take it to the bank that for each video you see showing a 1300 yd kill, there would be lots of others that didnt make the cut.
Especially with a 7 mag. But id agree on the heavier bullets for elk especially.

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True that. He does also state in the video that they practice at these ranges and beyond regularly. They also have very user friendly systems and his first shot went over it's back. But was just stating for the 7mag's capability. (note the underlined words)

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What do you think about this set up? Any big weaknesses (other than it weighs a ton)? Any suggestions for further upgrades? Good choice on optics? Good choice on load? Any stories on the effectiveness of the 7mm rem. mag on elk are appreciated.

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Since I am a big fan of the 7mm Magnum. I think your setup is fine. In fact my primary hunting rifle is very similar to yours. Don't see any particular reason for an upgrade if what you have is suitable for you at long ranges. As far as a long range Elk load I would go with the 180gr Berger VLD....The 140 at 3100 fps will definitely get the job done but the 180 at 2850fps will get it done better: especially at longer ranges. The 7mm Magnum is suitable for anything that walks or crawls in North America period! Anyone who tells you otherwise is either just uninformed or willfully ignorant.

Living in New Mexico I've seen a lot of Elk hunters using everything from 6mm to 50 caliber rigs. They all work most of the time but some definitely work better than others. In several decades of experience here I have never found any reason to question the capability of the 7mm Magnum on anything you shoot it at.

you will be fine with 7 mag or 308, where are you hunting and how far will be ur longest shot?
I walked the dark timber south of pikes peak and I could not even see more than 30 yards.
next time I am out there I will use my cz 6.5x55 with iron sights

maybe it is just me but I get nervous when shooting at animals far far away. I remember reading about an elk hunter who shot a second Elk with his follow up shot, landed him in a bath of hot water with a felony charge arising from the gaming infraction after he called in his mistake.

Those long range hunting videos on youtube should be titled "How to miss" or "How to gutshot game". So many shots taken that should not have been taken.

+1 for the heavy bullet.
We only used are 7mm out to a little over six and it worked great, I still like the 30s or 33s better but dead is dead.
The longer the distance the better excuse for overkill.
Most (not all) of those long range videos should simply be titled "advertisement for the most expensive way to accomplish something rather simple."

I shot a 7mag with 140gr ttsx for a long time. As long as your not trying to shoot extreme distance or something it will work perfectly. I absolutely loved that combo in my tikka with 64.4 grains of RL-22


http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/IMAG0636.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/IMAG0634.jpg

Yep that should do it! Elk run far and die slow if not hit properly(with any round), it's not fun packing them out of the bottom of a canyon

If it can be done with a 100gn broadhead moving 300fps, a 140gn hunk of copper or lead going 3100fps will certainly do the job

more like a 400-500grn broadhead when you include the entire arrow. I run 487grn arrows at 300FPS on my compound setup, but you make a valid point.

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

more like a 400-500grn broadhead when you include the entire arrow. I run 487grn arrows at 300FPS on my compound setup, but you make a valid point.

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Your right. My arrows are 455 grains and my bull ran all of 100 yards before the firehose of blood spraying out of his chest ran dry. Maybe a better comparison would be KI. Which I think is about 515 ft lbs with my set up

But those broadheads are probably what 1.50 cal? 1.25 cal? You gotta go to artillery to find a bullet that big.

Years ago at a Winchester Western demonstration the instructor put up a sand bag and fired a 44 Magnum at it. The bullet penetrated and stopped. Then he took a bow and shot a broad head at it....it went through the sand bag. Pretty impressive!

Hi Jack

The wound channel created by a bullet has to be more devastating than one from a broadhead

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Originally Posted by wbm

Years ago at a Winchester Western demonstration the instructor put up a sand bag and fired a 44 Magnum at it. The bullet penetrated and stopped. Then he took a bow and shot a broad head at it....it went through the sand bag. Pretty impressive!

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They demonstrated this at the hunter saftey coarse i took my oldest son to 39 years ago.
And now we have crossbows legalized.

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Originally Posted by charb52

The wound channel created by a bullet has to be more devastating than one from a broadhead

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That depends on MANY factors.
Lets assume the broadhead is sharp and either a 2, 3, or 4 fixed, blade head. It will cut a wound channel that is anywhere from 1" to 1.5" wide, and usually clear through the animal. Leaving a massive amount of hemorrhaging behind it. This can and will happen from an arrow shot at 150fps and up. I have had my heavy arrows (800gr) with a 2 blade single bevel head, cut ribs on entrance and exit side, and completely through the shoulder gristle on 300lb boar hogs, from a 55lb recurve, that barely shoot 150fps.

Leaving a spiral wound channel all the way through. The hog ran less than 20yds before bleeding to death.

Bullets can vary so widely in construction, the terminal velocity is critical. But take a bullet like a 400gr .458 bullet at 1300fps (factory speed on a 45-70). It can plow a .458 hole clear through a hog as well, but will do very little in the way of creating a very large would channel inside. Bullets ideally will open just inside the hide, and completely expand in a few inches, and punch through the other side (hunting bullet, big game example). But as we all know all bullets do not work the same way.

I shot a mule deer several years ago, with my 308, and Nosler Etips. Range was 180yds, and the entrance and exit wounds barely looked bigger than a 223. Internal damage was the same, a nice .308 dia hole all the way through both lungs. He ran 50 yds before piling up.

Of course a broadhead could be dull, or blade break, etc, but I find it nearly impossible to truly compare any arrow kill to a gun kill. I always hear talk about the KE of an arrow, vs a bullet. That means zip. An arrow cuts and causes bleeding, period. Bullets, usually cause massive tissue destruction and hemorrhaging from shock and concussive force, not cuts.

As was mentioned, sandbags stop bullets but not arrows.

A long time ago, I bought a roll of ballistic nylon, the stuff they used to make "bullet proof" vests from. I sewed several layers together, and fired .357. 38 spcl, and several rimfires at it, with no penetrations beyond the first 2 of 4 layers. The first fixed, three blade arrow I shot destroyed the arrow. Not on the nylon, but on the rocks 10 feet behind it when the arrow flew through the nylon so fast it hit the rocks and broke. That arrow may produce a relatively small amount of KE, but it is applied to a razor sharp edge, and not much stands up to it.