my AR .308 for ELK ???

[Mike L.]

Most people could not hit the broad side of a barn at 300 yards. Some of you guys are dreaming. Do any of you guys know the loss of energy of your particular bullet at long yardage? Do you think because it goes bang out of the barrel that it still goes bang beyond 300 yards? No it doesn't and it has lost 75% of its energy. A 357 mag has more energy out the barrel than a 308 at 500 yards. Can you kill an elk with a 357? Yes with a perfect point blank shot. If it isn't perfect, he will just run away and walk it off. Probably hurt for a while.
I speak from a lot of experience. I've gone into the bush after wounded boars, bear, elk. Let me tell you; when you do that, you never have enough gun when they come for you.

 

[JoshH]

I have never hunted elk before, but I went to Federal's website and used their little ammo selection tool to see what they suggested. The ammo they suggest for elk out past 300 yards still has almost 2000 ft lbs of energy at 300 yards. I would think that should be enough to put down an elk with proper shot placement.

 

[clrussell]

Most people could not hit the broad side of a barn at 300 yards. Some of you guys are dreaming. Do any of you guys know the loss of energy of your particular bullet at long yardage? Do you think because it goes bang out of the barrel that it still goes bang beyond 300 yards? No it doesn't and it has lost 75% of its energy. A 357 mag has more energy out the barrel than a 308 at 500 yards. Can you kill an elk with a 357? Yes with a perfect point blank shot. If it isn't perfect, he will just run away and walk it off. Probably hurt for a while.
I speak from a lot of experience. I've gone into the bush after wounded boars, bear, elk. Let me tell you; when you do that, you never have enough gun when they come for you.

Mike I didn't picture you as a hunter. Step up 2 more notches in my book.

 

[N2BRK]

Do you think because it goes bang out of the barrel that it still goes bang beyond 300 yards? No it doesn't and it has lost 75% of its energy. A 357 mag has more energy out the barrel than a 308 at 500 yards. .

Handload boys :thumb: I don't hunt, but I'm an avid reloader, and it can make all the difference in the world over store bought ammo.

FWIW, a 178gr Hornady .308 has 2000ftlbs at 300yds, and will still have over 1500ft lbs of energy at 500yds (from about 2800 at 50yds); . A 357 mag will have around 1100ftlbs at the muzzle from a rifle and HALF that out of a revolver. Whether any of the three examples are enough to adequately dispatch an Elk at any distance, I can't tell ya. But never compare a pistol caliber to a rifle round, :roflmao:, unless it's inside of say 100yds.

 

[whitetrash21]

My elk gun is a .300 wm.....taken a couple with it north of 200yds and one at 300+. I bang targets with it and can put an 8 inch group together at 700 yds. Will I ever make that shot on any game..... hell no! I don't have the confidence in my skill set to take an animal down at that range. Too many variables there that aren't present when I'm shooting off a bench. .308 has enough balls to do the job if you know your gun and it's capabilities. .338 lm is more than enough gun for north American game ...however, a round with the energy that the .338 packs can destroy a lot of meat if you're not on par with your shot placement.

This is a highly disputed argument.....on any forum. Use what your comfortable making the shot with.

 

[cjb2283]

The go to gun in Alaska for moose (bigger than most elk) is a .308. I don't see an issue, especially since your grouping is tight at 300 yards. My 2 cents.

 

[Dozerboy]

Hunting was fun before the Internet. You went out with some buddies enjoy the outdoors and maybe gotta take down a nice animal.

I met a guide that's done guided hunts all over North America. He never carried anything bigger than a .30-30.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[DAVe3283]

I think a lot of people overthink this nowdays. People have been taking down game since guns were first invented. A huge number of buffalo were taken with black powder rifles... and spears. It all comes down to knowing the limitations of your weapon of choice, and working within them, both historically and today.

If an arrow can kill an elk, a .308 will do great. Just be sure of your shot placement. It sounds like you are confident in your abilities, and know when to (or not to) take the shot. You'll do fine.

And since several people have mentioned using too much gun will waste meat, I will share my experience with that. When I was younger, to see exactly how true that was, I took a jackrabbit down with my .45-70. Perfect placement on the entry wound, but the exit wound was the entire right half of the rabbit. It completely vaporized its right front leg, just a fine mist spread over 10' of dirt. Lost about 1/3-1/2 the usable meat (not that there is much usable meat on a rabbit).

 

[quinton]

Just use a .22 that's my go to gun for everything. Lol. Cheap gun and cheap shells and I've shot many axis with it. When I wanna blow a hole through a elephants **s I use my 30.06, 165 grain ballistic tips. That's all I need here in Texas!! Oh and shotgun for the birdies.

 

[Burn Down]

The go to gun in Alaska for moose (bigger than most elk) is a .308. I don't see an issue, especially since your grouping is tight at 300 yards. My 2 cents.

Um no.... 300 Weatherby/win mag. and much, much bigger. Have you ever been up close and personal with and Alaskan Moose, Interior Grizzly or a Kodiak Bear? No f-ing way .308 is the go to gun up here...

 

[oscyjack]

.308 is more than sufficient if the shooter does his job. I've used all the 30 cal cartridges for most types of game and ended up streamlining all my rifles to .223 and .308 except the .338 lapua.

I have yet to have a beast stand up from a well placed .308. The only thing in NA I haven't gone after is a Grizzly.

On the duramax portion of this site, I am a relative laymen by comparison to Mike L and some other guys. In the shooting sphere, that's a different story entirely. NRA distinguished expert in the JR league at 14, Distinguished expert in NRA by 19, 3 gun competitor, 1000 yard competitor, trap and skeet competitor (formerly, I gave up all formal competition a few years ago in all areas of life). Not trying to boost my own ego, just saying I am a marksman with the targets to back it up. I shoot roughly 18,000 rounds per year of each of my calibers.

9mm
.45 ACP
.223 (wylde chamber in my comp rigs)
.308
.338 lapua (only shoot 1,500 of these, cuz they are hella expensive)

While it can be said I shoot more than I hunt, the amount of practice involved gives you an intimate relationship with what you use, both ammo/weapon. My longest shot on target is 1,500+/- meters. My longest kill shot on a big whitetail buck was 800, shooting with increased elevation and IIRC a 10-ish mph cross wind. .308 to the heart and a long hike up the bluff to get him. A .308 is the bread an butter of any rifle arsenal, good enough for just about anything if you the shooter do your part. Yes, there are bigger and better, but it's overkill for the few elk you'll get each season. The money to re-outfit in a new caliber would be better spent on reloading equipment and many thousands of rounds of practice.

 

[cdbright]

.308 is more than sufficient if the shooter does his job. I've used all the 30 cal cartridges for most types of game and ended up streamlining all my rifles to .223 and .308 except the .338 lapua.

I have yet to have a beast stand up from a well placed .308. The only thing in NA I haven't gone after is a Grizzly.

On the duramax portion of this site, I am a relative laymen by comparison to Mike L and some other guys. In the shooting sphere, that's a different story entirely. NRA distinguished expert in the JR league at 14, Distinguished expert in NRA by 19, 3 gun competitor, 1000 yard competitor, trap and skeet competitor (formerly, I gave up all formal competition a few years ago in all areas of life). Not trying to boost my own ego, just saying I am a marksman with the targets to back it up. I shoot roughly 18,000 rounds per year of each of my calibers.



9mm
.45 ACP
.223 (wylde chamber in my comp rigs)
.308
.338 lapua (only shoot 1,500 of these, cuz they are hella expensive)

How is your Lapua set up? Any pics?

I am def going to hunt with just my .308 this year and like you all say dont take a long stupid shots. That Lapua is still going to make its way into my safe though sooner or later:woott:

 

[oscyjack]

I can snap one this week. I don't really do pictures hahaha, never had the patience or the desire to be distracted from what i'm doing to share it with other people. If they were interested, they'd be out there with me! hahaha.

 

[cdbright]

this is a good read: http://www.chuckhawks.com/elk_cartridges.htm

GREAT ARTICLE :thumb:

 

[Moose0011]

I disagree with you. At 500 yards the 308 will have about 1,000 ME at the most. Not the greatest caliber at that yardage. Unless you pull off a perfect shot without hitting bone, you won't put it down. It is more humane to use a bigger caliber and it gives you a much better chance for a one shot kill.
A heavier long bullet like the 338 will do less damage than a high velocity 30 caliber which tends to blow up on contact and ruin meat.

my apologies that wasn't the way that was meant.. Yes on ME you are correct. I mean most people in general shouldn't be taking unethical shot bascially. Yes the 338 has a ton of energy but that doesn't mean it should be it should be just gotten and shot.. And a heavier long bullet at the speeds a lapua will be pushing it inside of 300 yards will destroy a ton of meat.. Do you honestly consider the 308 that high of velocity? or are you comparing to say the 300 win mag or weatherby or 30 nosler?

 

[Moose0011]

Which manufactuer? Do you get friends and family discount? Are you in market for new best friend? Lol

Agreed most people think they are going to get the big caliber and gun and be the next chris kyle shooting a mile. In reality 400 yards and out so much comes in to play its very difficult to be accurate. Beyond 500 and it takes years of skill, trainkng, right ammo and a worked weapon. I have deer hunted my whole life, spent 20 years in service part of that as a cop and i dont take shots on live targets beyond 300, i prefer closer. But im not an operator either

Ummm.. Yes I get a nice discount... If you can fix my truck then yeah we could be friends. I work on guns not trucks. I am not a mechanic my dad is and my grandpa was. I can turn a wrench but I can't diagnose that. Now a firearm, reloading or ballistics I am solid . The company I work for well.. I prefer not to say on a post like this. I don't want to get bombarded with questions. it has happenend before. I will say I am in Kansas City..

 

[Kramer]

A .338 lapua isn't going to be any lighter than a 7mm mag. A 7mm mag will kill anything in North America, but a .308 also will in the right hands. Personally, I'd take the 7mm mag. That's what I carry, and it works. When I was developing a load for Elk I was using 150gr Barnes TTSX and 160gr Nosler Partitions. 140 Berger VLD's are tits for whitetails.

 

[cdbright]

I picked up 2 boxes of 168 gr and 2 of 175 grain last night and going to see how they group at 200-300 yrds.

I love my 7MM but now i am sold on the pistol grip, i guess i could change out the stock ? hmmmmmm now you got me thinking

 

[JoshH]

How long is the barrel on your .308 AR?

 

[malibu795]

I picked up 2 boxes of 168 gr and 2 of 175 grain last night and going to see how they group at 200-300 yrds.

I love my 7MM but now i am sold on the pistol grip, i guess i could change out the stock ? hmmmmmm now you got me thinking

7mm ar
https://nemoarms.com/rifles/omen-match-7mm/