Elk Rifle

[kdenn]

You might check the new Seekins rifles, PH3 or Element. Light, very accurate. 300 WM or PRC.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Or check the Montana Rifle Company Highline.
Very Smooth CRF action, great trigger. 1/2 MOA

 

[Beck]

For elk in the west it starts with 340 WBY and ends with 340 WBY. . I have almost all the mediam bore calibers both standard and magnum. My pick is and always will be 340 WBY for Elk in the west.
Krish

What kind of rifle, what does it weigh? What kind of optic?

 

[JG26Irish_2]

As stated previously, I would echo that just like PG in Africa, there are many calibers and rifles capable of cleanly harvesting your Elk. From 270 on the lower end of the scale to 375HH on the upper end of the spectrum. Our Eastern Elk in KY do not require ELR type shots and will rarely present a shoot in excess of 200y. Think Limpopo bushveld hunting. Out West the terrain is often more open and shots can be much further if you have a rifle/scope combo that is up to the task. Choosing an Elk rifle I want to be able to handle both and thus want to be able to send a 150g+ bullet arriving at 2000fps at max range.

For me, I chose a Fierce CT Edge in 7mm Mag. This is a titanium Sako 85 type action with carbon/stainless bbl and carbon stock. Light, weather proof and able to deliver a 160g Barnes TTSX at over 2000fps out to 500y. My shots would be limited to about 400y. 150g Swift Scirocco is another great option. This rifle is capable of 1/2moa from a bench which is closer to 1moa in the field from a ruck or off sticks. It is topped with a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18x and I used it with 150g bonded Fusion ammo to drop a 10pt Whitetail this past fall. Hope to take it Moose hunting in the future. It is pricey and not sure it is worth the full retail price but I got mine at a deep discount which really helped.

I plan to take this same rifle to Africa this summer to use for PG hunting including Kudu, Zebra, and Black Wildebeest all of which would be in the same size, weight and toughness class as an Elk. I had the option of the 7mm Mag or a nice 30-06 and my PH strongly suggested the 7mm since we would be hunting part of our time in the Free State where the terrain in more open like out West. This despite my 30-06 being able to hit with extreme precision out to 400y using 180g Sciroccos. I am OK with this.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

With all due respect, you lost me at Berger VLD’s. There are much better choices available for big bodied bulls.

I agree with you, but I feel obligated to agitate the grumpy old men on here who hate anything other than A-frames.

But when shooting at 800+ those Bergers really do work well.

I'll admit I am in the "Just use a Swift A Frame for everything" camp. But this last elk season where I used the outfitters Best of the West 300 PRC, my eyes were opened to new fangled bullets that are somewhat non-traditional hunting bullets. We used factory Hornady ammo in the 300 PRC, 225 ELD-Match. That's right, Match, not ELD-X. During our warm up shooting, all 4 hunters rang steel at 300, 400 and 500 yards. I asked the outfitter if they reloaded and they said no, the factory ammo is so accurate and it's very reasonably priced by Hornady. The Match bullet produced one shot kills on three elk and three whitetails, with all shots being in the 200 to 340 yard range.

 

[krish]

What kind of rifle, what does it weigh? What kind of optic?

Rifle is Wetherby. Can also get in other brands. Weighs about 8 lbs. Scope is your choice. I use Lropold zlong range 30 mm tube with 50 mm objective. 340 wetherby is 338 caliber. Shoots 250gr bullets close to 3000 ft/sec. You can get 165 gr bullets to 300gr bullets for it. It is in my openion a all round calber for North America.
Also can do wonders in Africa in the right hands. It can shoot 338 winchester ammo in it.
That is my openion. IT all depends who you ask.
Krish

 

[dchamp]

what kind of rifle?

Just a plain Jane Remington 700 sitting in a Hogue full length aluminum bedding block stock. I love that stock. It’s solid, dosen’t slip in your hands when it’s cold and wet and really tames the recoil. Weighs about 8lbs I think. The last time I used it, it had a Horus scope with Tremor 3 reticle. It is now wearing a Z5i. The last elk I shot was done with 198gr Hammer Hunter bullets.

 

[Beck]

Rifle is Wetherby. Can also get in other brands. Weighs about 8 lbs. Scope is your choice. I use Lropold zlong range 30 mm tube with 50 mm objective. 340 wetherby is 338 caliber. Shoots 250gr bullets close to 3000 ft/sec. You can get 165 gr bullets to 300gr bullets for it. It is in my openion a all round calber for North America.
Also can do wonders in Africa in the right hands. It can shoot 338 winchester ammo in it.
That is my openion. IT all depends who you ask.
Krish

I love the idea of a .340 weatherby, but I think 8lbs is too heavy

 

[BourbonTrail]

I have a Sako in .300 weatherby, which is my go to plains game rifle, but it is a big heavy fucker(10lbs). Recoil does not really bother me, ideally I'd like to find something lighter with the same kind of punch.

Weatherby has some new light weight offerings to consider (the MkV Backcountry Guide is 6.5lb) However, there are plenty of other adequate gun/caliber combos in the weight class for mountains.

My MkV weighs 9.5 lbs and is definitely not as handy as my 7.5lb 30-06, but with its reach I don’t have to hike as much.