7mm08 Elk Bullet?

2

204Gunner

Active member
140 Tipped Tripple Shock or 140 Accubond?

Let's say these two bullets shot equally accurate with a 2800 fps muzzle velocity...Which bullet would you load in hopes of filling your elk tag? Why?
 

The 140 Partition works well in the 7-08. The Partition would be a conservative choice, but it always kills decently and penetrates well enough.

Honestly, the last two bulls I killed with my 7-08 Ackley were both 6X6s and they were bang-flop kills. I used the 120 Ballistic Tip and they each took a single well-placed shot. Penetration was complete and both bulls died instantly.

There is a long story about why the 120 Ballistic is such a darned GREAT big game bullet. Some time I will relate it ... for now, just take it on faith that the 120 Ballistic ROCKS, absolutely ROCKS, on big game.

Heck, I've even killed moose with the 120 Ballistics. One shot each and it's always a BANG-FLOP kill with zero heroics.

Steve Timm


twobulls.jpg



elkguts.jpg



Moose.jpg
 
Steve what kind of velocity are you getting with a 7mm-08 Ackley using a 120? and what barrel length do you use?
 
Last edited:



Originally Posted By: KrakkonSteve what kind of velocity are you getting with a 7mm-08 Ackley using a 120? and what barrel length do you use?


Friend Krakkon,

I'm running a Three-contour Schneider that is precisely 22-inches long. My load is as follows: 120-grain Ballistic Tip, 48.5 grains of Hodgdon's Varget in Winchester Nickel-plated cases with WLR primers. The instrumental velocity ten feet from the muzzle is 3,255 fps.

Actual muzzle velocity would calculate to about 3,270 fps.

This is my "Lucky Gun" and "Lucky Load." Every single time I have fired the rifle in the field, some critter, large and furry, has taken a dirt-nap. The combination has probably taken thirty big game animals or so and every single one of them was a bang-flop kill.

One big old Montana mule deer was peeking at me through a juniper tree at dawn one morning. I saw his eye and I saw the tops of his antlers waaaaaaay up there and waaaaay wife. I shot him through the right eye at about 50 yards in the pre-dawn. He was 9½-years old and by far the heaviest, longest, most massive mule deer I've ever killed ... and I've killed way over 300 mulies in my long life.

Funny how things like that Big Ol' Buck stick with a fella.

Anyway, the rifle, cartridge, load and bullet ... it's a killer of the highest magnitude.

Here's a couple more critters dead to the 7SGLC and 120s; mules and Northern whitetails, none too large, but good eaters.

Steve



AltaWhite.jpg


Here's a real pretty Northern whitetail I killed just at dusk on a very cold evening. The 120 did the deed and he fell over on his back ... quite dead.




Dadsdeer.jpg


This old mule is kinda cool. He has a cheater on the left base that goes 180º around the horn. Not a bad buck ... old bugger. If I cared about score, he'd do pretty good.

I've never cared about B&C or score and I always thought it was funnier than $hit that Leupold named the reticle I designed the Boone & Crockett.

Gotta be some kind of arrangement there. I don't know if Leupold pays B&C for use of the name. Or maybe B&C pays Leupold for the added advertisement and promotion. It's for positive sure that NOBODY PAYS ME A FREAKIN' DIME. It's all so very strange.




Browtines2.jpg


This Alberta whitetail ran after one too many does and I nailed him with a 120 in the spine. He don't score much, but he's got hellacious eyeguards. Lots of points broken, but he's kinda cool.





LastBuck.jpg


I killed this buck four years ago in Montana with the 120 in my 7SGLC. Not a bad little 4X4, actually, and he had really pretty eyeguards and heavy bases.

I'm all busted up now and I'm constantly in a great deal of pain. Because of that, it is quite likely this is the last buck I'll ever kill. Great way to go out, I guess.

Steve






 
Steve thanks for the reply and the great pics! I can only imagine the stories and experiences you have.

You also have me researching the 7mm-08 AI.. Ill tell the wife it was your fault when i pull the trigger on one!
 
Great pictures Steve. I can also vouch for the effectiveness of the 120 BT. It just slays stuff out of my .280 AI.
 
It's good to read about BT's performing well. Most of what I've read wasn't good when it came to shooting big game with them. I have only used them for coyotes.

That being said, I would use a Barnes TSX in 120gr out of the 7mm-08. I look at Barnes as insurance, in the event the bullet hits heavy bone, or the shot is at 20 yards. I KNOW the Barnes will penetrate.
 
Hey Steve, I'm wondering what your reasons were on why it is such a great big game bullet? Just curious. Do the bullets always exit? I would think they would just explode on the shoulder. Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: MousedipperDan Dan,

7SGLC Means Seven shot, Great little cartridge,

I thought everyone knew that

Dave Mousedipper, I don't want to sound like a know it all especially to a fellow Arizonan. I think that the 7MM SGLC was developed by gun writer Layne Simpson and stands for Simpson's Great Little Cartridge. I'm not sure but I think Layne talks about the SGLC in my Nosler loading manual on the 7-08 page. I can't look that up since I'm on vacation right now. I have an elk hunt this fall and I'll be using 140gr. accubonds in my 7-08.
 
Steve, it's great to see your name in print again. When you wrote for Varmint Hunter magazine, your's were the first articles I read when I received that great quarterly magazine.

I had been hunting antelope and shooting prarie-dogs in the Musselshell River country only a few years when I first read your articles that described your adventures there. It turned out that my wife and I were able to purchase a small cabin on 100 acres, right on the banks of the Musselshell River near the little town of Musselshell and believe me, it is an adventure every time we visit that treasure of a place.

I have to ask......what do you mean, "your all busted up"?

You don't know me but, you're a friend. Please let us know your ideas and thoughts about guns, reloading, shooting etc. via this forum and please do so ofen.

MikeinMontana
 
I would go with the triple shock just to assure a bit more weight retention and penetration. That's just me though. Only elk I have killed with a Barnes was with 180 .30 cals. Excellent penetration and wound channels with both going down promptly.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top