SST for elk

I have used the 165 out of my 30tc on 2 elk, one bull and cow. One shot kill for both neither made a step. Bull 187 yards down hill, shot about 4" below top of shoulder blade, went through both shoulders lodged under skin bullet weighed 100.5 grs. Cow shot 125 yards behind shoulder quartered away, bullet went through opposite shoulder lodged under skin again, weighed 110 gr. I handloaded these to factory published velocity. I think the 30 cal sst is a tough bullet.
 
Never used the SST but I've shot seven of eight bulls with a variety of 180gr bullets from a 300 Wby and they all performed quite well. I think the SST would be as good as any and I'd have no concern/s using them on Elk.
 
I’ve used the 180gr SST in 308 for white tails with good results. The 165’s weren’t bad, but they started coming apart, almost becoming explosive. The 150’s acted like grenades, but were able to drop deer in their tracks if placed on the shoulder, however, lots of meat was wasted.

I personally would not consider the SST a good elk round after seeing how soft and thin jacketed they are. I switched from SST’s to Accubond and haven’t looked back. I’ve been able to shoot full length on a deer using the Nosler’s in 308 and 280. The SST’s could not, I’ve tried. There are much stouter bullets out there for not much more money. Accubond, Interbond, Barnes, Partition are a few I can think of off hand.
 
10 Bears, a 180g Hornady BTSP or flat base would be a much better bullet in case you hit a shoulder or heavy rib, I can't say enough good about these two bullets as I learned shooting hogs.

So you know, elk are not hard to kill, it is all about bullet placement. I killed 8 with a 7x 57 loaded with 140g Sierra sp flat base when I did not know any better. Then went to a 7 mag with the new 140g Nosler ballistic tips, killing two large bulls.

Neither of these calibers and bullets that I killed elk with would be considered adequate today, but this was 35 years ago when I was in my very early 20's.

With all those elk we killed, I never saw anyone hit one on the shoulder. I skinned and butchered all my animals, and am very leary of using any caliber or bullet to hit a shoulder intentionally. I got lucky many times and hit the animals mid body where they collapsed at a dead run.

I have a friend that has killed 50+ elk with a 300 WM with 180g Sierra BTSP, which is also a bullet on the tad softer side vs the Hornady BTSP.

The bullet is the cheapest part of the hunt. Today if I were going elk hunting, I would use a Heavy for caliber Nosler Partition as it would break shoulders and hips and keep on going. We got real lucky on those running elk, but we were shooting a lot of jack rabbits on the run at that time. What is very deceiving is that an elk is very big, when it is running, it does not look to be moving very fast, so you have a tendency to not leade it as much as you should. You may find yourself thinking that you would not shoot one on the run, but if you jump one in a clear cut that looks like he has an oak tree on his head, you will take a shot or three! You have to discipline yourself to not look at the rack!

Elk like to bed down in clear cuts, on the sunny side. We walked these clear cuts, a guy on each side and one in the middle. We had good success many times. Taking a shot up the Azz on a full grown elk is not a good idea, but the Nosler partition would get the job done in spades.

 
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I used the Nosler Partition and the Swift A-Frame for elk many years. They are no nonsense elk bullets. In the end I started using the A-Frames and they seemed to hold up a little better when hitting bone.
 
I shoot SSTs in my 6.5 Swede and like them for deer sized game. I have also shot 150s in a .308 Win. I personally wouldn't consider them good elk bullets though, even larger .30 caliber varients. I suspect you could get triple shocks or Hornady GMXs to shoot just as good. I would have much more confidence with a stouter bullet on elk, particularly if you are presented with a less than ideal shot angle. If you're set on SSTs, accept that you'll need to restrict yourself to good broadside shots into the heart and lungs. Do that and you'll have a dead elk.
 
Originally Posted By: DesertRamI shoot SSTs in my 6.5 Swede and like them for deer sized game. I have also shot 150s in a .308 Win. I personally wouldn't consider them good elk bullets though, even larger .30 caliber varients. I suspect you could get triple shocks or Hornady GMXs to shoot just as good. I would have much more confidence with a stouter bullet on elk, particularly if you are presented with a less than ideal shot angle. If you're set on SSTs, accept that you'll need to restrict yourself to good broadside shots into the heart and lungs. Do that and you'll have a dead elk.

Sounds like solid advice.
I have been using Rem CoreLokt's my whole life succesfully for deer and elk. After watching guys show up and wound-maim animals with poor bullet choices it amazes me.
At one multiple wounding incident where the shooters fled, the game warden told me "It's not illegal to wound an animal and there is no law against stupidity".
Elk can be very tough and a good bullet with decent placement will take care of the tough part.
Here is a pic of last years elk bullet. typical to find it under the hide on the opposite side. It has dumped all of the energy into the elk.
This is a .30 cal 180 gr bullet delivered to over 300 yds.

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Thanks for all the posts.My son is going on his first elk hunt in Colorado and we have been trying out some reloads for the 300 WM. and got some good info.I have been loading the 180 Nozlers for him.
 
I took my cow elk here in southern Colorado with my 300wm two years ago with 180g remington core locts. Luckily my vangaurd shoots them about .3/4-1”. At 400 yards I did a clean pass through double lung and heart fist size exit. Second shot exited and shattered the leg. She never took a step stood for maybe 3 seconds before falling down a [beeep] 100ft hill. Was a great time though! And today was the first time I shot that rifle again getting ready for 2nd season and it’s still right where I left it! 2” high at 100! Shoulder hurts though hahah!

Best of luck to your son on his hunt! Bulls were bugging last weekend and with snow this weekend I’m pumped!!!!
 
I have used SST's for years and they work great. I am going to Montana in 2 weeks with a 6.5 Creedmoor and a 7mm Mag both loaded with SST's. I am also going to pick up my Savage 10 with a new .260 AI barrel installed, hope I have time to play with it. Will also feed it SST's.
 


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