ORIGINAL: frontier gander
Thats where you have to becareful. In colorado the rule in the book states: Must be single barrel that fires a single round ball or conical projectile the of which it does not exceed twice the diameter..... They will ALWAYS try to get you in someway lol. When i shot that deer and it was a double lung shot and went thru, i was also using 150grain mag load. Forgot to mention that in my other post. But yes, if i were to hunt elk, i would use a 295gn powerbelt in my rifle. If i cant see any vital areas to place my shot, im pretty much rolling around on the groundin painand letting the animal go and hope i see it later on. I would feel comfortable with the 223gn in my inline. But it would have to be in the 100 yard range with an open view of its vitals. My main reason for upping the powder charge VS heavier bullet is due to my shoulder not having any fat or muscle lol. I liked the 245gn hollow point and 150grains powder. With the bi bod installed and shooting in prone position, There is hardly any kick.
There is less recoil in 90 grains powder and a 405 PB than in that load. But the 405 has the momentum to crush bone, and expand, and can do this while itholds together.Not saying that the 405 is better for all situations, but it is forgiving when you hit heavy bone and if you don't put to much powder under it, it won't kick back to awful hard. For me the two best choices for elk (in full bore projectiles) are heavy conicals and roundballs. A light hollowpoint, unless the profile of the hollowpoint isminor to its weight, just isn't going to give the penetration in one piece that the other two will.