Maybe the reports are going to prove to be incorrect, but I am beginning to believe that with the newer, premium bullets, one can take elk with a 140gr bullet just as one used to with a 180gr bullet
Absolutely true.I have taken several elk and moose with 140gr partitions out of my 7mmstw's with no problems at all.However the 180gr ballistic tips out of my 300 ultramags do seem to drop them faster.Does it really matter,not usually but it can prevent an elk or moose from reaching thick brush or a swamp where retrievel is more difficult.For the record ,both of my 300ultramags are long throated and even when loaded to 3.670" the bullet is still.2" from the lands.However it has not caused me any accuracy problems.My latest 300ultramag did have the groups open up a bit when I increased the powder charge,but both of my 300ultramags still average 1/2" to 5/8" groups while producing 3320fps.