Elk Ammo?
 

I have a new 300 Win Mag that I will be elk hunting with this year. I am a big fan of the Barnes TSX bullet. I wanted to use the Barnes Vor-Tex 180gr TSX but can't find it anywhere.

Any suggestions on other 180gr ammo that will work well on elk and retain its weight? Was also thinking of the Nosler Accubond if I can't find the Barnes.

Thoughts?

Accubond, Partition, Swift Aframe will all work fine on elk as long as you stick with the 180-200gr. My wife's 300win is loaded with 180gr partition, while my 300RUM is 200gr partitions. You may lose a minimal amount of weight, but it will be insignificant and the bullet will perform fine.

Black Hills and Cor-Bon also load the Barnes bullet in this caliber.
Federal also has a similar offering cheaper price wise than those previously mentioned.

I would suggest hand loading the TSX if you can find the components. In every rifle that I have used the TSX the length of the loaded cartridge was a big deal as far as accuracy is concerned, and that can only be tailored through hand loading.

I have taken a quite a few elk with a .300 Win. Mag. using the Nosler Partition 180. The Accubond shoots a bit better in my rifles than the Partition, but I have only taken a couple of elk with it so far (it worked just fine).

The Barnes bullets certainly have many fans, and great advertising, but I have had some problems with them. They usually work just great, but I have had some problems with expansion in cases where impact velocity was a bit lower than the TSX likes. As long as the velocity is sufficiently high the TSX is an extremely effective bullet.

You can spend all that money on those bullets or you can buy 180gr Rem Corlok PSP for $21. I have absolutely no problem killing elk with them.

Absolutely.
180 gr. 30 caliber rifle bullets were designed with elk in mind. Those made in USA anyway. I've heard all the malarkey about Core Lokts and Power Points not being "effective on elk size game". BS


Nothing wrong with an expensive premium bullet, but they won't turn a poorly placed shot into a kill and they won't kill any quicker with a well placed shot than a standard C&C bullet.


I'm all for the guys making a buck by selling high end bullets but I throw the flag when somebody says they are necessary to kill large animals.

I couldn't agree more. But I'm old school and ignorant. LOL

My hunting party's experience with all these new "premium," non-cup-and-core bullets is about the same as it's been with the expanding broadheads that all the TV personalities rave about - poor. You won't find an expanding broadhead in our camp anymore, and after last season watching one elk and three deer walk away after solid hits with the new "premium" bullets, I expect we won't see any of those unless someone new shows up who's been reading the ads in the magazines....

The best performance I watched last season was a bull elk that was set back on his hindquarters, shot through the heart we found later, finally rolled over, thrashed around for half a minute or less, and finally bled out. Great performance if you're bowhunting, but for a bullet out of a .300 WSM? The bullet was a "pass-through" as well, which is part of the reason I'm not convinced they're worth the metal they're made of. Blood trails are for bowhunters. If you're not putting an animal down nearly in his tracks with a rifle, something's not quite right with what you're doing or using.

I'm sticking to my simple C&C Hornadys. They worked in the past, and they still work today. No hesitation from me if I have to buy cheap Core-Lokts.

My elk didn't fuss much when hit with a 150gr partition out of a 7mm rem mag.

180 grain Nolser Partition & 300 Win mag are like peanut butter & jelly.