What's a good elk load in an Omega? 300gr Shockwave pushed as hard as it is accurate?

I'd go with a better sabot than the shockwave. I am not impressed with the shockwaves.

Sabotloader can help you better on this one.

spaniel

To be honest with you i would not shoot the schockwave - i really do not trust it... and of course that is my opinion. I have been hunting elk since i was 12 years old and realy have shot my share + some. I have shot them with a lot of different bullets - but none do the job as does a Nosler Partition... so, I shoot .458 Nosler Partition PP in an MMP Orange sabot - pushed with 110 grains T7-2f from the Omega and 120 grains from the Knight around 1860/1880 fps. You could punch that up a bit with T7-3f - probably closer to 1900 fps

This is the recovered bullet after shooting an elk at 176 yards...



Here is the animal



The results...



I know you are one to think about trajectory and ballistics - but sometimes they do not always tell the story - especially in how strong the bullet is..

There is an alternative though - that being the Barnes bullets that offer near the same bullet strength and have a better BC

Just my thoughts - that is what i wll be hunting with in Idaho this year again...

Thanks for the direction. I've had good luck with Shockwaves on deer but that is deer. I'll look into the Nosler, that is a good idea. There are some of the Precision Rifle all-lead designs that look like decent bets as well. If I'm shooting with a ML it will be 125 yds or less, so ballistics don't mean a lot.

spaniel

Just that i want you to know that I am nosler biased and I also am sure that there are shooters out there that will tell you that Barnes is the best....

Right now today i would not hestitate a shoot on an elk to 200 yards - with the Remington, Omega, or the Knight provided the factors were in my favor. I am also well aware of the importance, to me at least, of elk hunting. It is expensive business (really recreation) but you still approach like a business or at least I do. We put a lot of time and effort into what we do because the seasons are so short now.

I know you have extended ranges when shooting whitetail in you neck of the woods, but for us here on the Palouse in Idaho the normal range might be 25 to 75 yards - with extended shots being 150-200 yards. I still use a Nosler for them also but it would be a the 260 grain variety... as soon as i run out of those - I will be switching to the Speer Gold Dot a"poorman's version of the Nosler"

Your draw in thearea between the Bitterroots and the Rockies (do not know which sub range you will be hunting in) of Montana is an excellent area - (PSa little history for ya... that area was originally in the Oregon Territory, then the Washington Territory and finally in the Idaho Territory and should have been in Idaho - dang it! - politics...) if you do your homework, since you are not using a guide,I have a feeling you will have a successful hunt. I am still not sure that i would forsake the 300 for 1 in a several years trip. If you had/have hunted the area for a few yearsandknew the nooks and crannies - cause that is where they are going to be - you really could judge whether the ML would do the job for you... If you are in the mountains and do nothave to shoot across canyons i would go with the ML... but if Idid not know for sure - I would betaking the 300 - same for me if I came out there to hunt your whitetail at the ranges I haveread you are shooting - i would be bringing the A-Bolt 270. I would rather be over-gunned than under-gunned...

mike

The local hosting us claims he get decent bulls nearly every year. So I'm in a good situation, paying my guide in beer and leveraging extensive experience with the hunt area.

In addition to the elk take I also have a deer tag...I owe it to myself to take both guns so that if I luck out and nail the elk early, I may be able to go ML for the deer. So I'll work up an elk load and just be a little overkill on the deer if need be.

I'm pretty comfortable I can carry both. I hear now that their typical hunts are calling the bulls in pretty close, lots of timber in the area so shots are typically not real long.

If you drew a tag in the Bitter Root area, by all means do not forget your fishing pole. The Bitter Root River is one of the best trout streams I have ever fished.

My elk load is a 50 caliber bullet I cast that weighs 525 grains. I push it with 130 grains of 3F Black Powder. The load is devastating(on both ends). Tom.

If it bonded SW that would be OK, but the nonbonded SW are known to have two problems--shoot thru with little or no expansion and fragmentation at close ranges, the result of shoot thru with no expansion is long game tracking, the result of fragmentation COULD BE loss of game.Many folks shoot them for deer and have excelletkills. I do NOT consider them a "strong balanced bullet", I consider them an ACCURATE good bullet. As Sabotloader has >>said and demonstrated<< the Nosler is >>>excellent<<<, if they shoot well in your gun.

Some other considerations for your Omega are Barnes Bullets, they will work in your Omega and would be excellent for Elk, please see my response to Corey on Barnes Bullets here:

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2773595


I would consider shooting a Speer Gold Dot also, since they are bonded. The are much cheaper, but could be excellent in your gun. Black Crushed rib works for me in my TC FL.
Best Wishes on your bullet selection, it is one of the most important considerations in huntinging and easily overlooked by most. Chap Gleason