Best bullet for elk?
 

Don't know if this has been covered, as I've only been on the site a month or so. What is everyones best bullet for elk hunting? I've done good with the Nosler Partitions and recently started buying the Nosler Accubonds. Use them in a 338 Remington Ultra Mag and 375 H&H Mag. Anyone have any experience with Trophy Bonded Bear Claw or Swift A-Frames or Speer Grand Slam? Thanks for the input.

..... Nosler Partitions are hard to beat.. if you can get them to shoot in your gun. I tried hard to make them work in my .338 Win Mag. No luck...

In the two guns Ive fired partitions in, 300RUM, and 7mm Rem Mag, both have shot incredibly well. Some guns just dont like some bullets though. IMO, on anything from antelope on up to moose, I dont think the Nosler Partition is ever the wrong bullet. In some cases there may be better ones suited, but the partition will always perform. Swift A frames are like Partitions but are a bonded bullet, and from what I read, a bit tougher, and alot higher priced. I cant really comment on the other bullets as I just have no experience with them. I've done some loading with the accubonds, and though I've gotten acceptable accuracy with them, Im not convinced on their performance yet, and the partitions still spank them in accuracy with my guns.

I've always liked the Nosler Partition. They shoot well out of all of my guns. Any input on Hornandy or Sierra bullets? What about Barnes? Didn't like the way they expanded when I've recovered them from practicing.

Nosler Partitions are hard to beat, also the Speer Grand Slam is another well constructed bullet that I have had great sucsess with. I have used both in my 300 RUM's and my 338 Win mag. I also like Seirra Game Kings and Pro Hunters, and Hornady Interlocks, they shoot great in all my guns but have only used these on deer sized animals. As far as accuracy the Seirra's are hard to beat in my experience, but have a rather thin jacket, which I have personally never had any problems as long as you dont push velocities over 3000fps and shoot at close range. I dont like Barnes bullets, they shoot good but do not exhibit the consistent, reliable expansion that I want in a hunting bullet.

The only bullet I hunt with anymore are Barnes Triple Shocks. They mushroom to twice size almost immediately on contact, retain well over 90% weight and the hydroshock is devistating to the prey. You need to experiment with them for seating depth to find what your particular rifle likes (usually .050" - .080" off the lands) but they preform great when you find the spot. I've had Sierra GK's vaporize on contact (+2750 fps) where this problem is non-existent with the Barnes at any speed.

Personally I prefer Berger VLD bullets. They perform flawlessly in my .325 & .270. Not to mention they have put a bunch of mule deer & elk on my wall...

-South

Jeff, after this weekend I decided that with my 06, I'm going back to 180 gr. Nosler Partitions and Sierra Prohunters. All the testing I did with the BT's, Hornady Interbonds, and SST's was a waste of money and time because none of them shoot as good as the Prohunters and Partitions. I also found that my 06 seems to like the 180's better then the 165's. The partitions and prohunters shoot close enough a like that I will use the prohunters for practice. I'll save the rest of the BT's for when I get my 300WM.

I use Berger or Barnes bullets depending on the animal and distance.

Nosler Partition and I never have had a gun they wouldn't group nicely in.