What Bullet and Load for Colorado Elk ?

[rooster52]

What bullet and load do you use for elk and deer in Colorado. Must be a full bore bullet not a sabot.

[Rich M]

While not pursuing elk, I have a Sambar deer hunt coming up. They are a little smaller - 500/600 pounds.

My chose of loads will be in the 90-100 gr range of loose 777 and either a 348 gr hollow point or 444 gr flat point powerbelt. What can I say? I like them.

**See next post

[Rich M]

I've done some more research and have several other options for you!

I've decided to "can" the whole powerbelt thing for now - I was thinking if I had a shoulder shot (or no shot) on a big bull, would I take it? Answer is "in a heartbeat" - the powerbelt will most likely not work in that situation.

Some research has been performed. A lot of bullets out there & most 300 gr projectiles will work well on elk. The follwoing 3 look very good to me.

300 gr. SST & bonded SST - has mostly good reviews.
300 gr. Barnes MZ - will likely punch right thru a shoulder blade.
300 gr. Hornady MB - new from Hornady - neat looking bullet - great reviews so far. Not likely to fail on a shoulder blade.

I have read that all three of these bullets can be loaded with 120 +/- gr of loose powder and are not likely to fail at close range. Gives you a 10 to 150-200 yard bullet if your gun likes them.

The last case scenario is the Hornady Great Plains - great reviews for a lead bullet. A proven choice for elk.

I'm done - next is to go and buy some along with a pound of Pyrodex or 777 and see how my M L works with them. Barnes MZ & Hornady MB are the ones I want to try the most.

[oneshot 1]

I like 385gr. Great Plains Bullets.I use 100gr. loose Pyrodex.

oneshot

[Rich M]

I ended up doing some tests - nothing fancy but here are the results...

CVA Wolf - Winchester 777 209 primers, Pyrodex ffg loose

300 gr Shockwave EZ load sabot - shot 80, 100, and 120 gr powder. 100 was most comfortable, 120 had a lot of recoil. Of course I beat myself up a little bit - next time I will shoot 100 gr and see how she patterns at 100.

300 gr Barnes Red Hot EZ load sabot - shot 120 gr powder - hit about 1 inch from the Shockwave on each of the 3 shots at 100 yards...I was trying to see how they would compare and was very surprised.

295 gr hollow point Power Belt - used to sight in gun with 60 and 80 gr powder and then switched over to more "proven and failure resistant" loads for 100 yards.

I was using a new Bushnell Banner scope (returned) and the groups of the Shockwave and Red Hots were not consistant with 120 gr of powder out of my CVA Wolf... I had heard that the gun shoots best when not "pushed" too much.

The scope seemed to need a "settling shot" to settle the crosshairs after adjusting. The first shot would be where I wanted it then, the 2nd and third shots were "off" 3 to 4 inches but within an inch of each other... We had to leave before I could finish sighting in and such. I put 7 rounds thru it at 100 yards.

Just as well - I put a Leupold VX-II 3-9x40 on the Wolf and can not doubt the scope any more.

The powerbelts were more difficult to load than the EZ load sabots (I forget the actual names - EZ glide, EZ Load, Slick load - whatever they call 'em). All loads were loaded with the cheapo aluminum ram rod that comes with the Wolf - no handle necessary - I could push them down and seat them with the palm of my hand on a bare ram rod. Pretty slick!

The gun was very clean. I ran a couple patches thru it for prosperity but did not need them - there was hardly any crud in the barrel. Very clean shooting combination.

[DinkKiller]

90 grs of APP 3f with a 370 gr TC Maxiball is the ticket for my Omega.

[wranglerdude]

90 grs of APP 3f with a 370 gr TC Maxiball is the ticket for my Omega.

DinkKiller, What size groups are you getting with the 370 Maxiball? Open sights or scope?

[rooster52]

I havebeen shooting the Hornady Great Plains 385 hollow point using a subase made by MMP and getting good groups ,arround 3 inch's at 100 yards with 90 grains of Triple 7.