Recommend me a bullet

[dgolden]

Gearing up for my first trip to Colorado to hunt a bull elk. We're headed to NW Colorado.
Will be shooting a Tikka t3x lite in 300 win mag. I used it deer hunting this year with some Winchester Big Game 180 grain. Shoots great, but after the magazine is removed and installed from the gun a few times the top bullet has some damage to it. The tip of the bullet will be mashed/crushed to one side.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

 

[ADR]

Be hard to beat 180gr accubonds

 

[TNRifleman]

Be hard to beat 180gr accubonds

This is what I would take for sure.

 

[Mattt]

Accubond or partition. Partition has a lead nose also. I haven't seen any difference in accuracy or performance with slight damage to the nose.

 

[Jmed]

Ive been shooting the same gun, same caliber. I am shooting a handloaded berger 178grain VLD and have taken a big Mulie and a big white tail. It is the most accurate bullet out of my gun. The most accurate factory load has been the Hornady 180 grain Superformance SSTs. Ive not had any trouble with the nose of either bullet deforming. great gun. great round.

 

[hunter0925]

Accubond and don't look back. Anything from the 180 to 200gr range will do great. I will be carrying my 300wsm back next year shooting 200gr accubonds with my 325wsm as back up shooting 200gr accubond.

 

[bobbuck]

Killed mine with the exact same gun and caliber in 2004. I used 180 gr partitions never took a step.

 

[mike243]

I quit using Winchester in my 243 with a blind mag for the same reason years ago,never shot any thing bigger than 165g SST but hope to use mine to kill a Tn elk some day so I always watch these threads in case :tu: ,good luck

 

[DaveB]

I used 180 gr Partitions with great success. Through and through on 5x5 at @ 125 yards, IIRC. There are several-Accubonds, ELD-X, Barnes, Nosler E-Tip. Be sure you can hit what you aim at at 400 yards.

You going to the Meeker/Craig area?

I hunted that area for 7 consecutive years. If you are out in the rolling hills west of Craig be sure you have plenty of 300 and 400 yard experience at the range. The national forests in the area are jammed, were jammed, orange coats everywhere. I found them to be a total waste of time. Consider your total expenses and time. You may want to avoid public land and see what private land is available and at what cost.

As a suggestion, do not leave home without a primary and backup rifle.

There is a large piece of land I will have to look up the exact location but headed north from Meeker towards Craig there is a right hand turn somewhere close to an old post office in the middle of nowhere. East on that road it goes to gravel then dirt and as I recall, just past end of the gravel on north side was the property I hunted quite a bit. Don't know the fees or even how to reach the landowner. Place used to be crawling with mule deer and plenty of elk.

The country is rugged and because of the elevation it can get really cold. You are a very long slow way from Meeker/Craig so plan on being completely self sufficient and don't run low on gas.

I paid a processor in Craig just one time and was extremely disappointed. Bring enough game bags to keep the meat protected. Stop in meeker and get some dry ice. You should plan on replenishing the dry ice a few times.

 

[shirtshirt]

Gearing up for my first trip to Colorado to hunt a bull elk. We're headed to NW Colorado.
Will be shooting a Tikka t3x lite in 300 win mag. I used it deer hunting this year with some Winchester Big Game 180 grain. Shoots great, but after the magazine is removed and installed from the gun a few times the top bullet has some damage to it. The tip of the bullet will be mashed/crushed to one side.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

What are your groupings with the 180 grain? If your gun likes those and you can shoot it confidently, I'd say stick with what you know. Elk aren't bullet proof.

 

[dgolden]

Thanks for the input guys! I bought some Accubonds and Hornady Superformance the other day. Hoping to try them both out next weekend.

DaveB, I'll be going to Rangely. It's about an hour past Meeker.

Shirtshirt, the 180 grain Winchesters I've been using shoot great. Three shot groups are touching each other at 100 yards. However, the tips of the bullets are damaged after the magazine goes in and out of the gun a few times.

 

[GOODWIN]

Gearing up for my first trip to Colorado to hunt a bull elk. We're headed to NW Colorado.
Will be shooting a Tikka t3x lite in 300 win mag. I used it deer hunting this year with some Winchester Big Game 180 grain. Shoots great, but after the magazine is removed and installed from the gun a few times the top bullet has some damage to it. The tip of the bullet will be mashed/crushed to one side.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

What are your groupings with the 180 grain? If your gun likes those and you can shoot it confidently, I'd say stick with what you know. Elk aren't bullet proof.

Well said. If your literally touch holes together why change? I've never noticed accuracy suffer from lead tips damaged. Shoot a few and see.

 

[dgolden]

Gearing up for my first trip to Colorado to hunt a bull elk. We're headed to NW Colorado.
Will be shooting a Tikka t3x lite in 300 win mag. I used it deer hunting this year with some Winchester Big Game 180 grain. Shoots great, but after the magazine is removed and installed from the gun a few times the top bullet has some damage to it. The tip of the bullet will be mashed/crushed to one side.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

What are your groupings with the 180 grain? If your gun likes those and you can shoot it confidently, I'd say stick with what you know. Elk aren't bullet proof.

Well said. If your literally touch holes together why change? I've never noticed accuracy suffer from lead tips damaged. Shoot a few and see.

I haven't shot any with damaged tips. I may give it a try this weekend at the range. I hunted with the rifle this year just to get used to it and noticed that the tips were getting messed up. I would think it would hurt the accuracy at long ranges, but like I said I haven't tried them yet.

 

[DaveB]

Rangely, you headed to the Unitah mountain range?

 

[dgolden]

Rangely, you headed to the Unitah mountain range?

I believe so. We'll be hunting BLM land in Unit 21 and 30. Not far from the Utah and Wyoming lines.

 

[DaveB]

Sorry dg I was turned around there. The two areas look to be tough country. I would be spending a bunch of time walking in my boots and getting in shape.

I will spend some time in Google earth later today. Elk like water so we need to find some spots. What I always did was look for anything green and isolated. where you have two ridgelines separating or starting from the main ridge you can often find a tiny trickle of water at the base. A trickle is all you need.