Bullet type and placement

[Rem.280]

Trying to get things right before hunting up in Chama, NM. This year. Shooting a .280 Remington, using 140 gr. core lokts, best location for bullet placement would be behind shoulders . Anyone experience bad things with type of bullet and placement?

[elk-n-walleye]

Trying to get things right before hunting up in Chama, NM. This year. Shooting a .280 Remington, using 140 gr. core lokts, best location for bullet placement would be behind shoulders . Anyone experience bad things with type of bullet and placement

I see this is your first post. Welcome to Elknut forums!
My rifle of choice is 30-06 and I've used 165 gr core lokt in recent years. They have always performed well for me with a shot behind the shoulder.

[WapitiTalk1]

As everyone here will tell you, I know zero about boom sticks so I'll let others comment on your question That said, welcome to "the" elk forum Stacy. Glad to have you on board. Pick a log by our campfire and set a while. RJ

[Rem.280]

Thanks. Do know different type bullets need to be placed where they will do their job. Would not want a Copper bullet going for a lung/heart shot just like you would not shoot a lead bullet into a shoulder. Think I will keep what I have working for 700 CDL and myself

[Indian Summer]

Core Lokt bullets have killed lots of game no question. But a partition design is superior. Your analogy was good. Partitions give you the best of both worlds. Front half expands to expend the energy and do damage, the back half stays intact for better penetration and performance if it hits bone.

Obviously Nosler coined the name partition and Nosler Partitions are awesome. A Core Lokt bullet will completely dump all of it's energy if it hits bone whereas the copper wall protects the back half of the lead in a partitioned bullet. The Nosler Accubond is a good one too and inherently more accurate with it's polymer ballistic tip. But there are other bullet makers employing a partition design. I would say try the Federal Vital Shock if you don't reload. They make factory ammo with Nosler Partitions. If they fly good from your gun give them a try for elk. I think you'll be better off.

[Fridaythe13th]

Love that caliber. As far as big game bullets, find what shoot through your gun best or give you the best pattern. Site in a couple inches high at a 100 yards. The extra bullet from the brands that did not shoot as well, I put gallon milk jugs out at different ranges 2,3,4 hundred yds and burn them up. Its good to shoot and watching those jugs blow up, its fun.

[Indian Summer]

Almost forgot... welcome aboard! Glad to have you and hope to see you on here more often.

As for placement.... top of the heart would be ideal but anywhere in the blue shaded area will get results although I do notice that they shaded over the scapula bone a little bit which isn't ideal especially with a bow.

[Rem.280]

Thanks for the inputs. I did buy some Nosler 150 partitions but have not made it to the range yet. Another tbing i can do with those 140 core lokts that I love and yes, do shoot alot is to have a 1 3/4 " , 3 shot group in under 8 seconxs at 300 yards. I have read many articles on hunting elk and seems that quick follow ups are important. Have a Rem. 700 CDL topped with a Leupold 4-14 with Booneand Crockett reticle. This rifle is just as sweet and accurate as my Ruger #1 in the same caliber. Thanks again for the helpful info.

[Indian Summer]

Have a Rem. 700 CDL topped with a Leupold 4-14.

Nice! Let me know how those Noslers fly for you. They will do more damage so hopefully they'll work out. It sounds like you definitely know how to shoot.

[baddaddy]

The .280 is a great round for elk. Try the 160 grainers as well for Elk. What ever flies the best is the bullet for you. I personally like the Barnes TSX but that is just my preference. I use the 140 Grain TSX in a 7-08 and it works great on Elk. Just my .02.

[Wyo67]

Welcome Rem.280! I haven't used my trusty .270 on a bull, but I've taken a three cows over the past couple years with 150 grain Core Lokts and my furthest recovery was 5 yards. It's all about the placement...

[Elkduds]

Welcome to the Forum, there are a several gun only members and many who go both ways. 280 is an awesome round, all you need to kill elk w good shot placement at reasonable range, 250 yards +/-. Most elk hunters favor heavy-for-caliber bullets of partition or other heavy, penetrating construction. In my 7 mag I favor 175 grains, though 160 has many proponents. In my 270 I like 160s, 150s and even lighter bullets have their fans. Your 280 shoots 7 mm bullets @ 270 velocities, more or less. Lots of discussion here recently RE 270 loading, but 280 is a rarer breed. As you probably are aware, 2 lungs punctured = dead elk within about 100 yards, whether by bullet or bow. One lung = wounded elk, long tracking, maybe lost animal, which ruins your day and is much worse for the animal. Having a leg injured is not going to stop most elk, so shooting to break a shoulder is bad practice on elk. Knocking down an elk w a rifle shot is MUCH less common than w deer, I don't even try for knockdown shots.

Shoot through both lungs

Most of us shoot elk @ 100 yards or less, w longer shots when required. We never have a bench to shoot from, so must be proficient from hunting positions: prone, sitting, kneeling, offhand. High scope magnification tends to shake in these field positions, 8-9X is all most of us ever use while hunting, usually less. There's my .02. Again, welcome to the campfire, pass the beans, please.

[Indian Summer]

You can kill an elk with a .30-30 every time if you shoot it in the lungs. My niece has a .243 that works.

But what are we really talking about here? I think the idea is to plan for all of the things that can and do go wrong out there. Have something that is going to do the job when a less the ideal shot happens. Having a bullet that is going to break a shoulder and keep going is a good thing. Obviously the bullet has to fly good from the gun or you are sacrificing placement which is a step in the wrong direction. Elk aren't deer so I prefer something that would pass through a deer completely every time. we have had threads talking about frontal shots. People say "I'd take it with a gun" But there again... that's not a double lunger so what type of bullet has the edge for a shot like that? Probably not a Core-Lokt. But a partition or that Barnes will do the job.

Hope for the best but plan for the worst.

[Trophyhill]

I killed a cow outside of Chama a couple years ago with my 7mag and 140gr Winchester Supreme Accubond. No trailing neccesary. I would have used the Ballistic Silver Tips but couldn't find any

[Swede]

Welcome to the forum 280. It is good to have another rifle hunter here.
It has been over 40 years since I shot an elk with a Nozler Partition bullet, but I still remember the problems I experienced. In the morning I knocked one elk down that got up and ran off to where another hunter shot and killed it. I hit the elk a little too far forward, but it should have been lethal. I did not contest ownership of the elk. Later that day I killed an elk. When I was taking the elk apart, I found the bullet. It had not opened up at all. It looked just like a bent steel jacketed bullet. I never used a partition after that. Maybe partition bullets have improved, but based on my experience, I would stay with the Core Locts.

[Ghost]

Im with Joe, any bullet consideration should take into account if and when things go wrong, from hitting a branch before impact to just plain blowing the shot, say the elk turns tail and now you have the dreaded texas heart shot, Id want to know my bullet will hold together and penetrate through the punch into the vitals. The modern TSX, TTSX , LRX, GMX and I could go on and on before very very well under a whole slew of conditions, and mushroom quite well on a lung shot and dig really deep on a shoulder shot. I will say Im no expert, the one elk I shot was with a 7mm08 140XLC at approx 60 yards, bullet penetrated both shoulders and kept going.

[Raven10]

I've shot animals from Sitka blacktails to brown bears with the 140 gr. corelokt in .280 and not had any problems. Like has been said "It's all about placement".

[nuevo_eph]

I killed a cow outside of Chama a couple years ago with my 7mag and 140gr Winchester Supreme Accubond. No trailing neccesary. I would have used the Ballistic Silver Tips but couldn't find any

I would have thought the silvertips would expand a little too quickly for elk? Have you found otherwise? I have a bunch of 180 gr 30-06 silver tips and accubonds and save the latter for elk and the former for mule deer based on what I have read. I have yet to use either on a hunt though as this is only my 2nd year huntin'.

[Indian Summer]

Maybe partition bullets have improved, but based on my experience, I would stay with the Core Locts.

Not sure what happened there Swede. In essence a partition is exactly the same design in the front end with it's exposed lead core that mushrooms pretty easily. The difference is only in the rear section of the bullet. There are certainly as many partition users as there are core lokt. But in say Africa... the Partitions will far outnumber the Core Lokt which says at least a little.

Fact is... every elk I have ever killed with a gun has been with a Nosler Partition. Even with marginal hit they have always gotten the job done and I have never lost an elk, or caribou, or deer although they pass through deer to quickly and easily in my opnion. I said in my first post that lots of animals have been killed with them. The reason is it is the cheapest and most readily available ammo on the planet. Have you guys who have great results with them had any shots other than a broadside shot that didn't hit shoulder? They are not known to be a "bone crushing" round.

[rudyc]

In my opinion, if you are shooting 1 3/4" at 300 yards with your Core=Lokt bullets, and you place that bullet in the heart/lung area, the only thing you need to worry about is a sharp knife for field dressing.

[Rem.280]

Looked at the ammo I bought and they are 160 gr. Nosler custom ammo. I will try them this weekend and let all know how they flew. If my rifle can group them no more than 2 1/2 at 300, I will think about using them. I hate second guessing myself. I am also putting in a call to a reload/hunter goru and will let you know his optnion. Thanks again for everyones input.

[husky390]

Welcome to the forum. I have a .280 AI on my "want to build list".

I try to remember to find the front leg and aim straight up from it just like Indian Summers image shows. Problem is, I get "buck fever" so bad it's tough to remember that. I've only dropped a cow and that was with a 250gr Sierra Game King SPBT out of a .375 H&H at 75 yards or so. I put one in her rear and one through the heart and she still ran 75 yards or so uphill, stood there, and then dropped. It was my first elk, but with that kind of firepower, I was expecting her to drop much faster than that and was very disappointed in myself and my shooting, but, I was pretty dang excited. I've thought it over and over and I think I was too close for the bullet to do it's job properly.

A couple things I did learn:

At 75 yards and with the scope on 3x, you are picking out which hair you want to shoot.
Slow down and breathe.
Know your terrain. For that hunt, I was expecting long cross canyons shot. I jumped the herd up out of a canyon when I was driving to a different location. If I know I'll be hunting dark timber, I'm grabbing an iron sighted 45/70 or my 300wsm with a 1.5-4x scope. IMHO a 3x or higher scope is useless for shots under 100 yards.

[Trophyhill]

I killed a cow outside of Chama a couple years ago with my 7mag and 140gr Winchester Supreme Accubond. No trailing neccesary. I would have used the Ballistic Silver Tips but couldn't find any

I would have thought the silvertips would expand a little too quickly for elk? Have you found otherwise? I have a bunch of 180 gr 30-06 silver tips and accubonds and save the latter for elk and the former for mule deer based on what I have read. I have yet to use either on a hunt though as this is only my 2nd year huntin'.

That was my only rifle kill on an elk. The rest have been with my bow but I've killed a slew of deer using 140 gr silvertips before I started hunting with a bow and the results are always the same. Devastating damage and blood every where and no trailing needed. Now I know others will say that 140 gr is too light but I'm not sold after seeing the quick work the Accubond made on that cow. As with any weapon and species, shot placement is everything.

[Migolito]

I shot exactly 1 deer at 30 yards with a 300 Savage corelokt and the bullet exploded on the shoulder. That did it for me and Corelokts. I realize tens of thousands of deer have been killed with this exact combo, but, once you loose faith... I shoot a 280AI and use TTSX in 140grn for deer. Every single one is a pass thru and every single one died in their tracks or stumbled a few yards. Closest shot was about 30 yards, longest about 350. When I draw a limited Elk tag I'll shoot 150 TTSX-LR. I'll be honest, I'd pick a full on cooper bullet that shoots well and never look back. The thing with full copper is you can shot behind the shoulder, on the shoulder, a severe quartering angle, front chest, etc. and the bullet is going to out penetrate every single lead bullet made.

[Indian Summer]

place that bullet in the heart/lung area, the only thing you need to worry about is a sharp knife for field dressing.

Yep. Do that and you can kill them with .243s and .25-06s too.

Mogolito that is the beauty of a partition bullet. Best of both worlds. The front is very similar to a Core-Lokt with it's exposed lead core. But the back is completely jacket in copper. It stays intact and makes sure that even if you crack a scapula or take a head on shot and don't hit dead center you WILL do lung damage. I'm using Accubonds now. They don't have a partition but are bonded. Makes me nervous because I am a huge partition fan in case of emergency but they have been proven effective by many hunters and I've dropped bulls in their tracks with them myself. Bullet design is huge. Like I said... hope for the best, but you really should prepare for the worst. You never really know how tough an elk is until things don't go just right.

[Rem.280]

Not able to make the range this weekend to shoot. Am going to find some copper bullets. Hard to find for the .280, but will find something. Need to do a little more research and then shoot. Thanks for everyone thoughts and will get back to you on this.

[baddaddy]

Look for the Barnes Vor-TX line. They load their TSX bullets.

[Ironhorse375]

I'm new to the site, love elk hunting and the .280. I have shot many types and weights of bullets thru my .280. The best I have found are the federal 160 grain TB bullet. 2 years ago I killed a Dall sheep at 375 yards, that being said sheep are fairly easy to kill. This last year I killed a nice 6x6 bull at 400 yards. I am a believer in this caliber and bullet. Practice practice practice . Best of luck in your up coming hunt.