.257 wby with 110 grain accubonds

.270 with 140 grain fail safes

7mm rem with 160 grain partition

out of all the rifles I like the .257 accumark the best, but its a heavier gun and although I have talked to several people who use it to shoot elk with no problems, i'm not entirely convinced its the one to take since I have two bigger rounds available.....even though on paper its over the .270 at all distances and within a few hundred ft. lbs of the 7mm mag

More bullet weight, the better. If I'm looking at simply energy and bullet weight on target, I'm going 7 Mag then 270. But which one do you shoot better? I'd go with the one you feel you can shoot better. A 257 Wby or 270 Win is a better choice with a good shot placement, than a 7 Mag with bad shot placement.

Either of the last two. I'd take the last one. If you're not scared of recoil or have some other issue with it, why not take it?

Whatever the numbers say re: KE, ft. lbs. and whatnot - more lead is better for an elk. You don't want to use a 110 grain bullet.

7mm with the 160 gr A-Frame IMO, any will do the job, but 7mm would be my choice. I usually take my 7mm Ultra with 175gr A-Frame afield for elk.

honestly I shoot all them about the same. the .257 is an accumark, synthetic stock, stainless etc. better suited for snow. my .270 is a ruger m77 that is a "deer rifle" in about every sense. its what I carried last time.

I have hunted with my 7mm just a few times....like 2 or 3. Killed an axis with it a week after I got it and put it in the safe and haven't touched it. Beautiful A-bolt Medallion LH with a 26" barrel I picked up used in a trade.


honestly....I just like the accumark that much better....trying to justify bringing it but I know its the worst choice of the 3

I'd take a 257 weatherby with 110 accubonds over the 270 with 140 fail safes. There's a reason they discontinued the fail safes. They had a problem expanding and put holes like a fmj through animals. Saw an elk on a canned hunt shot 10 times with a 300 wm with 180 fail safes and it didn't drop (all shots were in the chest). Ran out of bullets and they had to take a kids 243 with 100 grain soft points to finish the elk.

If you limit your shots to 200-300 yard shots the 257 will work fine.

Bear may be the bigger concern. An elk may run off and fall over dead, but you'll find it.

If a bear starts gnawing on your skull, you'll wish you had a big gun.

According to my friend I hunted with who lives in Southern Colorado, there are some areas where the bears have learned that a rifle shot equals dinner time and run to the sound of a shot looking for downed animals or gut piles. He has his family mostly using 243's or 308's for elk, but he carries a 300 Win Mag with Partitions because of the bear problem, especially while working on the downed elk or deer in the earlier seasons.

i'm not really all that concerned about a black bear. they are only a few hundred pounds not the 600 lb monsters you see on the east coast and Canada.


I know a lot of locals use a .243....but I don't have the opportunity to hunt all season long. need to hedge my bets a little bit

7 Rem Mag, and I wouldn't give it a second thought.

If I couldn't put bullets where they go with that, I'd figure out what was wrong and correct it.

A 308 would put down a black bear just fine at close range. I think your friends trying to justify carrying a bigger gun.

He was a federal game warden for 30 years. He was actually attacked by a bear and shot it at point blank range, which probably changed his thinking some.

I had the same Accumark. I wouldn't want to carry that beast hiking in steep terrain. The caliber doesn't scare me for either animal though.

Any listed will do...even the 257...it is hell on wheels . The 100 TSX bullets it kills bigger than it is....I'm sure the 110 s are every bit is good.

Hunt several years ago, 3 elk killed. The only elk that went down from one shot was at 287 yards from a 257 wby loaded with 110 accubond. The ones that required more shots were with 300 wby. I would not hesitate to hunt with any of the 3 listed. On the 270 it would be loaded with partitions or 140gr accubonds

Take you bow while you still have your youth!!

If he was on duty it was probably a 308 that saved his life.

7mm all day long!

If a bear starts gnawing on my skull, he'll wish he had bigger teeth.



I think any of the three would do the job, but as always there are choices that are just simply better than others. In this case, the heavier bullet is the winner---on account of the elk, not bear.

Since I've become a "suspenders and belt" kinda guy...I'd plan on taking 2 rifles to begin with..and if one were lots heavier or shot further better than the other one, I'd let the terrain for the day dictate which rilfe got the call for duty that day. Heavy timber same thing...I detest using a 26" barrel in the deep woods, especially in the 9 1/2lb+ all up 300Winnie M70 SS Classic I had.... but would swear BY it instead of AT it in open country.

Everything is always a compromise & that days gun to tote decision is no different. All 3 of your rifles will do the job, just select WHICH tool to use based on that day's anticipated field conditons & have fun and don't sweat the small stuff.
Ron

7mag, hands down.

I would have plenty of confidence in any of them, within the limits I feel that they're each appropriate. The 7 mag has higher limits, and is just about perfect for elk, so that's that.

The browning is about 4 lbs lighter too....another plus for the 7mm

Anyone ever use the 168 grain accubonds from Winchester?

If you are comfortable with the 7 mag., use it. The heavier the bullet, the better IMO.

Accubonds, Partitions, ELDs, trophy bonded, TSXs, A-frames, - any of the bonded/monos will work great. With factory rounds you'll just have to pick some based on your preference and start shooting them to see if they're the rifle's preference also. Within my parameters I let the rifle tell me what it likes. I have had the best luck in general with Nosler and Federal Premium factory ammo. But that's just me based on somewhat limited experience. My Sako .270 likes Winchester PowerPoint 150 grains. (So be it - that's what I shoot in it for medium sized game. I don't hunt elk with it.)

If it likes them, the 160 grain partitions are perfect unless you plan on ultra LR shots.

After all is said and done, any of the three guns you have will work fine with good bullet placement. I would shoot the one that I felt the most comfortable with and can shoot best. I like the heavier bullets myself, but shot placement is still the best thing for a good kill.