If you like your 7-08 and shoot it well, run that. Push a 150 ELD-X or 140 Accbond, or similar bullet, and call it good. With good shot placement, the 7-08 is fine. It's got plenty of bullet weight for deep penetration.

Taking a 7mm-08 would not be my first choice but that wouldn't keep me from taking it or taking for a back up. The 7mm Rem mag is a fine choice as is the 300 Win, we're I too take a WSM it would be the 270. I wouldn't go over a 150 gr with any except the 300 and with it I'd use 165's. I personally like Nosler Partitions but there's several options out there.

Last few years I have shot Elk with 6.5 SAUM(3)270 WSM(1)280 Rem(5) 300WSM(2) so with proper bullets placed in the proper spot not hard to pick a good solid performer.

Last season I built a short barreled 300WSM just for Colorado type mountain timber hunting. I couldn't have been happier with results. Based on what I have toted the last 3 seasons listed above the two that I would pick would be the Custom 300WSM or the Tikka 270 WSM. Not that the others didn't work just fine but they were heavier longer barreled.
The 300WSM dropped a cow elk at 510 yards this year and the 270 WSM killed the biggest Bull I have shot at 340 yards DRT.

The 280 Rem is no slouch with hand loads but if you don't reload I probably would not recommend it as highly. It hammered every animal I shot with it and it even killed two more elk that friends used it on. I loaded 168 Berger Classic's running 2880fps and of 7 elk shot with it out to 350 yards only one made a step and it ran maybe 15 yards.

I was in Chama New Mexico at the ace hardware and picked up a book written by a local elk guide.

His favorite elk rifles are the .270, .280 and .30-06.

7mm and .300 mags are great....if you can shoot them.

You need to be proficient shooting from field positions and that takes some practice and if your rifle pounds the chit outta you, you will either pick up bad habits or avoid practicing altogether. I had a beautiful browning a-bolt in 7mm Remington they I traded off simply because it kicked so bad.

My .300 I built for bigger game wears a brake and a deccelerator recoil pad on it. Besides it being a little loud, it’s extremely pleasant to shoot, thus I’m very accurate with it

So, you had a problem, couldn't take the recoil, traded the rifles.

Then got a rifle with just as much recoil, but wearing a brake, and all is well.

And you're one of the ones that used to speak very poorly of muzzle brakes. Well would ya look at that, more than 20 rounds per year, finally, and you learned something on your own. Since you refused to listen to other more experienced shooters.

He said 400+ yard shooting, dropping down to a 150 gr in a 7mm would be going backwards.

But MV is all you care about. And you refuse to pay attention to data.

3006 in a Winchester Featherweight or Remington CDL in walnut. Plenty of gun, manageable recoil without a loudass brake, plenty of ammo options if you don't roll your own. Then you got a classic American gun, in a classic American caliber, going on a classic American hunt, and trifecta has been reached

I shoot my 300 WBY stone stock and it can get a little rough on the shoulder if your on the bench, but I rarely notice it when hunting. All guns recoil, some a little more than others, don't fight it just go with it.

Pop took allot of elk with a 30-06 but he jumped on the 300 train when Roy Weatherby first came out with the cartridge.

There is a Ruger 7mm Mag in the classifieds for $500. I've eyballed it a few times already. I need a bigger safe before I buy anymore rifles though.

I’ve always been pro muzzle brake.

Took me a min or two to figure it out, but last year I shot my .300 about 10 rounds total. 2 rounds at targets and the other 8 into animals.

Shot my .270 twice, both into animals and my .22-250 5 times, all into animals.

I did shoot my .257 wby 4 times at a target because I hadn’t shot it in a couple years.

Sorry but at this point in my life I just don’t shoot at targets all that much. Doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing

I think people underestimate the value of a good stock.

I would take a factory rifle with an upgraded stock and brake before I dropped a semi custom in a factory stock.

It don't matter, you can hunt 50 plus years, shoot hundreds of rifles and thousands of rounds of ammo and some will still claim you know nothing simply because you don't spend all your time punching holes in targets or banging steel plates. If you don't accept their word as gospel and them as superior hunters and shooters they'll attack your every comment. I find the term Narcissistic Jerk's to be appropriate in their description.

I have a Tikka T3 in 300WinMag with a Bell and Carlson stock. It is light, easy haul around and recoil is manageable. It loves Hornady Precision Hunter 200 grain bullets. I haven't shot at 400 yards, but it works at 300 yards.

I’ll remember next week that they think I’m inexperienced as Im on my way to the taxidermist to pick up all my animals...

I shot my elk last year in Chama, NM

with a 20" Tikka .308, 168 gr

hit it in the neck and it dropped on the spot

Your 7mm-08 will be just fine


stop worrying about caliber, concentrate on bullet and practice shooting off shooting stick

IMO, Nosler Partition is the best for dropping game

partitions!!!! don't understand why they make any other bullets..... Maybe that comment will deflect "them" from retaliating against the inexperienced ones. ideally a better choice would be to get back on topic.
don't shoot the peace maker, any of yall….

O.P. mentioned 400 to 500 yards possibly. You already said you wouldn't take that shot, because too much can go wrong. Sure can, if you don't know what you're doing. He does know what he's doing, and he practices. Therefore his effective range is farther, therefore producing more acres to cover, and more opportunities. His initial post was asking for the purpose of power at those ranges, not should he even try it. No one is taking away from your successes, so don't take away from someone who is better prepared for their future endeavors.

I have a Kimber 8400 300 WM. It weighs in at 7.5 wounds and has a 4x16 Leupold w/a 40mm objective on top. It is a lil' heavier but easier for me to shoot accurately than my lighter Tikka T-3 Stainless Light chambered in 270. This is especially true when not at a bench rest and certainly when utilized off hand or with shooting sticks. Utilizing factory 180 grain ammo (is there anything else), I am quite confident with it and have a proven track record. The confidence is worth the extra weight.

If he knows what he’s doing then he wouldn’t be asking what a good elk caliber is for 400-500 yard shots.

Sorry I’m not jumping on the hype wagon and gonna suggest taking a 500 yard shot at an elk as a prudent practice.

Did you know you can routinely hit 1000 yards with .223? Then add the huge list of other cartridges that will also do it. Anyone that has learned and practiced at distance, knows what they're doing. They just may have doing it with a bullet and MV that isn't stout enough to kill an elk at that distance, like the .223 I mentioned.

I've taken 3 shots at 3 elk. 3 elk were hit one time only, and all 3 went in the freezer. 200 yards, 465 yards, 510 yards.

Not prudent practice? Well, I practiced for years before making those shots on those elk, and I did it with a rifle and load stout enough to hit them hard enough. I didn't take a .223.

This place is for asking questions and sharing ideas. He didn't ask you if it was prudent, he asked what rifle and cartridge to use.

Yes

Yep. Always interesting how those who do not push to develop their skills think others have the same limitation.

Watching a really good competitor shoot offhand and reliably hit relatively small targets out to 600 yards and beyond is impressive and a good demonstration of what is possible with dedicated practice.

Shooting from a good prone or supported position at 500 yards can be close to 100% reliable shot placement if the person will devote the time to practice.

There are no short cuts.

Here is my wife shooting her GAP .308 at 300 yards offhand and center punching it.

At this particular match, she made a small mistake on her elevation correction and rather than going for center of mass, she put 10 of 10 in the silhouette's head at 600 yards prompting the guys in the pits pulling targets to get on the walkie talkie and say, "do not piss off that woman!"

yes because every mountain meadow and grassy flat will let you lay down prone on your shooting mat before lobbing one over at a elk.


Hitting an elk at 500 yards isn't the challenge. Its like shooting your truck at that distance.


its everything that happens after you pull the trigger that comes into play.


It's not worth the argument anymore. Yall continue shooting animals real far away and I'll keep shooting them a little far away and we will co-exist just fine

I edited the above comment to "prone or supported," which is a subject worthy of discussion.

I have been in field situations in which 20 yard shots were too hard and I passed on the shot. It all depends on the conditions.

99% of the animals I shoot are inside of 150 yards, but I have shot deer to just shy of 500 yards and they dropped where they stood (walking actually, so had to also correct with a lead for the walking) with the first shot.

I'll forego my "best" shot because you would not believe it possible because it is beyond your ability to even conceive of someone being able to make it.

A really good and well practiced shooter will have a very wide range of shot possibilities in their toolbox and also possess the knowledge of what is and isn't possible for a reliable shot in the circumstances presented.

500 yards can be easy, and yet other times, 50 yards can be too hard. It depends on the situation presented.

Go to most hunting camps or public ranges the weekend before deer season and many struggle with 100 yard shots from a bench or deer blind.

My skill level has dropped in recent years due to not practicing as much with a rifle. Now I'll pass on shots that ten years ago would not even cause a second thought.

Rest assured, there are men and women who can do things with a gun that most will think impossible, yet they do it very reliably.

Most hunters are overgunned and underpracticed. For most who EDC, the lack of practice is even worse.