250 gr. big enough for elk?

[warrenoliver]

I will be doing an OTC elk rifle hunt in colorado in October. I plan to use my .270 as my primary gun but I am also taking my TC Impact along because I have been very impressed with the performance of that little gun. I can shoot 1 - 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with Blackhorn 209 and 250 gr. Hornady FTX bullets .452 actual size used with black Harvester Crush Rib sabots. Sighted in to hit the bullseye @ 100 yards, I can shoot about 4-5 inch groups about 6-8 inches low at 200 yards. Very impressive for a bullet that size.

Since I have a rifle elk license, that means I can use my muzzleloader with a scope and sabots. I really want to stick with this combo of powder and bullet since it is so reliable. My question is: Is this 250 gr. bullet big enough for elk? I plan to limit my shots to 200 yards or less.

 

[ronlaughlin]

For elk, i would use a heavier bullet.. that is just me. What you could do, is use a stouter 250g bullet. For example, the 250g TEZ bullet, should fly near the same as the FTX , but it won't become a collection of pieces on impact. My choice of bullet for elk, would be the 300g Nosler.

 

[tracks]

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[DLS]

I'm late to this thread but hopefully my comments will help someone in the future. I have a .50 Knight Disk Extreme rifle, and my som and I have taken 3 nice bulls with that gun. The first two bulls were taken with a 338 grain Powerbelt bullet pushed by 130 grains of Pyrodex pellets (2x50 and a 30). I had good accuracy with this combo and acceptable bullet performance when the bullet is properly placed behind the shoulder into the ribs. However, we did lose a big 6x7 bull that my son hit in the shoulder from 175 yards. We followed that bull the next day for about 3 miles and while he was limping noticeably, he was also herding cows and chasing off satellite bulls. We talked with the game warden and he assured my son that the bullet never got into the chest cavity, and since we didn't find a single drop of blood, I believe he was right. My son subsequently killed a very nice bull a couple days later for his first elk, shooting the bull behind the shoulder and getting an exit from 60 yards away. This experience prompted me to find a better bullet for future elk hunts.

This year, my son drew a good Arizona muzzleloader bull tag and we settled on the Barnes 290 grain TMZ bullet in yellow sabot, pushed by that same pellet combo. This load proved to be very accurate and flat shooting, giving my son confidence out to 225 yards. His shot proved to be easy, as the bull was walking broadside at a bit under 100 yards. His shot was tight behind the shoulder and, as expected, the bullet blew right through and the bull was down 100 yards later. What I didn't expect was the massive damage this bullet did all the way through the wound channel. I'm sold on this bullet for any game!

A couple weeks ago, my son also shot a big mule deer on a CA late season LE hunt. He shot that buck just under the base of the tail and the bullet traveled the length of the bucks body. Very impressive performance and the buck was DRT!

Personally, I won't go lighter than 290 grains with the Barnes TMZ when elk hunting, JMO. Hope this perspective helps.

 

[COLOelkman]

I'm not so sure the bullet weight was the problem although I do not shoot any conical that small on an elk. I can't say how many posts I've read about a powerbelt not performing well on elk. I lost 2 elk with PB and 1of them I believe was a perfect shot. Normally most conicals will work with a good shot placement but we know that doesn't always happen. I believe there are much better bullets that will do a better job with a marginal shot placement. I also see many people that focus on the bullet accuracy but neglect the bullet performance considerations with I think you don't want 1 without the other. Just my .02 but I will never shoot a PB again other than just at paper. I recently returned some I had in my stock for several years to Cableas and was glad they took them back.