Elk bullets, real world performance

[ScrapMetalSlug]

Thought I would share some anecdotal evidence of how a bullet performed on elk due to the large number of questions I see online for elk bullets.

I shot a bull elk Monday evening in the last few minutes of shooting light, it was about a 250 yard shot at a slightly downward angle. I normally like to stalk closer, but there was no time before it was going to be too dark to shoot. Rifle was my Savage 116 30-06, using 180 grain Remington corelokts.

Bullet broke near side shoulder and went through the heart. The far side lower leg bone was completely obliterated. I did recover the bullet just under the hide on the far side. The bull did the death kick, and crumpled up in about 20 yards. I know it shed some weight but I don’t have a scale handy, still traveling back from Colorado, but whatever piece it shed was what destroyed the lower far side leg.

The factory 180 grain Remington corelokts did everything I needed them to.

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

Here’s a pic of the elk, after loaded in the truck and a long grueling pack out . I wish I had some better photos, but I shot him just before dark, and my photographer (wife), was back in town recovering from altitude sickness.

This was a hunt on public land which requires no preference points to draw, and there are normally leftover tags ever year. It is steep and tall, and all of the elk sign I saw was above 10000 ft.

 

[wankerjake]

30-06?

Did a good job looks like.

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

30-06?

Did a good job looks like.

Yep, 30-06.

 

[VoodooMountain]

I call bs. Elk only die if hit with premium bullets from a 338 win mag.

 

[BigBore44]

Funny you should say that. I have a very good friend going to Colorado soon for his first elk hunt. I tried and tried to convince him his ‘06 was more than enough. But alas, he bought a Tikka Hunter in 338WM. His money. His choice. And honestly not a bad choice. But just one that’s not “needed”.

Premium bullets do “perform” better....typically. However, there is no substitute for a well placed shot. No magic bullet or cartridge (despite Weatherby’s claim in their add many moons ago) that will make animals simply give up and fall. But it would be very interesting to know how many elk have fallen to the 30-06 and 270 with ye ‘ole Core-Lokts over the last say, 85 years. Of course we’ll never know this answer. Hence our caliber war threads (they are sometimes fun and entertaining). But obviously for the OP, the 30-06 and Core-Lokts still perform quite admirably.

Congrats ScrapMetalSlug on your elk.

 

[horsey300]

Thought I would share some anecdotal evidence of how a bullet performed on elk due to the large number of questions I see online for elk bullets.

I shot a bull elk Monday evening in the last few minutes of shooting light, it was about a 250 yard shot at a slightly downward angle. I normally like to stalk closer, but there was no time before it was going to be too dark to shoot. Rifle was my Savage 116 30-06, using 180 grain Remington corelokts.

Bullet broke near side shoulder and went through the heart. The far side lower leg bone was completely obliterated. I did recover the bullet just under the hide on the far side. The bull did the death kick, and crumpled up in about 20 yards. I know it shed some weight but I don’t have a scale handy, still traveling back from Colorado, but whatever piece it shed was what destroyed the lower far side leg.

The factory 180 grain Remington corelokts did everything I needed them to.

View attachment 765809 View attachment 765810

How many inches did the bullet penetrate? And when you can, would you please share the weight of the recovered bullet? Thank you.

 

[Mr. Hill]

I saw an elk last week that was shot at 120 yards from a 7mm Remington magnum core lokt. The bullet put him down instantly. Entered right behind the shoulder broadside and broke 3 thick ribs, took out both lungs, and didn’t exit from the off side. Never recovered the bullet. Those core lokts are the real deal!

 

[Don McDowell]

Congrats on getting your elk. Funny how a tired ol cartridge like the 06 and garden variety bullets like the core loc, just keep on filling the freezer, year after year after....

 

[Paul7]

Thanks for the report. Call me crazy, but I see no need to hunt anything in North America with a gun bigger than a .30-'06 with a 180 gr. corelokt.

Reminds me of a story from my gunsmith, a client of his was going to AK brown bear hunting, and of course all his friends told him he needed some super mag rifle. He told his client to just use his .30-'06, and he ended up getting a brown bear with one shot to the chest with it.

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

How many inches did the bullet penetrate? And when you can, would you please share the weight of the recovered bullet? Thank you.

I did not measure penetration, but it penetrated the full width of the elk going through shoulder bone and heart. It was just under the hide on the far side. I found the bullet when i skinned him.

Ive got to get a new scale, ill try to get a weight today. Its been a busy few days, driving 20 hrs, unpacking, and putting meat in the freezer. Thanks for all of the replies.

 

[Patocazador]

Corelokts are good bullets. A real bargain. I'm surprised that the 'new' Remington company hasn't seen fit to change to Chinese-made bullets ... yet. I used to be able to buy Corelokt bullets in bulk from Midway but evidently Remington isn't releasing them to reloaders anymore.
I like for bullets to exit so there is a better blood trail. Since I reload all my cartridges, I switched to Nosler Partitions years ago. They cost more but have never let me down. I don't shoot magnum calibers mainly .257 Roberts and 7x57.

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

Final bullet weight, 110 grains. Expanded to .70 inch.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I've shot 3 elk in my lifetime and all were with 180 Nosler Partition bullets out of a 30-06. Of all 3, none went more than 15 yards. All shots were @ ~100 yds max. Sorry I don't have any bullet pics because all 3 weren't recoverable.

 

[Bbear]

Core-lokt bullets, launched by a 30-06, have taken 4 of my elk. All but one a complete pass-through and all 4 were DRT. The one that didn't pass through went through both shoulders and was caught under the hide on the off-side. I took my first two elk with a 25-06 with Nosler Partitions. I took 3 with a 338 before 'downsizing' to a 300 WM and 180 gr Sierra Game Kings. With shoulder problems I sold my 300 and downsized again to a 264 WM and 142 gr Nosler Accubond Long Range.
In short, all of those 'have to shoot elk with a 338 magnum' are full of it.
I grew up with uncles that never shot a magnum for an elk in their life and stacked more meat that I'll ever have a shot at. All with 270's, 30-06's and one of them with a 256 Newton.
I figure one of these days Remington will come out with a 'new and improved' core-lokt and screw it all up.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

With my .35 Brown-Whelen, I shot an elk with a 225 grain Nosler Partition Jacket doing. Skinning our his left side, the left front leg fell off -- the bone was shattered. There was a thumb-sized hole going into the body. When I skilled out the right side, the right front leg fell off -- the bullet broke that one on exit. You can't hardly get better bullet performance than that.

 

[Sunray]

There's no such thing as an "elk" bullet.
A Remington 180 grain Cor-Lokt, like all its cousins, will kill any game in North America.
"...he bought a Tikka Hunter in 338WM..." He ever sight it in and practice with it? Premium bullets just cost more.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Elk are a funny creature..ive seen close to 100 die, shot a few..Seen elk with no eyes run away after 3 rounds of 3006 180 partitions thru the dome, Yet seen another elk fall over dead with a 6.5x55 130gr Accubond punching the lungs..Seen them absorb a dozen 180gr Sirrocco 300 Weatherby bullets at 50 yds and stumble thru the brush and seen them crumble up and die with a 54 cal round ball..So really Premium bullets dont matter unless your shooting over 300yds Thats the only time ive ever seen them make a differance on elk. Ive tracked lots of elk that were shot past 300 yds with federal and winchester bullets...Core lokts definatly are the best "cheap bullet" My favorite was my fathers best bull he shot it at 120 yds with his 3006 180gr nosler partition, Smacked him dead in the shoulder blade knocked him over we walked up that bulls eyes were rolling and he was huffing and snorting so he finished it off there, Skinned that elk and had Literally zero meat damage that partition was stuck in the shoulder blade, It did not penetrate.. Teach him to have the neighbors load instead of me

 

[ms6852]

Core-Lokts is all I ever use for hunting on my 30-06. After the box of core-lots went on sale for $8.99 a box I thought I would stock up on them over 20 years ago to this date I still have about 140 rounds left, I'll soon reload for them is the sticker shock of $20 is more than I can handle.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

[QUOTE="Gunnerboy, post: 10675059, member: 157916" My favorite was my fathers best bull he shot it at 120 yds with his 3006 180gr nosler partition, Smacked him dead in the shoulder blade knocked him over we walked up that bulls eyes were rolling and he was huffing and snorting so he finished it off there, Skinned that elk and had Literally zero meat damage that partition was stuck in the shoulder blade, It did not penetrate.[/QUOTE]
I'll tell the cock0eyed world that 225 grain Partition Jackets from my .35 B-W penetrate into next week.

The way I see it, the cost of an elk hunt will run over $1,500 figuring in transportation, lodging, tags, etc. Buying the best bullets adds only a tiny amount to that figure, so why not shoot the best?

 

[Slamfire]

The way I see it, the cost of an elk hunt will run over $1,500 figuring in transportation, lodging, tags, etc. Buying the best bullets adds only a tiny amount to that figure, so why not shoot the best?

The best is a difficult concept. Unless you have test facilities, to check bullet expansion and weight retention, how do you know that the extra you paid for the bullets you bought, got you anything more than a pretty box with a screaming label?

This is just paper punching, but these Core Lokts grouped well at 300 yards



I have not uploaded the picture of the 6.5 mm 140 grain Core Lokts that did not group well at 300 yards, you have to test the things you know.

This is a problem we all have, you don't know about the things until you shoot something with them. Based on that, I look on the web for recommendations based on shooter's experiences. If Core Lokts have a lot of thumbs up, and they do, seems to me that Core Lokts are a good choice regardless of the price range.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The best is a difficult concept. Unless you have test facilities, to check bullet expansion and weight retention, how do you know that the extra you paid for the bullets you bought, got you anything more than a pretty box with a screaming label.

I'm not going by groups or test media -- I'm going by performance on elk. As I say, in one case, I broke BOTH front legs with a single bullet -- and messed up the elk's boiler room too.