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.264 140 Grain bullet?
- Thread starter Tgunz64
- Start date
cowboystl1
New member
- Dec 16, 2013
- 864
140 is a bit lighter than i care for but will do the job
I'm wondering why so many hunters feel that you have to be in the 160-180 grain bullet to take down an elk? Is this more for the long range plus 500 yard crowd? I've only shot one elk with a rifle since I'm mostly an archery hunter, and at 319 yards the 140 grain nossler .270 did the trick. I put two shots into her (cow hunt) and with the second she dropped in her tracks.
My son killed his first elk this year (spike) with a 140 grain .270 Win load with one shot. Granted it was a 55 yard shot. Like I said, we're a family of archers and even though he had a rifle, we love the hunt to get close!
I'm genuinely curious to know if anyone can shed some light on why a heavier grain bullet will kill better than a lighter. Is it kinetic energy? Mushroom effect of more mass in the slug? Thanks for any input.
My son killed his first elk this year (spike) with a 140 grain .270 Win load with one shot. Granted it was a 55 yard shot. Like I said, we're a family of archers and even though he had a rifle, we love the hunt to get close!
I'm genuinely curious to know if anyone can shed some light on why a heavier grain bullet will kill better than a lighter. Is it kinetic energy? Mushroom effect of more mass in the slug? Thanks for any input.
cowboystl1
New member
- Dec 16, 2013
- 864
well you cant kill them and deader and it preference to me knock down id have to say is the biggest thing. 140 grain is in my mind a white tail round but that is from years of old school ammo now with newer style rounds sst xts the list goes on i am sure they can do the job hell i watch my cuz shoot a bull at 60 with a core lock and he didnt really need to shoot twice of course he did because it was still stand but it was swaying hard.
jamesctaylor17@gmail.com
New member
- Jun 9, 2014
- 132
Short answer: It should do just fine! Of course as with any hunting accuracy is everything!!! The 26 Nosler is a super fast round that should provide plenty of fps for proper expansion of the bullet and ft/lbs of kinetic energy upon impact.
Long answer (or rather an explanation to some other peoples questions): I would attribute the notion that you need heavier bullets to kill an elk to #1 slow shooting rounds and #2 the long range game.
#1 just goes back to the basics--a fast bullet hits harder (has more KE) than a slow bullet, all other things held constant. Just like in archery if I have a 450 grain arrow traveling 300 fps it's going to have more kinetic energy than a 450 grain (identical) arrow traveling 275 fps. The same holds true for bullets. "Older" rounds weren't always super efficient at burning gun powder and thus shot slower. Lots of guys got used to shooting heavier bullets to get the KE they needed for shooting an elk. Now I think it's just become the norm for most people even with more efficient rounds on the market.
So what about the long range stuff? Well this is where I would say that heavier bullets CAN have an advantage over lighter bullets. They don't always have a greater advantage but under the right circumstances they can. It's all about ballistic coefficient. For those who don't know, ballistic coefficient is basically a number that tells you how efficient a bullet is at cutting through the air. I've put a couple links below to understand more about what goes into ballistic coefficient for those who'd like to learn.Heavier bullets have the ability to reach higher ballistic coefficients and thus are better down range at staying on target. That's why a lot of long range shooters favor a heavier bullet with a good BC.
Check out these links if you're interested in learning more. The Gunwerks Long Range University articles are great and even though they push the 7mm pretty hard the principles learned will transfer to other rounds.
http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/EHU-CH2-L10.aspx
http://www.redrockprecision.com/ballistics.asp
http://www.gunwerks.com/Long-Range-University/Learning-Articles
All this stuff being said, I think most of the time 140 grain bullet can be more than sufficient on elk. That 26 Nosler has AMAZING ballistics that make a lot of the factors I talked about pretty well insignificant within any "real" hunting distances. A big thing I didn't even talk about it bullet construction and what different companies are designing their bullets to do. Make sure to do your homework and decide what works best for you.
Bottom line: Get to know your rifle well, shoot the right bullet accurately, and you should have plenty of elk meat to fill the freezer ;D ... as long as you can find them!
Long answer (or rather an explanation to some other peoples questions): I would attribute the notion that you need heavier bullets to kill an elk to #1 slow shooting rounds and #2 the long range game.
#1 just goes back to the basics--a fast bullet hits harder (has more KE) than a slow bullet, all other things held constant. Just like in archery if I have a 450 grain arrow traveling 300 fps it's going to have more kinetic energy than a 450 grain (identical) arrow traveling 275 fps. The same holds true for bullets. "Older" rounds weren't always super efficient at burning gun powder and thus shot slower. Lots of guys got used to shooting heavier bullets to get the KE they needed for shooting an elk. Now I think it's just become the norm for most people even with more efficient rounds on the market.
So what about the long range stuff? Well this is where I would say that heavier bullets CAN have an advantage over lighter bullets. They don't always have a greater advantage but under the right circumstances they can. It's all about ballistic coefficient. For those who don't know, ballistic coefficient is basically a number that tells you how efficient a bullet is at cutting through the air. I've put a couple links below to understand more about what goes into ballistic coefficient for those who'd like to learn.Heavier bullets have the ability to reach higher ballistic coefficients and thus are better down range at staying on target. That's why a lot of long range shooters favor a heavier bullet with a good BC.
Check out these links if you're interested in learning more. The Gunwerks Long Range University articles are great and even though they push the 7mm pretty hard the principles learned will transfer to other rounds.
http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/EHU-CH2-L10.aspx
http://www.redrockprecision.com/ballistics.asp
http://www.gunwerks.com/Long-Range-University/Learning-Articles
All this stuff being said, I think most of the time 140 grain bullet can be more than sufficient on elk. That 26 Nosler has AMAZING ballistics that make a lot of the factors I talked about pretty well insignificant within any "real" hunting distances. A big thing I didn't even talk about it bullet construction and what different companies are designing their bullets to do. Make sure to do your homework and decide what works best for you.
Bottom line: Get to know your rifle well, shoot the right bullet accurately, and you should have plenty of elk meat to fill the freezer ;D ... as long as you can find them!
cowboystl1
New member
- Dec 16, 2013
- 864
^^^^ This GUY^^^ great info man well said.
jamesctaylor17@gmail.com
New member
- Jun 9, 2014
- 132
cowboystl1 said:^^^^ This GUY^^^ great info man well said.
Thanks cowboystl1! Tried not to make it too long but it didn't turn out that way. One thing I forgot to mention is Penetration. Heavier bullets can (NOT always) out penetrate a lighter bullet. I feel this is more of a factor of bullet construction rather than weight though. Just had to add that!
montanaelk31
Member
- Mar 18, 2014
- 307
Well said jct. I personally preferred the biggest slug you can shoot accurately (for me that was .338 225 grains). But I have a buddy who has 4 1 shot kills with a .243 wssm with a 80 grain Barnes ttsx last 4 years. He shoots that little slug at about 3500 fps tho. My personal thought is that if your gonna go light, you better go fast and shoot a bullet that retains weight. (Think accubond, interbond, ttsx). At 140 grains, shoot a decent bullet like an A frame or Sst or partition and you'll be fine. The elk won't know the difference!
Some great info guys! Thanks! Now I just need the rifle so I can go out and shoot. Unfortunately I may have to delay that purchase as to we are being laid off starting in June. Sucks in one way but at least I'll have the summer off. Always have the ol' trusty 30-06 to use as well if need be.
