Bought a new 300 WSM and am working on a load for the coming elk season.
I am looking at the Nosler Ballistic Tip (green) 180 gr. and the Berger 175 gr. (hunting). Does anyone have any experience with these? I think either will ultimately make a good load, but have read the Berger has such great knock-down power, but really plays havoc with the meat (can really tear things up even with a well placed shot).
Any input would be appreciated. Thx. 
50, I wouldn't recommend the Nosler Ballistic tip for elk. That bullet is intended for light or thin skinned animals such as antelope or deer. It's designed for fast wicked expansion not for deep penetration which you need for elk. A better choice would be the Nosler Accubond which also has a plastic tip but is a bonded bullet built for accuracy and penetration. Many people confuse the two because their both Nosler bullets and both have the plastic tip, but their designed for different purposes.
Now it's interesting you brought up the Berger VLD Hunting bullet as I've settled on a load for my 30-06 with the 168 gr Berger. My dad first clued me into them and I at first thought "what the hell are you thinking that's a target bullet, not an elk bullet,". After researching the info on them I read where Berger touts these bullets as penetrating for 3 to 5 inches and then absolutely blowing up and shredding vital organs. A bullet that blows up is usually anathema to an elk hunter, but I found many reports of hunters who have posted their results on mule deer and elk in 7mm and 30 cal succesfully. Enough so that I plan on picking up a left over cow elk tag in addition to my bull tag and trying them out.
I plan on using my 30-06 with the Bergers on a Sep. Cow hunt and will use my 7mm Mag with 175 gr Interlocks for my Oct. bull hunt.
My recipe for the -06 is 62 grns of RL-22, Win Brass, CCI Large rifle prime, just off the lands. This is giving me 6 shots in an inch and a quarter at 100 yards. If succesfull I'll be able to report on their performance.
Good luck!
50, I wouldn't recommend the Nosler Ballistic tip for elk. That bullet is intended for light or thin skinned animals such as antelope or deer. It's designed for fast wicked expansion not for deep penetration which you need for elk. A better choice would be the Nosler Accubond which also has a plastic tip but is a bonded bullet built for accuracy and penetration. Many people confuse the two because their both Nosler bullets and both have the plastic tip, but their designed for different purposes.
Now it's interesting you brought up the Berger VLD Hunting bullet as I've settled on a load for my 30-06 with the 168 gr Berger. My dad first clued me into them and I at first thought "what the hell are you thinking that's a target bullet, not an elk bullet,". After researching the info on them I read where Berger touts these bullets as penetrating for 3 to 5 inches and then absolutely blowing up and shredding vital organs. A bullet that blows up is usually anathema to an elk hunter, but I found many reports of hunters who have posted their results on mule deer and elk in 7mm and 30 cal succesfully. Enough so that I plan on picking up a left over cow elk tag in addition to my bull tag and trying them out.
I plan on using my 30-06 with the Bergers on a Sep. Cow hunt and will use my 7mm Mag with 175 gr Interlocks for my Oct. bull hunt.
My recipe for the -06 is 62 grns of RL-22, Win Brass, CCI Large rifle prime, just off the lands. This is giving me 6 shots in an inch and a quarter at 100 yards. If succesfull I'll be able to report on their performance.
Good luck!
You're spot on with that one. the ballistic tip is one of the last bullets I'd want to be using if my shot was a little forward and had to get through the tough shoulder of a big bull. Accubonds would be a better choice.
+1 SoCo
I would use a better constructed bullet if I were shooting elk. I have a 300 SAUM I shoot deer with 165 gr Accubonds and GameKings but just deer. When I go elk hunting, I shoot the Accubonds. The Interbonds and Partitions should work equally well. Stay away from the BT.
The Berger bullets I have shot in 25 wssm. I wasn't too impressed with the blood trail they leave. They kill deer quickly but have yet to leave a good blood trail. Now the deer haven't run very far after being shot but when the cover is as thick as it is here in the south, it can make for tough tracking. Maybe I'm getting lazy as I get older, but I like a good blood trail to follow. I have since gone back to the Gamekings in the 25. Good luck
One more thing, if you want to try a bullet for coyotes then try the Hornady 110 gr V-Max. My rifle pushes it out at 3750 fps and groups are moa.
I agree stay away from the balistic tips for an elk. As far as other bullets the magums are designed to shoot the heaver bullets so I would start with a 165 gr at the minimum. Try the Barnes bullets, they offer great expanson and weight retention since they are a copper bullet.
Well, I have been focussing on the Berger VLD 175gr. bullet. Groupings at 100 yds. have been erratic and typically fit in a 2-2.5 inch circle. Recipe is Win brass, RL17 powder (65.3 -66 gr.), OAL 2.825 (dictated by magazine on the wsm), large rifle mag. primer, 24 in. barrel.
My gun DOES NOT like this set up. I think the shell is too far off the lands, but I can't do anything about it with the magazine the way it is. One of my hunting buddies has the same gun with a 26 in. barrel and he is an excellent shooter. I had him shoot my gun and he had the same problems.
My buddy had his gun magazine replaced with a larger housing and had the chamber modified slightly to give more room in the magazine, thus able to use longer OAL loads. Worked good. I am going to buy some Accubonds and maybe Partitions to try.
Anyone with a 300WSM that has a recipe that works for them (for elk) that they would be willing to share? Any thoughts or ideas? 
I have been a fan of keeping it simple and using one load to hunt deer, antelope, beer, or elk. So I have been using the Nosler Accubonds for some years now and very rarely even needed to fallow a blood trail, and despite what some people say about being overkill or meat eaters I have never had a problem so far. I am also getting some incredible accuracy out of these bullets, and I believe for the weight they are the most coefficient around.
For my loads I have been using RL 22, Win brass, 67.5 gr., and just backed out of the lands by an 1/8th or so.
this load has worked well in my savage with 26in barrel and my buddies browning with a 24in as well, all producing sub moa grouping.
here is 5 rds at a 100 yrds with that load.
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I have found the bergers to be finicky to work up a load. The best I had them shooting, they were within a thousandth of touching the lands. The problem with that is you now have a one shot rifle. The loaded round is too long to fit in the magazine. I hunted with this setup for a year, not a big concern b/c I was only hunting whitetails out of a box blind. I decided to get back to an accurate round that would fit in the mag. I ended up loading the accubonds and will not shoot anything else in this rifle.
While I have never loaded the 300 wsm, I do load my 300 saum. The powders that work the best for this have been Varget and IMR 4350. Win 760 wasn't bad but I use the other powders in some other rifles or friends rifles. I also use the CCI Magnum primers in heavier caliber rifles.
My guess is you probably could get them to shoot in your rifle if you're willing to sacrifice the capacity of the magazine. Good luck
Well I dumped the Berger bullets and went to the Barnes TTSX 180 gr. Wow what a difference. Played with the seating depth a bit and now have 5 shot groups at an inch, and I feel it can certainly be sub 1 inch. I am also going to have my rifle magazine modified so I can use longer OAL loads more effectively.
Over50, do you find you have to clean the barrel on a more regular basis when shooting the Barnes b/c of copper build up? That's what I have heard about the Barnes.
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