257 Weatherby for ELK

HouseCat

New member
I have a chance to go on a Elk hunt this year and the largest caliber rifle that I own is a 257 Weatherby. I know the round is plenty capable of killing a Elk with a well placed shot but I was kinda wondering what your thoughts are on this. I have some hunting buddies that have used this round for Elk hunting and had no problems. If not the 257 Weatherby than what do you suggest. Ive been thinking about a 7mm may have an excuse to buy another rifle.
 
I'm sure it would be great. Good bullet construction is a must!! Partition would be great! I wouldn't take any 'questionable' shots, but it should keep up with most cartridges out there.

From 'The Target Book' 2nd Edition
The 257 WBY MG is a 400 yard round. At that range, the bullet is still at 2424 fps with 1500 ft Lbs or energy.

If you want, I can PM you some info from this book, I have found it VERY helpful to figure sight in settings and expected trajectory.
 
Like pahntr760 said with a bonded constructed bullet it will do it with no problem. I think the 110 nosler accu bond would be an awesome elk bullet. This is just me but i would rather have the 257 bee then the 7mm. When i go that's what im taking is the 257 i having one built right now. After seeing my brother shoot several big whitetails i can see why it was Roy's favorite round out of all the weatherby calibers.
 
I personally wouldn't use anything lighter than a 150 grain round on an Elk, and that is a bit on the light side (175 is more appropriate) To each their own, as mentioned in past threads some people that have used .243's, and I know old timers that have used open sighted 30-30's since the 30's so if that works I would assume the 257 WBY would do the job.

I can assure you, the 7mm rm with a 175 grain will do the job effectively on any Elk.
 
Originally Posted By: hoginator204Barnes 100 Grain TSX or TTSX and you will be fine.

Hoggy

That's the answer. The Barnes slugs won't come apart and will penetrate deeply into the vitals. Don
 
Some states have a minimum caliber... Be sure and check about your destination. Beyond that, choose your bullet carefully and you should be fine. But, stay inside reasonable ranges that you know will allow you to place your shot well. (Same restriction for everybody, regardless of caliber)
 
I have never seen a 257 weatherby in action so can't say much about it, But when someone out here say's they are using a bullet smaller then 150 you can bet they are deer hunter's, Not that they will not get it done but in this day and age with all the options out there why chance it, get the best caliber you can buy and the best bullet. It sounds like you are looking for a reason to buy a gun anyways, looks like a perfect oportunity. How often do you go Elk hunting it would be a bummer to have a monster get away because you could not drop him.
 
Originally Posted By: Super White HunterI have never seen a 257 weatherby in action so can't say much about it, But when someone out here say's they are using a bullet smaller then 150 you can bet they are deer hunter's, Not that they will not get it done but in this day and age with all the options out there why chance it, get the best caliber you can buy and the best bullet. It sounds like you are looking for a reason to buy a gun anyways, looks like a perfect oportunity. How often do you go Elk hunting it would be a bummer to have a monster get away because you could not drop him.

I have shot several elk with 140 gr AB's from a 270 WSM from 15 yds to 300 yds. None of them went more than 25 yds. That doesn't mean I advocate shooting at elk with anything much less than that, but a 130 gr. pill from a 270 will kill an elk just fine.

With good bullets, I think a .257 would be fine for elk. Given the option, though, I would probably take something a little bigger.
 
house i have killed 9 and guided guys to another 31.i have seen them killed with .243 to a 378 weatherby. you do not say bulls/cows? what state? what gun what scope . in a 26" weatherby accumark and with 115 partitions i would feel very confident
 
Originally Posted By: shanedoggwould use 257 w/ 100g. bullet before a 7mm w/ 150g., speed kills (hydrostatic shock)!!!!!

This may be true for most smaller game, but elk are not small game. While the shock is part of the equation, it is not the only factor when killing an elk. I think a .257 can be adequate for elk, but (all else being equal) I would never say it will kill an elk "better" than a 7mm.
 
everybodys' different, i prefer smaller faster to bigger slower regardless of energy ft. lbs. seen alot of elk run off from a 7mm hit, all these post and topics are the same cal. vs. cal. it all comes down to bullet placement PERIOD.
 
Brings to mind a fella by the name of Wally Taber that used a .257 WM to shoot cape buffalo with on safari in Africa. I certainly would want a very steady backup with a Big Gun should I ever get a chance to try something like that, but he did it and it worked fine. I would think that with a well placed shot that gun of yours would do just dandy.

Oh, I have a friend here in Idaho who's 60 something year old mom take her elk every year with a 22/250. Seems to be more where you hit them rather than what you hit them with.
 
It depends on whether you want to chase an elk half way around the mountain. It depends on if the elk is at the top of a 500 foot slide and goes down over the slide into a large ravine because you did not put the hammer-on him. It depends on whether you might not take a semi-questionable shot on a beautiful once in a lifetime 6X6. It depends on whether you want to give the animal the respect a beautiful elk deserves by taking him with a cartridge that is capable of doing the job--even if the shot is not quite perfect.

If you are not capable of shooting a larger caliber for medical reasons, and will only take a close broad side shot in a wide open meadow where the elk can not get away??

I have only shot several elk so I am not fully qualified. But I have been around a good bit of dead elk. All the hunters I know who have killed a bunch of elk show the animal the respect the animal is due. At a minimum they shoot a 200 grain bullet. And they shoot in the shoulder to help break the animal down as fast as possible. For most of them their rifle of choice is a 340 Wby. Mag. How does that compare to the quarter bore??

I remember one time a decent 5x5 was shot by a friends dad. He shot the elk with a light caliber. The elk ran down over a slide and expired about 600 yards from where he shot it. It took two guys one full day to get the elk back to the point where the elk was shot. The elk ran into the most unbelievable deep canyon on the mountain. But then where does game run when hit. The deepest darkest place they know of!!

The quarter bore is too light to be an effective elk cartridge in all hunting situations. It is that simple. Will it kill an elk?? Yes it will. But then so will a 22LR. Is it the smart choice for a once in a lifetime hunt at possibly a trophy of a lifetime. [beeep] no. Tom.
 
Last edited:
I've been in on "losing" 2 elk total.
One of them was a cow hit with a 125 gr. SP out of an '06 and we chased her on horseback for about 7 hours in the snow. It looked like she leaked 5 gallons of blood, but she lived till dark and the coyotes got her, I reckon.
The other one circled for a half mile and got back into Yellowstone and we dropped the tracks at the line. Blowing bubbles out both sides, so it was lung shot, but it made it far enough to be coyote bait. That one was hit with a 180 gr. out of a .308 at 50 yards.
Every other one (at least 30) that we hit, shooting 7mm Mags, .308s , '06's and bigger with heavy bullets (150 gr.+) we recovered, though some of them went a ways.
Take that for what it's worth.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: shanedoggeverybodys' different, i prefer smaller faster to bigger slower regardless of energy ft. lbs. seen alot of elk run off from a 7mm hit, all these post and topics are the same cal. vs. cal. it all comes down to bullet placement PERIOD.

I totally agree. I don't really like shooting big magnums, my go-to elk gun is a 270 WSM and I am a pretty decent shooter. But, I would venture to say less than 50% of all elk killed are shot under idyllic circumstances...I like to hedge my bet a little bit.
 
Back
Top