[grizzly660]

Going elk hunting in Colorado, just purchased a new 110fp Savage 300 winn mag and need any suggestions on over the counter ammo that will cleanly take elk. And what kind of range and accuracy can I expect out of a hunting round sold over the counter? Currently looking at Winchester new supreme accubond 180gr round. Thanks for any help>

 

[Jeff_850]

every rifle will like differnt types of ammo so i cant say for accuracy
might want to try Remington Core-Lokt Ultra 180 gr, Winchester 180 gr Fail Safes

 

[grizzly660]

Thanks I am going to try different ammo, just don't have much time left until I leave. Iwas just reading some info that said I should not use moly coated ammo. Something about build up, even that some barrel manufactures will viod the warranty. As far as accurracy I was just wondering if over the counter ammo is cabable of sub min of an angle groups at longer distances. I'm probably only looking to shoot out to 400 meters.

 

[Jeff_850]

yes, some ammo is
but that is all dependant on which gun and ammo combination and if you do your part at 400m
in order to know for sure you must test this

there are some factory hunting loads that can hold 1/2 moa all day at 100y in my Remington 700P while some can barely hold 1 moa
and other Remington 700Ps which will not like the same type of ammo that my rifle likes

dont bother with moly coated ammo then you have to stick to only moly coated ammo and it may very well void warantee

 

[grizzly660]

Thanks again. Now I have to ride out this third hurricane which is going to be sronger than the last one that we just finished cleaning up from. So it looks like the elk hunt is probably out of the picture.

 

[Jeff_850]

alright no problem

sorry to hear
hope the hurricane doesnt cause too much damage
stay safe

 

[muzzleblast]

Hey Griz, if things aren't so bad and you can still go on the elk hunt...

For long range big game, I just picked up a box of Winchester/Nosler accubond. Thats the black/red tipped round. I guess the coating is moly but winchester calls it something else It's accurate stuff in my rifle anyway. For some reason it just hates core lokts. The accubond is designed for just what you said, big game at a distance. I haven't shot anything yet since I've been too busy lately for the opening of the seasons :evil: but I'm off chasing moose this afternoon with 180 accubonds in my 300 win mag.

From what I've seen of non coated rounds, nosler partitions might not be sub moa but there are definately minute of elk at 400 m. Remington also loads the great swift A-frame. I've taken a few deer with 180 grain ballistic silvertips and they worked fine. The box says they are rated for big game in te 300 mags, but they're coated too.

The group I shot when I zeroed the accubond was two shots in a .7 inch cluster with the third opening things up to about 1.3 inch. Your Savage should be more accurate than my win 70 though, I bet.

Good luck on the trip and I hope you score! And I hope that hurricane blows itself out before it gets to ya.

 

[grizzly660]

Thanks Jeff and Muzzleblast. We just got power and phones back yesterday, better than the week it took last time. Looks like a couple more weeks of clean up, but the hunt still looks good to go. Hope your moose hunting is going well, sounds like fun. I was going to try the accubond, but was told about the moly, but after reading this and the winchester box they call there coating lubalux (black oxide). Is this the same as moly?

I just recieved my rifle yesterday and mounted and boresighted the leuplod 3-9x40 variax II. I shot a couple of remington rounds and got 3/4 inch at 100 yrd groups with 180 grain core lokt , and one 1/2 inch with swift scirroco and one group about an inch. I really want to try the accubond. I have shot great groups with a real old revelation 30:06 with the ballistic silvertips which I've had great results with on whitetail out to 300 yrds.

 

[Shoe]

well, to my knowledge, moly is always short for molybdenum, as in chrome-moly steel, but i haven't ever heard it being called black oxide. doesn't mean that it hasn't been done though...

 

[Jeff_850]

scirocco bonded is similar to winchester ballistic silvertips i think
i would use 180 gr core-lokt ultra on deer's bigger cousins
it has better weight retension which will lead to better penetration and still mushroom

 

[muzzleblast]

Hey All, sorry I was away from the board for a while.

I dunno what that Lubalox coating is, but danged if it don't look like Moly.

Happy things weren't too rough, Griz...Wow, sounds like Scirroco is the one to g with so far, awesome groups. Those are a bonded round, where the lead is fused into the copper jacket...supposed to kep 75% of the weight at any range. I ran through one box, just shooting paper to see what they were all about. I don't think I broke MOA but I had fun popping balloons with them at 400Y. Watch out Elk. I'm happy they started bonding tipped rounds for use on big game, since I love em so much lol.

Like you said, those silvertips sure do a number on whitetail. I was suprised to see them rated for large heavy game on the 300 win mag box.

Again, happy to hear everythings okay, and good luck with the trip! The moose hunting was fun, but didn't see any...

 

[Jeff_850]

Scirocco bonded bullets keep only about 75% of thier weight is about right, its a bit higher for a Core-Lokt Ultra, like 85% or better
sciroccos might still perform a bit better at 400y since core-lokts have lower bc

 

[muzzleblast]

I guess with .75 inch groups when using the core lokt, the accuracy of the scirrocos isn't really an essential lol.

 

[grizzly660]

Thanks agian for you help. I did some reasearch on lubalux and came up with noslers web site (I think). In there faq section the question wether or not moly was the same as lubalux is there. They said no, and gave some defintions you might say.

I hope it isn't b/c I shot a box of 180 gr accubond through the rifle. So heres the new question. I shot 3 gruops at 100yrds and got great groups, the best yet. One at .7" , one closer to .5 and one at .33. I thought this is great. I was heasitant about buying the savage ($470 at Wal-mart), I wanted the remington but have spent to much money on this trip already. But the savage has really amazed me. But!! I backed out to 200yrds to zero and the groups opened up to 3". I expected some of course but not over triple. I figured just me so I shot two more groups with the sciroccos and got 1.7 and 2" groups. Is it normal to go from .5" grups to 3" backing up 100 yrds. I figured 1/2 moa gun and round combo at 100, then maybe 1.5 or so at 200.

I would really like to shot the accubonds but not to sure yet. I watched a few Jim Shockey hunting shows and he has shot a few large game animals including bear, elk and moose with them. And with amazing results even at some good distances. But it looks like I probably should go with the sciroccos. I am going to try a few more accubonds though.
The core loxt opened up to about 2.5 average too.

 

[muzzleblast]

Hey, happy to find out all the winchester ammo I ran though wasn't moly coated...I did that shooting before I heard moly could lead to problems...Thanks for the info...

I bet Scirroco and Accubond do pretty much the same thing when they hit a big nasty animal anyway, so either way, shoot what shoots better I guess...You know how opinionated us shooters can get, lol, so I stick with the Winny. And you do gotta admit, those rounds look cool! Funny how they opened up so much though...The Core Lokt don't really have "long range accuracy" written all over em, but I like the way theres not too much exposed lead.

I hear you on the Savages. I advised my cousin to buy one of the hunting package deals, fxcp-whatever, detachable mag and a cheapie scope...The feel of it took me a lil getting used to and the bolt felt funny to me at first but it shoots great. And not just for the money either. They really do run with the big dogs in the accuracy department.

Well, good luck with the hunt! I'd feel plenty confidant with a mag full of scirrocos in my rifle any day. And I'm happy you got to test them at long range too. Was probably some fun shooting!

Oh, as a PS...if you ever wanna try a nice deer load for that rifle or the 30-06, ever try a federal premium load called Sierra Game-King?

 

[grizzly660]

I hear you on being set in our ways on what we like. I shot some more at 200 yrds and am getting consistent groups of 1.5 and under with the accubond. The day they opened up I'm sure it was a combination of me and the more I looked back at my targerts my barrel had to be really hot and fouled by then. I probably shot 18 to 20 rounds fairly quickly.

I shot 5 rounds at 220 yesterday (accubond) at a lifesize whitetail deer target and had all five in a 1.75" group in the heart (b/c it was red on a white target and easy to foucus on. The sciroccos are grouping a little larger but not much.

Your right on the savage feeling different and the action leaves some to be desired but this rifle really shoots. The new accutrigger is pretty good for a factory trigger. The sear release on the trigger takes a little getting used to but not bad.

Leaving Friday mourning, can't wait. Hope to get the chance to get some 300 yrd shots in before I go. I sighted in with 200 yrd zero and the ballistic chart from winchester said I should be something like 6.7 low at 300yrds, and 19.4 at 400. But I would like to be sure rather than take a chance. Thanks again.

 

[muzzleblast]

There's a savage 10fp here at the store for $500...If I didn't want every other firearm in the world, I'd buy it. The groups you're talking about shootin aren't helping either lol.

Welcome, I'm happy someone was talkin hunting with the 300WM. Seriously my favorite cartridge out of any I use.

Yeah, it would be nice to see the difference at 300+, just to know. I find with my mil dot scope, and their ballistic quotes, Winchester is usually in the neighborhood anyway.

Good luck, and take a trophy!

 

[muzzleblast]

Just to follow up on the discussion here,

Shot my first moose this weekend, and the accubond was actually recovered. Found it lodged in the hide on the offside, but the little sucker mushroomed like a champ, and I was satisfied with the performance. First time I even see a round look so pretty like they do in the gun magazines lol. Good mix of espansion and penetration, and I plan to keep using them.

Hey Grizzly, let us know how that trip of yours went!

 

[cody221]

just wondering...???but doesnt the lubalux that are on some winchester shells sound like something they stole from condoms?lol

 

[Jeff_850]

griz:
haev fun shooting 300y
im sure you will get decent results

muzzleblast:
your right i dont have that much confidence in core-lokt at long range, id use scirocco
now im thinking WHICH rifle to use for deer not so much which load

cody:
LOL