lancetkenyon

Depends on weather leading UP to your hunt on whether the elk will be pushing down or not. There are always elk in the PJs, but a lot move down off the Peaks as the cold and snow move in. Deer are browsers, elk are grazers. Less snow depth = easier to find food. I have been in 7W on the late hunt many times. It can be anywhere from -10° to 50°. Plan for everything. Layers are your friend.

Those quarters are HUGE! Awesome bull. Great start to the season. Nice collection you have going there.

I agree this could be an issue with new brass, or FL sized brass. But twice fired and only neck sized if fired in your chamber should not do this. Check headspace of your loaded, and fired brass. Another possible culprit would be brass content of the Hornady vs. What the book uses. If there is less case capacity with the Hornady due to more brass content, then pressures will spike earlier. Seeing as how your velocity is much higher than what the book shows, leads me to think this could be a big part of your problem. Also, jumping from LR to magnum primers greatly changes pressure too. Like 1-2 grains of powder difference at times. Different lots of powders can cause this effect, as well as temperature swings, but H1000 is very temp stable, and RL23 is very good as well. RL22 would definitely show temp swing velocity changes however. Bullet bearing surface and friction will also add or reduce pressure. That is a main reason why Partitions suggest less powder usage. Loading a bullet that is different than what a book calls out is not exact. There will be a difference. You could also have a slight carbon ring right at the throat with 700 rounds down the tube. I doubt the barrel is shot out, but higher pressure and velocity is sometimes a sign of that.

We worked on a couple sites on Mildred Peak and Colorado Peak, and saw some great deer up there. We also glassed up a lot of "mules" and "coyotes". Be careful.

8x3x2?

I was in contact with the OP. He did not make it to the range, but he picked a great day to skip it. Wind was terrible, and it was cold. Last weekend, it was in the 80s, today was 59 out there with the 11-19 mph cross wind per my Kestrel. Should have grabbed a sweatshirt.

Totally depends on weather. I have seen tons of deer up in 7E this year. Biggest bucks I have seen have been low however.

I am headed out in 5 minutes. I won't be there too long this morning. I am wearing a black Wounded Warriors t-shirt, tan shorts, and tan/white Columbia baseball cap. Only shooting 1 rifle today. My 7RM. Look for it if you want to stop and check out your rifle. I brought some tools with me.

Prayers for understanding and comfort. She is happy and healthy again.

I will be out tjere tomorrow morning to refoul a barrel before hunting season. I would be happy to check it out with you.

Riiiight.....

For historic recollection...

Holy run-on sentences Batman... Sorry, couldn't resist. Desert Buck, your story of you watching a bedded elk and the previous one of the guy calling it in don't jive. Not saying anything illegal took place. Just saying it could have been handled differently. I am not saying tjey knew it was shot previously, but the situation should have been traced back to the original hit and check for the original entrance/exit. A bull that is bedded could have possibly expired quickly. But jumping a wounded animal, even if fatally, could easily push the animal a long ways off. We all know this. I am sure a lot of us have experienced this. I have myself. I have also had an animal that was shot by me taken by another person. I can't say "hunters, because there was never a second shot heard. It was across a deep canyon. Deer ran over the ridge, and I started crossing the canyon. 2 hours later I was following a blood trail and it ended next to a 2 track, where a pool was found, hair, a drag trail, 2 set of boot prints and tire tracks. So I feel the pain of the OP.

For historical recollection...

There you go, a 2nd confirmation of who it is. Thanks for that. So the fact of knowing who it was is valid.

I would not have passed either. Awesome bull.

A person who knows the 2 people in the thread texted me with a 100% positive identification. The "guide" is not a licensed guide. The shooter is the other name in the bottom of the 2nd photo.

Must be killing these guys that they can't post it on FB. Check out the names in the 2 photos. Just sayin'....

I would shoot him in a heartbeat too.

1. Pull scope & rings 2. Pull mount, reinstall and torque to spec 3. Reinstall rings properly 4. Reinstall scope and torque to spec 5. Torque actionscrews to spec 6. Clean barrel. I mean strip EVERYTHING. Carbon, copper. Use a good solvent, Shooter's Choice, then Sweet 7.62 is what I use. Then a good carbon solvent again. Repeat as needed until all blue/green is absent from patches. Then dry patch it. 7. Check crown 8. Foul barrel with 5-10 shots. Then shoot for sight-in and groups. 9. Then report back. I would say a 7RM should go 1200-1700+ rounds before it goes south.

I have no issues with a belted case like 7RM or 7STW. But some people hate them. Depending on intended use, and shooting frequency, that will vary recommendations. With the description, sounds like a lighter weight hunting rifle. I have of loaded and shot one 28 Nosler to date. But it was a 12# rifle with a brake. Not bad at all. 195 Elite Hunter @ 3095ish. 7RUM can match that. I have loaded a bunch of 7RM with 168 & 180 Bergers around 3000-3100. 7LRM is right in the same range. Much less powder usage in these class cases as well. 7 STW is in between these cartridges. None of them will give you great, or even good barrel life. But if you plan to just use it as a Hunter, good to go. Any of tjem are taking deer and elk a long ways out. Probably as far as 99% of hunters would reasonably consider in a hunting situation. If handloading, all are a very viable option. Buying factory loads? 7RM hands down for selection and availability. Remember, light rifles are great to carry, but harder to shoot well at long range. That is why my lighter weight carry rifles are chambered in slightly smaller rounds like the .280AI @ 8lbs 15oz all in, and 7RM @ 9lbs 10oz (IIRC?). While my LR elk rifle is a heavy weight @ 13+lbs in .300RUM.

I have shot several coyotes with the 69 SMK from a 24" .223 @ 3033fps MV. All died right there, right now. And the accuracy is astounding. We have also shot a few javalina with them, and nothing went further than 50 yards. Jackrabbits can't stand them either. I have given several of my same reloads to friends for their kids to go shoot does, and they all worked great on muley does too.

You will need a minimum of 1:10" twist. Seeing as how you stated you have a "long throat, I am going to assume custom barrel and probably 1:10" twist? My .300RUM shoots a 230 Berger Hybrid very well with a 1:10" twist. Those bullets are pretty long too, about 1.640". I THINK I measured a 200 LRX @ something like 1.620", so of you get tjem moving fast, you should be OK with a 1:10" twist and 3000ish fps.

I spent a 20 hour day on Saturday looking for elk in 7E on Saturday. Glassed for at least 10 hours. I glassed a total of 4 elk. A small 5x5 and 3 cows. Tons of deer, and a few antelope. One half-hearted bugle about 5:15AM down low. To be honest, I am getting nervous for my upcoming hunt that is my first elk tag this century....

If I was shooting a 6.5 CM, I would definitely go Lapua brass. My choice of brass if available is in this order. 1. Lapua (especially since they are doing the small primer pocket) Absolutely top quality brass. Weight sorting should be within .8-.9 grains, maybe better. My .260 cases were within .6 grains across 205 pieces. Fully prepped. Run it through a neck sixer and load it up. 2. Nosler. Even though Norma makes Nosler brass, Nosler goes the extra step of weight sorting. Extremely high quality. Every batch I have worked with in all cartridges has been within 1 grain across lot numbers. Fully prepped. Run it through a neck sizer and load it up. I personally do not care for Hornady brass at all. As for the small primer pockets, look at the other cartridges that use them and decide. All known for their accuracy. .220 Russian (used for 6 PPC) 6BR Norma, 6.5x47L, and .308 Palma cases. Read up on them. http://www.lapua.com/en/headlines/335/6.5-Creedmoor-is-here!