Hunt elk or moose with a 280 using 140 grain Federal Fusions or ballistic tips?
- Thread starter MD
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I would not worry for caliber but would end up with barnes ttsx or similar bullet.
Not really great fan of any bullet with lead on top.
Used soft points and shoot one animal and promised myself no more,
Barnes TTSX or TSX
Federal with similar bullet but not sure of name right now,
Only solid bullet construction without jackets and moulds,
Dont like their performance and accuracy wise they are not great either
Not really great fan of any bullet with lead on top.
Used soft points and shoot one animal and promised myself no more,
Barnes TTSX or TSX
Federal with similar bullet but not sure of name right now,
Only solid bullet construction without jackets and moulds,
Dont like their performance and accuracy wise they are not great either
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Until recently when Moose and Elk discovered Kevlar body armor these would have been fine. Now we need rifles with magnum on the head stamp, and a total cost of at least the meat value of 5 Moose to hunt them.
On a serious note...280 is fine. Basically a necked down 30-06, and who would say that a 30-06 with a 140 or 150 Gr is inadequate. Actually a projectile of the same weight from a 280 vs a 30-06, the 280 would have a better SD....so in theory better penetration. I would not believe the animal would know the difference. Handloaded or premium factory 280 gives very little performance to the 7 mag.
Believe that the Federal Fusion is loaded with Speer Grand Slams....stand to be corrected. Lead tipped softpoints are fine also, take for example the Nosler partition, a projectile that any other premium bullet is compared against. My beef with lead tipped softpoints is the tendency of the points to deform.
On a serious note...280 is fine. Basically a necked down 30-06, and who would say that a 30-06 with a 140 or 150 Gr is inadequate. Actually a projectile of the same weight from a 280 vs a 30-06, the 280 would have a better SD....so in theory better penetration. I would not believe the animal would know the difference. Handloaded or premium factory 280 gives very little performance to the 7 mag.
Believe that the Federal Fusion is loaded with Speer Grand Slams....stand to be corrected. Lead tipped softpoints are fine also, take for example the Nosler partition, a projectile that any other premium bullet is compared against. My beef with lead tipped softpoints is the tendency of the points to deform.
The Fusion is not a Grand Slam. The Fusion is a heavily copper plated bullet (heavily plated compared to plated pistol bullets) which makes it a bonded bullet but a bit on the soft side since the "jacket" is uniform all around and doesn't restrict expansion. The Grand Slam is regular cup and core bullet with a heavy'ish jacket.
don't tell anyone, but the last moose I shot I used a 7-08 with 140 grain vanilla cup and core bullets, I forgot the premium bullets back on the quad and went for a stroll with nothing but a half a box of Remington core lock ammo, shortly after I began calling I got run down by a huge pissed off bull that thought I was mounting his cow for fun..........with no time to run back for the federal fusions I had no choice but to lay him out with the Remington core locks, neither one of us could tell the difference
The 280 is enough gun.
The Fusions, while "bonded" (electrically I think, different process than most bonded bullets) were "designed" for Deer, so the bonding is just tough enough for thin skinned game "by design from Federal" - for that reason alone I wouldn't use them on moose/elk.
I hit a deer last season with a 165 fusion (30.06) at about 25 yards and the bullet "evaporated" - killed the deer fine but there was nothing left of the bullet at all - so much for the bonding process I guess (at least at high velocity impact) - and no, didn't hit any bone, went through the ribs, minced everything in between and left the far side shoulder looking like it was hit with a load of birdshot - so after that experience not only would I not use it on moose or elk, I likewise won't use it for deer anymore either (single experience was enough for me).
When I hunt moose I like a stout bullet but if you aren't hunting with a magnum I do NOT favour mono's (TTSX, GMX etc) which need quite a bit of velocity to mushroom properly - maybe not an issue with deer which are easy to kill, just don't want a pencil hole through a thousand pounds worth of moose.
If you are looking for "off the shelf" Nosler loads 140 accu-bonds for the 280 Rem. And the accu-bond is a "tough" bonded bullet more suitable for moose/elk than the fusion.
Of course, at 200 yards or less a core-lokt is more than you need - you don't have to get fancy unless you are pushing the envelope.
The Fusions, while "bonded" (electrically I think, different process than most bonded bullets) were "designed" for Deer, so the bonding is just tough enough for thin skinned game "by design from Federal" - for that reason alone I wouldn't use them on moose/elk.
I hit a deer last season with a 165 fusion (30.06) at about 25 yards and the bullet "evaporated" - killed the deer fine but there was nothing left of the bullet at all - so much for the bonding process I guess (at least at high velocity impact) - and no, didn't hit any bone, went through the ribs, minced everything in between and left the far side shoulder looking like it was hit with a load of birdshot - so after that experience not only would I not use it on moose or elk, I likewise won't use it for deer anymore either (single experience was enough for me).
When I hunt moose I like a stout bullet but if you aren't hunting with a magnum I do NOT favour mono's (TTSX, GMX etc) which need quite a bit of velocity to mushroom properly - maybe not an issue with deer which are easy to kill, just don't want a pencil hole through a thousand pounds worth of moose.
If you are looking for "off the shelf" Nosler loads 140 accu-bonds for the 280 Rem. And the accu-bond is a "tough" bonded bullet more suitable for moose/elk than the fusion.
Of course, at 200 yards or less a core-lokt is more than you need - you don't have to get fancy unless you are pushing the envelope.
Thanks guys, I've been slaying critters with regular vanilla lead tipped bullets since 1970 with various calibres from 243 through to a 300 win. mag.
I believe hunters have been using them since they were invented to kill animals. They used to use lead balls before that I fact, I just read an account of John Franklin's overland expedition from Hudson Bay to the Arctic Ocean in 1819 to 1821 and he hired the Yellowknife Indians to hunt caribou and other game for him using powder and ball. I don't think Barnes TSX bullets were available at the time.
I just thought I'd try something different for the 280 and did kill a deer with the Fusion load last year.
Bought the ballistic tips on a whim 'cause I heard they were usually very accurately shooting.
I guess I'll just write off the purchase of the ballistic tips as a lesson learned.
I also tried a box of Federal Vital-Shok with Nosler Partitions. They were pretty good, but expensive.
I have a a box of Remington Core-Lokt with 165 grain bullets for the 280 too that I haven't even tried yet. I think those'll be good moose bullets.
I believe hunters have been using them since they were invented to kill animals. They used to use lead balls before that I fact, I just read an account of John Franklin's overland expedition from Hudson Bay to the Arctic Ocean in 1819 to 1821 and he hired the Yellowknife Indians to hunt caribou and other game for him using powder and ball. I don't think Barnes TSX bullets were available at the time.
I just thought I'd try something different for the 280 and did kill a deer with the Fusion load last year.
Bought the ballistic tips on a whim 'cause I heard they were usually very accurately shooting.
I guess I'll just write off the purchase of the ballistic tips as a lesson learned.
I also tried a box of Federal Vital-Shok with Nosler Partitions. They were pretty good, but expensive.
I have a a box of Remington Core-Lokt with 165 grain bullets for the 280 too that I haven't even tried yet. I think those'll be good moose bullets.
Although they are not my choice for moose and elk, Ballistic Tips are very accurate bullets in my guns and several friend's too. The ARE very quick expanding for their weight which makes them pretty good deer bullets at reasonable velocities. Don't "write them off", just find a more appropriate use for them than moose and elk.
notsorichguy
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I put one moose and 2 elk on the freezer (as well as numerous deer) with the 280 shooting 140 federal fusions.
I have since branched out to 140 nosler Ballistic tip pushed by 60.4 grains of H4831.... I have taken one elk and 2 deer with that load.....
If it shoots good, use it!
Cheers!
I have since branched out to 140 nosler Ballistic tip pushed by 60.4 grains of H4831.... I have taken one elk and 2 deer with that load.....
If it shoots good, use it!
Cheers!
Agree with all the others. .280 is not a problem but ballistic tip are NOT a good choice. I'd opt for some partition.
Federal premium red box are loaded with Nosler partitions. That's would be my pick, although lots of guys seem to like the Barnes loads also.
Federal premium red box are loaded with Nosler partitions. That's would be my pick, although lots of guys seem to like the Barnes loads also.
280 is an excellent caliber, but don't count on finding ammo for it if you forget to pack it.
If I was hunting in a location where I knew the only possible shots would be at long range, I might use the Ballistic Tip. But my last moose was a surprise encounter with a moose on a game trail at about 3 yards. A BT would not have been a good choice.
If I was hunting in a location where I knew the only possible shots would be at long range, I might use the Ballistic Tip. But my last moose was a surprise encounter with a moose on a game trail at about 3 yards. A BT would not have been a good choice.
I've shot about 35 moose and deer in the past ten years or so with my 280 Remington Model 700 . I use 139 grain Hornady's (Spire point and Boat-tail Spire point) which I hand load to a very accurate 3000f/s ....some including moose out past 300 yds.....mostly all one shot kills.....and not much blood shot meat damage .
I prefer the broad side double lung shot of course .
I prefer the broad side double lung shot of course .
My current choice for moose with my .280 rem. is the 150 gr. swift scirrocco, have also use barnes 140 gr. tsx and 140 gr. ballistic tips, the ballistic tip is the only one that I had to shoot the moose twice to make it stay down even after a good first shot behind the front shoulder
