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Use the H&H.

Sandpit: I would recommend a "magnum" Rifle for anyone wanting a Rifle dedicated to "Elk Hunting" (and I have lived all my life out west)!
I have killed most of my Elk with a 7m/m Remington Magnum - I chose it not just for the additional lethality but also (mostly?) for the flatter trajectory it offers over "standard cartridges".
I have also killed Bull Elk with these cartridges 270 Winchester, 280 Remington and 30/06.
Yeah when asked (or like you observe "talk about") or when talking about Elk Hunting I do recommend "magnum" calibers.
By the way I have seen (firsthand!) four different "experienced" Hunters kill Bull Elk with Rifles in caliber 25/06 Remington!
Not MY first choice by any stretch, but it did get the job done there in the hands of patient, experienced Hunters.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

...........Yep! As you say the 308/270/30-06 class is plenty.......But then again, you can always reduce the charges or use faster burning powders to approximate mid to high end 30-06 power with either the 300 WSM and 300 Win.

Everybody seems to forget about that when talking about magnums vs non magnum cartridges. With magnum rounds you can always load down to approximate cartridges with less power. However, the reverse is not true. Cannot load up to approximate magnum power.

And for a 400-500 + yard shot on a big elk, "should" that circumstance present itself, I'd prefer a 300 mag vs the 308/270 or 30-06 if choosing a 30 caliber. And if it doesn't all the better.

If I had the luxury of hunting Elk annually I would get a 7mm Rem mag, load some 160 Partitions, and proceed to kill stuff. Or at least attempt to.

Getting a rifle chambered in a magnum cartridge and "loading it down" makes as much sense as getting a Shelby GT and putting a governor on it.

............I'll disagree! That is what reloading does and what it is for. Load up or load down to suit. And there was no mention by me, that if one owns magnums, that reduced loads should be used 100% of the time. Because if that were the case, only then it wouldn't make any sense to own a magnum...

And btw, I own a 2011 Shelby GT500 convertible. It is speed limited from the factory at 155. Well below its top end potential if it were not electronically speed limited. And yet, I have not gone over 100 mph with it.

More fun from 0 to 70-80......

I learned a VERY valuable lesson regarding elk rifles this year. Hop up on my knee...whoa boy, you've been eating your spinach like a good boy.



Ok. Listen close. Here's the story, in a nutshell:

Sometimes, you don't even need a rifle. The end.


Translation: I had 99 problems and the phuqqing rifle wasn't one.


But its funny, that at the end of the day, the lowly 30-06 will handle yo bidness. Always has, always will. But never did...


I'll be back.....

Not a bad choice (of .300's) in the bunch so long as you can shoot them well.

Suggested a .308 for Daughter #1 because she is recoil sensitive. And she shouldn't be shooting past 300-350 yards until she gets more practice. (Hopefully, now that she is again a Colorado resident, we'll get her to the range a lot more often.)

There are so many things that make a person a better elk hunter, but everyone always is hung up on the rifle/cartridge/bullet.

It's way down on my list of worries.

True, but I do like paying for .300 Why. brass so I can load it down to '06 velocities, that's what reloading does.

.......Wise guy..lol......I don't recall mentioning taking a 300 Bee down to '06 velocities. A slight exaggeration. A 300 WSM and Win are more feasible in that dept on a part time basis as needed where max or near max loads are not necessarily needed....And thank all u 30-06 buffs. You have inadvertently complimented my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier shorty compact. Cuz whether you like it or hate it, ballistically from the muzzle, it is a 24" to a 26" tubed 30-06...

I've carried a 270, (several) 30-06, 300 wsm, 300 win mag, 300 wby mag and a .50 cal front stuffer for elk. I've killed elk with the 50, 300 wsm and wby, and 30-06. Never came down to anything except "I want to use this gun". And now I'm putting together a (hopefully!) 5 lbs 308, a 375 Wby and a 7mm-300 win....because why not. Guns are fun. I wish I could hunt 6 elk a year so I could use MORE different guns. Never felt under nor over-gunned with any of them. Shoot what you want, as long as you shoot it good.

That's kind of where I'm coming from with the tongue-in-cheek comments on loading down. If I want to shoot a big magnum, I'll have one in the safe. If I want to shoot a .308 I'll have one of those too. If I want really light mountain rifle, it won't be a magnum, and it won't be loaded down.

Before my first elk hunt out west I was focused mainly on my rifle. Before my second elk hunt I was focused mainly on my boots. Most deer rifles with decent bullets work fine on elk.

A 16" barreled, scout scoped, 300WSM that shoots like a 30-06 and weighs more?

Oof.....

That's what experience will do for/to you. Most of the fun you could have had obsessing about the choice of rifle and perhaps contemplating a new one --- pphhhhhtttt --- gone. Instead you worried about practical stuff like keeping your feet warm, dry and comfortable so you could enjoy the hunt.

Hopefully the practical stuff is out of the way and you can go back to worrying about the fun stuff!

Well, what are you focused on now?

...........Nope! A 16.5" barrel....Short changin me by a 1/2" uh??.....lol

Without scope it weighs 7 1/2 lbs. And depending on what optic I`m using either my 3-9x40, my scout scope or the red dot, the weight goes from 7 3/4 lbs up to nearly 9 lbs..........Ok for me.

Shoots like the 30-06?...Yep! It do.....Hit the link below and scroll down to the factory ammo chrony results using 180 grainers. Not to mention that with 66.3 gr of RL17 only (no pressure signs), it will do better than the best velocity of 2796 fps posted by Quinn.



www.gunblast.com/Ruger_FrontierRifle.htm

Cliff rifle.

Wondering how many more times my old legs will carry me up the side of a mountain.