As far as elk-guns" go, my 375 has been used more than any other firearm I ever used on elk.
I have used the 300 grain Sierra, but that's one bullet I never killed an elk with. I did kill a moose with one. The core and jacket came apart, but I can't say it was all that bad. The core exited and hit the water in the pond the moose was standing in front of. I found the rear of the jacket in it's ribs on the off side. Failure of a bullet becomes less and less important as the bullets gets bigger. A "failed" 300 grain .375 bullet still does a lot of damage and goes deep, unlike a failed 130 or 140 grain .264" bullet . Shear size can overcome lack of bullet integrity to some extent.
I would not choose one that I know comes apart just because there are so many other ones that don't come apart, but I have killed a number of elk with 270 grain Hornady SPs and they also come apart quite a lot, yet no animal I ever hit with one went far, and most just dropped. No animal I ever shot with one needed a 2nd shot either.
For elk I have used 270 grain Hornadys in both spire point and round nose.(The RN is a lot better) I have used 235 grain Speers. I have used 300 grain Winchester Silvertips (made in the 50s) and 300 grain Nosler Partitions,(old screw machine made ones) 300 grain Hornady solids and also 270 grain Winchester Power Points.
The two I'd rate the best of them all have been the Nosler Partitions and the old WW Power Points. Both made large diameter wounds the went clear through no matter the angle, or if they hit large bones or not. Just a large hole clear through in a straight line.
It can't get better then that.
But with a 375H&H, about any bullet (that's not made for the 375 Winchester) is going to be fine for elk I am sure. Some may be a bit better than others, but I don't think any will let your elk run off if you cna shoot well enough to place your shots. The beauty of the 375H&H is that it lacks nothing for about any use in America, and is still good for about 99% of all hunting even in Africa.
The "super-stoppers" are all just fine, but in modern hunting for American who do not live in an African nation, the chances of needing to stop a "blood-eyed charge" of an elephant is nearly non-existent, because the pro is there and has that covered. (at least he's supposed to.)
I have owned several rifles larger than my 375 and I still own one, a 404 Jeffery. But I have sold all my 458s, all my 416s, my 460s and my 505 Gibbs. Why? The 375 is a better rifle than any of them for the hunting I do. Yes, I said better. Power is not everything.
The 375 is slimmer, lighter, shoots flatter, is super accurate so I can use it at long ranges if I feel the need, doesn't kick much, so an accurate fast 2nd shot is ..... well.......faster.
So far I have NEVER needed a 2nd shot with my 375 on any animal, but I have another round chambered within a 1/2 second and am back on target in 1-1.3 seconds which is faster than I could do with any other more powerful rifle I had. So if ever I do need it, I like having round #2 in the chamber and back on target faster. That may be more mental masturbation then "real-world", but having shot against the timer with all my big rifles I can say the 375 and my 9.3X62 are as fast for me to make a 2nd hit on metal and paper targets as my 30-06 or 270. The kick of the 375 doesn't slow my recovery time at all, where my 416s, 404, 458s, 460s and 505 all did.
For North America the 375H&H is in my opinion the best "big rifle" in the case you had just one rifle. For most hunters that's not realistic either, but the point still stands.
Even in those cases where you owned only 1 rifle, the 30-06 probably is going to be just as good for all the real hunts (not the hunts we sometimes have in our minds) but if you want a big rifle to cover everything from small deer to moose to buffalo and big bears, and if recoil in not something that bothers you much, I think the 375 "set the bar" over 100 years ago for versatility better than anything else made since that time. The one that I have seen that is probably the closest to a tie is the old 9.3X62.
If we tell the un-embellished truth, for the large majority of American hunters a good 30-30, 243, 25-06, 6.5CM, 260 Rem will cover every hunting need they will ever see in their life. Most American big game hunters (like 89%, if I recall US Fish and Wildlife's statistic correctly) hunt deer and nothing larger. The remaining 11% hunts everything else, from black bear, hogs, elk, caribou, moose, bison and Brown/Grizzly/Kodiak bears.
I personally take the stand of "so what'? I like shooting my big rifles and I have killed a lot of rabbits and rock-chucks with them. It's good practice. I like my big rifles. But I do not try to convince myself or others of any need for most of them, because for the most part I don't NEED them. I want....therefore I need. A slave is allowed what he needs. A free man gets what he wants.
I have made, owned and used many of the newer and more modern cartridges, and from my experience I have come to the conclusion (somewhat grudgingly at first) that the "new stuff" is not better, and in most cases not as good.
Sure, some are more powerful, faster, and look "modern", with slimmer bullets and higher BCs, but none have shown me any true advantage for killing game, and I base this opinion on about 40+ years of experience and killing a lot of game myself, as well as seeing a lot more killed with many other guns and bullets than I have shot myself. This especially true for elk having hunted and guided and packed for other hunters now for nearly 50 years.
The 375 is just outstanding. Load it up and use it. You'll find it meets or exceeds your wishes for all the tasks you'll ask it to do.
