Thanks for the feedback, fellas. Sounds like more opinions than experience in this case. The only reason I'm going down this road is because 300 blk with modern solid copper 120gr bullets retain 100% of their weight and penetrate the same as 30-30 Win with 170gr CoreLokt (which has killed a pile of elk in the timber).
I'm hunting with a suppressor that is 8.4" long, so barrel length is the main concern here. My 300 blk has a 16" barrel and my 308 has an 18" barrel. Plus 308 seems overkill at 25 yards, considering I've killed elk at 500 yards with similar cartridge.
How is 300 blk any different than elk guides who carry a 243 Win and 100gr Partitions that only have 60% weight retention? The 120gr TAC-TX gets 20-25" penetration in gel at ranges that I will be shooting at.
Not to mention this 300 blk load meets the CPW regs just like the 243 Win ("you must use a rifle that fires expanding bullets with a minimum caliber of .24 cal. or 6mm, a minimum weight of 85 grains that delivers at least 1,000 ft. lbs. of energy at 100 yards")
Seeing as how I have a pair of 243's with 100g Partitions that have accounted for 14 elk, I guided elk hunters for a few decades (although I never carried a 243 or any other rifle while guiding), and have killed far more elk at less than a 100 yds than I ever will at over 300 yds, I figure I'm plumb qualified to comment.....
I think the TAC-TX would be a good choice of bullet and makes up for a lot of other sins. Like using a 300 Blackout. I have a acquaintance who has killed two elk with a Contender in 6.5 something or another with the TAC bullet. It sounded to me like the bullet opens up a lot more than the usual copper rifle bullets.
I have long preached on here that moderate expansion and deep penetration is the secret to elk. Nobody listens but I still do it....
But...having started following my father elk hunting 60 years ago here in Colorado and beyond, I also know a guy can spend the entire day still hunting through the spruce-fir-quakie elk jungles and never see further than 60 yds, and then break out onto the side of a canyon, side of a mountain, or across a ravine and see elk 400 yds away.
Elk are generalists, you've got a specialty set-up. I certainly wouldn't disadvantage myself with such a rig. If I have a hankering for a bigger challenge I break out the Black Widow recurve with Port Orford cedar arrows.......
