Guys: Kudos to all!
My favorite personal (present)elk rifles both look like Utah 7/08's,except the bolt handle is on the other side. I presently have two,one chambered 7 Rem Mag and the other 7mm Mashburn Super.I don't know how many more elk hunts I have left but with a tag one of these will get the call.
I try to stay objective about rifle cartridges because they are what they are and do what they do,and nothing more or less.
I am also the last person to argue that the 300 magnums and 338's are anything but fantastic elk cartridges,since I have used the various 300's on them myself,and seen the 338's used quite a bit.
I have even been in one outfitted elk camp where it was strongly recommended (but not mandated) that the hunter bring a 300 magnum minimum because ( it was said)that in their experience heavy, tough 30 caliber bullets simply break heavy bone better, penetrate, deeper, and chop bigger wound channels in big bulls than anything lighter (including the various 7mm's).Magnum velocities made long range work easier.
I didn't argue the point since I was using a 300 Weatherby with 200 gr Partitions at the time,but felt the advice was a bit over the top. But digging around a lot of bull elk carcasses pretty much confirmed what they said. I still feel in general that the various 300 magnums with good heavy bullets deserve to be lumped in with the medium bores (in the old days it was not uncommon to see the 300 Weatherby lumped in with the 375 H&H as a cartridge for heavy African plains game).
A lot of this is bullet dependent.But the 7mm magnums work good because the heavy 7mm bullets(say 150-180 gr) nudge into the weight range of medium 30 caliber bullets. Cases with more capacity than the 30/06 start them out at about the same velocity that smaller cases do with lighter bullets;and the good construction of todays bullets insures good penetration and enough integrity and weight to penetrate and break up bone along the way.
Most of this is accomplished with somewhat lighter powder charges than the 300's which, along with slightly lighter bullets, gets you kicked a bit less,which means you can build a somewhat lighter rifle.
These days I shoot a couple of 7mm mags regularly; I also get to shoot a pal's 300 Weatherby.My 7mm's are both lighter;the 300 Weatherby requires a lot more attention and a firmer grip to maintain control than either of my 7mm's.Last session with his 300 Weatherby involved about a box of ammo in an afternoon and I had about had it after that session...
Hunkering down and torching off powder charges in the mid-80's behind 200 gr bullets at 3100 fps from a blown out 300 is ok for a few shots, but I'll take a charge of 73 gr with a 175 from the Mashburn for about the same velocity...this may be age related.
None of this is "magic",nor "ego", nor expectations of miraculous effect,the presence or absence of belts(another silly notion) or (silliest of all)where you happen to have been born or live...it's pure physics at the "sending" end, and the "receiving" end,and nothing more.
