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I'm making my first Elk hunt next fall in CO. I have a Remington model 700 .30-06 and am really comfortable with it but I hear that .30-06 is just barely enough for a large bodied animal. I plan on making other hunting trips for big game in the future so, I want to pick up a new rifle.

I'm considering .300 wsm .300 win or 7mm mag. The model 700 is nice but I like the Weatherby Mark V. However, it comes in .300 win and 7mm. Alternatively, the Vanguard sub moa comes in .300wsm and is about $800 less. I like the additional features of the mark v especially free floating barrel but I think the short magnums have more punch and less recoil.

So, if anyone has anything to offer/ field experience with either the vanguard, mark V or these calibers - I'd really appreciate it.

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Spend the money on a Leupold VX-3, a nice handle for your 700, and go kill an elk.

May want to get a gym membership while your at it, although I don't know much about your shape.


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Many guys swear by the trusty old 06. I know many that have used it religiously in AK on everything. It gets the job done. I think it would be fine for elk.

I love 300 winnies...used them on everything from deer, sheep and grizzlies. Great caliber, ammo readily avail in a pinch, 30 cal...what more to ask for. I have 2!

I have heard good and bad about the WSMs...but don't need a new caliber just b/c its the new buzz thing. The 300 win and the 06 flat out get it done. Either would be fine for elk. Long distance, open field shooting...7mm is hard to beat....but I just love 300 winnies!

Last edited by Jdogg; 10/30/09.

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A 30-06 is plenty for elk, heck its plenty for Eland, and those weigh in at about a ton. The Average Rocky Mt Elk Bull might go 500 to 700 lbs on the hoof. Spend your money on shooting. Now if its keeping you awake at night, I would look at a 338 Winchester Mag. 7mm Remington or the 300 WSM don't give you a whole lot more than a .30-06, most of it is just on paper. I shoot a 7mm RM most of the time these days, along with a 338 Winchester. When its all said and done, a 30-06 would serve me just as well. All you need to do is put a good bullet in the right spot. Also for low lander like me, a rifle that weights a couple of pounds less makes a lot of sense. The hard part of elk hunting is not what you shoot, is finding one to shoot, followed by packing it out. Unlike Eastern Deer hunting, its huge land area's you can walk for miles and then some. You might luck out and catch a bull in the open, more like it you will be in the Lodge Poles and a long shot might be 60 yards.


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Can't go wrong with any of those but you may be losing ground with the new rifle. All of those perform about like a 30-06 so I would want either something more powerful or significantly lighter with lighter being much more important.

A Good load with a premium bullet in the 06 is hard to beat. I would think about getting a light weight stock and a good scope maybe a 4x or 6x or low powered variable. Next get a really good pair of boots and binos. Then go jogging in the new boots with a back pack on. You will be far better prepared than with a flashy new gun that you aren't 100% familiar with.


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get you some 180gr tbbc's or partitions and take that 06' elk hunting. heck, i've a friend in missoula, mt who has killed 22-23 elk with a 308 and corelokts. what is important is putting a good bullet in the right spot (and if you do your part the 06' will never let you down). forget thinking you need another rifle, because you don't! now "want" is a different animal.

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An '06 is PLENTY for elk. I've shot clean through elk many times with good 165- and 180- gr. bullets, at distances from 40 yards to 300 yards. The longest any elk travelled after being shot was about 80 yards, and that was a bull that my son shot with a .308 and 180-gr. Partitions.

But if you really want a new gun, going on an elk hunt is as good an excuse as any, just don't expect it to put the elk down any faster... unless you're going to a 375 H&H.

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Premium bullets have made better killers of standard calibers, like using an '06 on elk. Still, I am one those guys that, when measuring the balance, would rather err on the slightly heavier side. I consider elk big enough, tough enough and often found in places rugged enough that I like the idea of whatever little extra a bit more oomph could provide.

First, I think gmsemel is absolutely right that if you've got an '06 already the move up to the calibers you list really is a fairly small step. I mean, it's there, but if you want to step up I'd strongly recommend going ahead and getting a mid-bore. This could be a .338/06 or a .35 Whelen (.338 Fed?) on the "lower" end. By lower I mean you'd be dealing with less recoil and be giving up some velocity for longer shots if that's important to you.

IF you don't have recoil issues I'm a fan of the faster .33's like the .338 WM or what I have (and something that sounds as though you'd like) a Wby MKV .340. Insanely versatile cartridge. With it's favorite 210gr load it's as flat as my 7mag's favorite 150gr load or it can be loaded up to .275gr A-Frames for...whatever. The Winchester is really the same thing that just hasn't put in quite as much time at the gym buffing up.


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Sve your money and get a gym membership to get in shape and a new pair of boots for all of the waliking you'll do!


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Save your money and get a gym membership to get in shape and a new pair of boots for all of the walking you'll do!
Dang spell check is good!


How a man acts when he wins reveals part of his character, how he acts when he loses reveals the rest.
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Originally Posted by gunshotbob
I'm making my first Elk hunt next fall in CO. I have a Remington model 700 .30-06 and am really comfortable with it but I hear that .30-06 is just barely enough for a large bodied animal. I plan on making other hunting trips for big game in the future so, I want to pick up a new rifle.

I'm considering .300 wsm .300 win or 7mm mag. The model 700 is nice but I like the Weatherby Mark V. However, it comes in .300 win and 7mm. Alternatively, the Vanguard sub moa comes in .300wsm and is about $800 less. I like the additional features of the mark v especially free floating barrel but I think the short magnums have more punch and less recoil.

So, if anyone has anything to offer/ field experience with either the vanguard, mark V or these calibers - I'd really appreciate it.
...................You`re hearing that the 30-06 is barely large enough for elk???? Then ask the person or persons who are telling you that, to chip in and buy you a new rifle with "THEIR" money!!!!! Maybe they feel your scope is in-sufficient too??? Throw a new scope in too!!! Did they also say how close you need to be to take an elk with a 30-06? This is a plain case of some un-intentional bad advice.

A 180 gr bullet moving from the muzzle at 2700-2800 fps from a 30-06, is enough to down a big bull elk at 400 yards. It doesn`t matter whether that same bullet is moving at 3000, 3200, 4000, or even 5000 fps from a 300 super mag!! Regardless, you must still do your part, know your bullet`s velocity, BC, trajectory and properly place that first shot. Higher downrange velocity and energy #s on paper are just that,,,#s ON PAPER! Besides that, most kill shot distances for elk average within 400 yards anyway.

The vitals in an elk, which need to be shocked and disrupted, are located in the center of the animal, not in the next county over. Go use your 30-06.

If you really have the itch for a new rifle, better advice would be to diversify a little with another caliber that you don`t have.




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As an add on to my last post, here`s a little something for you to write down, keep in your wallet and pull out the next time someone advises you that a 30-06 is barely enough for elk.

A 180 gr Nosler A/B (BC of .507) with a MV at say 2800 fps has the following downrange velocity and energy #s.

At 400 yards...............2124 fps.......1802 ft lbs
At 500 yards...............1971 fps.......1552 ft lbs

Ask them!!! "So these #s aren`t enough oooomph for elk with a properly placed shot"???

If they say no, they`re idiots!


28 Nosler,,,,300WSM,,,,338-378 Wby,,,,375 Ruger


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nobody said the '06 couldn't be used they just said it would be the minimum....which bothered me to hear since i bought the '06 with a hunt like this in mind

this is getting off the which weatherby topic but for those of you who responded - the 700 has a Nikon buckmaster 4-12 x 50 mounted and most of my shots are 200 or less.... i do have a cheapo rangefinder i use for bow...with all this support for going with the '06...maybe I can get a Zeiss Rapid Z 600 to feel better at longer ranges

thanks again for all your advice...i have been using winchester 168gr bst and have been hoping to use xp3 180gr but just haven't gotten out with all the work and domestic chores i've been saddled with....

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now you're talkin'...that bullet hits 300yds with 3,000 ftlbs...I'm a fool when it comes to trips like this...i want to do-over the whole package...which adds to the fun/excitement

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Originally Posted by gunshotbob
...with all this support for going with the '06...maybe I can get a Zeiss Rapid Z 600 to feel better at longer ranges


FYI, for about $39 plus shipping (less expensive than the Zeiss or Leupy B&C options) the Leupold Custom Shop will do a custom reticle exactly matched to your load and calibrated for a 200 yard zero with tick marks for 300, 400 and 500. If you were shooting something flatter, they could also do a 300/400/500/600 setup.

You'll need to chronograph your loads (If you're using factory stuff, don't rely on published "propaganda"), get the BC figure for the intended bullet, provide average temperature, average elevation, etc. and they'll calculate it for you on their ballistics program and then do the custom reticle. I've done this on one rifle, and after long range testing results, I'll surely do more down the road.

Per my conversation with them, they'll even do this for a used scope...as long as it's one of theirs.

Good luck!


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Best bull I ever killed was with a .257 Weatherby...120gr partition.


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Originally Posted by gunshotbob
I'm making my first Elk hunt next fall in CO. I have a Remington model 700 .30-06 and am really comfortable with it


End your thread there and you answered your own question.

Stay with what you have, know and are comfortable with.

Not sure who told you a 30-06 is "barely enough for a large bodied animal", but they're ignorant beyond reason. The 30-06 is first, and foremost, an elk cartridge IMO/E...


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+1 to what Brad said.

Both my wife and I have used the .30-06 on many "big-bodied" animals in North America and Africa over the years. If there is a non-dangerous big game animal that can't be killed neatly with a .30-06 then we haven't encountered it. In fact the .30-06 has served so well as my wife's "big rifle" on a bunch of animals that she backed down to the .308 a couple of years ago, with no noticeable decline in effect.

You are a lot better off with a familiar rifle. One of my favorite quotes came from a long-time elk guide I know. When I asked if he carried a .375 H&H because he guided in grizzly country, he said, "No, it's to finish off the elk my clients gut-shoot with their brand-new .338's!"

The elk guides I know (and I know a lot) are universal in their opinion that the .30-06 is plenty, and are against somebody buying a "big magnum" because they have heard that the '06 isn't enough.



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[Linked Image]

This 6X7 B&C bull was killed cleanly with one shot from a 30/06. 180gr accubond....the bull I killed with my .257 was much larger....


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That's a SWEET bull... but you look kinda clean grin

Heres' the best I've taken with a 30-06:

[Linked Image]


“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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