Topic: Which Caliber???

[Nomad]

 Hunting elk in open country thinking of a new rifle
30-06, 300win, or 300 rum.
 Closed to motorized travel for the most part so will have to carry
the rifle most of the time, thinking of at least a max shot of 400yards..
 Lots of choice towards bullets 180gr on the 06 and 200gr on the 300's
What are your thoughts...?
 Open country southern Idaho high desert country....

[EDGE]

338 EDGE!    

[Nomad]

 You carry it I'll shoot it.

 What team work.......LOL

[Hubby_MC]

We have always carried 308 for the entire family, I did however used to pack a 300 Win Mag and I loved the reach and knockdown it provides. 

[fj40mojo]

I carry an '06 for elk.  If you hand load for a modern bolt action you can push 180grn bullets at factory .300 Win Mag velocity at a fraction of the cost.

[NGO]

30-06 has worked for me at that range. 180 grain for the elk is plenty.

[fj40mojo]

30-06 has worked for me at that range. 180 grain for the elk is plenty.

Got any pet loads NGO?  Mine is 62.5grns of H4831 (that is a case full and I use a 6" drop tube to get it all in) compressed with a 180grn Nosler Partition.  Book I got it out of claims 2900fps at the muzzle, but I've never had the chance to chrono the load.  It's killed every thing I've shot it at so far.

[Jim]

Well, since you ask...my personal preference is 300 winmag with 30-06 a close second.

[Farlo]

Don't overlook the 338 Federal or the RCMs Ruger just put out.

[Nomad]

 Thanks for  the responses headed out to see what kinds
of deals that I can find.. Thanks....

[Nomad]

 Like you way of thinking....Now then there is the wife
selling her on this idea......may take awhile...
 but its worth a try.....

[Michael N]

The 30-06 is a wheel that seldom needs rebuilt . A 180 grain Barnes MRX bullet at 2800+ FPS with a BC of .473 should give you as much edge as you need . The Beauty of the 30-06 is you can buy bullets for it ANYWHERE , hell you can probably dig a half box of 30-06 ammo out of 1/2 the trucks in Idaho if you were pressed to it .

If you wanted to get a little fancier you could always have someone turn it into an Ackley Improved then you could shoot factory ammo or the hotter stuff for Long Range Elk dinging .

[Precise]

I agree with NGO and Michael N, the 30-06 shooting 165 or 180 grain for the elk is more than enough. I've knocked down a cow elk at 300 yards and it dropped like a rock with a lung shot. You can take almost any animal in North America with an *-06 with the exception of Alaskan Brown and Polar Bears. You could take whistle pigs too, but I'd recommended stepping up to .338 Lampua for them...

[fj40mojo]

+1 on '06 w/180s.  Does the job and doesn't kick you out from under your hair!

[Orbital-Burn]

if you'd like, I've got a rem sendero 700 in 300 RUM that I'm looking to part with, I can bring it by pizza this week so you could check it out....

[Nomad]

 Thank you PM sent...