What caliber rifle would you buy for elk?

Caliber is first decision......
The place and angle of shot is right there with caliber.
An off the shelf rifle quite often has to be tuned up.
If at all possible buy a rifle from a dealer that shoots and tunes. Most all will need work on the trigger and many will need bedding, free floating the barrel, etc. This work should not cost very mouch. Then you will have a rifle that can shoot as good as you can.
I have a friend that just bought a Remington 700SS, 30-06. First day on bench = 2.5" groups. After dissambly and polishing the trigger, minor bedding he is getting three touching @ 100 yds. My shop tells me that the Tinkas are about the best out of the box right now, if you can't buy from a real shop.
 
Listen to DaveD above. There is absolutely NO reason to need a big magnum for elk, or moose for that matter. If it is something you like, get it. Otherwise, I would speculate that more elk have fallen to a 30-06 than any other caliber. And the 06 is a great deer gun to boot. I am shooting a .270 now but would go to either an 06 or a .308 if I decided to go to .30 cal.

Practice a ton and get your confidence built in to your shooting and you will do just fine.
 
Someone a long time ago said "a 30-06 is never a mistake". The elk haven't changed, still hide, bone and flesh. My .270 will still be my primary elk rifle (with 150 Partitions or 140 TSXs), but it's getting a backup. I bought a 30-06 Remington 700 ADL that has such a poor quality barrel that it's being replaced. The new barrel will be a 338-06, not a lot more recoil, but a lot more bullet. This one will be used for heavy timber hunts and as general backup to the 270.
 
idk alot has to do w/ the shooter, then the gun... but i personally use a 243wssm for deer, great lil gun, but i would not take a shot at a elk w/ it... that being said, i know of ppl who have shot elk w/ the smaller bullets and had them pile up with in 40yds but i'm actually looking at getting a remington sendero 7mm mag then install a holland muzzle brake so i can actually get some practice with out the punishment. but the guy i hunt w/ has killed four deer from canada all over 300 lbs and three black bear ranging from 150lbs - 325lbs all these, w/ a 270 - 150 grain bullets, all one shot kills... but he's confident w/ that gun... but i would preffer something 270 or bigger for anything bigger than deer
 
The recoil of the 7mag with a good recoil pad wont bother you(limbsaver),the horendus noise that muzzle break makes will.
 
Get a 7mm something, they're the most aerodynamic of all bullets until you get way up into the super heavy 338's desighned for sniper use, and you have to have a 338 LM to shoot'em fast enough. The higher Ballistic coeffiecients of the 7's let's it be less affected by wind, shoots flatter, and have more retained veocity( = retained energy) down range.

Having said that, I recomend a 280, 280 improved, 7WSM or 7MM RM. 7mm Rum is overbore & the brass is low quaility.

If your an above average shooter, or plan on shortish range stuff only, a 7mm-08 will fit the bill very nicley as well-

but might somehow feel quite puny in your hands after you have packed out the first portion of elk meat, and have retuned to pack out another portion of meat only to discover a grizz or brown has claimed your prize as his own, and he want's to prove it to you beyond a shadow of doubt.
 
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how bout a 7mm stw ?
I have always wanted one of those /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif



Almost a twin the the 7mm RUM ballisticly. I have the RUM and love it. It hits like the hammer of Thor.
 
I favor the .30 caliber for elk and it works well on deer too. The .30-06 is easy to shoot with plenty of punch. The good old Remington CoreLokt is cheap and in 165 or 180 gr the recoil is not bad. In the last few elk my wife has shot with it the bullet is just under the hide on the other side.
I like the .300 Win Mag for myself, it's just a hot '06 that shoots a little flatter.
The .338 Win Mag is popular for elk around here but the recoil adds up quick along with a higher cost.
The right weight and fit of the gun will help. Also a well designed stock will reduce felt recoil. You won't feel any recoil at all when you shoot an elk anyway. Long eye relief scope will keep you from bumping the scope if a shot is at a tough angle. Good Luck
 
Try to get out and shoot a couple different rifles. Also how much do you plan on hunting elk? Is it something you are only going to do once or twice? Also are you hunting deer in NJ or elsewhere? If Elk is not something you are going to make a habbit of I would go ahead and stay with something in the 308 or 30-06 neighborhood, as it will still be very suitable for deer as well. I like to see people using a .30 cal or larger for elk sized animals. You can get away with using stuff a bit smaller, but you can easily start getting into marginal calibers. I personaly subscribe to the theory of use the largest rifle you can shoot profeciently, and then practice with it. I like to have a bit of power in reserve. I live right in the middle of some good elk area so I have a bit more oppertunity than average to hunt them. As such I use a rifle a bit up the power scale 375 H&H, but I had primarily built the rifle to use in africa. I just used it around here for all of my hunting for the past couple of years, because I like the performance I have seen out of it, and it does less meat damage than some of the rifles I have that shoot much faster. And for me the recoil is very tolerable because I built the stock to match me, I actualy just run a steel plate on it.
 
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how bout a 7mm stw ?
I have always wanted one of those /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif



+1 I've had one for about 7 years wouldn't even second guess what I would use.
 
I would suggest something that you are comfortable with, I own a .30-06 and a 7MM MAG but I mainly use those in Kansas. When you do find a rifle spent plenty of time with it. I would suggest getting a nice tight group at 200 yards because then you still can shoot at 100 and 300 yard without making an adjustment.
 
What I just bought to go elk hunting and mule deer hunting with once I'm drawn.A savage with the accu trigger in 270wsm.
 
Well if not a 30-06, a 300WSM would be nice. It's kinda middle ground between the 30-06 and the full size 300win mag. The WSM recoil is only slightly more then the 30-06 while providing a significant jump in energy.

But I have a 270WSM if Deer is my primary and possible Elk. Or 338win mag if ELk is my primary. But a 30-06 is the back up to both. Anyone of those 3 I would be perfectly comfortable with.
 
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Well if not a 30-06, a 300WSM would be nice. It's kinda middle ground between the 30-06 and the full size 300win mag. The WSM recoil is only slightly more then the 30-06 while providing a significant jump in energy.

But I have a 270WSM if Deer is my primary and possible Elk. Or 338win mag if ELk is my primary. But a 30-06 is the back up to both. Anyone of those 3 I would be perfectly comfortable with.


With the 270wsm you get better balistics then a 7mm mag.
 
The 25-06 is a good cal. for deer. My guess is it would work for elk if the shot was well placed. Remember the 25-06, 270 and 30-06 are the same brass. Do you want heavy and slow or ripping fast bullets? The 25-06 can be very fast.Q
 
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