Best rifle for Elk?

[bornhunter]

If you truly want a lightweight rifle, I'd suggest a 270 Winchester. Any cartridge bigger than that will have too much recoil. The 270 may be on the light side for elk, but if you use the right bullets it'll do just fine. Now if you're talking just an average weight rifle, like around 7 1/2 pounds, I'd say the 30/06 or either of the 300 Winchester Magnums would be hard to beat.

  270 is all Ihave ever used. All deer, elk, bear. Good all around IMO.

[WSU]

My wife shoots a 270.  It kills elk just fine.

[Bob33]

I would consider a 300 WSM. I have a Browning X Bolt that is on the lighter side of average. Shoot a monolithic bullet like the Barnes TSX and you can get away shooting a lighter weight bullet and still have adequate penetration. The lighter bullet will have slightly less recoil. I am recoil sensitive and can shoot that rifle well. My 120 pound son shoots it also. It's hard to beat a .30 caliber for all around performance on North American game.

[headshot5]

Tikka t3 in 30-06 or 270 Win.

[X-Force]

Randy Newberg uses a 7mm-08 a lot and for a lightweight light recoil gun it would be hard to beat.

[Eric M]

My personal go tos are the 270 or the 7mm rem. Nothing wrong with the 7mm 08. Lots of good calibers mentioned.

[jstone]

Most  seem to be on the 300 band wagon. What about the .308? I have the savage.243 and love that rifle. I am thinking about the .308 savage 110.

[coachcw]

two things , id pick a rifle that is accurate ( key is good placement ) secondly is caliber ( id shy away from the 243 for elk if having the choice . theres plenty of good bullet choices in the line of 300s )

[Karl Blanchard]

Most  seem to be on the 300 band wagon. What about the .308? I have the savage.243 and love that rifle. I am thinking about the .308 savage 110.

308 is a fine caliber.  For me personally, I just cant come up with a reason to use one.  There's a whole long list of calibers on a SA platform and similar recoil that do it better.

[WapitiTalk1]

Nothing wrong with a .308; lots of dirt naps have been given by that caliber over many, many years.  And, all those Army snipers can't be wrong with its accuracy  .  I have the Savage 110 Storm in .223 and absolutely love the rifle.   

[Jonathan_S]

Most  seem to be on the 300 band wagon. What about the .308? I have the savage.243 and love that rifle. I am thinking about the .308 savage 110.

When the question is "best caliber for elk" and even when short action might be a want, I still can't think of any reason to reccomend a 308 for a grown person

[HoofsandWings]

If you are a great shot, then it really does not matter which cartridge. Take a rifle and shoot a target at 200 yards off hand. (no rest).
For shorter distances, practice with a peep sight.
If you are a terrible shot, then look at cartridges meant for elephants.

[Woodchuck]

The best rifle for elk is what you are most comfortable with. That .243 will kill elk graveyard dead, I've seen one do it. It will kill elk just as dead as the next great .472 creekmire whiz bang super rifle, and the elk will never know the difference. Shoot what is comfortable to you, shoot quality bullets, make good shots. 

[jstone]

I used that .243 in Montana for antelope at 280 yards dropped him where he stood. Last year shot a 4 point mule at 230 he walked 30 yards tipped over. Gun is lights out. Just thought of upping the caliber for Montana elk someday. I bow hunt elk in Washington. But someday want to hunt elk again with a rifle, just not this state.

[mikefinchmp]

If you are a great shot, then it really does not matter which cartridge. Take a rifle and shoot a target at 200 yards off hand. (no rest).
For shorter distances, practice with a peep sight.
If you are a terrible shot, then look at cartridges meant for elephants.

Hilarious! I think if I was that bad I would opt for machine gun.. lol