A 30/06 with a Leupold VarX-III 2.5 x 8 is my rifle. It's taken quite a few elk over the past 25 years. Your set-up is just fine. I think your a little off in your range. About 300 yards is my max & is a rough rule of thumb for most big game hunting. As far as bullets. The Federal Premium line is good----180 grain Nolser Partition is always a good choice. Most rifles I know with group them pretty well. CB