FirstTimeElkHunter,

By studying your two posts it looks like you are experienced with hunting in general and are a good marksman and that you have more than a single rifle.

I think you have good grip on the path you feel you need to go and where you want your hunting equipment to be versus the level within your hunting group. I' m also in the process of purging some of the rifles in my rack that no longer fit my needs or interests and acquiring replacements that reflect where I am headed -- sounds like you may be doing the same. It is not uncommon when one shifts from one level of hunting (deer) to a higher level (elk) that folks buy a new shooting iron to match the occasion and the game being pursued.

If you do go up in caliber I would recommend you make enough of a jump to make it worthwhile -- no sense in clustering all your rifles in the mid-range -- of course this has to be counterbalanced against the holy grail of shooting -- recoil sensitivity. If your 270 is currently your largest then try out some larger rifles before buying your " ultimate elk rifle" .

Note, when shooting your friends larger guns: (1) start out with smaller grain bullets and then work up, (2) take your first shots offhand standing up and don' t worry about hitting anything but the backstop until you get " introduced" , (3) make sure the stock fits, i.e. that your " wrapped around thumb" is at least 1/2 inch from your nose/upper lip -- wad a pair of leather gloves between the butt and your shoulder if you need to " lengthen" the stock on your friend' s rifle, (4) be leary of a short eye relief scope that is " set back" towards your face (scope eye).

Stated mission: You want to be able to shoot elk up to 500 yards ---- you' re going to catch some flak on that one, but I' ll " work with you" on that one without passing judgement and I' ll keep my comments in line with what you say you want. First, elk are tougher than deer -- its good to have plenty of power. Second, 500 yards " weakens" ANY caliber a LOT; therefore you need to start with quite a bit if you want to end up with much at 500 yards in terms of killing power and penetration for elk.

Calibers - probably somewhere in the range of: 300 WinMag, 300 UltraMag, 300 Weatherby, 30-378, 338 WinMag, 338 UltraMag, 338/378, 375HH, 375 UltraMag. I only have experience with two: 338Win Mag and 375HH, but it don' t really matter -- you will have to choose your own comfort level in choosing your own 500 yard elk rifle -- it' s going to be a trade off between " power" and " comfort" . Maybe a 338 WinMag if you are tender (on recoil) and a 338/378 if you are salty.

Get ready for entertaining reading -- some will say use a 30-30 and some a 50BMG -- I would recommend neither of those. Beware of two myths: (1) It is not possible to shoot a high recoil rifle accurately, and (2) Shooting anything more than a 30-06 is guaranteed to create recoil sensitivity and flinch.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM