bigbulls

Either of those cartridges in a T3 lite is going to have some very quick recoil.Quite a bit more than the H&H out of that old and heavy model 70.Certainly manageable but it will be sharp and quick.

Having said that the dead elk will never know the difference between the two cartridges.

I would never sight a hunting rifle in to shoot zero at 300 yards. With that 180 grain out of the 300 it will put you 5 inches high at about 160 yards and that can cause some bad shots or misses. A better sight in would be to zero at about 240 yards. It will put you very close to being 3 inches high at the bullets highest point and about 3 inches low at about 290 yards...... give or take.

The 165 grain bullet is definetly not too light outof the 300 and would be my personal choice. The 180 grain bulletout of the 338 is too lightin my opinion because of the very low BC of that short and fat bullet.

Barrel burn out will never be a consideration with either of these two cartridges unless you are going to shoot several hundred rounds every year for a decade or more. If you plan on taking shots past 350 yards with the rifle I would strongly suggest that you do shoot the rifle quite a bit after the initial sight in......... That is unless you like tracking wounded animals. Hunting in the mountains is a WHOLE lot different than hunting in the thick woods and food plotsof Alabama. Trust me, I now live in Pensacola Florida having moved here from Denver Colorado.