Stumbling onto this old thread sure brought up some memories. When wife, and i were first married i let her shoot a 30-06 Springfield. She has never shot a center fire rifle since. As our son grew older, i didn't want him to be recoil shy, so i pondered what to start him out elk hunting with. A custom rifle was out of the question. My choice was made by reading Outdoor Life. The Ruger 6mm came home with, one night. There were only 80g ammo available in Missoula, so that is what we started with. Dies, and 100g partitions were purchased, but there was no brass availble, so we had to shoot the ammo, to get the brass. The plan was to use the same 4831 to load the 6mm, as i used to load the 7 mag. Friday night after work, we went deer hunting.
The boy was 8. He saw two bulls up the hill through the timber. He alerted me to their presence, and i shot one through the lungs. It took a step back, and ran off. The boy and i went up there, and found their tracks in the powder snow. He followed one; i followed the other. He yelled he had blood. We trailed that bull about 200 yard when he jumped up and ran away. I shot maybe twice at his head as he ran off, but missed. We trailed him some more. He jumped up again, and i missed again trying to hit him in the back of the head. He laid down again, and when we reached him i shot him right in the ham this time, which made him lay down. Then i shot him in the neck. Then i shot him in the head, which killed him. All in all i shot maybe 9 times, and hit him maybe 5 times. The first shot through the lungs made him sick, but he was able to keep going. He had a hole through an ear. As i gutted the elk, and skinned the hocks, the boy couldn't get a fire started, so i had to stop, and help him make fire. He was miserable with wet cold feet. Never ever again did he not be able to make fire. The next morning he didn't come with, to pack the meat out.
Next year, i put the rifle behind the couch on his birthday, Mother, and i told him his present was there behind the couch. When he saw it, he burst into tears, and i guess i did too; i had no idea it would mean so much to him. He killed his first elk with that rifle. Before he killed his first elk, i had killed 3 more using that rifle. The 100g partition were a way better elk bullet than the 80g varmint bullet. When the kids at school found out he was just shooting a 6mm, they evidently bragged about their 'elk' rifles. The next year he went ahead and took my 7 mag elk hunting. He killed his second elk with what used to be my 7 mag. He still has that rifle, but mostly bow hunts, and when using a rifle, hunts with a 350.
One thing i learned for sure those years getting the 6mm ready for the boy, is it isn't an elk rifle. After proving to myself a 243 bullet could kill elk, i shot one with the 7 mag; wow what a difference! In the years after the boy took the 7 mag i hunted with a 358. The 225g partition out of that rifle sure hurt anything it hit. Yup, after seeing 5 elk die after being hit by a 243 bullet, and seeing many more killed by larger calibers, i can say for sure, a 243 isn't an elk cartridge.
Well, i knew my time elk hunting was coming to an end, so i sold the 358. The last elk i killed was with a 6.5 swede. The 125g partition put it down in fine style. Several deer have fallen to the swede. There is a world of difference between how a critter acts when shot with a 243 bullet as compared to a 264 bullet. The 264 bullet is a real big game bullet, and i would use it again elk hunting; i will never again use a 243 bullet to hunt elk, unless i had to.