I just love the 7mm-08 and your choice of the Savage rifle is a very good one. I have been wanting to try one with the Accu-trigger and you just helped me decide which caliber. The 7mm-08 had not crossed my mind. I have a NEF Handi rifle in that caliber and it shoot very well. I have also had it in the Browning BLR and the Remington 700 BDL. If I were buying a rifle just for elk hunting I would not choose that caliber. However it will work under the conditions described above. Many Elk have been taken with the 7x57 Mauser and the 7mm-08 duplicates or exceedes the ballistics of that fine old caliber.