Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

What is the best cartridge for elk in montana. It needs to be an affordable cartidge chamberred in an affordable rifle. Thanks

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

Best and affordable can't be put into the same post.:D

Best -300 Remington Ultra Mag (Very Best In My Opinion)

Affordable- 30.06 (affordable and very effective)

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

.340 Wby w/250gr!! well that's just my choice.

In MT griz country...? I think you might want a .338 caliber,how about a .338 win mag. w/225gr bullet, hard to go wrong with for elk or griz!

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

If you are going to use it for only elk than the .338 win mag with 250 gr noslers has taken 8 bulls for me without ever having to track them,I can afford any gun or caliber that I want and after owning several weatherbys and browning I shoot savage only , cheap /reliable and extremely accurate out of the box ( side note, lose the scope that comes with it and get a decent affordable scope ) Leaupold /pentax/burris , the .06 is a great 2nd choice but when I hunt in northern Wyo near Montana theres a lot of grizzlies so I feel better with the .338.

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

The .338 min mag and 225 gr partition never let me down, they killed elk from 75 out to 550 yards for me.

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

Well, I've used 338/270 and 30-06.....finally setteled on the two latter. Shot placement was better than muzzle blast. Just mio dos centavos...
Dan

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

I hunt elk in Montana & Wyoming every year. My go to elk rifle is my Sako chambered in 340-Weatherby.My bullet of choice225-grain Nosler partition.

RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

I wouldn't skimp on ammo for elk. Affordable often means cheaper, softer bullets; not the best recipe for elk. And the .308, 30-06, or .338 would be my pick. Savage makes a great affordable rifle, but finding a scope to fit their long action is kind of a pain. A Bushnell Elite 3200 or 4200 in 3-9x40 should fit with the right mounts. And keep in mind that aStevens 200 is a Savage without the Accutrigger. My Stevens .243 shoots less than an inch at 100 yards with several loads, and only cost me $259.

Your question is really pretty vague. More info could lead to better responses. Would you use the rifle to hunt anything else besides elk? Do you live in Montana? If not, then where? What do you hunt currently? What kind of hunting ranges do you anticipate? Do you currently own any rifles? If not, what's your experience level with them? Anything else you want to throw in could possibly help...

If you were just asking out of curiousity, then there's only one answer;and that is that there is no simple answer. The worldis just too dynamic with too many variables. Which caliber for what is just one of many questions that people argue about and will continue arguing about forever. It's fun to talk about, but there's really no clear right/wrong answer in the end.

For example: If you hunt thick timber and don't anticipate shooting beyond 150 yards or so, then I'd recommend a lever action 30-30 or 45/70. Marlin makes a pretty affordable model. If, however, you hunt in really open country with long shots, then a .300or big .338 magnum would probably be the way to go. I just recommended the .308, '06, and .338 because they're all pretty versatile and common. A wide selection of ammo should be fairly easy to find.

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RE: Best Elk Cartridge for hunting in Montana or Colorado?
 

YEP what Ron said!!!! 30-06 is a great cartridge and it won't make U look like this [:@]every time U pull the trigger!!!
If you're young start small and work your way up ...U have a long time to hunt many animals and shoot many guns !!!!