Oh crap, the dark side???? Maybe I should sell it!!!

Actually I would have been shooting a magnum a long time ago if they all didn't have belts.[:'(] I hate belts on a cartridge. Of course a 300 mag of the long or short variety is anemic compared to some of the "super" magnums we have now.

I would love to have a .338 Lapua mag if I could afford to shoot it. Sticking to the medium weight bullet of 250 grains at about 3000 fps. or a 225 at about 3100 fps.

P.S......I still say that a .270 is perfectly suitable to elk hunting.

I shoot a .264 win. mag. in a winchester model 70 most of the time. I doubt if I have ever killed anything with it that I couldn't have taken with a .270. Some of the shots and kills would have worked out ok if I had been packing a 257 Roberts or a 250 savage or a 30/30.

Once I missed a big white-tail going straight away and he turned to the right and took a couple of steps as I tryed to get a fresh cartridge in the spout. I would have traded the .264 bolt action for a .300 savage lever gun that morning, if I could have.

If a ram is side ways at 60 yards you could kill him with a .243 in the ribs (shot placement) If the ram was walking away and out of your life you could not kill him with a shot in the fanny with the .243. But with a .300 mag. he'd be yours.(power)

Robin

Someday I will be able to take the crap from my head and put into words the way I want it to come out. lol

I got this off another post from Elkampmaster's and searched the site and found basically what i'm trying to say. While your looking as this site check out some of the other columns this guy has wrote. A very logical man who seems to have a ton of research behind him. Without futher bs here it is.

[link]http://www.chuckhawks.com/elk_cartridges.htm[/link]

I'm not going to whip a dead horse no more. Personal choice is a great thing.

Thanks!!---That was some excellent reading, not to mention, just good common sense in addittion to his studies. I can say I whole heartidly agree with his findings. elknut1

Number one if you have to seperate them is shot Placement. Many guns from the 25-06 on up have plenty of power for most game if the shot placement is good. No caliber including the 460 Weatherby Mag can do the job without good shot placement. I rely on enough rifle but absolutely insist on Good shot placement. Any rifle with enough power and good shot placement will do the job every time. The 757 Mauser has proved that for about 100 years. As EKM says you can have have both but you better be able to place that shot regardless of caliber. Time has proven to me that the 30-06 will cleanly take all Game in NA and most game world wide with good shot placement. No caliber is sufficent without that. Carry a rifle that you have confidence in and learn to shoot it well. If you don't get the shot you want then pass it up. Unless you are under attack there is no shot that you have to take.

Of course shooting off a bench is not a measure of how someone will shoot in the field, but if a shooter can't shoot his/her choice of cartrige from a bench 15-20 times without flinching and having a crick in their neck, they are overgunned and they will likely muff the shot in the field. I would ALWAYS recommend to any hunter that they choose accruacy over power. That said, for elk, shoot the most powerful cartridge that you can shoot accurately.

Bottom line, if I were a guide, I would rather my hunter be carrying a 270 that he can drive tacks with than a 375 Super Duper he flinches and closes his eyes every time he pulls the trigger.