planing two hunting trips one a black bear trip the other an elk trip and wanted to know if anyone could rec. a good rifle caliber and manuf. with enough takedown power for both of these big animals. elk hunt in colorado so need good long range power was advised some shots as far as 300+ yards.

Hard to beat the old 30-06. It'll handle both situations well.

Could look at one of the magnums, too...

The rifle is of preference to you. Just find one that fits well.

first i would decide a proper bullet weight for the game you have mentioned,second decide on the distances you will encounter in your persuit of them.some of your shots may be long,300 plus yards.you need a rifle that will put your chosen bullet out to that distance to make a humane kill,last pick a rifle style that you like and can shoot well.

Anything from a 7mm-08 or .270 on up will have plenty of power to humanely dispach any elk out to 300 yards or so. Probably the "best all around" cartridge would be a 30-06 with either 165 or 180 grain premium bullets.

Choose the right bullet for the game you will be hunting, no matter the cartridge, and knock em dead.

Any .300 Mag. Good luck.

I have taken West Virginia Black Bear (mid 200 lbs range average) 5 out of the last 6 years with a .270 Win 150 gr. BST. no problems. Never been out West for Elk. If you appreciate mild recoil and a fairly flat trajectory the 270 works well. Good luck.

There's nothing wrong with the old .30-06.........or .308 Winchester for that matter

Any of the .300 magnums will do nicely as well.

Like it's said above, 300 mag. It's fun as hell to shoot.

30-06 or 7mm Mag -
Rifle of choice - Steyr SBS - out of the box - 1/2" groups at 100yds and put you a Zeiss 4.5 x 14 x 44 Conquest scope on this rig. Steyr now has a Mountain Rifle series ( shorter barrel length - 20" - 20.5" ) which is slightly lighter than their full size rifles.

One Shot - One Kill

30-06, 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM in whatever make of rifle feels good and fits your price range.