I'M LOOKING TO PURCHASE MY FIRST RIFLE. MY ONE BUDDY SWEARS BY THE 270 AND MY OTHER BUDDY THINKS I SHOULD GO 300 WIN MAG. WE HUNT MAINLY WESTERN BIG GAME ( DEER, ELK, RAM, ETC..). BUT WE ALSO HAVE CARIBOU, BLACK BEAR, AND POSSIBLY OTHER CANADIAN GAME IN THE FUTURE. I DON'T WANT TO PURCHASE MULTIPLE GUNS. I NEED SOME FEEDBACK..

Get a 7mm Remington Mag. It'll cover the range of game you mentioned very nicely.

As much as I love my 270 Win, since you are throwing elk into the picture I would second the 7mm Rem Mag. Nothing really wrong with the 300 Win Mag but as a first rifle it might be a bit much.

This is the perfect answer. There's nothing wrong with the .270, in fact it's my gun-of-choice, but a little on the light end for elk, and the .300 may be a little bit of a punch in the mouth for your first rifle. 7mm Rem Mag is a great choice - and, as always, throw the .30-06 into your decision-making process. It's always one of the answers to these questions.

I have hunted with .243,.257roberts,.3030,.308, 30-06,.358, .350mag,.338mag and 7mm rem mag for whitetail, bear,moose,caribou, and antelope.
Buy the 7mm rem mag, it will handle everything nicely without knocking out your fillings and giving you bad habits.

A very good answer.

I would go with a .300 Wby. Mag., .300 Rum., or.300 Win. Mag. Good luck.

If you can handle the recoil of the 7 MM Rem Mag then I would got on up to the 300 Win Mag. Its a lot more gun than the 7MM and to me there is little difference in the recoil. After owning five 7MM Mags, I think the kick the hardest for what they deliever than most any rifle I have owned. While I had those five 7 Mags, I also had three 280's. I could see no practicle difference in range or killing power but lots of difference in the recoil. I also owned three 300 mags. Two win Mags and one Weatherby Mag. As long as Dangerous game is not on the menu, tha 270 or 280 would do the job as well. The 270 has done it for years and the 280 is a bit better yet. As strange as it seems, elk are as easy to kill now as they were when O'Connor killed a bunch with his 270. He was not the only one either. He also dropped a bunch of them with his 7X57 mauser. Anyway for other people I would recommend the 300 Win Mag as the best reasonable all around rifle.

I have owned all three and still do ,but the only one I hunt with anymore is the 300 win .

300-win mag would be my choice.