Recomend me a rifle/caliber for Elk and Deer

Trying not to buy two guns, but will if it makes sense

What caliber/rifle for

Deer

Elk


This would be for my wife.. ~ 5' 3 inch (if that matters), and recoil sensitive.

Thanks !

I only wrote half of what I meant to yesterday. Allow me to amend that.

The 77 grain TMK seems to work well for those who try it. https://www.rokslide.com/forums/thre...-moose.130488/

If you have an AR-15 can she use it for deer hunting, allowing you to focus on an elk gun?

The classic answer is 30/06 for that game range. Though many people would go to one of the 30 / 300 magnums, but I wouldn't recommend magnums for a smaller frame recoil sensitive person.

My preference is 280, it's essentially 7 mm/06 or a 7 mm 270. You can get bullets right in the sweet spot for excellent ballistic coefficient, sectional density etc. 280 is a bit harder to find but is not rare. And it's very easy to reload for.

I love 308 for whitetails, along with 708. In lighter bullets 308 does not give up much to 30-06. But in the heavier bullets like for elk 30-06 has a distinct advantage over 308.

A bunch of people shoot elk with 270, but I prefer 280 for just a slightly heavier bullet with decent ballistic coefficient. I can run 120-140 gr for super flat, or go on up to 175 for heavier game. I hand load 140 grain 280 to the same velocity as the classic 270 130 grain loading. With slightly better ballistic coefficients as well for flatter trajectory.

Though I'm sure people are shooting elk with 6.5 creedmoor or similar, to me the bullet ballistics in elk weight are starting to get non-optimal.

The 30-06 is probably the best option. My personal solution is a 7mm Rem Mag, but I also wouldn't feel under-gunned if I took the 270 Winchester instead. I agree that the 280 Remington is more capable than the 270 Win, and would be worth considering if an appropriate rifle is found offered in it.

I can't argue with Pinzgauer's reply. .30-06 is a classic. I myself have considered a 280AI, mostly just to be different. I'd like to try a 7mm-08 for fun. I'd love a 6.5 PRC.

Having said that I'm a relatively new hunter. I started hunting mid-life. This year was my 4th season so take my advice with a grain of salt. I'm hunting with what I have which is a............6.5 Creedmoor. :cool:I load 140gr. partitions for it. I shot my first deer with it last year at 300 yards. It went 5 feet. I shot my first elk with it 2 weeks ago. Double lung, through and through at 150 yards. It walked about 10 feet. I'm not a 6.5C apologist. It's not a magnum, it doesn't perform like one and has limitations. But I'm confident it would keep working for a couple hundred more yards or so.

Caliber selection can be deeply personal and therefore contentious. I say pick what you like and be happy.

I hunted Elk for many years in MT when I was ranching there. I always used a .338 Win Mag, but in our area we had Bears to contend with. I think the .280 is not a bad choice for a recoil sensitive person. Stock design will have a lot to do with felt recoil. I always used Winchester model 70s (old ones) and the recoil never bothered me. I am only 5'5 myself.

A .30-06 with the correct 180 grain bullet (Nosler Partition, anything bonded, Barnes, etc) is perfectly fine for elk out to ~400 yards with a broadside shot. This seems to be about the upper limit that recoil-shy folks can take without developing a flinch.

If that's too much, the .270 is a classic for deer-sized and game and also elk if the same type of bullets listed above are used. I would be a little more careful picking my shots, though. The same can be said of the .280 as well. The new 26 Nosler might be an option- flat trajectory with 140's and I wouldn't think that the recoil would be that bad.

7mm Rem Mag is popular, too. 140' for deer and 180's for elk

Cannot go wrong with a .270, .30-06, or .308. I would lean toward .30-06 but that is personal preference. I would stay away from boutique rounds. You don't want to be on a hunt in the middle of nowhere and not be able to find ammo if something happens with the airline or insert the issue. That is probably not going to happen with one of these calibers.

If i were buying a rifle today and wasn't looking for a full blown custom option, I'd go with Tikka. There are threads on pistol-forum.com and maybe here on them with a lot of info.

What platform? Ar15 ar10 or bolt action?

7mm-08 is more than up to the task and has a great reputation among smaller/younger shooters. Not that the options mentioned aren't good but I wouldn't consider anything in 30-06 class (including its derivatives) the best option for "recoil sensitive" shooters. Not to mention a standard length action will be heavier than a short action caliber

You could also consider 6.5 Creed (people in North America would scoff at that suggestion but dudes in Sweden hunt moose with its ballistic twin, 6.5x55)