Weapon help

 You'll get quite a few different suggestions, no real right answer, but quite a few right ones and some wrong ones. For me a .270 with a Leupold 3-9 scope is near perfect. You don't need the top end Leupolds either. Their starting line scopes are darn good and get the same warranty and service. For the brand of rifle it depends on what you want to spend and what you like. For a bargain rifle you really can't beat a Savage. Sure they usually have a cheap stock but the other major companys aren't really much better and they usally shoot very well. I also really like the Ruger Hawkeyes. They have a nice trim walnut stock design and IMO the most attractive as well. They are also priced pretty good. Remingtons and Winchester are a bit more, nothing wrong with them either. If you want a little more Kimber makes a nice light weight rifle and some nice wood stocked rifles. It seems their quality can be a crap shoot from what I read on these forums but I would take the chance if I were in the market. Then of course their are semi and full blown custom rifles if you want to go that route. Endless possibilitys there.

 For the cartridge a .270 just flat gets it done. It shoots plenty flat and hits plenty hard  all the while being easy to shoot recoil wise. That's nice in a lighter weight rifle. I've also found them very easy to load for should you go that route. If not there  is a vast variety of factory ammo to choose from. It's also a capable elk rig with a good bullet like a partition. My second choice would be the 30-06 for many of the same reasons.

I have to take the 270's side, it will do for the animals you have listed along with all the others listed,

Rick

i've become a believer in the .280 over the years, it would be tied with .30/06 as first choice if i were to have ONE rifle for hunting. you're going to knock down anything with those, and recoil is negligent. .308, 7x57, 6.5x55mm are all very fine choices as well - to be honest anything from 6.5/.260 through 8mm/.323 would be just fine. i suppose you could go bigger, if you want, but there is no reason.

any of the production rifles would work well, i prefer CZ. if you can find a commercial mauser such as zastava, so much the better. i prefer craftsmanship over aesthetics, but it is not unusual for the two to go together. also prefer walnut/blue over synthetic/stainless, but your local climate might make your choice for you.

for scope, pick one with the "forever" warranty such as leupold. less-expensive scopes such as sightron can also be good choices. do swift and bausch/lomb still make scopes? avoid anything chinese as though it were carrying the plague; japanese, german and US are all good.

those are some rough edges, the rest comes down to personal preference.

...or you could one up both of them. 

Had fun plinking the "ram" at 420 yards this morning with the Montana 7wsm.

.270 Win, .280 Rem, .30-06 just take all three throw them in a hat and pick one.  I guarantee you will be happy with the choice.  .270 and .30-06 will be a little easier to find factory ammunition for but there are no flies on the .280 Rem.  I've owned all three still have the .270 and .30-06, but I still load for the .280.  The new Win M70 in a feather weight in .270 or 06 would top my list if I was looking for a new rifle to hunt with, other than that Remington, Ruger, Savage, Browning, would top out my list of rifles. 

I’ve killed pronghorn, elk, and deer with the .270, elk and bear with the .30-06 and the .280 was stolen by my brother-in-law before I could test it on game.  From what I’ve seen of him it works just as well as the other two.  As far as long shots go I’ve taken a deer at 560 yards with the .270 so it will reach out there. 

As far as scopes go I like Rob1 suggestion but I'll throw the VXII 2-7 in as well.  I'm a self proclaimed Leupy snob, but I have a 2-7 in Nikon and Burris that I like as well.  Just something about that gold ring looks right on top of an good bolt action though.  If you really want to splurge then my favorite hunting scope is the 2.5-8X36 VXIII. 

I would say 450yds for deer would be OK for 270 or 30/06, with  the 308 you'd be pushing it.  For elk 250 with 270 with prem140s or 308 with 165s, 300/350 for 30/06 with 180s.  Of course it's a personal choice, but if I was shooting at 450yds frequently, I'd step up to 7mm mag and up.  For elk I'd go with a .30 or .338 mag of some kind for over 300 yds.

Just my opinion

RC

Rob1 wrote:  ..... a .270 with a Leupold 3-9 scope is near perfect. .....

Very good advice!