What's a really good hunting rifle?
 

I'm looking into getting back into hunting again but I've been out of the loop. I need something that will at least take down an elk or a bear.

I need something with cheap ammo so I'll practice. Rifle should be under 1000$. Preferably anyway. Otherwise I'll have to wait and save up.

Is a .30-30 winchester still the best bet? I'm mostly worried about range with that. I'd prefer something that I can shoot 400 yards +.

Otherwise it looks like im looking at the .308 winchester or the .30-06 springfield. And then there's all those .300s that I'm a bit confused about.

Anything in 30 caliber or 7mm is probably going to be fine for elk and bear and 400 yards, with the right bullet and load. I'd personally look at my options in .308 (for all-purpose), .300 win mag (for power), and 7mm-08 Remington (for flat trajectory). If somebody called me right now and said they'd pulled an elk tag and needed a rifle, I'd tell them to track down a bolt action .300 Win Mag, probably either a Remington 700 or Savage.

What's the deal with different trajectories? What causes some to fall faster than others? Is it plain speed?

oh and thank you much.

I spent weeks researching the same question, before I bought my deer rifle.

My conclusion was that any bolt action built my a major manufacturer (Marlin, Ruger, Mossberg, Remington, Savage, etc), in at least a medium caliber (.270 and up)would be just fine. The market is so competitive that none of them can afford to sell a bad rifle. All of the reviews I read all lead to all of the rifles performing almost exactly the same. There's nothing on the market thats a huge stand out.

I wound up with a Remington Model 700 in 30-06. I kind of wish I had gone with .308 just because there seems to be more options available when it comes to target ammo. Mine also came with a scope, that I did not get a long with very well. So I removed it and upgraded. No point in letting a bad scope ruin a good rifle.

What you are hunting WITH depends on where you are hunting and what you are hunting...
7mm is a great all around rifle but too much gun for Florida whitetails, while a .243 will drop any deer in Fla and even an elk in the hands of a good shooter.
There is no perfect hunting gun but if I could only have one, I'd go with the versatility and rugged dependence of a shotgun.
If you're looking more for a rifle, I'd say you can't go wrong with a Savage 30-06.
The model 110 comes equipped with a decent scope and accu-trigger for 500 bucks, my personal experience says it will drive tacks at a 100 yards, stay in a 2" group at 300, and kill anything in north America.

Good advice so far. If you're looking at mainly big game(bear, elk etc) 300 win mag or 7mm will do fine. If you're feeling particularly frisky, you can go with a .338. I use a browning A-bolt 7mm remington mag. I've got a leupold 3x14 tactical mildot scope with adjustable turrets on it. Furthest kill with it was 673 yards!