Sorry to be a kill-joy, but experienced hunters don't consider a .308's non-premium 165gr bullets at almost 2700fps a "good" elk load at almost any range, so why should a 160gr (not 165) deer bullet at 2550fps (actual speed) out of a .30-30 be a better load? By the way, what do your 300 yard bench rest groups look like with that rig?
For clarification, the load was created by, and exclusive to, Hornady not Winchester.
I think that this blanket statement is not on track at all. I personally don't think that the 30/30 LE is a 300 yd elk round, but if you think that a 165gr "regular" bullet @ 2700 fps won't kill an elk at 300 yds, well, jeez, what do you suggest?. The Nosler Partition was the first readily available "premium" bullet, and it wasn't developed until 1948. What, before then, did people not shoot elk? Or did the "regular" bullets just bounce off of their armored hides?
The largest elk in the B&C book for years was the Plute elk, killed in 1899. It was shot with a 30/40 Krag, with "regular" bullets. Same goes with the 30/30, 45/70, .303 Brit., 7x57, 6.5x55, YEARS before John's super bullet. And on game bigger then elk, at ranges sometimes longer than 300 yds.
There has been more game killed with regular bullets than the "premium" bullets will ever probably accomplish, from elk to elephants. Any decent brand game bullet will kill an elk at 300 yds from the proper cartridge, including the .308, .270, 30-06, 7x57, or the 30/30 LE, etc. Hit'em in the ribs (lungs, heart) from a broad side shot, they will bleed and die. Honestly, I would be more concerned about close range shots and too much expansion limiting penetration from "regular" bullets than the longer distances with them.
I hear and read a lot of people talking about killing deer, elk, caribou, pronghorn (insert the animal of your choice here) at 500 yds with their 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag. I am also the first to say that unless you've got a range finder, most people wouldn't realize how far 500 yds is if you mapped it out for them. But in the interest of comparisons, if you look at ballistics tables, those rounds with 150-175 gr bullets in the 7 Mag and 180 gr loads in the 300 Mag (Remington Ballistic tables) all have about 1100 lbs of energy at 500 yds. Very similar to the 30-30 LE at 300 yds.
If the gun was accurate enough (and yourself from field positions) for 300 yds shots, then I'd shoot a deer at 300 yds with the 30/30 LE without a second's hesitation. An elk, um, maybe not at 300, but I would at 200-250 yds. In the ribs, where the bullets belong. I read about needing "premium" bullets just case you need to take a raking shot or rear end shot, so that the bulllet will make it to the vitals. Ok, if you like shooting animals in the ass on a regular basis at long range, then maybe you'd need a .340 Weatherby with Trophy Bonded bullets. If you're jump shooting elk in dark timber, then I'd go with a 45/70 with Buffalo Bore or Garret Hard Cast ammo to produce big bloody holes through and through and a quick tracking job.
I've never went elk hunting as of yet, with a wife, 3 kids, and a mortgage, there's always a better way to spend $5000.
I have talked with several outfitters at trade shows and on-line, and to a T, they all recommended a .270 or 30-06 with heavy for caliber bullets of my choice, or a .300 if the recoil didn't bother my shooting. They didn't care what the bullet was, as long as it's a game bullet. One of them uses a 7mm Rem Mag with Winchester Power Points (regular bullet) and another uses a 30-06 with Remington Core-Lokts. They also told me that they only way they were going to let someone shoot past 300 yds was if they were a sniper (past or present day and could prove it) or if the animal was wounded already and they were trying to put it down.
BTW, Winchester does have a 30/30 load with a soft-tipped bullet, it's the 30/30 Ballistic Silvertip. It's profile isn't as sharp as the Hornady, and it's a 150gr load. IMO, the .308 Marlin Express would do in an elk at 300 yds without issue. It carries almost a 1000lbs of energy to 500 yds. If the gun and I were accurate enough, 300 yds would not pose a problem for it.
