Please, please do not get a muzzle brake. It will damage your hearing because it is very, very loud. You are a young man with a lot of life to hunt. You dont need to have permanent hearing damage from a brake. The 30-06 has killed piles upon piles of elk long before the 300 WM ever existed. I am 34 and I use a 30-06 on elk without a lick of problems. You just dont need it and if you cannot handle the recoil of the 300, stick with a 30-06. Just dont get a brake. You gain little and can damage a lot. Talk to a few other hunters and please listen.

Everything you mentioned there is adequate for elk. If I just wanted a new rifle, I'd look at the 7mm-08 or 7x57 and use 150gr bullets or larger. Don't be missled by the magnum hype. Magnums don't kill animals; well selected and properly placed bullets do.

If you have all those calibers at your fingertips you do not ever need a 300 WM. That 8mm mauser is a beautiful elk round as are all the others.

YOUNGHUNTER12, the advice given to you here is sound. Those of us who are in out late years wish anyone had known the damage shooting does to your ears, and had warned us!
All the rifles you list, and those others have listed will handle Elk quite nicely. However, if you just want a 300WM, get one. Don't worry about being able to handle a 300WM rifle at the age of 12 yrs. I was shooting my granfather's 10 GA goose gun at the age of 8 yrs, with me weighing about 70 lbs soaking wet! Many women shoot 300 WMs all the time, some probably weighing less than you do!
If I had to choose only one rifle for elk, I'd lean towarf one of 7mm rounds, and my pick would be, I think, a 280 Rem (7mm-06). The cartridge is basicly a 30-06, necked down to 7mm, and is a very well ballanced cartridge. With 175 gr Nosler Partition bullets, in front of a medium load of IMR7828 powder, you can get up to 2800 fps, with a max load, , but the medium load of 55.0 grs of IMR7828 and the 175 gr NP, you can get an easy 2700 fps. This load is perfect for large elk, in the mountains, where shots get long on occasion. when I say long,I mean REASONABLY long shots, not much over 250/300yds . There is a quote first said by the old African hunter John "PONDORO" Taylor , that says it all, to me, when hunting live animals. Quote " Get ye as close as ye can, Laddie, then get 10 yards closer! That's called hunting, not shooting!"

Good luck with what ever you decide, but please forget the muzzle brake, they are the devel's on invention!

After reading the numerous reports I have come to the conclusion that muzzle breaks are only fit to be melted and used for other puperouses. I will probly use a 30-06 . I think I have contracted the illness named magunm maddness. Can't stop thinking of large calibers! Thanks. Alec.

Muzzlebrakes work and make bigger cartridges more manageable.

Sure they make it louder, but you guys don't shoot guns repeatedly with out protection do you? If you are shooting guns without ear protection, who cares if it does or doesn't have a brake; your damaging your hearing anyway.

As for being to loud when afield, one can wear amplified ear protection (something like radians pro-amp) which allows you to hear fine and muffles blast. That's assuming your concerned about the few shots you may take during the big game season in wide open spaces.

How much will brakes reduce recoil? It depends largely on the cartidge and the brake design. I'd say as a rough estimate 30% of felt recoil for an average brake. I've shot 30-378 weatherby's with an acubrake that feel like a 308, which is more of a reduction than 30%. Armalite widely claimed that their ar-50 brake reduced a 50bmg to 243 like recoil, although they have one of the most best brake designs around....

30-06 is an excellent place to start and finish. It has proven itself for decades and decades to come. You won't be disappointed. Later in life if you still want that magnum then go for it but I wouldn't trade the 30-06 in for it because you will probably want that as well.

I'm bit older then you by a long shot . In fact my rifle is as old as you . I do have a brake on my 300 . and the only precaution when you shoot is to make sure everyone is behind you and wear ear plugs . as for recoil I'm a big man
and if you do a lot of bench shooting the 300 win will get to you with out a break.
as far as 30-06 that was my first rifle but I preffer the 270 it shoots flatter and has brought down as many elk or deer as an 30-06. Either way enjoy. I've hunted with my father and brothers and now we are hunting with sons and nepews and neices and it is ny favorite time .

I can attest first hand as to the dangers of muzzle breaks and unprotected ears. When I turned 18 I decided to enlist in the Marine Corps via the delayed enlistment program and was destined to ship out to boot camp after graduation. Well, I bought my first riffle an Olympic Arms AR-15 that had a muzzle break that vented directly back twords the shooter. Well, being 18 and knowing better I felt I didn't need the ear plugs while shooting and took my brand new riffle out to shoot. 1 round is all it took to ruin my hearing for life. The sound was so painful I thought I had shot myself. Till this day I have a constant ringing in my left ear (the one closest to the barrel for a right handed shooter) and it was enough to be discharged from the Marine Corps for a perminant hearing loss at high freq. Long story short... f you do decide on a muzzle break on you riffle, always.... always use hearing protection. Once lost your hearing will never come back.

If you are worried that you might need a muzzle brake, it could be an important sign that buying a .300 magnum is a mistake. It kicks about 35 percent harder than a 30-06 (if we are talking about the .300 Winchester Magnum), and will have substantially greater muzzle blast. With the brake, you can add still more to that.

People wouldn't need muzzle brakes and reduced recoil loads if they stuck with what they know they can handle.