We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
Selecting the best elk rifles is like choosing the world’s most beautiful people. It’s subjective, for one. But also, the “best” may not be practical for you. A Hollywood star might set your heart a flutter, but they probably wouldn’t adapt well to your Colorado cow town. Similarly, today’s cutting-edge, long-range wonder rifles won’t do you much good if you like to hunt in the timber. Then there’s price. A list of nothing but the finest rifles made would be cool, but most of us wouldn’t be able to afford any of them. Finally, your standard Top 10 list can’t quite cover the wide selection of really good elk rifles that are out there.
So, what follows is a baker’s dozen of the best—depending. Bolt-guns, lever-guns, and semi-automatics can all be capable elk rifles, but you need to match the rifle and the cartridge its chambered for to where and how you hunt and to what fits your budget. To that end, here are my top 13 elk rifles, listed in three different price categories with options ideally suited for everything from the thickest timber to the high chaparral and wide open spaces. Budget-priced elk rifles retail for less than a grand. Mid-priced elk rifles cost from around $1,500 to $2,999. And finally, unless you’ve got a hell of a lot more money than I do, a rifle retailing for more than $3,000 counts as high-end.
Best Bargain Elk Rifles
America’s long tradition of building plain, affordable, hard-working elk rifles started with the Hawken rifle of the 1800s, and it continues today with low-cost trustworthy options like the Ruger American, Savage Axis, Weatherby Vanguard, and others. You’d be well-served with any of those, but here are my picks for the top affordable elk rifles, all of which will get the job done for less than a grand.
Glenfield Model A
- Recommended Cartridge: 30-06 Springfield
- Suggested Retail Price: $529
Ask your grandfather about Glenfield rifles—he’ll know. Back in the day, you could buy them across the counter at department stores like JC Penny. They were less-expensive versions of Marlin firearms and when Ruger secured all the Marlin assets, they also acquired the Glenfield brand. The Model A rifle is the first new Glenfield we’ve seen in a long time. Essentially, this new Glenfield Model A is a repackaged Ruger American rifle available in 243 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Winchester, 308 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, 350 Legend, and 450 Bushmaster. If you cannot afford the $729 Ruger American Gen II, the Glenfield Model A is the next best thing, and it’s available in 30-06 Springfield with a 20-inch barrel, detachable magazine, threaded muzzle, and a synthetic stock with a splatter green finish. With a little shopping, you can pick one up for less than five-hundred bucks.
Related: Read a full review of the Glenfield Model A here.
Howa 1500 Hogue Rifle
- Recommended Cartridge: 308 Winchester
- Suggest Retail Price: $559
In my opinion, Howa rifles are some of the most overlooked bolt-actions currently offered. Yes, they are made in Japan, but they are made well, and the Howa action with its M16/Sako-style extractor and plunger ejector is very reliable. The Howa 1500 Houge comes with a Hogue OverMolded stock and a hinged floor plate, a HACT two-stage trigger, and a three-position safety that locks the bolt in the safe position. For cleaning, you can also remove the firing pin from the bolt without special tools. Twenty-two-inch barrels are standard, 24-inch with magnum chamberings. Out of the box, the Howa Hogue will weigh about 7.5 pounds, and it comes with a sub-MOA guarantee. It’s a fantastic deal because the Hogue stock alone costs half as much as Howa wants for their rifle.
Ruger American Gen II
- Recommended Cartridge: 6.5 PRC
- Suggest Retail Price: $769
The second generation of a product or a rifle is usually only slightly different from the original, often not enough to justify the upgrade. That was not the case with the Ruger Gen II American bolt action rifle. With a host of enhancements to include a better looking and better feeling fully adjustable stock, fluted barrel, three-position bolt-locking safety, Picatinny scope rail, threaded muzzle and a Cerakote finish, the Gen II is significantly better than the original American bolt-action rifle. But the best part is that the Gen II only cost $130 more. Available in almost 20 chamberings that include several elk-capable cartridges, the American Gen II is a hell of a lot of rifle for the money. It would make a great first elk rifle for a new hunter, and it will serve the veteran elk hunter just as well. Don’t be surprised when you can cover every group you shoot with your Gen II with a quarter.
Related: Ruger American Gen II Full Review
Winchester XPR Hunter (Scope Combo) True Timber Strata
- Recommended Cartridge: 270 Winchester
- Suggest Retail Price: $979.00
After buying a new elk rifle, most hunters need to also buy a new riflescope and scope rings, and this adds even more cash to the pile. Some rifle manufacturers like Winchester offer combo packages that include a riflescope with the rifle, and this can be a good way to save some money. Winchester’s XPR Hunter Scope Combo is a great example of this. It comes with a Vortex 3-9×40 Crossfire II riflescope with a BDC reticle that is already mounted on Weaver bases in Weaver scope rings, which is about a $200 value. The rifle has a composite stock finished in True Timber Strata camo, Winchester’s MOA trigger, a bolt-unlock button, button-rifled and free-floated barrel, and a detachable magazine. Also, all the metal surfaces are finished with a Perma-Coate FDE finish. If you want a good affordable rifle that saves you the trouble of buying a scope and rings separately, this is a great option.
Best Mid-Priced Elk Rifles
There are plenty of elk hunters who don’t mind cutting back on five-dollar cups of coffee, while saving to buy a really nice elk rifle. But when they do, they expect a high level of quality and well-thought-out features for exactly the type of hunting they’ll be doing, whether that means deep hikes into the backcountry, long shots on the prairie, or close encounters in the timber. Here are four rifle that meet those requirements and cost roughly between $1,500 and $3000.
Ruger Hawkeye Hunter
- Recommended Cartridge: 7mm PRC
- Suggest Retail Price: $1,499
Of all the elk-capable cartridges, one of the fastest rising stars is the 7mm PRC. Most modern 7mm PRC rifles are built with synthetic stocks, but with the Ruger Hawkeye Hunter, you can have your 7 PRC with classic lines and walnut. For this rifle Ruger, took their famous Hawkeye action and built it from stainless steel. Then they mated it with a stainless-steel barrel with 5R rifling and buried it in a beautifully checkered American walnut stock. To help with the longer shots, Ruger added a 20 MOA Picatinny rail that’s held in place with four 8X40 screws. And to bring all this classic goodness into the 21st century, the muzzle is threaded making the rifle suppressor ready. The Hawkeye Hunter in 7mm RPC is a great melding of traditional look and feel with a few modern features and a modern cartridge.
Marlin 1895 Trapper w/ Magpul Stock
- Recommended Cartridge: 45-70 Government
- Suggest Retail Price: $1,769
Some elk hunters do not need to reach across canyons to kill their elk. They need a quick handling rifle that is at home in the dark timber where the elk hide from all the other hunters out stumbling around in the open country. Few rifles serve this purpose better than a lever-action rifle, and when it comes to lever-action elk rifles, the Marlin 1895 Trapper is at the top of the list. There are several versions of the Marlin Trapper but the 1895 version with the Magpul stock is what I consider the ultimate elk killer. It has a stainless-steel finish with black accents to match the polymer Magpul stock, and the buttstock is adjustable for length of pull and comb height. Also, the stock comes with a hidden compartment that allows you to carry—hidden—a full load of extra 45-70 ammo. Finished out with a short scope rail and an adjustable rear aperture sight, it’s hard to imagine being better equipped to head into the woods to battle it out with a big bull elk.
Related: Read a full review of the Marlin 1895 Trapper Magpul here.
Browning BAR MK 3 Speed
- Recommended Cartridge: 300 Winchester Magnum
- Suggest Retail Price: $1919,99
Every list of great elk rifles must include a semi-automatic elk rifle, and the history of the Browning BAR and its short stroke gas piston operation with a rotary bolt makes it a natural choice. The MK 3 Speed version of the BAR might look a bit different than the wood-stocked BAR your granddaddy had, but it will still deliver, and it will deliver fast and accurate repetitive fire in 300 Winchester Magnum. It features a fluted barrel with all the metal surfaces coated in Cerakote. The composite stock with overmold gripping panels has Browning’s OVIX camo finish and the stock is adjustable for cast and drop. If that’s not enough coolness to get you excited, Browning offers a dozen different BARs for you to choose from, with prices ranging from $1,640 to $4,670 There is no other elk rifle that will go better with your “Buckmark” tattoo.
Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT
- Recommended Cartridge: 280 Ackely Improved
- Suggest Retail Price: $2,149
If you are looking for one of the most affordable feature-rich and great-shooting bolt-action rifles that can be had for elk hunting, you must consider the Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT rifle. With the radically new manufacturing technology Christensen Arms uses in their featherweight FFT stock, combined with one of their hand-lapped carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels, you get a great-shooting, easy-packing, and reliable bolt-action rifle that won’t weigh you down. Carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels have become as common as a toothache today, but many hunters don’t realize Christensen Arms was the first to do it. The Ridgeline FFT is offered in a lot of elk-capable cartridges but is one of only a few factory made rifles available in 280 Ackley Improved. All that combined with a TriggerTech trigger, and a sub-MOA precision guarantee makes the Ridgeline FFT an affordable, trustworthy, and easy carrying elk rifle, and for 2026 Christensen Arms has added several new camo-pattern stock colors.
Related: Read a full review of the Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT here.
Sako Grizzly
- Recommended Cartridge: 9.3×62
- Suggested Retail Price: $2,999
The Sako Grizzly rifle is built on a stainless-steel action with a three-lug bolt and dual-plunger ejectors. A Picatinny scope rail is integral to the receiver, which is also fitted with a fluted, cold-hammer-forged stainless-steel barrel with muzzle threading at 5/8×24. The single-stage trigger is adjustable, and there’s a three-position safety that locks the bolt. The Grizzly is outfitted with an elegant high-grade walnut stock with the tips of the forend and grip cap in rosewood. It also has a five-round detachable magazine and QD-style sling swivels. This is a great-shooting rifle with a seldom-seen traditional look, and it is offered in 9.3×62, which is a trusted big-game cartridge all over the world. The 9.3×62 is even used for dangerous game in Africa, and while it does not have a great deal of reach, it’s capable of taming the biggest and baddest bull elk you might happen to run across. Life is too short to hunt with an ugly rifle, and the Sako Grizzly is the antithesis of ugly.
Related: Read a full review of the Sako Grizzly here.
Best Expensive Elk Rifles
For those who have the money, compromises are not made when it comes to selecting an elk rifle. Some hunters will save for years just to get that special rifle they’ve been dreaming of. Narrowing the vast field of high-end elk-capable rifles to just just a few is about as hard as finding a fresh pile of unicorn poop, but I’ve done it. The list includes a super lightweight hard hitter for prowling the dark timber, a versatile and modular multi-caliber rifle, one of the most precise shooting rifles we’ve ever tested, and a featherweight long range powerhouse.
Wilson Combat NULA Model 20
- Recommended Cartridge: 358 Winchester
- Suggest Retail Price: $3,495
When Melvin Forbes introduced his Model 20 custom rifle in 1985, it changed the way the world looked at lightweight hunting rifles. Who would have thought a 5-pound rifle could shoot like a bench rest rifle and balance perfectly. Wilson Combat took over the reins at New Ultra-Light Arms in 2022 and modernized the rifle to include a hinged floor plate, Timney Elite Hunter trigger with a safety that locks the bolt, and a threaded muzzle. What Wilson Combat did not change was the gravity-defying design and how incredibly well these rifles shoot. Melvin Forbes famous creation lives on and is available in five short-action cartridges. It’s one of the few modern rifles offered in 358 Winchester. And get this, these rifles now retail for only $3,495, which is $705 less than Melvin Forbes sold them for in 2022.
Related: Wilson Combat NULA Model 20 Full Review
Sauer 505 Synchro XT
- Recommended Cartridge: Multi caliber
- Suggested Retail Price: $3,604.99
The precise engineering behind this rifle is clear from the moment you pick it up. Not only is it a multi-caliber rifle that allows you to swap between different cartridges on the bed of your pickup truck, but it also runs as smooth as a milkshake slips through a straw. In addition to changing the cartridge it shoots, you can also swap between a synthetic and a high-grade wood stock. Yeah, you’ll need a tool to do all this, but it comes with the rifle and is ingeniously incorporated into one of the rifle’s sling swivel studs. The 505 has a fantastically wonderful trigger that is user adjustable, a detachable magazine, and a very unique and superbly designed one-piece quick-detach scope mount. The Sauer 505 could be the only rifle you’ll need for the rest of your life, whether you’re hunting elk, coyotes, whitetail deer, or African buffalo.
Related: Read a full review of the Sauer 505 Synchro XT here.
Weatherby Backcountry Guide Ti
- Recommended Cartridge: 300 Weatherby Magnum
- Suggested Retail Price: $3,799
Weatherby’s Backcountry Guide Ti is available in the compact Mark V 6-lug action or with the larger Mark V 9-lug action, and in either right or left hand. Barrel lengths vary from 20 to 26 inches, and they all come threaded, with a radial port muzzle brake, and with a sub-MOA three-shot precision guarantee. The stock is the Blacktooth from PEAK 44 and weighs only 20 ounces, and it is fitted with a 3D Hex recoil pad. Two Spartan MagnaSwitch adapters for bipod and tripod interface are included in the forend of the stock, which also has a hinged floorplate with the Backcountry logo and a topographic terrain pattern. Chambered in 300 Weatherby Magnum, if you can afford this rifle, you’ll have a hard-hitting, far-reaching, lightweight elk slayer that you’ll be happy to carry deep into the backcountry or proud to show off on the range or in elk camp.
Related: Read a full review of the Weatherby Backcountry Guide Ti here.
Proof Glacier Ti
- Recommended Cartridge: 7mm Backcountry
- Suggested Retail Price: $7,499
For those who go deep for elk by riding a horse or burning up boot leather, a light rifle is critical. If you’re one to stretch the distance on shots because you know you have the skill, a precision rifle is mandatory. But what if both long walks and long shots describe the way you hunt elk? If so, there’s a rifle for you and it’s called the Proof Research Glacier Ti. Built around a 20- to 26-inch carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, a titanium action and carbon-fiber stock, this rifle will weigh between 5.30 and 6.25 pounds. It has a TriggerTech trigger, a threaded muzzle, and comes with a ½ MOA accuracy guarantee. It’s light enough to go anywhere and accurate enough to shoot anything. The 7mm Backcountry seems like a perfect match, but it’s also available in seven other elk-killing cartridges. With a retail price of roughly $6,500, start saving now for next season, andstart thinking about exactly how you want yours built. You can sometimes find new Glacier Ti rifles for sale, but this one is best as a full custom rifle.
Related: Read a full review of the Proof Research Glacier Ti here.
content_rifles
Recommended Products
Read the full article here
