I am planning an Elk Hunting Trip to Colorado next fall and am going to need a bigger gun than my current .243. I am looking at the Remington 700 VTR or XCR with the triangular barrell in a .308 caliber. What is the difference between the VTR and XCR and would this be a good gun to carry on a ELK Hunt. Please give me your honest opinions! Thanks!

whichever one is lighter. I tend to like the XCRs.

Agree with JCB go light, any extra weight gets heavy in those mountians. Haven't hunted Colorado but have Montana.

i would opt for the sps or xcr in 300 ultra, win mag. i don't care for the triangle barrel set ups w/ muzzle ports.

XCR will be one of the best all-around factory guns to tote in CO, unless you opt for one of the slightly more expensive wby ultralights. I would take a minimum of a 270wsm, but would fully expect to have to reach out and touch something with whatever I took along for the trip. Where we hunt in CO, the Elk like to stay up high in thin cover and it's not the easiest of tasks to get within 300yds of them. lol, then there is the other stuff that goes on when they get to herding up before the later seasons, but won't get into that.

Other than the suggestion of a light rifle, I prefer more range on elk hunts than I am comfortable with from the 308. My 308 I free comfortale to 300 yards perhaps a little further like 350, that higher sltitude does not slow the bullets down as much as lower altitudes here. When looking for my last elk rifle I bought a Tikka T3 in 270WSM for a weight reduction from my Remington 700 in 7MMSTW.

Either is good !

Hahaha, sure enough did! I just heard too many people talking about all the smith work you need to do on a Remmy to bring it up on par with the Savages, on this forum and on long distance shooting forums. Believe me, if it doesn't live up to my expectations I'll air them for all to see, here, there, and everywhere I can.

I'll also be doing an out of the box accuracy test to make sure it performs to the level of all the "out of the box" hype and posting them up on both websites. I have very little experience with either rifle and none that spans any respectable period of time so my results will be about as obective as they can be.

Ranch hand at the place I hunt just bought a XCR in November and got it to the range and it malfunctioned the first 2 shots so he took it back and the store owner put a live round in the chamber and closed it....BOOOM!!!! blew a hole in the roof of the gunshop.

Sorry just another reason Im not a fan of Remington anymore.

The rifle I would get is

Winchester Extreme weather model 70 in 300wsm...but they make it in 308 if you have your heart set on it

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=207318317

Either is good. The most important thing you will learn about Colorado is the necessity for good boots and your inability to breathe at the high altitudes!!

Go with the XCR and never look back. Personally, I would not be caught dead with an ugly triagle barreled rifle.