scheaman88
First, thanks for your service
Second, the Browning Abolt II is a very fine rifle
Third, forget about the 300 RUM.
For starters, your average AR-15 kicks with 3 pounds of force, the 300 RUM lvl 3 kicks with 30 pounds of force. Most people who shoot their first full-powered rifle can handle 15 to 20 pounds of kick, starting at 25 to 30 is TROUBLE.
The different power levels of ammunition don't offset this much. 300 RUM managed recoil is the same as standard 30-06 as far as kick, it just does it at twice the cost to your pocketbook.
Also realize that whenever you put in a different chambering, even with a good old 30-06 switching between a 150 grain standard power round for deer to a 180 grain standard power round for elk, you need to re-sight the rifle. The change is even greater if you are going from a 150 grain 300 RUM managed recoil to a 180 grain 300 RUM lvl 3. It's not like you can just pull the powerhouse round out of your shirt pocket and upgrade your rifle to a grizzly gun, you'll have to re-zero.
The fact that maybe a year or two after the 300 RUM came out, remington started offering the three different levels of 300 RUM ammo should tell you that most of the guys who bought the gun thought 'holy $%&# this thing kicks HARD!'
Even if you reload, the massive case size of the 300 RUM presents some issues with making tame loads. Traditionally to make a tame load a handloader would take an existing load and reduce the powder charge slightly. However too much free space in a cartridge can cause it to blow up. (although some guys fill the extra space with malt-o-meal) So you end up using a whole lot of big granual powder to take up the space in the big case...which means even when reloading you are spending more than you would if you had a 30-06 or some other more reasonable cartridge.
Get yourself a nice 270 winchester, 30-06, or 7mm-08. All of those can take an elk handily at pretty good range. If you think you need a bit more reach (you don't, but you might think you do
) then the 7mm Remmag, the 270 WSM is a better choice than the 300 RUM.
When I was in my early 20s my friend and I had fun shooting our AKs and SKSs and such and then we both decided to get 'deer/elk rifles' (most of our previous hunting was done in shotgun only areas). I got a 7mm Remmag and he got a 300 RUM. I was a fool. He was a total fool. We'd have both been better off with 270 winchesters, 30-06s, 7mm-08s or all sorts of other better choices for deer/elk rifles.
Oh, theres guys whose first gun is a 375 H&H and who get on fine with a beast like that, but that is the exception not the norm.
Get something reasonable first. Then, when you get to a point where a 300 RUM with lvl 3 'full power' loads would be advisable, get yourself a nice 338 winmag or 375 H&H because if something needs a 300 RUM full power load, then it's wise to go with something wider than .30
Lots of guys go to Africa with a 270 and a 375H&H, the lighter being used for the vast majority of hunting and the heavy comes out for lion, big Eland, etc. (Of course guys going to Africa for the 'big 5' add an even heavier gun for buff, Rhino, Hippo, and Elephant.)