Thanks. Have been looking at Criterion among others. Also Ragged Hole, who claim to use the same grade Wilson barrels used by Cooper for their Savage prefits. Match grade, air-gauged to .0002". (Cooper has a .5"@100 guarantee. Wilson owns Cooper.)

Have been narrowing down the options for choice of cartridge.

.270 WSM is out due to shank size.

26/28/30 Nosler are out. Too much powder consumption and recoil.

.300PRC is out for same reason as Nosler.

.270 Win is still an option. Daughter's .270 does 2912 with Nosler 150g and less-than-max charge of H100V. Excellent downrange ballistics, beats 6.5PRC out to about 1,000.

.280 Rem AI is in the running, partly so I could run heavier bullets, partly because I have a boatload of 7mm bullets. But I also have a .280 Rem and 7mm RM.

6.5 PRC is still the leader - excellent ballistics, light recoil. Plus no changes needed to bolt head or cartridge follower. Simple I like.

The idea of using a 6.5 for elk doesn't bother me. A 140-143g bullet has as much or more energy at 500 yards (~1600fpe) than a .30-30/150g has at 100 or a .308Win/150g has at 400.

For that matter, the 6.5PRC has more energy at 500 than some of the 7mm RM loads I've used very successfully for elk over the years.