There are many books from various bullet manufacturers: Nosler, Hornady, and Speer to name a few. Most will have just about every cartridge under the sun, and each of their individual bullets for a cartridge will contain a list of different powders they have tested, and their recommended minimum, maximum, and recommended loads for their bullets.
The problem lies in that two of the exact same gun, in the exact same caliber, could like a completely different taste in bullets, powder, and headspacing. What works in one, will not inherently work in a mirror copy due to microscopic errors and differences. That is where trial and error comes into play. I would look into seeing what bullets are most readily available to you, by company and preference.
If you are already an experienced hand loader, ignore the rest of my post.
- By that, I'd look into the best 30. caliber bullets available to you that would likely do best against an elk at .300 wsm speeds.
-I'd buy one of their manuals, and look and see which powders they list are the easiest for you to obtain. You may look at powders ahead of time just to see what you have locally; online purchases that require shipping often require expensive haz-mat fees.
-What ever primers and brass you can get easily would be best just starting out. I feel like those are something you can change at a later date, but it is important that you remember that changing ANY component and ANY variable will change pressures and results, so it is important you try and keep them constant. A general rule of chemistry.
-After that, see what you can learn about judging headspacing from youtube or another visual source. I think being shown will do more justice than being told. I'd try and get the bullet .010 inches off the lands if possible to start and , but further away is typically better than too close from a safety perspective, but closer is typically more accurate (not the case with my nosler e-tips). I start with a consistent minimum load of powder for a bullet and get the head spacing down before I start adding the powder on afterwords. I feel that it is safer that way.
-Start with the recommended minimum load, building a few prototypes in steady increments of powder up to max load and see what charge and speed shoots best. Your marksmanship will improve greatly with the amount of shooting you'll be doing. You may find that you only get decent results, and while you can continue fine tuning a load, changing powders is another option if you feel that you need better results, which means more shooting and testing before you can really get practicing.
If you're going to try someone else's load, always dial back the charge AT LEAST 10-15% and build up to their load, lest you build a gun-shaped bomb.
That's about everything I can think of.
