Not to mention the fact, if someone posted a map with an X marking a "hunting spot" on the internet, you'd have to be a real dolt to think something wasn't fishy.
Are you serious? C&C bullets have had a long go to be perfected. I've had more disappointments with the magical mono's and one a
Accubond than any of the cup and cores I've shot.
I'd leave it alone and go hunt. How often do you take more than 2 shots at game?
Factory barrels are not usually stress relieved. You can tinker with the gun all day long, but if it's not stress relieved there's a good chance it will still walk like that.
And seriously, screw the solitude. You're buying out of state tags to hunt elk. So kill a stinkin elk.
But if that's what you *really* want, send me a PM. I'll give you units with plenty of solitude. Plenty.
I think you are going to find that OTC units with decent elk hunting will have other hunters out in the field too. That's just reality.
There are certainly units here in MT you could hunt without seeing anyone else. But there's a good chance you might not see any elk either.
As others have...
I'd rebarrel. I'd have a hard time conjuring up a more useless rifle than a 35 Whelen with a Sendero contour. And restock too.
But more to the point of what N2T said, your dad bought it for you.
I'd just leave it be. Pick up a 700 action if you want to start messing around with custom options.
I think that most non-hunters lack the knowledge to know what cartridges are elk-appropriate. Tell them you shoot elk with a 243 and you may as well be speaking a foreign language. On top of that, anti-hunters will always disapprove of hunting. It's not like shooting elk with a 30-06 is less...