I think it would be a good elk bullet. Before I bought my 338 I used 180 gr partitions in my 300 mag. Killed 2 elk with them. The 180 gr is also very popular in the 30-06.
I too will buy the sports pack again. Not sure why, I guess I just like to give money away.
Hunts I will apply for:
Buck rifle-Silvies
Doe-Silver Lake, Very low chance of getting, I just do it for the points so that some day I can get one close to home.
Bull- ?, a bunch of college buddies...
I have 2 of the VX models, one of them being the 3.5-10x50 on a 338 win mag. Neither have had trouble. Leupold has put out a service announcement about some of them having the numbers on the adjustment screws backwards, but will not affect the performance of the scope. I wouldn't think twice...
I have been reloading for 7 years for myself. Before that I preped a lot of cases for Dad when I was littler (is that a word?). All of my equipement is RCBS, and I can't complain.