My go to rifle for everything from coyotes to elk is a 30+ year old BAR 7mm Rem Mag shooting 150 grn. core lokts. It sure aint a light weight western rifle but it gets the job done.
Not so much the size of the gun, its more the placement of the shooter shooting. I have a 22mag H.&R wheel gun that I can put them all in a 8" plate at 50 ft and its double action. Thats head shots in my book. LB