My 7600 is also a Whelen, the recoil was a bit stout and the first year I had it out hunting the wood got scratched so I put a synthetic stock with a softer recoil pad and it's a real nice gun to shoot now. Feels just like my 06. I would suggest 308, 7mm-08, 270 and of course the 30-06. Standard barrel length is 22" but there is a carbine available which I believe is 18".