ORIGINAL: James B
It is really nothing more than a 30-06 that shoots 323 diameter bullets instead of 308 diameter bullets. There is no reason on the planet that it will not do anything that the 30-06 will do. Its simply the 30-06 casing necked up to 8MM. It will shoot a 220 grain Spire pouint at 24-2500 fps. Pretty good big game medicine. There is a 338-06 as well that would be the same thing with .338 diameter bullets. Everything based on the 30-06 casing is going to be a pretty hard hitting cartridge. The 35 Whelen is the same thing just necked up to 35 caliber.
Exactly, it's just a slightly bigger bullet from the same case. Extremely easy conversion for using military 98's with little alteration, provided the bore is nice. It's a pretty nice round, but as said by James, nothing earth shattering over the 30/06 ... just a tad bigger hole. There are some decent .323 bullets out there, but the velocities of the 8mm/06 don't necessarily command premium bullets. The premiums are available though.
It is a handload only proposition though.