Hey whelen,

I' m not trying to start a bolt vs lever/automatic debate, but I simply have more faith in the bolt action as an accurate, long-distance shooter, plus I' m far more comfortable with them. Pumping a lever or letting the gun do the work for me feels weird, so I' m just going to avoid that situation altogether. I have no problem with reload speed, so there' s no need to change from a bolt. Not to blow my own horn, but about three or four years ago, my dad was hunting near me when I put two shots into a nice 8-point. When he heard the first shot, he thought it was me, but the second shot came so quickly afterward that he figured there was no way it was me (with my bolt action). I' ve learned how to jack that bolt as fast as I can recover from the recoil.

As to why I held myself to .340 and lower, I don' t see the .35s as long-distance guns. I figured the next logical step over .340 Wthby Mag was a .375, and there' s no way I' m getting myself a .375. Got any ballistics tables for the .35s? I' d be happy to check them out.

Also, great point with the .340 Wthby Mag (and the same with the .300 Wthby Mag). I really wanted to give them a shot, but the difference in price is pretty significant. Looks like I' m sticking with a Winchester or Remington round, so far.

Oh, and regarding the .308... I know it' ll handle elk just fine, but I wanted to stay away from the ' 06, .308, and the like, since I already have a .270 and want to get substantially bigger.

Thanks for the advice!