As far as rifles go I love the Winchester model 70's. The new rifles made by FN in South Carolina use forged receivers and have an excellent trigger. The Winchester safety can't be beat. it is the only safety that mechanically separates the firing pin from the sear. It doesn't get any safer than that. The claw extractor is as fail safe and reliable as it gets.

I believe that they are the only rifle on your list that is made in a plant that is ISO 9001 certified.

I much prefer the classic lines of the model 70 over the new modern lines of some of the newer rifles like the X-bolt. The model 70 (feather weight to be exact) is just a damn good looking rifle.



Having said this you won't go wrong with any of the choices. My second choices would be either the Tikka or Vanguard.



AS far as cartridges go if you are talking about Montana and Canadian white tail deer then two of the absolute best cartridges aver made are the .270 Winchester and the 7mm-08 regardless of how big the deer get.

If you are talking about elk, moose and bears then I would opt for a 300WSM. If not then the 270 is as good as it gets for deer and also works great on elk too.

I personally would forget about the 300 Weatherby. The ammo costs quite a bit more than the other 300's out there and it is often hard to find on the shelves. The added performance isn't worth the expense and hassle IMO.