Well, I ruled ONE of the 3 choices out.......the .30-06.

Why? Well, one of the reasons I'm looking at these 3 calibers is to have something not as "excessive for it's intended use" as my current .300 Win. Mag.

If found a really good recoil calculator that someone posted on another thread and pluged in some comparisons between the recoil of my .300 Win. @ 8 1/4lbs. with a 180gr. load VS. the .30-06 @ 6 1/4lbs. with a 165gr. load.

Guess what??? The recoil velocity and ft/lbs. of recoil are virtually identical. So, not that the lightweight .30-06 recoil would really bother me, but if I'm going to put up with a rifle that kicks like a .300 Win. Mag.........it might as well BE a .300 Win. Mag.

Now, when I compare my Winny to a 130gr. .270 @ 3150fps or a 140gr. .280 @ 3100fps, then the jab at the shoulder takes a noticable plunge.

RECOIL COMPARISON

.300 Win. Mag. 180gr. @ 3050 fps = 26.80 ft/lbs @ 14.46 fps
(out of my 8 1/4lb rifle)

.30-06 165gr. @ 2900 = 25.17 ft/lbs @ 16.10 fps
(out of a 6 1/4lb rifle)

.280 145gr. @ 2975 fps. = 20.99 ft/lbs @ 14.71 fps
(out of a 6 1/4lb rifle)

.270 130gr. @ 3150 fps. = 19.72 ft/lbs. @ 14.26 fps.
(out of a 6 1/4lb rifle)

Notice how the 165gr. or the 180gr. in the 06' jumps the recoil velocity up over the .300 Win.?

If the .280 with a 140gr. was pushed to around 3100 fps., the numbers would rise a tad. Probably just about in between the .270 and the .30-06.

So it looks like I'll be choosing between the .270 Win. and .280 Rem.