Excellence choice, I must say. Yeah, the 180 gr. cartridges are a bit much, but you've got an excellent (and all-important) point about the switching dilemma. Being a new hunter, I stick to the 700 ADL .30-06 with 150 gr. softpoints here in Virginia, and an 870 Wingmaster with 1 oz. rifled slugs in Maryland. Great combination for whitetail.