I was in the same situation recently. The wife said sure...so I bought a Model 70 Classic Stainless in 270 WSM. For some reason, Winchester decided not to chamber that model in the 270 WSM for 2004 so I looked around and found a 2003 model. At first, I was stuck between that one and the Classic Featherweight but with my history on wood stocks I decided on the stainless model. I know this one will get a lot of hunting time so I'm glad to have the all-weather type. I'm looking forward to hunting with it this fall. Did I need it? Nope....sure is fun though! Now I need another gun cabinet.

Good luck with your decision!

The 7x57 mauser is a good choice. Factory loads have about half the recoil of a 30-06 and only travel about 200 fps slower. You could also use Hornady Light Magnum loads, with a 140 gr SST traveling at a tad over 2900 fps it is an awesome deer gun. My Ruger #1 shoots under 1" at 100 yards. Hand loading you can duplicate the Light Magnum loads with a variety of bullets. Some of the pros consider the 7x57 mauser to be the perfect deer gun, more than capable of shooting out to 250 yards.

I'd look long and hard for a Belgian made Browing safari or Medallon grade bolt action in 270 or 30-06. Make sure it doesn't have any salt wood and you'll have a classic and classy rifle that blows pretty much anything made today out of the water.