Hey stir away. I until the last few years I used a .375 H&H but then I could shoot it just as well as my .30-06 which is my point. More people need to learn to shoot with non-magnums before choosing a caliber more on macho than common sense. If you can shoot it well then more power to you. Most of the guys I knew could not shoot their ultra-light .30-06 as well as I could my .375 H&H. People as a rule do not put in the practice under field conditions but rather hit paper over sand bags just enough to see if the rifle still shoots were it is looking.

Swampdog, it I was going to get a new caliber for bears and such it would be a .376 Steyr. It has no belt on the case, is .30-06 approx. in length, and stomps on the heels of the .375 H&H Magnum but is more shootable. One was on sale on the Guns America site last night when I was window shopping. Good Luck!
Rocky Latham

Anyone who dosen't want or like their magnum firearms, or any firearm can send them to me. Good Shooting!!

Darn it, I just gave away all the ones I did not like. At least that's what it feels like some times when people make you offers on "used" guns. I have a few I will never part with as they were my Grandfathers and my Fathers. As for the rest some I wish I had never parted with and some I could not part with fast enough. They all have their srtenghts and limitaions. Too bad more operators (shooters) do not realize their strengths and limitaions. Like Clint Eastwood said as "Dirty Harry" " A man needs to know his limitations."
Rocky Latham

I enjoyed working with my Magnum rifles back when the shoulder was in tact. However now I have a lot of rifles setting around here but the 7600 30-06 Remington Pump is the last one I would part with. I would like it even better if it were a 270.

I believe the reason the .38/'06 is not more popular is because only one or two makers are chambering a rifle for it. If Weatherby would chhamber it in the Vanguard instead of just the lightweight Mark V, and Rem. would bring it out in the M 700, I believe a lot of people would buy one! I know I would!

"To Mag or Not To Mag?"

IMHO, that is not really the question. "Magnum" does not mean anything --- it is merely an emotional buzz word for folks to fret about. The word "magnum" is a century old marketing ploy. Some of the more powerful cartridges out there do not have the word "magnum" in their name.

(1) Size up the game you are hunting, the conditions, and your ability (including the ability to manage recoil).

(2) Decide on the caliber and weight of bullet and velocity you feel is appropriate for your chosen quarry. Generally, I recommend little tools for little jobs and big tools for big jobs; Barnes and Federal have codings to help you decide if you are uncertain.

(3) Go to the reloading book, find the cartridges that fulfill your criteria and choose the one you want.

(4) When you get the rifle, have it "fitted to you" by a competent individual (90% of rifles are used straight out of the box = big mistake)

EKM

When you say fitted, what exactly do you mean?

I have one rifle that was custom fitted for me for my length of pull and comb. Very nice. Has it made a hill of beans difference in killing an hunting abilities? No. Would I bring home more game with it than before. Not a bit.

Eldeguello, AMEN. For the hunting where I am now (Arkansas) I would love a .338-06 or a .376 Steyr Remington 7600 rustproofed with a 20" barrel. I plan to do a lot of bear hunting here and a large exit hole would help in tracking such a soft footed animal in heavy timber. Bear here are transplants from Manitoba and Maine from what I hear. The state's Black Bear Bores are generaly larger than average often exceding 400 lbs. But the current rage is Ultra-Mag or WSM not what us average joes can use. They tell us what we should want not the other way around at least until we vote their offerings off the market by not buying them. I guess that is what keeps a lot of custom gunsmiths in business, making us different types the firearms we want. Of course if the gun and hunting magazines along with Hunting TV shows hyped rounds like the .338-06 or .35 Whelen like they do the latest ultra-high velocity offerings then things might change. It is like a gun shop owner friend of mine said about his sales of the .454 Casull. Most come in all hyped in the morning to pick up their new macho mag handgun only to bring it back as soon as that same afternoon to be sold cause it hurt them. Oh well it keeps the money flowing. I was talking to Randy Garrett via email why he does not offer a .454 offering. He said cause his loads in .44 Mags handle the job and are more controlable. See, I do use a Mag. but what ELKampMaster says is true many real power house cartridges do not have Magnum in their name but here in the USA "Magnum" sells. I have listened to too many hunters sit around the camp fire braging about how much faster their rifle bullets are than the one that just finished his story. Me, I just smile and maybe whistle at their tales of macho ability but put game down just as well with my poor "underpowered" rifle. He, He.

A Perfect example is the 100 plus year old 45-70 still shooting the same old slow poke bullet through anything it hits. Black Powder, Smokless ,cast or jacketed bullets. What it won't do probably don,t need done. I always have three or four of them.

Length of stock and eye relief of scope mainly. When you close your eyes and throw it up to your shoulder and get comfortable and then open your eyes you need to be looking right into a correct scope picture.... No head bobbing up and down, no forward and back -- no parallax, no thumb anywhere near your nose, a good cheek weld --- all automatic, with no effort. If you are the "generic shooter" that gun manufactures build their rifles to, then lucky you. For most others it needs looked at. One hasn't lived until he takes on a rifle that is too short for him.... a modest cartridge can become a wicked witch.

ESPECIALLY, if you utilize some of the friskier recoiling rifles, then the fit becomes critical not only to quick target acquisition and accurate shooting, but also critical to recoil management. IMHO, the lack of this latter item is flat out epedemic in the USA. For example, just last month on this forum, a 250 pound, 6 foot bruiser intimidated by a 270 ---- something wrong with that picture.....

I don't know if any of this will make sense, but that is what I mean.

EKM