I hope I don't regret asking this question but here goes.
My wife has a very accurate LH Tikka T 3 in 6.5x55 that fits her very well and she shoots it great. I know it will suffice for pretty much anything here except one exception. Some of the spots we hunt in have a lot of grizzlies and we are starting to have more problems with aggressive bears. When I am out with my buddies I don't think much about it but with her for obvious reasons I think about it more.
I would like to get her a second Tikka T3 to compliment the one she has for when we are in some of the spots which have a lot of bears. Looking at Tikka's line up of cartridges the 7x64 and 8x57 stand out as great rounds that don't kick too bad but have a bit more bullet mass. We could also add the 30-06 to that list. She has shot my 270 Win 150 gr handloads without problems but noticed it kicked more than her 6.5x55 so don't want to go too much bigger than that. Also this gun could also be used for bison one day which we are required by law to use a 175 gr or heavier bullet which is another reason for the cut off at the 7x64 on the small side.
The gun has to be a Tikka to keep things similar to what she has now and I'm not really interested in getting a magnum round either.
Thinking of the 7x64 with a 160 or 175 gr Partition, the 8x57 with a 200 gr Partition or maybe a 30-06 with the classic 180 gr Partition load. Not sure if there is much difference in the real world with any of them. Those of you with some experience in these matters what would you do?
Thanks in advance.......
