I read thru this several times, shaking my head..my only comment would be, if you allow ANY GUN to be subjected to this level of care and maintinance and lack of careful cleaning and inspection,...well other than maybe an AK47 ...then your likely to have problems
a cleaning kit, careful inspection every night,and cleaning with a can of WD40, some gun oil, a few patches and brushes, a cleaning rod, screw drivers and having a stainless gun with a synthetic stock can go a long way toward preventing problems, in the field, IVE used a synthetic stocked stainless A-bolt in 375H&H on several ELK HUNTS and found it does its job quite well.
yes its a bit heavier than nesessary but thats not always bad in a 375 H&H
I know all that sounds ideal 340 but get into Alaska's bush or coastal areas and all that maintenance you descibed goes out the window. Chitty weather, sand, silt and mud, salt water or salt spray, snow and or ice. All these things make doing what you describe daily near impossible or at last for me undesirable. I have had guns literally wet for an entir week, whether its cuz its being rained on while I am carrying it or packing it, or just from the extreme level of moisture in the tent that keeps the gun from completely drying. I am partial to certain guns that can withstand this kind of use year in and year out and from all the horror stories I have heard Browning seems to be right in the middle of em. Rugers and Winchesters not so much!....grin
I did have an A-Bolt in 280 Rem at one time and it killed deer in dry azz West Texas with no problem, but West Texas aint Alaska!
