Hi ,I see i have had a lot or replies and advice and I appreciate all of it ! I am going to ponder on this awhile as on the one hand I would like a lighter rifle yet on the other hand as oldman pointed out I do hate to mess with such an accurate rifle .And yes Oldman I do believe a 7mm-08 or 308 will kill deer in Arkansas as i have killed a lot of deer in my 50 years with calibers 30 carbine,270,25-06,30-06, 300 weatherby,muzzleloaders ,44 magnum (handgun hunted exclusively for 12 years) and homemade bows and arrows made from hickory. but that was when I lived within 15 munutes from my hunting area and if i didn,t get a deer that day or it was too far i just went back the next day!! now I live about 1 1/2 hours from hunting spot and dont get to go as much so I want a flat a shooting rifle as i can get and still handle the recoil which is what the 7mm rem mag does for me . Also rangefinders dont work too well for me in the field as often as not I cant find a landmark to range ! You see I hunt not only in the woods but also over large cutover ricefields with shot oppertunities at over 400 yards being very frequent. so way I fiI gure it a 7mm mag will handle the 30 yard shots in the woods and the 400 plus yard shots in the fields with more leeway for error when unable to use a rangefinder. I can find reasonably priced ammo at wally world without ordering it online. and it wont kick me out from under my hat ! I figure it is the best comprmise for deer when all the variables are factored in. I realize that the smaller catridges will do the trick for probably most of my hunting but I have no problem with the 7 mags recoil so why not go for more performance !may have inadvertantly misled about how the rifle shoots as The 3 inch and under groups wre shot with Federal Premium 150 ballistic tips and not the Federal blue box which it will put into bout 4 1/4 inches/ My intent was to say that I could find reasonably priced ammo that was on par with and slightly better performing than premium ammo from the 270,30-06 etc. and cost less than the premium ammo from these catridges. Could I get by without a lighter weight 7mm Remington mag ? well sure I could ! but I suppose i am like the rest of the gun cranks here ,always looking for something that better suits my wants and needs ! or at least what I percieve as needs !! LOL plus I really like talking guns and rifles especially !! I really appreciate all the responces and replies and I will get the perfect rifle oneday !!! Yeah right ,LOL Craig
