Ok,so I have now narrowed it down to the rem 7600 .30-06 22" with wood furniture or the 35 whelen 18.5" with synthetic furniture.They both have things I like about them.I do believe the .30-06 to be the far more versatile caliber and easy to locate and fairly cheap,and I also love the look of the wood furniture but I do like the 18.5" barrel and that the 35 whelen is a "different" caliber. I am kind of stuck on which gun would be better.
I like synthetic stocks for hunting in lousy weather which is standard fare here.
I have a synthetic 7400 and thanks to the exaggerated Monte Carlo on the plastic models, couldn't acquire the irons w/o rolling my cheekbone up on the stock and getting whacked every time; so I ground that SOB off. It's now the softest-shooting '06 I've ever fired and 40-50 rounds in a sleeveless t-shirt is no big deal.
I also love the Whelen and 358 Winchester; but the 30-06 is no slouch and as noted here you can feed it anywhere.
