RoundOak those are great pictures of some sweet rifle craftsmanship. What power and brand is the scope on the 7x57? Gitian comparing a double lung 100 yd run off to a bang flop with a full shoulder break down shot using a page of well written dialog still leaves you with an apple vs an orange...... no sarcasm intended. I enjoyed the story of your wife's 7x57 hunt. Most guys I see looking for the, drop in its tracks with no meat loss, go for a less well thought of shot that works most of the time. Ill take the shoulder meat loss after seeing the "does not always work" aspect of the other choice a few times.
I used to only shoot shotguns and rimfires, then I made the mistake of getting a subscription to handloader.......