I announced 5 years ago that I was buying my last 30-06. I drew the line, because I had a very full collection, especially in 30-06, and I was watching my near-80 hunting buddy start to have trouble dealing with recoil. What I figured was that over time I as going to start having similar problems, and it was a better idea to start exploring chamberings that had less recoil than '06. That last '06 has so far been the best rifle I ever shouldered, a Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06.
So here's the deal: Gundoc7 is dead right. I'm looking at this 280 vs 7mm08 thing myself. My take on it is that 7mm08 will do me for everything I need to do with considerably less recoil than 280 REM. For now, I'm still good with all my 30-somethings, but when the time comes, I'll move to 7mm08. I'm also expecting that I won't be shooting much past 250 yards into the foreseeable future.
280Rem looks great too. I'm sure that with the right loads, I could shoot it into my dotage, but there's more rifle there than I'm going to need.
