Gonna hijack the hijacking on this thread, think I’m leaning hard toward the 358, I love the donor rifle but it isn’t a backpack rifle I’m hauling for long range. The 30-06 will cover anything I will be shooting anytime soon including elk( which is a big maybe) . I miss my little woods thumper, just seeing pics of those big round nose bullets get me all sentimental for the times I carried my old 99. For woods ranges a 225 or 250 round nose will handle deer or bear with authority. The 338-06 is tempting but for my intended purposes, meh. Did I mention I have a 6.5x284 for the longer stuff?
I had often wondered if Howaby offered a Vanguard Compact in .358 Win, how long it'd take me to get to the LGS and have me one ?? A 6# , 20" package would be right handy for most jobs that needed doin, on whatever, to most reasonable distances. And backpack, back pocket capable.
