On my first trip to South Africa ( 1996) my Afrikaans Hunter/Outfitter friend had a bad taste in his mouth for 7mm Rem Mags. it seems some squirrel came over and used the then touted 165 Extended Range ( memory fuzzy) which was a simple cup n core, very soft. the guy wounded a few head before my friend insisted he use his rifle ( 308 win and 180 Mag Tips) I explained to him that the caliber was a very good one...with the right bullets. I was using a 35 Whelen Improved with a 250X, so no problems! I didn't shoot anything, in four hunts, that I couldn't have killed with a good bullet in 7mm08-7mm mag and in between! It was just a good excuse to use a bigger caliber, cut bigger holes, ha. My Afrikaner buddy got a big "eye opener" on how cold temps affect South African Somchem powder/loads. He went to the Drakensburg mountains to cull some eland. His 308/180 Speer mag Tips barely broke the hide! He luckily had some 7.62 hardball military ammo ( he was a former soldier) and they worked swell on head shots..
