That was a good read for this old grey haired guy MD, thanks for writing it. As I have stated before, all of my mediocre hunting career has taken place here in Alaska for about 55 years and most of that has been moose, caribou, and a few bears. After being brain washed by Keith and Hagel I had done almost all of my shooting with the .338 and 250 grain Partitions and the 30-06 and 200 grain Partitions. I recovered three of the 250 grain Partitions and none of the weighed over 179 grains, two of them were from moose and one from a black bear. I never recovered a 200 grain Partition from the 30-06, since both bullets killed so well I have to assume they all performed well.
In the late 80's I did what many do, I read an article by a gun writer and switched to the Barnes X bullets in the .338 and 30-06 and have not used a Partition since then. I aslo went from a 250 grain X to a 225 grain TTSX in the .338 and 175 grain LRX and 168 grain TTSX bullets in my two 30-06 rifles. Every thing falls over dead, like they did long ago with the wonderful Partitions that my Dad used in his old Mod. 70 .264 Win. Mag. and many of the old Alaskan guides I talked to used.
I never saw a need to use other cartridges for my hunting or any rifle that was not some variation or close relative of a Mauser. But when I put my "dream rifle" together about 25 years ago it was based on a Bansner's stocked Mod. 70 "Stainless Classic" .338 Win. and it is still my "go to" rifle, or my old Mod. 70 Featherweight 30-06. Other then the .338 I have been a blue steel and walnut guy.
A couple of years ago I broke down and bought a Tikka T3X Superlite in 6.5 Creedmoor. My justification was a rifle for the grand kids to use on moose, caribou and bears. I put a SWFA 3-9 HD on it and told them they should learn the mil system, even though I never used it for any of my hunting. LOL I have grown fond of the rifle and the caliber and I remember that my Dad only used the .264 Winny and 140 grain Partitions for all of his Alaskan hunting and his western hunting prior to moving to Alaska in 1965. Before the .264 he used his Mod. 99 in .300 Savage.
Now I find my self wanting to hunt with my lever action rifles and peep sights. My latest project is a .348 Improved on a new Mirkoru Winchester 71, hopefully the gun smith will have it done soon. If I can shoot a moose or big brown bear with it or my Marlin 45-70, I will have finally reached the pinnacle of my hunting career. LOL
What do I want for now, a Tikka T3X Superlite in .223 and a long slide Dan wesson 10mm, then I will finally be happy and content and can work on my wife's "honey do list".
