Dang guys, thanks for all of the suggestions! I've seen all of the cartridges I had in mind mentioned by others, so I might as well say them now. 35 Whelen and 9.3x62 are the larger two that I was mulling over, useful for large communists, bears, and communist bears. 257 Bob and 7x57 for smaller communists and deer. I REALLY want to build a couple quality deer hammers in inherently low recoiling cartridges like the bob and mauser, guns my kids can grow up shooting without fear of recoil. I also REALLY want to be able to blow the hell out of a communist bear with a big boy cartridge. The issue I have is this: I know if I chamber it in the bob or 7x57 that I'll use the hell out of it and kill lots of deer. I know if I chamber it in a boomer that I'll shoot it every now and then and mostly just tell friends I have a cooler rifle than they do. These are both facts. But I can't shake that I really want to make it into a Whelen. I suppose the only real solution is to keep buying springfields and do them all.
