RinB,
To broaden your point of view regarding magazine capacity:

Areas in Alaska that allow multiple caribou bag limits, the 3-down guns are at a severe disadvantage.

Twice, I've emptied a 5 down 9.3, and only had 2 or 3 caribou to show for it. 30 mph winds, animals always trotting by, rarely stopping. You will miss and with 5 down, you will recover.

3 down, you will connect only once(one caribou is only a week of food per family), then watch a herd pass by as you reload your rifle. Then, you'll go to the AC and pay $25 for a lb of beef. Or: If a snowmachine, $12(or more) for a gallon gasoline to go try again.

I've never seen a subsistence hunter carry a 3-down rifle. And this is why the WSM cartridges never overtook the 243, 308, 270 or 30-06 in the villages where caribou outnumber people.

Last edited by mainer_in_ak; 01/01/24.