A few years ago I had Dave Caboth turn the barrel of my stainless M-70 to ftw contour and cut it to 21 inches. I find I tend to pick it up more often than anything else unless, (and sometimes even if) I am guiding. I used to do that with a little 35 Whelen Mauser carbine but I gave it to my son and he claims IT is the perfect Alaskan rifle. I'm not sure though as Lon Paul and Danny Pederson are building me a 9.3 which I hope to be carrying this winter. My daughter however will tell you that her little stainless M-70 .338 kills big bears just as well as anything else, especially with 300 gr bullets, is just right on moose and caribou and ammo can be found anywhere.
I don't hunt bears, but load a few rounds with 275-grains A-Frame bullets for my .338WM. However, there are at least two or three companies that produce 300-grain .338-caliber bullets. Ray Atkinson speaks highly of the 300 grainers for Africa hunting. I just can't see any real difference between the 9.3x62 and the .338-06, or the .35 Whelen, or the .338 Sabi. All of these are capable of launching bullets of similar weight at similar velocities, and trajectories.
