Thanks for all the replies, and great insight. Most have re-affirmed what I was thinking.

I went through this excercise in the fall, and ended up with a Kimber 84 in 7-08. She loves the gun, and it fits her very well. As a result, she's very deadly with it (and I appreciate the absolute quality of the Kimbers).

It's quite fun to have a life-long hunting partner to think about these things with.

Since the m70 seems to be the top choice, do you guys recommend it be looked at by a gunsmith. I've read a lot about problems with the m70 classics. I'm curious as to what your opinions are on what needs to be done to a m70. You wouldn't want to send the little lady out to field with a gun that has problems. I'm also looking to get a 375, so I find this thread to have a lot of good tips.
Sevens

My wife's DG rifle is a restocked Ruger M77 Mark II Magnum in .375 H&H. Complete with scope, sling and mercury recoil insert it weights in at 9 lb. 9 oz. loaded. Lawdog

I currently own 10 M-70 classics and obviously like them very much. I've not found that they require any more tweaking than any other common brand other than sako (Sako's rarely need any). My stainless 375 shoots good and my blued 416 Rem shoots better than I can usually hold it. After a little tweaking my 300 WSM smoothly feeds even empty cases. There are certainly items that can be improved - that is why D'Arcy Echols can charge so much for his rifles that are reworked M-70 classics. There are starting to be more and more gunsmiths that prefer them even over Pre-64 Winchesters. If you find one you like buy it, spend a little bit of money or time to get it just the way you want it and you will indeed have a fine rifle.........DJ