First let me tell you I am a big Mauser Fan - I have 4 of them currently, have enough parts for another one, and don't plan to part with any of them. All of them are blued steel with wood stocks.

Anyway, My son and I have been searching for a rifle for him to deer hunt with in GA. We looked at most everything over sevral months(which I really enjoyed). He will be 15 soon and wanted a somthing fairly light that handled well. He had been using my first rifle, a Rem 788 in 308 win. We narrowed the choice down to Model 70 classic FW Short action and the Browning Abolt II synthetic stalker with out BOSS 22" barrel. The Remingtons got eliminated because of what I perceive as poor quality (there is no excuse for sights that don't line up on the barrel or crooked swivel studs, then there is the "safety issue")
I was pushing for Model 70(almost a Mauser), but he had heart set on the Browning (one of the most complicated bolt action I have ever run across) -- "Dad - it just feels right"

So we bought the A bolt in 7mm-08 and topped it off with a VXII 3-9X40. Cleaned it up good, adjusted the trigger and went to range. After a 15 shot barrel break in, it shot two groups of 3/4" with Factory Winchester 140 grain power point ammo. Gonna have a hard time matching that with my hand loads. But will have fun trying.

I'm impressed. My son is very happy.

Why 7mm-08? The gun is very light, the kid is not big. Did not want recoil to be a problem. The 308 he had been shooting weighs about 2 lbs more than the Browning. Ammo can be found at Wal-Mart.

I posted several question on the board about the various makes and model. Thanks to all for you replies. I know a lot of you don't like the Browning. I'll let you know how it holds up.

Congratulations on getting a good-shooting gun. The 7-08 should be as good as any and better than many for whitetails.

As for how the gun holds up, I suspect that it will be your son's sons who report on this, and not you.

My son bought the Browing A Bolt in Syn Stainless in 260 Rem..WE couldn't be happier...all is does is kill deer dead.
We also have rifles in 243 and 7/08...love them too...deer don't.