O.k. I posted on the smith forum about building a 338 Lapua. I will ultimately have the Lapua but have decided that i would like to ask some questions about calibers/guns. I would like to have something that is fun to shoot, light on recoil, but will handle the wind.

Heres the calibers that come to mind:

.308
7 mag
300 mag

I know that they are all excellent hunting rounds. I will be using this round primarily to shoot milk jugs out to 600 yrds. Possibly take it PD shooting or stationary doe hunting in N.E. Missouri. I am not wanting a light gun it will be a heavy varmit profile gun. I am not a huge advocate of using Muzzlebreaks but will most likely use one on the later of the two if chosen, due to the amount of time shooting for fun. I have always ready the bigger and hotter the round the less life the barrel has. As far as flight and trajectory I believe that the 7 and 300 are pretty close too the same. What about the barrel life between the two? I know I want the 700 action with an HS or Mcmillan stock. Does anyone have any suggestions and if they do can you explain what you go with and why. Thanks again...

Given what you have written, I would go with the .308 Winchester for the following reasons:

1) Accurate out to 1000 yards, witness Palma rifles.

2) Relatively low Recoil in a reasonable weight rifle.

3) Relatively cheap to reload for, and lots of excellent bullets available.

4) Less noise and muzzle blast.

5) Comparatively easy to build on a Model 700 action.

Dave

6 mm anything, a Br or a XC,

a 6,5 anything, x47 Lapua if you are modern, a 260 rem if you are modest or a 6,5x55 if you like long actions.

All of the above are allright for your intended purposes.

/C