If you ever think you might be face to face with something wanting to eat you for breakfast, skip the Remington and Winchester 'push feed' models. I see people at the range using a cleaning rod to eject shells with those two, never with a 'controlled round' feed (which is basically the Mauser action). The large extractor will take more punishment/abuse/neglect and still feed the second round when you absolutely need it.

Failure to function is 99% of the time a maintenance issue, but still, stack the odds in your favor.

Beyond that, even better than handling at the gun shop, find some buddies with various rifles and get them to let you try ones at the range. Nothing beats pulling the trigger on live rounds.......

My favorite gun right now is a Remington 308 Win. I've also got a 338 in a Remington, but have been shooting the 308 a lot more. Both guns are in identical Bansner stocks...the only difference between the two is that the 338 is a few ounces heavier. I don't think the 308 is too small for Alaska as long as you know the limitations...I wouldn't go on a Brown Bears hunt, but for just about everything else it's plenty of gun.

shot a lot of rounds thru my remingtons. never used a cleaning rod to remove a case. done a lot of varmint hunting and racked shells rapidly at woodchucks scurring to their holes because i failed to shoot straight and never a jammed gun on my 700's. won't say it won't happen. never say never. i'll be here next season crying about it happening but as of yet, no.