Robin: What the state says about caliber selection is true...a properly placed .270 bullet will kill anything..But I will tell you that the recommendations the state makes changes every couple of years...just a short while ago the then-author of these recommendations suggested that a good alround caliber was a .300 Win Mag..and that the .338s and the .375s were commonly used as well (which I think was and is still true).

This past year I took the ADF&G-sponsered hunter safety course (at age 51) so that I could hunt antelope in Colorado. It is a class I would recommend to everyone, regardless of experience..but when we got to the part about using a .270 on anything here in Alaska..the instructor diplomatically (and correctly) tried to inform the class that a .270 or something similar is not the best weapon for general use in Alaska. Lots of folks I know use one of any of the .300 mags (and there are several to choose from) and these rifles do well, even when hunting brown bear...for the most part. But calibers smaller than that are, well, too small for practicle applications in Alaska.

It is a serious miscalculation to think that big animals do not deserve big guns.

If people are hunting just deer, or even caribou, and black bear, a .270 or 7mmRM is appropreiate (although a bit light in my book)... I do think all of these animals deserve a 180 grain bullet (or more). I bet the recommendations made by the state today will change in the future.

Anyway, I think there is a difference between what is written in guidelines and what is actually done in the field.

If you hunt with a guide, he will tell you to bring your .30-06 (or whatever), but you will see that HE carries a .338, or .375, or .416, or .458 (with no explanations or apologies). Ask your guide what he carries. While the state may recommend that you use a .270, you should ask them what they use to take care of diffecult animals (I am pretty sure they use shotguns with slugs or a .375 H&H or up for offical game management purposes).

Robert, When I did the Hunters Ed they were going on about the 270, 30-06 being adequate for anything in Alaska, but the person giving the course had mentioned earlier that he used a 338. I didn't persue it, just thought it interesting.

Robin

Sounds like your nephew isn't a novice shooter even as a young teen. Letting him pick his own caliber is a great idea.

With his hunting territory a 300 Win Mag makes a lot of sense and he seems to like it - he can start with a gun and never have to change.

Since you already have a sacraficial stock, why not cut it down install a limbsaver pad and a Mercury recoil reducer as well. For you loading it to 30-06 type recoil for practice is an option you have too but the MRR will likely keep the 300 WM performance and make that 30-06 you were thinking of seem like a hard kicker.