Ray B
AH legend
I recall that after "the war" my dads rifle was a Marlin 36 30-30, my uncles was a Winchester 94 32 Spl, which was considered a big bore. Then dad got a 30-06 followed in the early 60s with a 300 Weatherby in preparation for a guided elk hunt in Montana. I inherited the Wby in 1980 and it became my elk rifle. About 1983 the finish on the stock was beginning to get thin and if I continued to use it as the main rifle, there would be open spots on the edges of the stock. So I started seeking replacement options. these coursed through 338/06AI. 338WM and then to a "big bore" 375H&H. For several years this seemed as a reasonable place to stop in this escalation of power. After all, dad had gone from flathead Fords up through 352 cu in and 428 cu in V8s, and back down and had settled on a few Hondas as his last cars. So it did seem logical that there was an upper limit to desired power in rifles as well. But then in the course of building a long range rifle I had an extra 338 rebarrelled to 375 RUM and while it would work as a DG rifle, it was a little awkward for close range. Then there was the 458 Win Mag and the 404 Jeffery. I suspect these are entirely suitable as an upper limit to desired power, but I see grand double rifles listed on these pages chambered for such great cartridges as were previously considered outdated and unavailable British and German cartridges. So to put in linear form we have: 30-30; 32Spl, 30-06, 300Wby, 338/06AI, 338WM, 375H&H, 375RUM, 404J, 458WM - so what's next? 458Lott or Watts- or just go directly to 500Jeffery or one of those T-Rex killers? Is this a normal progression? or some obsessive magnetism that someday will revert to driving a Honda and using a 30-30?
