I stayed out of this long enough. I am not a magnum fan, never have been, never will be. They may be the perfect thing for someone else, but not me. To the Maggies, I'm not saying you are wrong and I am right, and to the non-Maggies, I'm not saying you are right and the other side is wrong. Most folks posting on this and other forums are hunters and shooters, they know their rifles and weapons. In the hands of a capable, accomplished shooter and marksman, if you feel the mag gives you the edge, take the edge by all means. To those shooters like me who rely on non mags (mine is a 7x57mm mauser loaded hot), well, for the most part those shooters too are accomplished and marksmen, and they know their weapons. Where I see the breakdown comes from the nimrod, the first-time fellow or lady who decides she, or he, is going to take up hunting, reads all the hype about the super-animals these days perpetuated by gun rag writers and not too knowledgable WalMart clerks, and nothing but the latest, whiz-bang mag will do. He or she makes the purchase along with a box of ammo, scope, rings and the whole nine yards, has the rig assembled and bore sighted and heads to the shooting range. We've all seen them there, timid looking, with their new prize, trying to make heads and tails out of what they bought until some friendly shooter shows them a few things, like how to load the rifle. Then we've seen them blast away at a target, a little shocked by the recoil but not saying a word to anyone, especially the young lady who came to the range to watch her guy in the manly arts of shooting. Eventually, you'll see the friendly shooter show the newbie how to zero the rifle so the bullets are actually hitting the target backround. The nimrod continues to blast a pattern until one projectile just nicks a bullseye, at which point the astonished shooter grins, turns to his admiring girlfriend or wife and anounces ... "good enough." I think deep inside he has to stop at this point because his shoulder is hurting and he secretly knows there is no way in hell that he is going to nick that bullseye again, so, it is indeed, "good enough." Now keep in mind, that fellow is out there in the deer woods, the elk mountains or antelope plains hunting and he has a rifle that will put them down as far away as he can see them because the clerk at the store where he bought his rifle said so. Like wild creatures, I think if one is to go the magnum route, then it should be done one like you are sneaking up on a deer, quietly, with your eyes wide open. The magnum does not make the shooter, the shooter makes the shooter and that, to me, is the danger of magnums, they often do end up in the hands of some folks who should be taking the outdoor experience one step at a time and looking and learning with each step. Sorry for the exceeding long post. Tom Purdom
