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Say, could you give me your arguments against the 7mm.08 and the .308?

Sorry it took me a few days to get to this, Sam... here it is:

The .308 Winchester came about as a result of the U.S. Army's search for a cartridge to replace the venerable .30-06 Springfield. There was nothing wrong with the ballistics of the .30-06, in fact they were considered ideal, but the cartridge itself was too long for optimum operation in automatic weapons.

.308 is by far the most popular sniping round, and for good reason. .308 is not punishing to shoot, has good terminal ballistics, and is consistent. While there are rounds that outperform .308 in ballistics, there are few that perform as consistently as .308. And consistency is accuracy.

That said, the .308 has significant bullet drop (6.5 – 9 in at 300 yds, 13 - 16 in at 400 yds) which makes accurate range estimation critical. Few do it well… you can remedy this by buying a laser range finder, but that’s one more gadget to carry…

Soon after the .308 Win. was introduced, back in 1952, wildcatters had a field day necking the new, strong, short case up and down. One of the neatest results was the 7mm-08 wildcat, the .308 necked down to accept .284 inch (7mm) diameter bullets. It didn't equal the ballistics of the classic .270, but it gave about 90% of that performance, enough to be satisfying, and it would work in any action for which the .308 could be chambered.

The 7mm-08 is the same length as the older 284 Winchester and operates at about the same pressure. The 7mm-08 has substantially less capacity, though, and generates significantly inferior ballistics. This being the case, then why did Remington standardize the 7mm-08? To sell rifles…

The 120 grain bullet would be a good choice for small, light framed animals (east coast deer, antelope)…. For most big game hunting, I would select the 140 grain bullet. With a rifle zeroed at 200 yards, both the 120 and 140 grain bullets are 2.9 inches low at 250 yards according to Remington figures. At 300 yards both bullets strike 7.3 inches low. This gives the 7mm-08 about a 275 yard point blank range on big game (where no hold-over is required), which makes it a flatter shooter than the .308.

All things considered, I still prefer the venerable, versatile, reliable 30.06 and .270…and I wouldn’t give up my 7mm RemMag fer nuthin… If yer nephew wants a short action, may I suggest 7mm WSM OR 7mm Rem SAUM…

The 7mm WSM and 7mm Rem. SAUM are short action magnum cartridges that attempt to gain in width the powder capacity that they sacrifice in length. In other words, they are short but very fat cartridges with sharp shoulders. They nearly duplicate the ballistic performance of the Remington 7mm Magnum in cartridges that will function through short action rifles… These shoot flatter (accurate range estimation not a critical) and deliver more punch… just my two cents...