What about the 7mm-08?

[DM~]

Also, Mr. Bell relied on a very detailed knowledge of elephant anatomy to be able to hunt them with this small of a caliber. There is a small space in the middle of the forehead that the 7x57 175 grain solid could penetrate surrounded by bone too thick for even the N.E. rounds to penetrate. That knowledge, rather than any ballistic magic, accounted for his hunting success.

Also, Bell was a poacher! And at a time when he could walk right up to elephants that had never been shot at, been around guns or even smelled a white man before. He would walk right up to them and shoot them at distances in feet, not yards.

DM

 

[Peter M. Eick]

7-08 is a good deer rifle from my experience. I have picked off several with mine and had no issues. My 700BDL for some reason likes light bullets. 75 to 120 grns are great, sub-1" accuracy for 5 shot groups or about 1.5" for 50 shot groups. 168's or the heavies are more like shotgun patterns. 50 shot groups in the range of 6". Not sure why but the break over point is around 139 grns.

 

[303 hunter]

The only thing I don't like about the entry level Savage is the heavy trigger. A good trigger contributes a LOT to accuracy. By the time you pay a gunsmith to do a trigger job, you could buy a higher level Savage with the accu trigger. I own 2 Savage's, and I like them very much.