Velosity,
I'll still side for the 30-06 for your first rifle,since you include Moose on your list of game to hunt.That would be my minumum for a critter,the size of moose.I had and hunted with the 270 win. and I had a few bad experiences with it and it's performance,mainly because of bullet constuction.Beleive me,after you have spent a few grand for a hunt and it goes sower because you should have had more rifle,it hurts way down deep.If recoil is a problem, then shoot lighter bullet weights to get used to the rifle.If you step down to the 150 gr.bullets then you'll be in the smaller caliber class such as your 270,280,7x57 or what ever.You are not going to be very far behind the 7 mm mag either.You'll just have a 30 caliber bullet to do it with and with better constuction in my opinion.Then if you need the added performance of a more heavily constucted bullet for moose or black bear then you can move right up to a 180 gr. or 220 gr. for the bigger stuff.And just think,you won't have to shell out any more hard earned cash for another rifle,unless,you get that magnum craze like I did and buy a 338 mag that collected dust because it was a pain in the butt to carry all day up and down hills because of it's 8 lb weight.My 30-06 Winchester XTR featherweight is the only rifle I grab now.My 120 lb little wife doesn't mind shooting it off the bench either.Some people do have a very low tolerence for felt recoil,the game might be small,and the mountains to high,then the small,light rifles centered around the smaller calibers really shine.
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