I'm going go off track here. I love Winchesters also especially the old pre-64 model 70's or the newer better quality model 70's built on the pre-64 style. Super grades and the old light weights and feather weights are awfully nice. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see who Winchester plans on selling this cartridge to. I target shoot for my own purposes as a means to an end and that's hunting. If I were going to build a rifle it's caliber / cartridge combination has to just fly first and foremost, it would have to be of a caliber that has a lot of on the shelf high BC bullet options, and has to have the horse power to kill an Elk at over 1000 yds which really leaves out IMO anything smaller than 6.5 mm. Wildcat options might be 6.5/378, 7mm/378, 6.5 Ultra Mag, and larger diameters, etc. Just from a purely long range hunting stand point the higher velocity 338 ballistic options is about as good as it gets. I know a lot of people aren't going to like long range hunting and that's totally OK , I gave up trying to explain that one. A lot of guys and some gals where I live like to hunt Coues deer and other animals at extreme ranges cross canyons open country, and that means using enough gun, not because the cartridge has enough or to much power but because of hit probability. I know quite a few people that hunt these smaller deer with various 7mm & 300 mag's, 30-378's, all of the ultra-mags, some 338's , several more horse powered 6.5's, and while some people are not accustomed to this type of hunting might look at the set-up these long range people use and ask what do you need that for. If you gotta ask we will leave it at that. My own personal preference on these precision rifles at least for hunting I think Weatherby has the right idea of keeping weight down and using more traditional stocks. If I were going to buy a 338 Lapua it would most likely be a Weatherby because of the weight, it's going to be carried and who wants to carry a 12 pound rifle in the mtns plus all the other stuff.
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