Quote Originally Posted by sortafast View Post
ahh, but the 280AI gets just about to 7mm mag with out all the recoil, or so I am told.
No free lunch. With the velocity comes the recoil. No way around it. That said, the 7mm Mag isn't a very hard kicker anyway. Not something I'd want to settle down behind for a long day at the bench but 20-40 rounds with a good recoil pad, even with a really light rifle aren't uncomfortable.

On the -06 format, don't forget the 6.5-06. For a given BC and SD, 6.5 bullets are going to be lighter than their 7mm counterpart meaning that velocity stays about the same, despite the reduction in bullet base area, and recoil is reduced. I'm in the 280 AI camp personally simply because I already keep 7mm bullets on hand (though my next project is my long range hunting rifle in 7 WSM) but if you're not already committed to a certain caliber, it's worth a thought.