I would recommend Chuck Hawks Rifle Cartridge Page to everyone here. At this site you can find all the info needed on any cartridge including the recoil and trajectory of every round ever dreamed of. A 7mm-08 is a 308 case necked down to accept a .284 bullet. Likewise it will kick less than a 308 or 270. When I buy another rifle, I'm getting it in 6.5X55mm Swedish Mauser, in a winchester model 70 rifle. Right now I shoot the good old 30-06, but want a rifle that kicks less and performs on either deer, varmits, or elk. Read about the 6.5mm or .264" bullets and you'll understand why they work well for all of these. The 7mm-08 would probably be my second choice because of it's availability in rifles and ammo. I first wanted the .260 Remington in one of Remington's Mountain rifles, but Daryll Whitaker at Whitaker's guns told me that they havn't had a lot of luck getting the cartridge to catch on. He said they may soon drop it from their lineup. More rifle makers chamber for 6.5 and whitaker's has all kinds of ammo as well as reloading dies and supplies for the cartridge.