I would also like to point out that a 338 with a good 250 grainer or a 375 with a good 270-300 grain bullet will damage less meat on a marginal shot or a miss than a 300 ultra smokin hot fast mangler magnum shooting ANY bullet .
I love to hunt with my .375 and now my .470NE. laymen will invariably make this comment "Jeez that thing must blow a critter to smitheriens".
The .375H&H does less meat damage as far as bruising and bloodshot meat goes than a .25-06. The .470 does even less. Briusing and meat damage is a function of hydraulic shock which is a direct result of bullet velocity and rapid expansion. It has nothing to do with diameter and weight untill you start pushing that weight at stupid velocity which invariably end up giving poor penetration but that is the subject for another thread.
Now here's an interesting concept. I experimented with this last season a little. Using very tough bullets like barnes X or Swift out of a .300eargasplitenthunderboomer.
In the past I've seen the gruesome results of your typical .300 using soft bullets. the rib cage and front shoulder looking like a small handgernade went off in them.
last year a wound up with an R-93 synthetic in .300Weatherby. Not really my style but a guy owed me a bunch of money and couldn't pay so he gave me this rifle instead. I was a intrigued with the silly little thing as it is short and light, I just had to play with it a bit. I shot a whitetail a Muley and a 5X5 bull elk with it. I load a 180gr X at about 3000 fps. The meat damage on the deer was nearly nill with a behind the shoulder shot same with the elk. The little 180gr x bullets went in and out with minimal fuss and very little damage around the hole the exits had a 2 inch or so diameter bruise around them.
Now here is interesting thing. For mule deer I loaded a swift sirocco at about 3100 FPS. Why? I don't know just a wild hair I guess plus I was having illusions about doing some long distance cross canyon macho man deer shooting. In short I developed an acute case of magnumitis last deer season.... So shoot me.
As it turned out I nailed a nice muley at 209yards quartering on to me. I hit him on the point of the on shoulder square on the humorus bone. (I was aiming a little left trying to slip one through his throat into the vitals. At the shot I heard the distinctive crack of a bullet on bone the deer needless to say he didn't go far.
What really surprised me was the lack of bruising. the bullet stayed together very well and created a nice path through the shoulder to the vitals.
So maybe there is something to these bonded core bullets. In anycase the rifle should make a fantastic mountain gun as it is very handy. But I've gone to 200gr bullets at around 2800fps as they are more comfortable to shoot darn near as flat given the awesome BC with the 200gr .308 bullet not to mention the great SD and they provide a nice balance of knockdown and flat tajectory. That is the only place in which I believe the .300's have a slight yet academic advantage over the 06.
I see no reason to go out and get a thunderzappinloudenboomer. Nor am I suggesting that you do. I just though you guys may find this interesting. I still love my .308's and .375's for deer and elk. But for some reason every now and then the immature magnum geek virus rises from my past and demands to be placated before receding into my spine and laying dorment for the next decade or so. Please forgive me.......
In closing I will offer that high velocity demands hard well constructed bullets.