If big Green had been paying attention, they would have given us:
1. A forend that dosen't rattle. (the 7600's I handled didn't seem as bad in this respect as the 760 I had. It is my #2 complaint against the 760/7600)
2. Find a way to improve the ergonomics of the forend. The arm has to be extened to properly operate the action. In practice, carrying the gun for long periods of time, such as in hunting, the gun becomes very uncomfortable, whether sitting in a stand, or walking and carrying it other than slung upside down (muzzle pointing down). My #1 complaint. (notice how many Rem. 870's have slings..... mine does!)
BTW: my M760 was in .35Rem, and was unbelievably accurate with a stout- over the book max load of H322 and a Sierra 200gr RN. Impact on deer had to be seen to be believed.
3. The most "natural cartridges" for this rifle would have been the .358Win, the .338Federal, and the .338/06. But also have to add: .257Roberts- my favorite deer cart. (originally offered in predecesor to 760), and many, many other cartridges.
The .338/06, in particular offers better both internal and external ballistics over the .35Whelen. With not particularily warm loads, I get 2,550fps from a 250gr Hornady PtSpt from my .338/06. This is not far off from what a .338winMag gets from a similar length barrel. For from deer to great bears, you couldn't beat (IMO) the .338/06 in a gun with the reliability of a pump gun for places like Alaska. The 250gr Nosler Partition at 2,550-2,650fps is a formidable cartridge. The .338WinMag at 2,650fps with a 250gr bullet is probably a close to an Alaskan "standard" as their is. (I'm told that in fact, it's the .30/06 with a 180gr bullet.......) But facing an ill tempered bear, the .338 is more comforting. The .458Lott even more so..... But the '06 works....
FWIW; The Marlin .338MX fits this category very well (except for the currently only available bullet, the Hornady FTX- it's a little lightly constructed). I've got one, and won't be letting it go any time soon.
If the Marlin is not to your liking (now held by same entity as Remington) , the Browning BLR comes close. But no, they aren't as fast to operate as a slide (aka pump) action.
For really "down and dirty" hunting, such as our beaver swamp duck hunting the good old Rem M870 is unexcelled. I've been on many "far and away from home" waterfowl hunts and seen so many autos and even s/s or o/u's rendered inop., but a modestly maintained M870 just keeps on "chugging".
Too bad Remington doesn't see a "good thing" when they see it. Actually, it is "us", the consumer who wants Vanilla .308's and .30/06, so that's what we get. Because, after all, if you can't do it with an '06, you probably need a LOT bigger gun!
I can remember the first dead deer I ever saw. It was killed in 1971 with a Remington 760 in .30/06 and a 220gr Remington CorLokt. (while running- away)
What a mess! Bullet impacted the left femur (hind leg) near the pelvis (hip) and ranged foward and exited the right humerous (fore leg). The insides were a gut "stew". A really stinking mess. Only the back straps and opposite shoulder and ham were edible. The secondary projectile effect of the bone shards was truly devastating. The exit wound was large enough to put a fist in after over 30" of penetration.
BTW; the .25/06 would have been great, as well as the aforementioned 7mm08. .22-250, too!
