My first rifle was a .308 Norma Magnum based on a Parker-Hale Mauser 98 conversion. Not what I'd recommend for a new shooter. Gave me my first "Weatherby eyebrow" and, since I didn't own eaf muffs then, also problems hearing for a week after I sighted it in. Only ever fired it at one animal, a possum, (which are pests in this counry). I didn't allow for the scope height at close range and so I shot the branch off below it. This promptly came back and knocked the animal out of the tree that it was in and it lay on the ground completely dazed. So close is sometimes good enough. It seems to me that, with 30 years more shooting experience since then, that by getting .300 magnum performance from a .30-06 sized action, it's a good cartridge in appropriate hands.