After reading all these posts, they are pretty much dead on.
I can tell you I have 4 of these rifles, 2 300 wsms and 2 270 wsms.
If all you're going to be hunting is Whitetails, forget the 300 and buy the 270 wsm for your dad. Both my 270 wsms are Sakos. One is a Sako A7 Tecomate, the other...