O/F, Well I am 7mm biased & I have wanted a STW since Layne Simpson first wrote about in the mid 80,s. But having said that, I have had bigger and more painful. This cartridge for me is far more comfy to shoot than I thought for a hunting rifle. I wear a Past recoil thingie on the bench and forget the recoil. I have not had it long enough to shoot past 400yds. I am happy to say this thing shoots better than I can & for sure alot farther than I can, its not a cumbersome rifle. I have shot only 168 SMKs and intend to stick with them.. I really want to wring it out, but am currently stuck in an area where there are far to many trees and peoples.... Having done the wildcat route, I would stick with a factory round and this one trips my trigger and is fully capable of dead deer at 1K. IMO if there is a weak link in this rifle, its me..