We can all hope that the emergence of the 338 Federal will shine more light in the direction of the 358 Winchester. One of the fundamental truths of internal ballistics is that for a given case volume increasing the bore diameter will always increase efficiency and energy assuming everything else remains constant including bullet weight, barrel length, etc. As an example if you had a spitzer that weighed 175 grains in 7mm, 30, 338, and 358 and used a basic 30-06 case the 30 would be faster than the 7mm, and the 338 would be faster than the 30, and the 358 would be faster than the 338. Of course the barrel lengths would all have to be the same, say 22 inches for example. P.O. Ackley did several experiments of this type where the same barrel was re-bored and used in the same action. The results of course proved that the laws of physics hold and that Pressure = Force / Area so that when the bore area increases in order for the Pressure to be constant the Force must rise.
On the basis of the above a 375/308 would be even more efficient than the 358 Winchester. But myself and many others like just a bit more shoulder and thus the 358 Winchester wins the race as the most powerful and efficient caliber that can be practically made from the base 308 case. The same arguement can be made for the 35 Whelen on the base '06 case.
Then when you throw in the versatility of being able to use 9mm and 38/357 pistol and revolver bullets for small game and target loads you just have a combination that can't be beat.
