the Lapua is a real mountain top to mountain top gun If you were looking to shoot over very long distances....plus it gives you the right amount of power for hunting dangerous game. I have decided all my new guns will be in common calibers though. If the poop hits the fan I dont want to be scrounging around for ammo for a .218 bee or .500 NE haha

Only fools hold still for more than a few seconds at a time, in daylight, in open country. A hit beyond 500 yds or so takes MANY seconds, even a full minute to set up and achieve. Nobody is going to hit a moving man at anything like the yardage at which the 223 is plenty of power. 223's are currently beating 308's at 1000 yd matches. The guys use 26" barrels, a 90 gr VLD match bthp bullet, started at 2800 fps, a 1 in 6.5" rifling twist. The very long bullet still has 1200 fps and 300+ ft lbs of power left at 1000 yds. That is the same as a 4" .38 special has at 10 ft, using the plus P, 158 gr lhp load. The further away a man is, the less power you need to hit him with, because once he is wounded, he is rendered incapable of hitting you at such long range. Unless you charge out to his body on a fast motorcycle, he is going to bleed out long before you can reach him or he can reach you. So the 338's power is completely unnecessary for a ong range sniper rd. What you do need, tho, is a lot better wind and gravity resistance than is offered by the 308.