I think the smaller calibers let you work on form and grip better than the heavy hitters.They don't punish you so bad.30 rounds of 30-30 or 7-30 don't leave most people's hand stinging like 10 rounds of 45-70 in my 12 in barrel Contender or . Artheritis from my work makes me limit my bigbore these days,somedays a .357 is too much. Then the .22 come's out and I work on trigger control and form.How big is too big varies from day to day.Had the 10 1/2 in .44 out last week and 6 rounds was 5 too many.