As a life long nay sayer of magnums I must report that I have just done something stupid and gone out and bought a 7mm rem mag because of the rifle it came in (Sako AV classic)

I like Sako Classics and I like 7mm bore size but I don't like heavy recoil and muzzle blast. No doubt at some point the bug will bite and I will be stoking it full of RL25 but for now I wonder if the cartridge works reliably with start loads of the faster powders in the book.

For my 7mm Wby Mag, I use the starting load of IMR 4831 with the Nosler 160 AccuBond. Very accurate and comfortable to shoot -- S40

no reason at all you can't make it shoot like a 7 X 57.....You can even go a few grains under starting loads but I'd move to the faster powders if that is what you want.

There is a reason the big 7 caught on and the .264" didn't, and that reason is that it is a true multi-purpose round. Some say it is a finicky round to reload, but I haven't found that to be true. My favorite powders include IMR 4831, 4350, and N-160. IMHO, the 7m/m Remington magnum is at its best with 160 grain bullets.

I agree with buckshot.

Mine is best with 160gr. bullets using IMR 4831 at near max loads.

I just never could get starting charges and lighter bullets to do real well for me.

HL

If you can tolerate a 30-06, you can tolerate a 7RM. A 150 grain premium bumping along at 3100 fps is quite a performer. I have shot many 06s with more percieved recoil than my 3 7RMs.

The 7RM is my favorite "Magnum" cart.

That said, if you do want to bring things down a notch, try some H4350. My Sendero SFII will tear ragged holes with H4350 under 150 Sierra MKs at anemic 7RM velocities.

Good Luck

Reloader

Congrats, nice rifle, excellent round. 160s are known as the "do-it-all/universal" weight in 7 RMs, however I prefer to use heavy for caliber bullets, so I handload 175gr pointy projectiles for my 7 RM. As Reloader stated, if you can tolerate an '06, you can tolerate a 7 RM.

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
As a life long nay sayer of magnums I must report that I have just ... gone out and bought a 7mm rem mag ...

Hey 1894mk2, Hard to say if you will enjoy shooting it, but I do like all the ones I've had.

My current one has a "Slow Barrel" and the last one had a "Fast Barrel". But the accuracy is excellent.

Welcome Aboard the Mag Wagon, plenty of room for everyone.

I like the 7remmag. Recoil is actually very reasonable for the performance especially w/ 160gr bullets (my favorite). You can load it up or down, light bullets or heavy. It's a good factory cart. but a great handloaders cart.

1894mk2 ; There must be a lot of us " Stupid People " !. I've owned 7 MM Mags since 1963 !.

A commercial Mauser 3000 one of the most accurate utilitarian weapons ever produced ( In my opinion and Looks right nice to boot !. )

I don't understand recoil muzzle blast ?.

All weapons report some more so than others !.
If the report bothers you drop velocity and or projectile weight . It's just that simple .

Shoulder a 700 nitro express or a Paradox Dbl rifle or even a 50 cal. I then may understand some discomfort association with the weapons report !.

The type of "Discomfort " I associate with is lying in a Shit hole with 7.62 X 39 and 7.62 X 54 rounds incoming , with it raining 1-4 inches an hour .

Afraid of floating to the top of the hole , so hanging on with one hand to a root or rock and making a feeble attempt at firing blind with the other . With a pop gun .223 M16 !. For over 14 Hr. waiting for air support !!!!!!!!!!

I for one feel for our troops all the way around . 120 degrees sand every where in battle dress and not knowing the enemy to kill !. ...

Soooo..., how does it shoot?

I've shot nothing but 160 grainers thru mine. NP's and Grand Slams. They'll fetch what you send them after. If you want to get some sort of light for calibre bullet and crank it up to warp speed you're gonna need one of the boutique bullets. My best results was with 4350 but then I buy that stuff by the 8# keg so I have a bunch of it on hand to try.

Recoil is a funny thing.

I spent a little time shooting my dad's 7 RM at the farm a few weeks ago. It's a Savage 110 circa 1965; really nice stock, in the Weatherby monte-carlo style.

The load I was shooting (150 gr. B-tips) chronies only about 2700-2800 fps (can't remember exactly what it was).

But the recoil! Damn thing jumps "up" to the point where you really have to hold the forearm tightly. The recoil is not "excessive," just very pronounced in its upward motion.

My .270, on the other hand, is pushing a 150 gr. A-frame about 3000 fps, and its recoil is straight back into the shoulder. It kicks much harder, but is easier to hold because of its direction.

Good luck and have fun!

friar

My 7mm Mag shoots 150 grain Nosler Partitions with 63.5 grains of H-4831 SC sub 1/2" at 100 yards for three shots.

That's where mine shoots .75 -.375" 5 shot groups with various hand loads of course . Mine even likes H870 !. I'd have to look up load data in my journals .

Shot a 6 point Mule Deer at 435 Yd. Years back up in Utah . Dam thing field dressed over 220 lb. . A friend ranged the kill after the fact is how I know the yardage . One shot drop !. 160 Sierra !. Game king I think is what I was loading then .

...

1894

Between my brother and myself we have had 6 different 7mm Rem Mag's over the years one of them being a Sako 75 S/S (I know not quite the same).

One thing about the calibre is that I always thought the perception of heavy recoil was/is in my opinion unfair. I always used to make the analogy of liking it to a 270 +P. I never considered it a "proper" magnum and that is why I liked it so much. Compare it to a .300 Win Mag and the felt recoil is significantly less.

Anyway great calibre and great choice in my opinion. I would be interested to hear how you get on with it.

Regards

Jon

If for some out of this world reason I had to give up all of my guns except one, I think I'd just have to hold on to one of the 7RMs I own.

Very versatile Cartridge.

Reloader

if one can handle a 30-06 in the same weight gun, there's no reason that they can't shoot a 7remmag...

A buddy came to the rifle range in Whitecourt; he had a M-700 in 7mm and I had my M-700 .30-06. I was shooting Hornady 165gr btsp handloads and he was shooting Hornady 162gr factory ammo.

My .30-06 loads chrony at 2850 fps and after a bit my buddy asked if I wanted to shoot his 7mm, so naturally I did. Then for kicks I thought why not run it through the chrony to see what those Hornady factory rounds were doing?

Well they averaged 2780 fps! Was my friend ever disappointed. He had always believed the 7mm was a hyper mag, especially compared to the "lowly" .30-06.

I like to remind him about that...

Not a fair comparasion, which is too bad, as you have entered into the SD vs bulelt ewight VS velocity for penetration...


the weights for the SD are what matters, NOT the total bullet weight.

SD for a 140gr 7mm is about .248
SD for a 165gr .308 is about .248.

the 7remmag sends the 140 about 3150

the 30-06 maxes out at 2900 (with rel 22) for a 165.

recoil is more or less the same

In order for the 30-06 to be fair to the 7rem, on terms of SD, you would have to shoot a 185gr .308 to compare to a 160gr 7rem.

Think of it another way.. the 30-338 is the same case as a 7remmag, and it goes the same speed as a 300winmag.. or 200FPS or so faster than a 30-06

I was gonna post this earlier but didn't: Work up a good accurate load in your 7mag. Use whatever heavy for calibre bullet works for you. Work up a "hands on" drop chart out to whatever range you're comfortable with. (feel good about how the big 7 maintains it accuracy at extended ranges) And, never, ever Chrony your load.

The 7mm Rem Mag is Strong.
AK

What a pleasure to hunt with a 7mm Rem Mag!

And to top it all, make it a real Magnum by using GSCHV 130gr bullets pushed at 3400 fps - more than enough energy to do one shot kills on all South African (and suppose other) plains game, from the smallest to the largest species.
Obviously, with proper shot placement of course

Has never let me down.

I have loaded and shot a 7mm mag since 1978 and have never had a recoil problem. I have loaded everything from 100 gr to 175 gr with 160 being the most accutate from the bench. Depending on what you hunt, whatever bullet you want will work for you. I finally settled on 140 gr sierra boatail over 67 gr of H4831 for all around. Mostly whitetail in Maine.

The 7mm Remington is a Magnum in name only. It is one of the most successful marketing jobs ever performed in our industry.

Not much more recoil than the 30-06, even when comparing apples to apples.

Slow burning powders do not like to be reduced, and shouldn't be reduced. The Hodgdon manual can help you out with their 60% rule for H-4895. That will convert your 7mm Rem Mag into a 7x57mm circa 1900. No blast, no mash, just a lot of fun.

Many thanks for all the replies. I'm looking forward to it - I bought it because it was SO pretty and I love 7mm. I have a goodly lot of left over premiums (my 7x57 hates premiums). I am happy to use it as designed but it will get a lot more use if I can tame it somewhat as I will enjoy it that much more.

I owned a Sako deluxe in the big 7,then rebarreled with a Douglass premium in the same caliber.The rifle shot really tight 200yd groups with R22 and 140 grain Nosler ballistic tips.I used fed 215m primers and Winchester nickel plated cases.Warning,this caliber has an extremely short barrel life with hot loads.So does the 270WSM.It was fun owning it as all calibers are a different experience but a 300 Win mag is a far more intelligent choice if one is looking for a single North American or medium size game hunting rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
As a life long nay sayer of magnums I must report that I have just done something stupid and gone out and bought a 7mm rem mag because of the rifle it came in (Sako AV classic).

I agree, that was a prime example of extremely poor judgment on your part. What the heck is wrong with you? Now let me PM you my address and my FFL and I'll send you a check right away for it. You can thank me later for correcting your own mismanagment.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
As a life long nay sayer of magnums I must report that I have just done something stupid and gone out and bought a 7mm rem mag because of the rifle it came in (Sako AV classic).

I agree, that was a prime example of extremely poor judgment on your part. What the heck is wrong with you? Now let me PM you my address and my FFL and I'll send you a check right away for it. You can thank me later for correcting your own mismanagment.

Give the man a break. I mean, it's not like he came home with a 270

quote:

I owned a Sako deluxe in the big 7,then rebarreled with a Douglass premium in the same caliber.The rifle shot really tight 200yd groups with R22 and 140 grain Nosler ballistic tips.I used fed 215m primers and Winchester nickel plated cases.

This same load in my Savage 110 shot a .172 3 shot group @ 100 yds. 68 grains of RL22.
factory sporter barrel.

Nice choice,
My dad owned and hunted with his 7mm for 30 odd years and wouldn't trade it for anything. His favorite load was 175g gr sierra nosler, using 64gr of H4831. He gave it to me this summer and I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I am really looking forward to seeing how accurate I can possibly get with it.
Good luck and many happy years of hunting
Roger

Rl 22 is my rifle favorite with the 140 gr bullets at 3300 fps. I use Retumbo with 160 and above. My 160 gr Accubond load groups five shots inside 1.5" at 300yds.

I ended up with a Savage 116 in 7 Rem Mag, because the price was right...I was going to chamber the rifle into a switch barrel range rifle anyway...

But I've loaded it and several others for some of us older guys, to the equal of the 7/08 or the 7 x 57... and it does the job...

It offers nothing the 06 won't offer.. If I was building a 7mm round faster than a 7mm Mauser, I'd go with a 280 AI....

I was playing with it, for loads, for my son starting his first season big game hunting...

he is only 13, and is not a recoil nut... even tho he can handle it better than other kids I have taught...

But since most deer are taken at 100 yds or less, I tried a load out of a cast manual the other night, of 15 grains of Unique, and a 139 grain Hornady SP....

MV is about 1850 or so, so it is in the neighborhood of a 30/30... and it was pretty darn accurate...

The muzzle boom was less than a 22 Mag to me...recoil was in the 223 range...

1894mk2

Once upon a time, I had a 7mm rem Mag. It was a Steyr Mannlicher.

It was one of the most accurate rifles I have ever fired.
I always used reloads, with IMR 4550.

It did not matter if I loaded 120 to 170gr [Sierra RN] bullets, I always found a load that would shoot 5 bullets into a group under one inch, usually way under one inch. Sierra or Nosler Partitions in 140 to 160 did not matter, would hit in the same group.

For deer sized game I would use a 140 to 150gr bullet. For bigger stuff I would use a premium 160gr for longer range, and for Big stuff up close I would use a premium 175gr.

I find the recoil of the 7mm Rem mag to be less than the 300 Mags.

The 7mm Mag is a good hunting cartridge.

Also, as other posters have pointed out, you can load it down, to say, 7x57 velocities for use on deer, etc up close. I have done the same with my 300 Win Mag, just so I could use it at the deer lease.

You do not have to make any excuses for using the 7mm Mag.