I took it down because I'm pecking on an iPhone today and not really in the mood for banter. I took down nothing that I haven't already posted on this thread.

The part I find comical is the amount of emotion that clouds people's judgement about nothing more than bore diameter.

Terry

quote:

Anything a 7mm mag is well suited for can be done with a 270 win with a less recoil less powder and less fuss.

I'd agree but disagree in one sence. Beacuse it is .284" the 7mm RM can in theory handle 165 and 175 grain bullets.

Except! The problem is being a longer case you run out of length in the action and in the magazine well.

As "a Brit" there is certainly nothing here in the UK that the 7mm RM does that a 270 can't do as well or the much overlooked 280 Remington do also.

Certainly for British shooting the 7mm RM is irrelevant AND one less cartridge in the magazine too!

And the "last word"?

I really can't see what a 7mm RM in a 22" barrel has EXCEPT MUZZLE BLAST that a 270 or a 280 in a 24" barrel doesn't!

When I was a young lad the 30-06 ruled the roost in my neck of the woods. Then some guys started getting the 7mm Mag and for longer shots they worked but for closer shots they didn't seem to work as well as the .270 or 30-06 did. So when it came time for me to join the longer range crowd I went right to the .300 Winny. For me it was just a .30 caliber thing

Nothing wrong with the belt contrary to what some claim..Nothing wrong with magnums, if fact all you say is true..

The reason is the 7MM Remington, a caliber that so many have found does the job and have no need for more, it has no blast, and very little recoil..Its a very popular caliber and one of the only calibers that I have little or no experience with, so shame on me, I need to correct that situation....

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
The part I find comical is the amount of emotion that clouds people's judgement about nothing more than bore diameter.
Terry

Yea, I think I know what you mean. disgusted is an emotion - right?

I suppose associating the hype about the 7 mag, and those advocates of long range shooting at big game (not hunting) caused my disgust to overcome my judgment that the 7 mag is useful in the hands of many reasonable hunters.

Years ago, when I was making a decision about getting a magnum, the choice was to go with a 338 WM and 225gr bullets. I figured that if I needed thump at 300 yds, the 338 was the way to go. Over time - in the meantime - I haven't started taking 300 yd or longer shots any more than I used to, so to much extent the whole concept isn't relevant to me. However, if I ever wanted to take an Elk across a canyon, I still think the 338WM is the cartridge of choice.

The only reason that I bothered with the 300 WM is because I bought a Ruger 77 MKII stainless with that chamber, planning to use it as a donor action. I tested it for accuracy, and I'm pretty sure that it's the most accurate factory rifle that I've ever had. It's the first rifle that I've done some real accuracy tests at 300 yds, and got MOA with two different loads so far. I can't argue with a rifle that accurate, so I'm not going to alter it or rebarrel it - just enjoy it. So far, I've tried to approach the max book loads with it, but find that about 4 grs under max consistantly does the best accuracy. So, I'm calling it good for now. So what if the vel is only 100-150 fps over the 30-06 for 10-12 grs more powder. It's plenty fast and plenty accurate.

KB

Yeah, I hear ya. Bad choices can be made with any rifle or cartridge though. The Remington 7400 was/is very popular around here. Most are chambered in .30-06 and .270. I can't tell you how many times I've sat in the woods and heard one go off 5 times as fast as the trigger can be pulled. Most of the time the "hunter" walks out empty handed. I don't blame the rifle.

The 7 Mag is a pretty good round. I don't own one anymore but I've used it with great success in the past.

Terry

I like my 7mm Rem Mag. It is an overbore cartridge, and so its not the most efficient thing on the planet, but it can shoot flat and hit respectably hard at good distance. It also is a step below the 300 win in recoil, but a step up from an '06. I consider it a good starting round if you are just getting into the magnum realm. I used it as a stepping stone when I moved up from a 30/30, and have taken a number of deer with it. Its no more or less accurate then other chamberings out there, that mostly relies on who is behind the trigger. The 300 win is a favorite of mine, after getting the wife an xbolt in it, but it has a little more recoil then what some want to withstand. She did some trigger time behind my big 7 before graduating to the 300. Both of them feel like pop guns after a box of 300rum, but thats for another story. As for powder and reloading, Ive been stuffing mine with retumbo. With the 160gr Noslers, max load is slightly compressed. Ive yet to run them thru a chrono, but that powder is supposed to bring out more speed then the other powders. Between the 7mag and the RUM, I go thru alot of retumbo. Long story short, every so many years, a cartridge gets picked to be the whipping boy, and it looks like the 7mm rem mag has been picked for this latest round. Some time back everyone hated the 280. Then there was the 300wsm, etc.

The first two 7mm Mags I owned were not particularly accurate...both about 1.5" groups at 100. One was one of the very first Rem 700s off the production line in that chambering...the other was a brand new FN 400, both were built in late 1961/early '62, just as rumours about the round and rifles were coming into public print. (We'll get back to this accuracy comment later.)

I didn't keep either rifle very long...at least not as a 7 m/m/ RM. Traded the FN for a chain saw with a 42" bar which I needed pretty badly at the time on my "stump farm". Rebarreled the Model 700 to a .404 Barnes Supreme, under the mad illusion that I was going to be a mighty grizzly hunter someday.

Was so disappointed because my 7 mm Rem Mags weren't "magic", I never went back to the round for about 30 years, though I did have numerous OTHER 7 m/m mags which turned out to be almost identical re ballistics...7x61 S&H, 7 m/m Weatherby, .275 H&H Mag, and so on.

Also, in the meantime, I got 30 years more hunting and shooting experience, including 10 years or so of high-power competition at the national and international levels.

Anyway, in the process of growing up as a rifleman I learned a lot, even when I wasn't trying to and didn't know it at the time.

Then, about 25 years ago, I got another 7 m/m Rem Mag. Was at a gun show in Mesa, AZ. Saw a virtually brand new Ruger No. 1-S with a Leupold 4-X scope on a table. Looked at it, and asked the guy how much he wanted for it. "$285", he said. Asked if he had any room in that price, automatically. Didn't figger he did, but I always ask. He said if I had cash, no checks, he could take $265. How can a guy say "No" to that? Well, I couldn't so I danged near ripped my pants pocket off getting my wallet out.

The new to me rifle sat in my vault for about 5, maybe 10 years, as I kept getting other new toys to play with before I got around to shooting the 7. Was also started shooting competitive BR, which took a lot of my time, even though I had been retired 3 or 4 years by then.

Long story shortened. It shot WAY under 1" 5-shot groups at 100 yards with the very first load I tried in it.

So, I was happy with it, and figured it was just a fluke of manufacture that I got such a good shooting mag in a factory-stock, unaltered gun...especially in a No. 1.

Then about 6 years ago, I bought another one. The only Schultz and Larsen 65-DL I have ever seen that was chambered and stamped as a 7m/m Rem Mag, instead of being a re-chambered 7x61 S&H. Again, it was a real deal. Club member who owned a gun shop wanted to take his wife to Hawaii for their 40th anniversary, so he offered it to me for under $400. Always the tender-hearted sucker, I bought it.

Tried the same load in it that the No. 1 likes.

Holey-Moley Batman!! Grouping well under 1" at 100 yards again! So, I have kept that one too.

Now the question is, why so accurate now compared to my first two? Do you think it could have anything to do with my having learned to shoot better over the years, and to go with the flow of the recoil too?

Yeh, that's what I think also. I also wonder often just how accurate my first two might have really been if I had been qualified to shoot them well?

So maybe it IS what earlier posters have said. That for many, as for me, it was one of their first factory-built belted boomers. And they couldn't manage it well enough to get "instant magic" when they first tried it, so they moved on. Perhaps they even spoke ill of it to their friends, ya think?

(I did have a .300 Weatherby first, and a .300 H&H pre-64 M70) too, but for some reason they shot better for me back then. I hadn't shot them enough to really know what I was doing with a Magnum of any ilk though...)

So, maybe it is a caliber which hype helped limit. Maybe written raves made expectations among green shooters rise too high. And the inevitable fall from the pedestal in those hands may have limited enthusiasm as a result.

Quien sabe? Maybe.....

The 7mm Rem. Mag is a well designed hunting cartridge and has a good performance record in North America and elsewhere. What it suffers from is the over abundance( Glut if you will ) of cartridges that are as good or even better in some ways. Too many guns not enough time.
I own one in Stevens Mod. 200 that I have perhaps put 40 rounds through the barrel in like 5 years. Didn't really want or need one but the mag. bolt gave me more options when changing barrels and the price was right. roger

Yes, I do like heavy caliber guns.


And I do own a 7mm Rem mag, it's a left handed, stainless, Ruger M77 MkII.

I love both of mine. They both sit right between my 3 270s and my 30.06 just behind my 300 RUM and 308 and in front of my 6.5x284.

The fact is I don't need most of what I own. I just like having to choose a rifle anytime I go out and many times it's a coin toss. Works for me. For 95% of my hunting, I could get rid of most and keep the 30.06 or one of the 270s.

quote:

So maybe it IS what earlier posters have said. That for many, as for me, it was one of their first factory-built belted boomers. And they couldn't manage it well enough to get "instant magic" when they first tried it, so they moved on.

I think it is quite normal for us to doubt a particular cartridge if we don't get quick results, unless we have the money and patience to buy another one or two of the same to try. This happened to a friend of mine with a sporterized .303 BR as it appeared to be a good deal. It shot a lousy group, and that was the end of that rifle and the cartridge. He then bought a 7 mm Rem Mag, Win Model 70, and found that 'instant magic' referred to.

In any event their is not much difference between a 280 Rem, 7x64 or a 7 mm Rem Mag, it is more a case of the rifle that holds the cartridge. Accuracy has so much more to do with concentricity and bullet line up than with the cartridge itself. Fact is that factory made rifles are not precision made, but mass produced.

Warrior

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
The 7mm Rem. Mag is a well designed hunting cartridge and has a good performance record in North America and elsewhere. What it suffers from is the over abundance( Glut if you will ) of cartridges that are as good or even better in some ways. Too many guns not enough time.
roger

I think where the Big Mags shine is their ability to shoot the highest BC/heaviest bullets at around 2900 fps. Great for long range accuracy and critters. I've "outgrown" shooting tiny, light bullets for caliber at 5000 fps.

Rifles are for "reaching out and touching" things.

The 7 RM is a fine cartridge.....I just never could finish the glass of cool-aid the writers tried to get me to drink.

There are better uses for the H&H case.

if it shoots, i want it.. even a cork gun!
7 rem mag? drn fine case.. load heeavy for caliber at 2800 and kill anything in the world ...

load ttsx light for caliber at a healthy percentage of c and again, kill all think skinned game..

generally feeds well, and, frankly, there's not a hill of beans difference in a 243-300 win as compared to big bores. 200ftlb energy difference from a 243-300in..

i can have that span in LOAD DEV for a single .475 or .510 bullet

quote:

Originally posted by friarmeier:
From what I gather, some don't like a belted cartridge - why?

I guess I'm fat, dumb, and happy. I bought a 7mm magnum in 1982 when we moved to Utah and it looked like I'd want a longer-range rifle. As they say, on paper it has a point-blank range of about 325 yards, about the same as a 6mm-284 but with more energy and less wind drift.

I learned to handload the cartridges well enough to get its initial accuracy from 1.75" to 0.5" at 100 yards. The 145-grain Noslers seem to be the simple solution to most of the world's problems, although the last few years the shooting has been short distances and a 25-20 would have done as well. I never paid much attention to the belted-cartridge aspect of things, it just worked and I left it at that. IMR 7828 seems to work best for me, nothing wrong with H4831 either, short or long cut.

What's not to like? As Speer wrote a whie ago, in their opinion the 7MM Remington Magnum, was the best introduction of any cartridge at that time. Still pretty terrific! All the knocks are as usual BS. I have seen it work on elk and deer, and it just works, sometimes spectacularly!

Jerry

quote:

Originally posted by Warrior:

quote:

So maybe it IS what earlier posters have said. That for many, as for me, it was one of their first factory-built belted boomers. And they couldn't manage it well enough to get "instant magic" when they first tried it, so they moved on.

I think it is quite normal for us to doubt a particular cartridge if we don't get quick results, unless we have the money and patience to buy another one or two of the same to try. This happened to a friend of mine with a sporterized .303 BR as it appeared to be a good deal. It shot a lousy group, and that was the end of that rifle and the cartridge. He then bought a 7 mm Rem Mag, Win Model 70, and found that 'instant magic' referred to.

In any event their is not much difference between a 280 Rem, 7x64 or a 7 mm Rem Mag, it is more a case of the rifle that holds the cartridge. Accuracy has so much more to do with concentricity and bullet line up than with the cartridge itself. Fact is that factory made rifles are not precision made, but mass produced.

Warrior

Right on, Warrior.

Shooters are also lucky to have so many good components available these days. In '62 when I got my first two 7 mm RMs, we ordinary shooters read a lot of writers who claimed they got 1 MOA groups, but with factory ammo there were danged few of us who actually ever saw any such. So of course we were dissatisfied...some more than others.

It was better with the .30s we had because we had a fair choice of relatively better components for that bore, and hence often got better accuracy. (.30 was the standard for most American big bore target shooters then.)

Even the early reload data for the 7 RM was the pits. When the factory ammo proved to have lousy accuracy from my rifles, I decided to try some handloads (handloads worked great in my .300 Weatherby, which did shoot WAY under MOA.)

My first handloads for the Rem Big-7 were ones which P. O. Ackley personally recommended to me. I cut his STARTING data back 3.0 full grains of powder and tried it. First round melted the head right off of the cartridge case, and the bolt handle came off from the effort required to open the bolt!

That may suggest why it wasn't instantly popular with me and why it was more than three decades later before I bought one again.

It is an excellent cartridge, but was introduced when "responsible" data was hard to find, factory ammo was none too great, and gunwriter hype had led many to expect way too much from it.

It was a good enough round to survive all that, but it's kinda like the internet...once a bad word is said about anything, it is real hard to "unsay" it.

Ain't no flies on the 7RM!

If you compare factory ammo with an AB bullet It seems to fill the niche between the 300WM and a 270 well:

1) on the light side:
- A 25/06 with 110 AB goes 3100 MV with 2347 ME and 1029 500 yd energy.
- A 270 with 140 AB goes 2950 MV with 2705 ME and 1287 500 yd energy.
- A 7RM with 140 AB goes 3180 MV with 3143 ME and 1501 500 yd energy.

2) on the heavier side:
- A 7RM with 160 AB goes 2950 MV with 3091 ME and 1566 500 yd energy.
- A 300WM with 180 AB goes 2950 MV with 3478 ME and 1754 500 yd energy.
- A 338WM with 225 AB goes 2800 MV with 3918 ME and 2052 500 yd energy.

So Ray, are you saying the 7RM is a good killer at 500 yards on elk?
I've always been good w/ 400 yards. How are the RUM's treating you?

quote:

Originally posted by Jpat:
So Ray, are you saying the 7RM is a good killer at 500 yards on elk?
I've always been good w/ 400 yards. .....

Well...No LOL - I don't have a 7RM.
I use a 270 and keep my shots uder 350 yards!

If one hand loads which I'll assume the vast majority on this site do , A 7mmRM is an extremely versatile cartridge .
For a single Rifle Battery , one would be hard pressed to find a better unit . 100-180 bullet Varmint to Elk and loads don't have to proof the chamber every time you squeeze the trigger . I enjoy mine an shall keep them regardless of the new short magnums hype .

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

My first handloads for the Rem Big-7 were ones which P. O. Ackley personally recommended to me. I cut his STARTING data back 3.0 full grains of powder and tried it. First round melted the head right off of the cartridge case, and the bolt handle came off from the effort required to open the bolt!

Wow, that's SMOKIN! hot!

Gives a person pause, doesn't it?

friar

<chuckle> Nothing against the 7 Rem Mag ... just never felt the need for one. .270 Win is close and the .308 Norma Mag does what I needed in North America, and if more is needed the .338 Wim Mag does it.

So when a decent barreled action came along in 7 Rem Mag at the right price ... I made it into a .458 AR

I agree there is nothing wrong with it, but for most use a 7x57 or a .280 will do all the 7 RM will. If I really need the "magnum" part, I would go to a bigger gun or a larger cased magnum, but then again, more velocity isn't going to solve the problem either, unless its a lot more velocity.

Well obviously by my handle I love the 7mm RM. About 19 years ago I moved to southeast Idaho with firm plans to hunt elk as soon as possible. After talking to numerous new friends in potato land, it was pretty clear that the two most popular calibres for elk were the .300 WM and the 7mm RM. At the time being young and newly married, funds were low and I had a .270 rifle that I hated. I have my reasons for that which I won't go into, but it was the rifle not the calibre.

So I traded off the .270 and bought a 7mm magnum. I bought the 7mm versus the .300 WM because I also wanted to have a rifle that wasn't terribly hard on the mulies. Meat preservation was important to me then to help justify the cost of hunting.

A few years later when I was earning a bit more, I decided I wanted to have a 2nd rifle as a backup to the 7mm. After great results from my M70, I decided on another in .270. Why? Because I wanted to have two rifles that could cover the game that I was after most, elk and mulies. The .270 being a perfect gun in my opinion for mulies and adequate for elk, the 7mm great for elk and perhaps just a bit heavy for the mulies.

Well some 19 years later and after moving to Arizona, this is what the 7mm has taken: Mule deer, Coues deer in AZ, elk and a Shiras moose that tipped the scales somewhere north of a 1000 lbs. The 7mm has become my go to rifle. With 140gr Nosler BT's, I get great ballistics for Coues deer hunting which tends to be a long range game. With 160gr Nosler Partitions, elk just die and quickly. The moose I killed in Idaho took a 160gr NP, went about 10-15 feet after shot, wobbled and dropped dead. I've never pronghorn hunted, but I will take the same Coues deer load for that when I do.

Would I hunt grizzly with the 7mm, nope. Would I hunt Alaskan moose with the 7mm, probably not, but I wouldn't be surprised if a 175gr A-Frame would get the job done. For eastern whitetails where shots are generally shorter than in the west, I can't imagine why anyone would use it.

But for most western U.S. game, I see it as a great caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by friarmeier:

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

My first handloads for the Rem Big-7 were ones which P. O. Ackley personally recommended to me. I cut his STARTING data back 3.0 full grains of powder and tried it. First round melted the head right off of the cartridge case, and the bolt handle came off from the effort required to open the bolt!

Wow, that's SMOKIN! hot!

Gives a person pause, doesn't it?

friar

Yes, it does (and did). I tried one other of Ackley's loads, with almost, but not quite the same results...that in my .450 Ackley Mag which I had bought about the same time. Figured as it wore his name, his data should be better for it. He recommended 90 grs. of 3031 behind 500 gr. bullets. I tried a couple of rounds...both expanded the primer pockets to where the cases were unreloadable after 1 shot each. So I dropped to 80 grains, and then to 75 grains, which became my heaviest working load.

I dearly liked Parker, and he gave me lots of good advice when I opened my first gun shop. But, ever after I avoided his recommended loads as I would the plague.

AC,
PO's load data is frequently optimistic!

quote:

Well...No LOL - I don't have a 7RM.
I use a 270 and keep my shots uder 350 yards!

Ray: that's my story as well. I have killed a number of elk, and my biggest was with the 270 Winchester, DRT, and never moved. Still, the 7MM Remington Magnum is a fantastic cartridge, and don't believe anyone can go wrong with it here in North America. That would be on any game with the right bullet.

Jerry

According to a lot of opinions on AR, I'm triple doomed - I have a 7mm RM in a Browning A-Bolt II w/BOSS, however, you couldn't pry that ugly thing away from me. I've never had any problems with the rifle. It's very accurate with my handloads (160-175gr) and I'm confident with it. It has made meat time and time again. While my medium to large game rifles include a 6.5x55, two 30-06s, and a .375 H&H, that rifle in 7mm RM is my "go-to" gun, especially for hunting in western Nebraska. "Purty is is whut purty does"....

My primary hunting rifle for over 30 years has been a Ruger M77 tang safety in 7mm Rem Mag that I got as a wide eyed 18 year old who wanted a sexy go elk hunting someday speed burner. It shoots very accurately with hand loads and has been very reliable in the field taking lots of deer and elk and a nice pig this spring. But when new hunters ask for my suggested "one rifle" - I suggest the 30-06. In my opinion the 7 Mag produces a little more noise and push than inexperienced shooters are comfortable with and getting comfortable with a rifle takes lots of practice. It doesn't offer a huge advantage over a 270 and trails in power a 300 Win Mag so practical shooters can select different calibers and see some tangible advantage over the 7. In addition the bullet faiure rate seems higher on a 7 mag than any other caliber, based on speed and bullet construction I've had shots pencil through or explode on entry - neither of those results will make you very happy.

quote:

In addition the bullet faiure rate seems higher on a 7 mag than any other caliber, based on speed and bullet construction I've had shots pencil through or explode on entry - neither of those results will make you very happy.

Bullet performance is indeed based on impact velocity.
Each type of bullet has its own operating window.
Faster cartridges at short range is not ideally applied.
The use of premium grade bullets will alleviate to a large extent poor bullet performance.
Frangible bullets at high impact velocities are bound to shatter.



Jacket/core separation is mostly responsible for bullet failure with conventional lead-core bullets. The thin jackets offer not much support at high striking velocities. The problem is compounded when the same thin jacket is used on more powerful big bore calibers from the .375 H&H and up.

The jacket protects the lead core and controls expansion by letting it peel back in a certain way. Without the necessary protection of controlled expansion the frail lead core becomes vulnerable to fragmentation. Once the core has separated from the protection of the jacket the bullet loses its integrity and so shallow penetration results as there is no longer one single penetrating projectile, but multiple fragments or particles with miniscule momentum attached to them with no driving force. Anyway having the jacket STAY on the core is all about controlled expansion

Warrior

Premier Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded bullets:

Remington has developed and re-designed their Core-Lokt bullet and now offer a superior product to discerning hunters; it is called the Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded.

Being a bonded bullet, it affords much better weight retention than conventional lead-core bullets by having a progressively tapered jacket design, which better controls expansion to 1.8 times of original diameter.

Remington also saw a need to offer a better hunting bullet, combining the 3 aspects needed for a better balanced hunting bullet - an expanding bullet that forms and keeps its mushroom shape, affording deep penetration through adequate weight retention, and a bullet that does not over expand to inhibit penetration.

Getting the balance right between integrity, expansion and penetration is the way to go.

Warrior

quote:

From what I gather, some don't like a belted cartridge - why?

I have one belted magnum a 375 H&H in a push feed M70. I have had rims interfere and cause failures to feed. The front edge of the belt was caught by the rim of the cartridge below. This was not cleared until I pushed down on the cartridge stack which reoriented the rounds. Based on this experience I consider belted magnums a poor choice if your life depends on a fast second shot and you are using a bolt action rifle.

Since headspace is controlled by the belt, shoulder to base distances are not standardized. It is very easy to push the shoulder back too far with a belted magnum leading to short case life. I bought the Sinclair special cartridge headspace gage to figure out how much to push the shoulder back.

Since base to shoulder distances all differ, that means you have to segregate brass by rifle or you risk case head separations or difficult to close bolts when using ammo sized for another chamber.

As for the 7mm Remington mag as a cartridge, I don’t need the power, don’t want the recoil.


A 270 Win or 30-06 does everything I want or ever plan to do.

The 7mmRM was my go-to rifle for about 20 years. (I now don't rely on it as much due to hunting in brown bear country....)

For whatever reason, I was able to shoot that stainless A-bolt better than any of my other rifles. The issues I've run into over the years:

1. Finicky loading. My rifles and others I've dealt with in 7mmRM seem a bit finicky to load for. It took more work to find a load the rifle really liked for this caliber than any other one. If you hit on that one, keep it! If you were drawn to the wonder-ballistics of the 7mm bullets you might find that it may be hard to get your rifle to shoot them well. If so, go back and try the favorites of hunters--partitions, Hornady interlocks, etc. and you may be pleasantly surprised.

2. Chamber variation. Many rifles have chambers that are more oversized than you might expect, and this is partly hidden by headspacing on the rim instead of the shoulder. Once I started using Quickload I realized that my chamber volume was 5 grains of H2O larger than expected--actually the same as the standard for the 7mm Weatherby. This explained why my loads did not chrono as expected. The other side of that coin is that if you aren't careful in technique you may end up with a lot of case stretching and working of the shoulder area, shortening case life.

3. Recoil. I like heavy bullets and slow powders, which can cause more recoil than you might expect. As an "entry level" or popular smaller magnum most rifles don't have stocks and recoil pads as effective as they should be. It took a bit of work to make sure that a day's practice wasn't practice flinching. That said, it's a pussycat compared to my 300RUM.

4. Meat damage. Friends that want to load light bullets to very high speeds seem to have this problem, and I never did. Heavier bullets that are my choice have never overexpanded and shocked a lot of meat--usually entry, exit, and no worries. Don't expect to drive thru a lot of tough elk tissue to get to vitals however, at least with traditional bullets.

All in all, I think it is a great round. That said, it doesn't have the bullet weight flexibility of the 30-06 as an all-around rifle, IMO. From 150-400 yards it is a fine choice.

Cheers,

Dan

quote:

All in all, I think it is a great round. That said, it doesn't have the bullet weight flexibility of the 30-06 as an all-around rifle,

Dan,

Agreed, bullet weight is favoured in our ballistic system and more so if we target bigger game. It underscores the role of sectional density, all else equal. The 30-06 is easy to load for and it is not finicky at all - it has been the number one cartridge for the man who wanted only one rifle, and may still be so for a long time to come. Many people have also gone away from the 30-06 as it was considered 'old hat', but they may just return one day after they have experimented with others and realize that the middle of the road option is mostly more desirable than extreme choices.

Warrior

My wife got a 7mag because it's magic and she can shoot elk across valleys. I had one once too but sold it to go to school. I made my farthest moose kill with it. Worked very well on deer too. I like 7mag because they're thousands out there and you can buy them cheap and put new barrels on them in wonder calibers.

For me it cause I am a 30 cal fan.

I am interested in the 257 wby though but every time I think of the speed of the 257 I think a 7mag with 120's would be the ticket and cheaper to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
The 7mm Rem Mag is out of style now....
Just like the .270, the 8X57 and many others

Gasp: 270 out of style? I'm working on my third reamer and always make darn sure I have a couple 270 barrels in stock.

Maybe the rest of the world is out of step.... or...maybe you meant the 280???

Too many people think that "my 7mm Mag" (regardless of specifics) is a long range gun, when they're using factory ammunition and don't really know much about shooting. They go to actually shoot the thing and with those 150 grain softpoints it doesn't actually shoot much better than their 30-06, or in the field they miss because they attempt a shot they haven't practiced.

Thus the bad rap grows, or that's how it goes around these parts.