I am looking to graduate form my 243 this fall and this is the gun I am looking at. I have a few questions for anyone that could answer them. First off, this is going to be a pure hunting rifle. It needs to be reliable and perform under a variety of tuff conditions. Im not all that wooried about accuracy because like i said this is going to be a hunting rifle. 2 to 3 inches at 100 yards is good enough. I will need to be able to make shots from 50 to 350 yards. Is the gun and the chambering reliable enough to make good kills at this distance with standard factory loadings or maybe the hornady light mags? Also how is the overall fit form and function of the model 7 in the synthetic stainless version? The reason I ask is I have had no previous experience with a model 7 but I am very attached to remington as they have served me and everyone i hunt with very well all our lives. I know some of you will say go for a heavy standard size gun but I have a reason for wanting a smaller lighter gun. I do alot of still hunting in ealry after after i get out of my stand. Also i hunt in swamps and river bottoms alot and although I just got a marlin 444 for this very type of hunting, i might not always have it with me.
Thank yall for all your help,
Matt

I've had 2 Model 7's. I found the factory stock on the stainless version to "flexy" for my tastes. I replaced it with a HS Precision drop in stock and loved it. I have 4 Other rifles with HS Precision stocks and IMO the Model 7 is far the best of the lot - it fit me perfectly. If you buy the stainless version I would strongly recommend you get the custom shop model with the stiffer stock or plan a couple hundred dollars to get the HS version stock.
308 is a great choice for general hunting. You can get tons of cheap practice ammo and the factory load selection is superb.
Don't forget to plan for a good scope. My favorite 308 scope is a Kalhles 2-7, but there are several other lightweight Mid-range variables to choose from.
Good Luck and let us know how you do......DJ

I have had 2 model 7,308s .
The old one was astainless synthetic, it was a good rifle had a burris fulfield 2X7 on it, sold it to get my CDL, Now I have a blue laminated. Its nice too both should do fine for your purpose. I have a leupold VX2 2X7 on te new one. If I had it to do over I might get the CZ 550 FS.
...tj3006

there is a guy trying to sell a 308 adl here on our classifieds. If it is an older gun it sounds like a good deal. I really like the 308 family of cartridges, In reality i think they are all you need for deer and smaller game. If i wanted just a deer rifle I think I would do the 260 rem or 7mm08. These new fancy whizbang short howitzer calibers really don't do much more than a good ole 308

Shiloh
I have quite a bit of experience with Mod 7's in 308. My favorites are the older ones with the greenish synthentic stock. However I also have 2 with the newer black plastic stock. One a stainless and the other a blue version. The blue one came about when a gunstore let a customer switch stocks between the plastic/stainless and the laminated wood/blue steel. All the Mod 7's I have shot were very accurate. I have shot a few of them to 600 yards on paper with excellent results, not that I would ever shoot game that far away, but 300 yard shots are a piece of cake.
The black plastic stocks are a little "springy" but the rifles still shoot plenty good.
The Mod 7 in 308 is one of my favorite hunting rifles.
I have also owned them in 223, 243, and a Custom Shop 350 Rem Mag. Several of my friends have them. I have never seen a bad one.

Shiloh:

I have four Model 7's. The oldest one is a 243 that has survived 15 years of the worst that Pa's mountains and swamps can offer. That oldest one just killed a 170lb 8 pt last fall in the hands of a new hunter. Because of the light barrel I do my load testing in 3 shot groups with lots of cool down time. All 4 rifles will group under an inch at 100 yds with their respective deer loads. I don't think that you'll get any arguments on the 308's ability to kill a deer.

knobmtn

I think it would be a very wise choice. With a nice 3x9x40 (or smaller) scope, you should be set for anything east of the big river. (and most of the stuff west of the river for that matter)

You are considering a great rifle for medium game. My stainless M7 has a compact Leupold 3x9. Other great scopes would be a compact 2x7 Leupold (only in gloss and a VX2 1x4 if you lean to lower powers. It was not difficult to find 1.25 MOA loads with Nosler Partitions as stock. Bedded and floated I'm getting .8-.9".

One thing I love about the M7 is that oversized triggerguard. Nice touch for a practical hunting rifle.

thanks much for the replys yall. Keep em comin

i have a m7 .308 in a brown prec. pounder with a 4x zeiss scope..it is my summer carry and tree stand gun.. it is short and weighs under 6 pounds with scope but it is very hard to shoot off hand when i want to shoot i have to look for a rest but it is more accurate (under 1") than a pistol and about as easy to carry.

You're on the right track. No one will doubt the accuracy potential or deerslaying power of the .308, and the Remington Model 7 is a favorite. So light and useful, makes a great carry rifle. I often leave my stand around noon and have a look around, I used to pack a Browning A-bolt .300 Win Mag with a 26" barrel and it was just too much. Too much kick, too much noise, too much weight and length. Sold it for a handy, synthetic stocked Winchester featherweight in 6.5x55. Kills deer just as well as the big .300 with less noise, less recoil, less cost, same accuracy. I think you're on the right track with your "rig" of choice.

I had been considering the mod 7 in 308. I then looked at one of the new models and found that the bottom metal was made of plastic I had intended to by a use one. pre bolt lock and then get a better stock. While looking at the new mod 7 I saw the new Kimber 84m Montana. I bought the Kimber. By the time I bought the mod 7 and quality stock I would be into it the cost of the Kimber. The Kimber has a CRF action and quality piller bedded Kevlar/graphite stock. It's also lighter than the Remington. I still like Remingtons Pre bolt lock of course.