Have been pouring over ballistics charts for the Rem. 7 mag from a 24" barrel.
I'm trying to decide which weight and bullet will get me the flattest shooting load for looong range small Deer. I don't need much energy, just flat shooting.
600 yards, would probably be the limit. Looking at 140s to 162s.
Any input?

160gr. And, imo, you'd be better off out practicing shooting at 600 yards instead of reading about it.

I've owned 2 7Rem mags and have sold both

They both shot 160's best but I was never impressed wth the true fps I was getting from either

BTW both were Weatherby Mk V's

I settled for 150's at just over 3k out of my -06

Forget anything under 160 grains for that range. 175s generally best.

Thanks guys, Ya have a few boxes of the 162 Hornady BTSPs. Will give those a try.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
Have been pouring over ballistics charts for the Rem. 7 mag from a 24" barrel.
I'm trying to decide which weight and bullet will get me the flattest shooting load for looong range small Deer. I don't need much energy, just flat shooting.
600 yards, would probably be the limit. Looking at 140s to 162s.
Any input?

Assuming you have a 1:10 barrel twist:

I'm guessing that the 168 gr Berger match grade Hunter would be one of the best candidates.
G1 = 0.604
G7 = 0.309

Sure would be worth a try!

Hi Ray, yes 1-10"
Hmm, may have to give them a try. Just looking for the ultimate flat for cross canyon shots on light big game. I go to a .338 for Elk and Bear.
But new to the 7 mag.
Thanks!

160 Accubonds or Partitions with a well Practiced shot at 600 will provide you with backstraps. The Big 7's of any flavor were meant for the heavier bullets.

I like the 150 grain Barnes ttsx but if elk aren't on the menu I would use the Nosler ballistic tip or the Berger if it shoots better.

My old Ruger with the nbt 150's will hit a deer vital size target at 600 yards in less than 10 mph winds from a field rest consistently bu I never hunt to set-up shots over 300.

Pick the round that shoots best in your rifle and practice out as far as yup can with that best load.

The ballistic tip is NOT a good elk bullet in the 7mm Rem Mag but deer are seldom able to travel. Motes than 10' with a reasonable bullet placement. At 600 any speed over about 3900 cps will provide adequate power.

In truth, you won't find much difference in the terminal ballistics on a deer-sized animal between 120's and 175's. With either (or anything in between) you'll need highly accurate ranging matched with the proper scope adjustment or dedicated overhold reticle. While the heavier bullet with the higher B.C. will not exhibit as much wind drift, if there is any significant wind at all then a shot at 600 yards is nothing more than a wild ass guess. Four hundred yards is a stretch, but is a more reasonable limit for sporting rifles with which you expect to have a high percentage of first-shot hits.

Remember, those "long range 'hunting' shows" on TV have the advantage of being able to edit out all of the misses and only show the much less numerous hits.

With a range finder, trajectory is not the biggest challenge in shooting long range (and if you are not using a good range finder, you are just slinging bullets in a general direction).

As noted already, wind is a major influence at these longer distances, and it becomes exponential as the range and wind strength increase.

You don't need "flat shooting", you need to be looking for a high ballistic coefficient bullet. Fortunately there are many good options on the market today. Assuming a 1/9" twist barrel, you should have no trouble shooting bullets in the 170-180 grain range.

I once glassed an elk heard with two friends across a Colorado canyon. As we ranged the elk at over 400 yards I didn't shoot.

I know what my hold over is for that range but wasn't comfortable with the drift. Left to right wind at or around 20 mph+ that morning

Ass loads of practice.

Real knowledge of your load/rifles true ballistics. Lots of notes and trigger time equal a deadly shooter not the magic caliber

I jumped around from bullet weight to bullet weight in the 7mm Weatherby and Remington. I used the 139 grain all the way up to 175. I sold the Wby. long ago and wish I still had it. I finally settled on the 160 grain Partition in the Remington. I get 3088 FPS out of it with a stout load of H-870. Sometimes I think I will try the Accubond in the same load and I toy with the idea of just sticking to the 175 Hornady. But the 160 Partition just works for anything I ask of it. But...it is my medium game gun. I have 300s, 338s and up for big game.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
In truth, you won't find much difference in the terminal ballistics on a deer-sized animal between 120's and 175's. With either (or anything in between) you'll need highly accurate ranging matched with the proper scope adjustment or dedicated overhold reticle. While the heavier bullet with the higher B.C. will not exhibit as much wind drift, if there is any significant wind at all then a shot at 600 yards is nothing more than a wild ass guess. Four hundred yards is a stretch, but is a more reasonable limit for sporting rifles with which you expect to have a high percentage of first-shot hits.

Remember, those "long range 'hunting' shows" on TV have the advantage of being able to edit out all of the misses and only show the much less numerous hits.

Amen brother. Those LR TV shows are a joke IMO, and send a false message to the hunting public. I've guided close to 110 hunters over the past 10 years, and the vast majority of them have no business shooting at anything over 300 yards. That being said, i like to tinker with my leupold CDS dials, mainly just for fun. When the wind and atmosphere cooperates, hitting targets out to and past 600 is no big trick, but that is a very rare occasion where I hunt when everything cooperates. I've found a real liking for 160 Accubonds and a good charge of RL22, which gets me 3000fps rather easily. I personally will never hunt big game with VLDH, AMAX, etc. I practice shooting a lot, away from a bench. With all the long range practice I like to tinker with, I've wound up killing 3 190"+, and 1 205" muley since 2006, longest shot was150 yards. It's more fun to me to get close.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana_500:
With a range finder, trajectory is not the biggest challenge in shooting long range (and if you are not using a good range finder, you are just slinging bullets in a general direction).

As noted already, wind is a major influence at these longer distances, and it becomes exponential as the range and wind strength increase.

You don't need "flat shooting", you need to be looking for a high ballistic coefficient bullet. Fortunately there are many good options on the market today. Assuming a 1/9" twist barrel, you should have no trouble shooting bullets in the 170-180 grain range.

I agree with this. Higher BC and carry a range finder. If the animals are far off you should have time to range them and adjust the scope or hold off. Wind is always tougher than drop.

The 160 Accubond was always my "go to" load for the 7 Mag. Great all-around caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
The 160 Accubond was always my "go to" load for the 7 Mag. Great all-around caliber.

Worked for me!!

Wow, I'll say !

Nice Ram!

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
Nice Ram!

Thanks!! Short shot at 115 and the accubond didn't exit. The Ram was dead before it hit the ground.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
160gr. And, imo, you'd be better off out practicing shooting at 600 yards instead of reading about it.

BTW, I shoot about 20,000 rnds a year. . . . is that enough, or. . . . . . .?

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
In truth, you won't find much difference in the terminal ballistics on a deer-sized animal between 120's and 175's. With either (or anything in between) you'll need highly accurate ranging matched with the proper scope adjustment or dedicated overhold reticle. While the heavier bullet with the higher B.C. will not exhibit as much wind drift, if there is any significant wind at all then a shot at 600 yards is nothing more than a wild ass guess. Four hundred yards is a stretch, but is a more reasonable limit for sporting rifles with which you expect to have a high percentage of first-shot hits.

Remember, those "long range 'hunting' shows" on TV have the advantage of being able to edit out all of the misses and only show the much less numerous hits.

Amen brother. Those LR TV shows are a joke IMO, and send a false message to the hunting public. I've guided close to 110 hunters over the past 10 years, and the vast majority of them have no business shooting at anything over 300 yards. That being said, i like to tinker with my leupold CDS dials, mainly just for fun. When the wind and atmosphere cooperates, hitting targets out to and past 600 is no big trick, but that is a very rare occasion where I hunt when everything cooperates. I've found a real liking for 160 Accubonds and a good charge of RL22, which gets me 3000fps rather easily. I personally will never hunt big game with VLDH, AMAX, etc. I practice shooting a lot, away from a bench. With all the long range practice I like to tinker with, I've wound up killing 3 190"+, and 1 205" muley since 2006, longest shot was150 yards. It's more fun to me to get close.

Another Amen to you both!

I shoot Prairie Dogs every year with my main hunting rifle which is a 7mmRemMag M70 rebarreled and accurized by Hill Country Rifles. It has a 4.4-14 Zeiss Scope with calibrated turret knobs for my carefully handloaded 168gr Accubond LR's at 3,128fps.
I made my longest witnessed shot this year at 626 yards....only problem was that it took 9 shots to do it, and that's with my spotter calling my shots. There long range guys are so full of crap. If we were shooting in a vacuum then We cab just dial and squeeze and never miss, but in real life when you factor in wind, angle, light, your targets movement, etc all bets are off. When I was aiming at my 626yard PD I could barely make out his body from the grass around him due to the mirage....the grass was a shimmering greenish-silver with the wind blowing the mirage at a 45 degree angle and the PD was only a brownish sliver mixed in. Without a spotter I wouldn't have known what I was looking at never mind if I hit it or not.

A buddy of mine also made his 1st +1,000 yard PD kill...he has a $5,000 set up and it took him an honest 48 shots to do it!

Unless you do one hell of a lot of shooting , 600 yards is too far !
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by tjroberts:
Unless you do one hell of a lot of shooting , 600 yards is too far !
...tj3006

You're 100% right!

For what you are describing, you do not need a premium bullet. A 139 Hornady Interlock would work well for you. IMR 7828 gets 3280 from my Savage/Criterion 26-inch. The 100-yard group is .441. Reloder 22 also works well. I have a 3100 fps load that is mild and still plenty flat.

Talking about 600 yards, there is nothing flat per se. You have to totally understand the ballistics of the load you are shooting.

As an all-around load, I prefer the 160 Partition, but it is not necessary for what you are doing unless you are stepping up to something bigger.

I doubt it or you would not need any input.
And a 7mm Rem Mag barrel will not last nearly that long.

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
160gr. And, imo, you'd be better off out practicing shooting at 600 yards instead of reading about it.

BTW, I shoot about 20,000 rnds a year. . . . is that enough, or. . . . . . .?

I just ran some numbers: to shoot 20,000 rounds a year, you need to average 54.7 per day; or 384 per week; or almost 2000 a month.
Perhaps the fellows using their "platforms" to tear up phone books might reach that number but it would be hard to imagine when you add cost of ammunition or time constraints for reloading.
When I was shooting competitively and had my own range and lots of time on my hands, I don't think I reached those numbers. A fellow's got to eat and sleep sometimes.

The difference in trajectory between the most accepted big game calibers is so little that I'm not sure how anyone can tell the difference, its mostly a mind game..Any shot you make with a 7 mag or 300 would probably have been made with a .270, 7x57 or 30-06.. Were talking a few inches at almost any range, were talking a 100 to 150 FPs on average, and that's zilch. Under hunting conditions you just cannot make those small adjustments. But hey if it blows your skirt up have at it..I suppose it makes hunting more interesting to debate these things..

I'm not talking about the new bunch of 2000 yard shooters I have no knowledge of that sport, I do feel like it has to be a little tricky at best even for the best of shots and those that use this method of hunting should become masters of the shot prior to hunting,and that applies to all hunters. I wonder how many long range shooters actually go and look for blood on what appears to be a miss..I know locally many do not.

I place my values and skills in the ability to stalk within my rifle shooting ability and that's about 300 yards. Yes, I can make a 400 yard shot under good conditions, but I can also creep a 100 yards closer most of the time, sometime 200 yards closer. This I enjoy and is the reason I still hunt deer quite often with my old 25-35 win. in certain areas.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I once glassed an elk heard with two friends across a Colorado canyon. As we ranged the elk at over 400 yards I didn't shoot.

I know what my hold over is for that range but wasn't comfortable with the drift. Left to right wind at or around 20 mph+ that morning

Ass loads of practice.

Real knowledge of your load/rifles true ballistics. Lots of notes and trigger time equal a deadly shooter not the magic caliber

I shoot once per week at long range and go out in the afternoon, when the wind is blowing. Monday I took out a 7STW and a .220 Swift (shoots 80 gr Amax bullets). Wind was gusty left to right, sometime at 45, sometimes almost straight behind.

First shot was .220 Swift at 700 yards. Held 3 MOA and hit 1 MOA to the right. Second shot at 640. Three MOA hold, perfect windage but forgot to come down from my 700 yard zero, so way high. Third shot at 550; held 3 MOA and hit my 3 inch aiming circle.

Switched to the STW. First shot at 700 was in a howling L-R wind; why I only held 4 MOA is a mystery, but I hit more than 2 MOA right. Wind died a bit so I shot again w 4 MOA and hit 6 inches right. Fourth shot at 640 hit just to right of 3 inch circle with a 4 MOA hold. Fifth shot at 550 held 3 MOA; perfect wind but a bit high.

Switched back to the Swift at 700 yards. Guessed 4 MOA and hit just to the right, and a bit high.

Wind speed on my anemometer varied from 2 mph to 12 mph. Note that actual wind drift was far more than the anemometer would have indicated, but I have learned this to be true in every case with every rifle. When my spotting scope moves in the wind, it is a 4 MOA day or more... All shots sitting with a bipod and shooting sling.

Shot my .308 yesterday at 500 yards. wind was barely perceptible R-L, but held about 3/4 MOA into wind. Shot four times, all shots were 3 inches left, except one that was high above center.

Trajectory is a non issue. Wind is everything.