Just as a mental exercise...If you were putting together a long range rig, would you want something in a fast 7mm or a fast 30 caliber? Why one over the other? Uses would be hunting everything from elk down to coyotes, as well as messing around shooting rocks, targets, etc. A lot more of the messing around and coyote/antelope shooting than elk, though.

I originally picked a 300 RUM, but now I'm leaning towards a 7mm of some kind. Maybe a 7mm Dakota?? Anyway, any thoughts on pushing me off the fence would be helpful.

7mm is fast and light recoiling. But for long range i would get a fast .30 for windy days. basicaly if your gonna shoot past 400yrds use a .30 for knock down power and wind. But do not shoot "long range" at big game its just not right when you wound an animal instead of bringing it down cleanly.

captain,

If you are looking at the 7 mag or the 300 win mag. if you shoot comparable bullets for each like a 165 gr for the 300 and 130 gr for the 7 mag the trajectories are so close you will never know the difference. your main concern will be energy which will be about 600lbs less with the 7 than the 300 at 500yds. But the 7 will still have enough to do the job at 500. So next would Be recoil. The 300 will typically give more recoil, but they are both mag rounds so what would you expect? it all comes down to which one you shoot better.

good luck and good hunting

Actually, I'm thinking faster than either of the standard 7mm/300 mags. I like the 300 RUM, but the 7mm RUM seems way out of proportion. The 7mm STW looks ok, but I like the shorter 7mm Dakota better. Recoil is a moot point - if you want speed/power, that's the price. Not a big deal.

Are there decent hunting bullets of very high BC in both bore sizes? I haven't had time to look at the full offerings like this, so maybe people who have made this choice before can shed some light on what factors influenced them?

Out of curiousity, what are 1000 yd shooters using? Any standard cartridges in that sport at all?

A .30 will give you more choices in match bullet but recoil goes way up. I would go to a 6.5 instead of a 7 just to take advantage of the many match bullets available. A lot of 1000K guys use 6.5x.284, but if I were hunting deer size game at longer ranges I would want bigger bullets so would go .300 mag of some flavor.

If you pick heavy for caliber bullets with a high BC at similar velocities the differences are very small.

I ran a quick comparison of the 7mm mag with a .284" 154 grain Hornady SST and the 300 WM with a 180 grain .308" SST. The results were very similar.

The seven mag and had an inch less drift with a 10 mph crosswind (due to a slightly higher BC) and the 300 WM had 300 ft lb's more energy at 500 yards. The 300 WM kicks you with 28 lbs of recoil energy. The 7 Mag had 21. If you're only going to hunt elk occaisionally I'd go with the 7 Mag and lower recoil. If you want a little more oomph get the 7mm Weatherby or Dakota.

A 6.5x.284 Norma is starting to dominate long distance shooting. However I like the 7mms better than 30s, reason is less recoil for better follow through on running shots and quicker follow ups. Another reason is lighter grain bullets produce higher b.c.'s in 7mms. This means smaller casings and powder charges will go further.

You might want to check the ft lbs of energy a bullet provides at longer ranges you might be shooting elk,deer, antelope at.

An old rule of thumb is 1 1/2 to 2 ft lbs of energy per lb of body weight of animal, but that's arguable.

Elk can take a lot of punishment, my own 2 cents is a .30 or larger,esp considering wind drift and energy on target.
Art in Wyoming

Thanks guys. I think I'm back to my first thought - the 300 RUM. The ballistic differences are slight, and the .30 has more power downrange, as some have pointed out. Looking at plain factory ammo, the 300 RUM has 10" less drop at 500 yds than the 300 Win. That's a lot. Why do I doubt the application of a .30?? I knew a couple beers and some time to ponder would fix me right up....

I like your idea and I like both calibres, but I'd choose something completely different. I think fred is on to something there in terms of recoil and long distance with the 6.5.

The other school of thought is "bigger is better," -something like the .338 Lapua for example. Of course my ideas are based on the "tactical rifles" now so popular, but I think it's a valid choice for your intended purpose.