I am considering building a synthetic stocked rifle for mountain/ long range plains/bad weather purposes. It should match my lovely wooden stocked 7x57. As I see no need for .300 Magnums, I have considered the 275 H&H or 7x61 S&H to be the best for me. Sure I know they are almost obsolete but they do have a certain appeal to me. (I do not want to stick with 7 Rem, Weat or STW for many reasons).
I will use 175 gr bullets only. Please give me your feedback on what would be your choice and why.

Thanks,

CZ

My choice would be the 7x61S&H because I used to have one.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
My choice would be the 7x61S&H because I used to have one.

Why did you leave it? Costs? Because hard to find?

CZ

They are both excellent cartridges. With the newer 7x61 Super brass, you can come so close to the 7mm RemMag that the differences are meaningless. Brass for the 275 H&H is far harder to find.
A late model Schultz & Larsen 7x61 with the slow twist barrel is a wonderful rifle although not a pinweight. IME, living and hunting in NW WY where my house is @7000+ ft, almost all hunting is uphill and you MUST hydrate at least 1/2 to 1 gallon per day, the weight of a rifle is not a big issue (water is heavy!). To realize the full advantage of any of the 7mm magnums a 26" barrel is a must have. If you go 22" to get a light rifle, you may as well get a lightweight Kimber in 7mm08. Insofar as possible, we use horses to get up to the tree line.
As you point out both cartridges have a very high "cool factor" but if the airline "loses" your ammo, you are SOL.
The "easy way out" would be to find a nice S&L 65DL in 7x61, get it cerrakoted and (if possible) find a lightweight stock for it.
I would not use heavy bullets as today's "super bullets" in 140 gr will take any North American plains/mountain game with authority. Should you run across Mr. Griz (we have many) you would not be undergunned with a 140 TSX @3100 fps.
As DH, I love the 7x61 and have owned 65DLs in 264, 7x61, 30-06, 308 Norma and 358 Norma The low bolt lift and short bolt throw (4 rear locking lugs) were all sub MOA rifles with no tuning required and are longer to be found for $500 as they were back when nobody had caught on to them. Old Roy built the first 378 Weatherbys on the S&L M 54 action (owned one briefly but it hurt a lot).
Looking forward to seeing photos when your build is completed.

2 good choices! Both are great cartridges that would be totally adequate on a plethora of game animals.

I'd go with the 7x61 since the 275 H&H uses .287" diameter bullets.

You could of course always have the .275 H&H built using a .284" barrel if that option is legal for you.

Having owned several of each, in my work with them I found there is NO meaningful difference between them if you are a handloader, and almost no difference using factory ammo.

I suggest you pick the RIFLE you like best among those available for either cartridge, and buy that one.

Sellier & Bellot Ammunition V331112U, 7X64, SPCE, 173 GR, 2790 fps

quote:

Originally posted by CZ:

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
My choice would be the 7x61S&H because I used to have one.

Why did you leave it? Costs? Because hard to find?

CZ

Along came the 284 winchester & like it much more.

Having re-read OP's post several more times, I see he is not looking at buying a rifle in either chambering, but building one.

If plans to use it much, in that instance I would definitely recommend the 7m/m Rem Mag over either one. Too many practical field advantages not to do it that way.

If he is just looking for the maximum "cool" factor, the 275 H&H has far more "cachet" than the 7x61 S&H, was built on some mighty nice Mauser actions by the Big 5 British makers, and saw a lot of use in Africa long before the 7x61 ever came to be introduced (or discarded).

Whichever way he goes, if he is building it, I'd recommend building it with a .284" groove diameter barrel.

I have had a .275 H&H built for me in an Interarms Mark X Whitworth, and used a .284 barrel with 175's.

If I was doing it again, I would go with the traditional .287 barrel. Brass is no problem to get but it has to be special ordered through Midway and takes 6-8 weeks to get. I bought up a couple hundred and figured that would last me a long time.

The .275 H&H was the first 7mm Mag, and appropriately used 175's.

7x61. I always felt the 7x61 was the perfect capacity for the 7mm.

7x64 Brennekke - whet the 280 Rem should have been.

Reason - I've seen one in use and it's accurate and hard-hitting.

And it sounds like my name.

I have a soft spot for the 7x61 having had and used two Schultz and Larsen rifles in this cartridge. Of course the S&H rifles go a long way to making any cartridge but the 7x61 was an efficient and good performing 7mm magnum round.

The original S&H Norma factory ammo chrono'ed at 3040fps in my rifle (factory spec was 3100fps) and apart from using this Norma factory ammo in earlier years I handloaded exclusively using the Sierra 160 SBT Gameking bullet at a chronographed 3000fps MV in my two 7x61s.

The cartridge did use minimal amounts of slow burning powder to achieve this performance compared to the 7mm RM and WM cartridges and was easy to load for showing none of the abnormal pressure spikes some say the RM can be prone to. Best accuracy was at the top loadings so you get the best of both worlds without sacrificing one for the other.

Only issue with 7x61 now is that Norma do not make the ammo any more although they have been known to do special runs of ammo and cases from time to time. Cases can be formed from 7mm RM.

Build a 7mm Mashburn Super.

Great cartridge and I find brass at every gunshop that calls themselves one.

My big game battery at the moment consist of a 7X57 and the Mashburn. I don't think I want to change that.