This quote is from an a article on Les Bowmans design work and the subsequent release of the new at the time 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge:

" During the first years of production more Model 700s in 7 mm Rem. Mag. were sold than all other big-game chamberings combined, and that included the .270 Win. and .30-'06 Sprg.

Do you shoot a 7mm magnum?

I have since the early 1960's.

just picked up a brand new Remington 783 in 7mm Remington magnum but have yet to get a chance to get to the range to try it out. Just grabbed some reloader 22 and some Berger hunters in 168 for it also.

The absolute best cartridge in the world

I've had a few; mostly they got made into STWs. Still have one, a Kimber Select grade. Its OK, just like a lot of calibers are OK. There's nothing magic about it though. Fact is, some of them are downright slow, down into 30-06 looking pretty good slow.

I like mine and think its a fine cartridge.
I do remember however hearing salesmen declare that the bullet would actually rise out to about 300 yards so you had to aim low.
Just some of the same hype you heard about Weatherbys and some of the claims for contemporary magic bullets.

The reason for the 7mm RM's popularity is that it's the best performing cartridge with about all the recoil most of us can tolerate and still shoot well.

I had always skipped the 7Mag going from a 270 to a 300 Mag and 338 and on.

But when I did give it a go I realy liked the 7 Rem Mag. It just took me a little while to find the the rifle setup I preferred it in which is the Laredo Model 70.

Its a great round !
But it does not defy gravity. I have never seen one that was not accurate.
I shoot the 160 grain accubond in mine at 3000.
Potent for deer and elk.
With my 3.5X10 leupold its great as far as anyone should shoot game...tj3006

Yep, it's an excellent round. I think it is perfect in the 140-160 grain range. A great on game!

I have owned four over the years. It was my first big game rifle, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it. For almost all hunting, I will take a .308 Win - more accurate, easy on barrels so I shoot it A LOT, thus really becoming familiar with its trajectory and more importantly, wind drift.

For longer range shooting, I move up to a .300 RUM or even better, an Edge or Lapua.

I sold off or rebarreled my 7mm Rem Mags. I did rechamber one to an STW. Might own another some day, who knows?

A 7mm RM was the first magnum I ever owned. It was magic! It was awesome! And it killed animals just as dead as my 270 did

I've been hunting with a 7RM since 1972. Not much of anything I hunt that a 160 Partioin or Accubond won't handle. I've been lucky to kill over 200 head of big game with it.

Yes, the ballistics of a svelte 160 boat tail bullet are impressive in the 7 Rem Mag. Whitetail, Mule Deer, Moose, and Elk...does it all with accuracy and modest recoil.

My go to rifle! Have hunted all over the US, Mexico and Southern Africa with that one. Man has it made a lot of meat.

I just love the 168g Bergers at 2990!


.

I used it some when it was new and the rage..But age and wisdom and a chronograph told me it didn't have a thing over the 30-06 as to how flat it shoots and how it kills, not much does as a matter of fact. Advertisment and product insanity sold the 7 mag to delusional folks, self included.

But it certainly is a fine caliber for deer and elk, Moose and even the big bears in a pinch.

I load for a bunch of them and love to shoot the 7emem. The trouble is, it fills too many holes. It is a fine round for everything in N. America with the bullet selection to accomplish it. I load for bears, moose, deer, elk, goats, sheep, antelope, tahr...and all have been killed by friends that were always satisfied if not impressed with their guns performance. If my wife found out I could do all that with one gun she'd have an auction.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The absolute best cartridge in the world

In your world...

I have had a few. I like the cartridge for use at long ranges. I quit shooting mine when the range was not going to be long . I have found that at short ranges, the bullets zips through without using enough of its energy on the animal. At short ranges, my 270 kills quicker. At long range , the 7 MM is fantastic.

Great all around caliber and I have two of them. But with said, I am more personally fond of other calibers.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Yes, the ballistics of a svelte 160 boat tail bullet are impressive in the 7 Rem Mag. Whitetail, Mule Deer, Moose, and Elk...does it all with accuracy and modest recoil.

Don't forget Aoudad.

JAPPF,


GWB

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Yes, the ballistics of a svelte 160 boat tail bullet are impressive in the 7 Rem Mag. Whitetail, Mule Deer, Moose, and Elk...does it all with accuracy and modest recoil.

Don't forget Aoudad.

JAPPF,


GWB

Did you shoot his eye out? That is damn good shooting!

quote:

Did you shoot his eye out? That is damn good shooting!

I suppose one could call it a bull's eye!

Scott,

I've a stand that has a 125 yd. down hill shot to a feeder in a small clearing.



I’d say the feeder is about 8 o’clock. Directly across from this stand, the terrain falls down over say 150 to 200 yds. to a dry creekbed, then a steep climb up the side of a hillside that runs parallel to my stand for about 500 yds. Shots from my stand range from about 250 to 400 yds. Aoudad and deer will come over the top and range along this hillside.




It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and I had just gotten into the stand and was unlimbering my gear. I happened to look across to the place where I've seen them in the past. Sure enough there were a half dozen sheep near the top, feeding and meandering down. I got out my binocs and looked for a good ram. However there was not one in this group. I like making both summer sausage and smoked links out of Aoudad mixed with pork, and I had not taken one in over a year so I decided to give it a try. I was using 160 gr. Accubonds, zero'd at 200 yds. I ranged the group at 304 yds. with my rangefinder and then grabbed my rifle, screwed the scope to 14 power and after a short period of scrutiny, chose this one. The wind at the time did not seem to be blowing too hard. I held over a skosh and into the wind and let fly. While recovering from the recoil I noticed her tumbling backward down the hill and I lost sight of her.

Two years before I made the same shot at near the same location, but nearer 400 yds. on the biggest ram I've ever seen. I hit him good by his reaction to the shot. He ran downhill to the right behind a copse of oaks. It was about 30 minutes before dark and it took most of that to go down and back up and start looking.



Here is one of two pix I have of that ram. Never saw him before this pix, nor have I ever seen him after I shot him. I looked off and on for months.

However, that time I had my Sako Carbine in 308 zero'd at 100 yds. I never found him, but realized that when you are on the side of the mountain, it looks totally different from the same level 400 yds. away.

This time I had about two hours of daylight to search and I had some flagging tape to mark my search area. That way if I could not find the critter, I could mark my search area then climb down and go back to my stand to see where I had been and judge the location.

As luck would have it, after about a 30 minute search I found her lodged between a couple rocks and a century plant. Either I pulled my shot, the wind caught the bullet, or she moved between the time my brain said squeeze the trigger and my finger did.

Evidently the bullet caught her just at the edge of the orbital socket. She was concussed, with both eyes blown out, but not another mark on her. I hate to see a critter suffer so I gave her the quietus with my 10mm Glock. One in the neck did for her.

What's the old saying, "I'd rather be lucky than good".
I've always said that when it comes to killin' critters, I'm lucky.

JAPPF,

GWB

I have a 7MM Mag in a Browning stainless stalker and I don't like it. It has been my only 7mag, so my deference to the cartridge is more because I don't like the rifle. (Hey, I got it new and for a real good price... plus its a lefty)

An old gunsmith I once knew when I was a kid told me that the only advantage to a 7mag was that it shoots a little flatter.

However, there has been a lot of bullet development in the last 40 years, and if I could at least break even with this rifle, I'd try another one.

(FYI- The Browning Stainless Stalker is poorly balanced with a lousy trigger... I'll never buy another Browning... The company ain't what it used to be)

Ive had mine, a tang safety Ruger 77, since 1977 and it has killed a big pile of deer and elk. It does shoot flat and well it has killed boar at 500 yards and steel at 1000 yards and is a very good example of what a 7 can be with a little trigger work and bedding. If an animal is missed it isn't the fault of the rifle.

When I acquire a rifle with a bad trigger - I just get it fixed or replaced and balance can be achieved with a little stock work typically. Before I gave up on a browning id try to tweak it to suit my needs.

I've had 3- 7 mags over the past 20 years, all very accurate rifles.
My current one is a 14 lb custom varmint rifle shooting 180 gr Berger VLD's. It has accounted for numerous marmots around 1000 yards, and four between 1332 and 1402 yards.
If I could only have one rifle for everything, it would be a 7 mag.