I'm a mule deer hunter, I shoot a 7 mag, and before it a 270 for years. Recently my dad passed away, and one of the rifles I have of his is a Ruger, tang safety, 300 win mag. I love my 7 Rem Mag, and I can handle the recoil of the 300 Win mag, someone who has used both extensively, tell me your opinion of the strenghs and weaknesses of both. I have my views, but Im asking for yours from those of you who have hunted Elk with them.

I have used both for whitetail, but not elk.
Both can push a 150 bullet at about the same MV. The 300 winny shines over the 7 mag as bullets get heavier. It will push a 180 gr bullet close to 3000 fps. Both should be suited for what you want to do with them. It would be nice to hunt with your fathers gun though. I bought all of my guns where as my brothers didn't. So most of my dad's guns went to them.

Im the only boy if you can call a 50+ a boy, so I got his rifles, etc, but I have given each of his grandson's one of something, ie, either a shotgun, or a deer rifle. The 30-06 deer rifle he hunted with the last 10 years, I gave to my oldest boy, and my youngest has been hunting with his 243 for blacktail, so I gave him that. I gave one of the other grandson's one of his shotguns. On his 300 win, He has a muzzle brake on it, but I hate them. You can screw it off and put the barrel piece on it.

300 winnie is bigger all around. 180 gr at 3100fps is the norm for handloads. More case capacity than the 7 rem mag, and a bigger hole. More recoil also. My 300 win mag and 180 gr nosler partitions performed EXCELLENT on my last bull. For elk, id take the larger diameter and heavier bullet of the 300 winnie or the plain ol' 30-06 over the 7 rem mag without question.

The 300 win mag pushes bigger and heavier bullets the same speed as the 7 mag... if the recoil isnt a problem i dont see how that couldnt be a good thing.

I have used both on elk. Both are good elk calibers. I prefer the 7. I shoot handloads, 162gr.spbt. Many elk and North American and African big game animlas have fallen to that load. Including moose and grizzly, leopard and eland. I have shot the same rifle and load for about 17 years.

I like the 7 because of less affect on the bullet in winds over the .30 cal. Less powder when loading, some what less recoil, not really noticeable! It is a personal prefrence. Tough choice.....

I have shot them both and like them both. What you're doing is reviving the old .270 versus 30-06 argument. But with heavier bullets. A 7mag with a 160gr bullet or a .300mag with a 200gr bullet is definitely a win-win situation. Your elk will never know the difference.

Both will work. The trick is the bullet! Check out these links! Animals taken with both 7mm rem mag 300 SAUM and 300 RUM and others!

Groove shot into water
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=987
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=522

Groovies on animals
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=736
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=947
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=722
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=681
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=724

Accuracy
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=897
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=753
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=534
http://www.groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=526

[ 11-24-2003, 20:21: Message edited by: POP ]

Both are great cartridges. If you can take the added recoil then bigger is always better. I find the .300 magnums recoil to be more severe than other larger caliber rifles. I use a 7mm Remington Magnum with 78 grains of H870 with a 160 Speer Grand Slam as a load. It shoot through elk on side shots and travels the length of an elk shot head on. Now I've only killed seven elk, but none have ever taken a step after being hit. I find for long range shooting, 300 yds. maximum, I can really place the bullets where then need to be because of the '06 like recoil.

I just returned from a mulie hunt in NM. We sat and watched videos from the previous elk hunts, this year and a couple years previous.

I have never shot an elk. Iam not saying that an ass load of elk have not been killed with the wonderful 7mag. Iam a fan of the cartridge.

But, time after time, the outfitter showed elk in the videos that had to be shot 2 or 3 times with a 7 mag, in order to kill them.

He hated the 7 mag for elk...PERIOD!!

He used a .338 WM for the job.

Yes, the guys shooting have to do their part. But, these guys were for the most part hitting the vitals areas at fairly close range 100-200yds. Some shots were further. Some closer.

It made a believer out of me that if and when I shoot an elk, it would not be with a 7 mag.

FWIW..sakofan..No flaming from 7 mag fans...please!!

[ 11-26-2003, 05:10: Message edited by: sakofan ]

Well, I just wanted some opinions from guys who hunt Elk. Your comments were pretty much what I believed, but, I never have hunted Elk before. I Always loved hunting high for the chance of a big muley, and I see a fair amount of Elk while mule deer hunting on occasion. I was toying with what to do, maybe rebarrel the 300 win, but, I believe I will work up some loads for it, and play with it for awhile. Because it was my dad's 300 win, I will load for it, learn to shoot it, and if I like it, maybe pack it for awhile.

A friend recently decided to try his first Elk hunt too. He owns a 7mm RM and some sales guy at the goods store sold him the "7mm isnt enough gun" line of crap, he also sold him a 300 WM. Like the Elk is going to know the difference..

The 300 may have a slight edge, but the 7 mag is a powerfull round and has handily counted for many large game all over the world. Chose your bullets wisley and use which ever one suits you the best.

I have used the 7mag to take elk & seen friends use the .300WM. It's the same old story, good bullets & good shot placement = elk down.
Sakofan, I would be curious to know what kind of bullets those 7mag elk hunters were using. A good 160gr bullet in the right place & the elk is yours.