Hi fellas
I'm in a state of utter confusion and I am hoping someone could guide me.

I'm thinking of getting a bolt action rifle in the 7mm Remington Mag to hunt pigs,goats,Fallow,chital,hog,maybe Red and the mighty Sambar.
I'm thinking this will be my one gun,I already own a L/A 307 Win.
What is your thoughts on the calibre I chose? for & against
I want a 7mm rifle or I should say I prefer it,for I have shot one of my mates 7mm Rem Mag and liked it so much for every thing I shot at 9/10 I would hit it.
Do you think it would be minimal for Sambar?

Seen the new Mossberg 4x4 rifle,looks real nice,any body have any dealings with Mossberg products? Also looking at the Tikka T3.
I was going to get a 7mmWSM,but a mate reckons the ol' 7mmRM is a better choice when it comes to heavier bullets and brass is easier to get/find and ammo as well,TRUE?

Please,any thoughts and recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully
Dale Hodges
Cheers

7mm Rem. Mag. for everything from hog to sambar and everything in between? Absolutely!!! What you're thinking is what I did for many years. I now have more specialised rifles for the game I hunt, just not sure I'm much better placed for taking them than when I had just my 7mm !!

Cheers,
Mark.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark R:
7mm Rem. Mag. for everything from hog to sambar and everything in between? Absolutely!!! What you're thinking is what I did for many years. I now have more specialised rifles for the game I hunt, just not sure I'm much better placed for taking them than when I had just my 7mm !!

Cheers,
Mark.

Hi Mark
Thanks for the reply,that's made it nearly 50% of getting it(7mm REM Mag).
You would use the 7mmRM as a one gun,all game(listed) proposition ?
I don't think I would regret getting it do you?
Thanks again mate
Dale Hodges

Dale, I've used my 7mm on pigs, goats, rabbits, foxes, hog deer, chital, rusa, fallow, red, sambar, tahr and chamois. Just load 150 gr projectiles and go to it !!!

Cheers,
Mark.

P.S. I don't have a 7mm WSM but I do have a 270 WSM. Given a choice I would stay with the Rem. Mag.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark R:
Dale, I've used my 7mm on pigs, goats, rabbits, foxes, hog deer, chital, rusa, fallow, red, sambar, tahr and chamois. Just load 150 gr projectiles and go to it !!!

Cheers,
Mark.

P.S. I don't have a 7mm WSM but I do have a 270 WSM. Given a choice I would stay with the Rem. Mag.

Thanks for that Mark,I might just do that.
Cheers
Dale

A 7mm Rem Mag will do just fine.

Best of luck.

7MMREMMAG is a great caliber,it has worked for me on Rabbits to Feral cattle It won't let you down.

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
A 7mm Rem Mag will do just fine.

Best of luck.

Dave
Thanks mate,would you go with a 160gr premium bullet or heavier for Sambar?
Dale Hodges

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:
7MMREMMAG is a great caliber,it has worked for me on Rabbits to Feral cattle It won't let you down.

Top_Predator
Thanks too mate.
7mmRem Mag on Rabbits? wow must be tough rabbits
Cheers mate
Dale

quote:

Originally posted by Dale Hodges:

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
A 7mm Rem Mag will do just fine.

Best of luck.

Dave
Thanks mate,would you go with a 160gr premium bullet or heavier for Sambar?
Dale Hodges

A good 160 will do the trick. Something like the Nosler Partition, or the TSX if you like Barnes.
Those are just the ones I have experience with, there will be others just as good.
If you want a bit of extra weight, try the Woodleigh. IIRC they have a 175 RN, or try the 160 PP.

Cheers, Dave.

Speer 115GR Hollow points are great on rabbits/goats and sure work well on foxes if you don't want the skin

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:

quote:

Originally posted by Dale Hodges:

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
A 7mm Rem Mag will do just fine.

Best of luck.

Dave
Thanks mate,would you go with a 160gr premium bullet or heavier for Sambar?
Dale Hodges

A good 160 will do the trick. Something like the Nosler Partition, or the TSX if you like Barnes.
Those are just the ones I have experience with, there will be others just as good.
If you want a bit of extra weight, try the Woodleigh. IIRC they have a 175 RN, or try the 160 PP.

Cheers, Dave.

Hi Dave
I like the Woodleigh bullets and the Noslers,what do you think of Speers Grand Slam???

Cheers
Dale

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:
Speer 115GR Hollow points are great on rabbits/goats and sure work well on foxes if you don't want the skin

Hi TOP_PREDATOR
The 115gr Speer bullet,what sort of velocity are we talking about with that?
Curious?
Dale.

Dale,

The 7mm Rem Mag will be more than adequate for the game you mention.

In fact, unless you are planning on shooting at longer ranges, you can manage all of those animals with a 7x57 or a 7mm/08.

Don't be sucked into the belief that you HAVE to have a magnum for any of those animals and my choice would be the mighty 7x57!

But if you have your heart set on a 7mm Rem Mag - go to it!

quote:

Originally posted by BwanaBob:
Dale,

The 7mm Rem Mag will be more than adequate for the game you mention.

In fact, unless you are planning on shooting at longer ranges, you can manage all of those animals with a 7x57 or a 7mm/08.

Don't be sucked into the belief that you HAVE to have a magnum for any of those animals and my choice would be the mighty 7x57!

But if you have your heart set on a 7mm Rem Mag - go to it!

Hi BwanaBob
Now that you mention the 7x57,I have always been interested in it.
How does it shoot compared to the 7mmRem?
I do plan to be using it for a bit of long range work,so that is one reason I went with the magnum and that was a lengthy decision that I kept changing my mind on.
Cheers mate
Dale

I have used a few 160GR Speer Grand Slam,great but i prefer Partitions or Interbonds.

115GR Speer HP are doing 3500FPS.

Stick to the 7MMREMMAG 7X57,7MM08 are little boys guns

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:
I have used a few 160GR Speer Grand Slam,great but i prefer Partitions or Interbonds.

115GR Speer HP are doing 3500FPS.

Stick to the 7MMREMMAG 7X57,7MM08 are little boys guns

Hi Top_PREDATOR
Partitions and Interbonds noted,good choice too.
3500FPS for the 115gr bullet that is moving alright
Stick to the 7MMREMMAG 7X57,7MM08 are little boys guns Yeah I think I will
Cheers mate
Dale

Mate i have rolled heaps and i mean heaps of sambar,big and small with my old seven mill.... let me tell you that do not need the premium bullets,i have used win 150 (and 175) gr power points for a high 90`s % of my harvests and that is extremely successfully. Hit them in the shoulder with this combo and your animal is dead.

The combination of win pill and calibre out does the rest....Coreloks? what are they? Most UN-impressed,Nosler P`s? too hard! Remember that you want to expend the energy inside the animal not on a tree 30 metres downrange.

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
Mate i have rolled heaps and i mean heaps of sambar,big and small with my old seven mill.... let me tell you that do not need the premium bullets,i have used win 150 (and 175) gr power points for a high 90`s % of my harvests and that is extremely successfully. Hit them in the shoulder with this combo and your animal is dead.

The combination of win pill and calibre out does the rest....Coreloks? what are they? Most UN-impressed,Nosler P`s? too hard! Remember that you want to expend the energy inside the animal not on a tree 30 metres downrange.

Hi gryphon1
You reckon it is all hype about the premium bullets to get you to buy them?,I thought so.
So you reckon just go for Winchester PP?,do they have them as a separate reloading component?or do you have to buy them in their ammo?
Thanks for the tip mate
What rifle would you choose out of Mossberg 4x4(Just thinking about this one)Tikka T3,Howa
Chers
Dale

quote:

Stick to the 7MMREMMAG 7X57,7MM08 are little boys guns

Well, if you want to be really specific, anything less than a 9.3x62 is a little boys gun - including your 7mm Rem Mag!

Dale i have offered my comment re my Win and in 7mm mag cal,i will buy another new one when they arrive in Australia early next year however i did look closely at the T3 and nearly bought one...the new new Win will be far better.



The current one i have had for nearly 30 years,it has been an extremely faithful servant in that time and if the day comes that i need to go to a bigger calibre for Sambar i will give it all away.

I have a 300 Sako Win Mag,also a 308 Norma mag but neither of them kill a sambar stag any better than my 7mm and i have taken sambar deer with both of them.

My hunting partner carries a 9.3 x 62 ....he needs follow up shots at times.He did use an `06 Bar that he took several hundred sambar with too.
Dale we get out there and do it often we are not keyboard hunters and can go on the experience gained in many years of it.

quote:

Originally posted by BwanaBob:

quote:

Stick to the 7MMREMMAG 7X57,7MM08 are little boys guns

Well, if you want to be really specific, anything less than a 9.3x62 is a little boys gun - including your 7mm Rem Mag!

How true that is,compared to the .366 cal
Good point
Cheers
Dale

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
Dale i have offered my comment re my Win and in 7mm mag cal,i will buy another new one when they arrive in Australia early next year however i did look closely at the T3 and nearly bought one...the new new Win will be far better.



The current one i have had for nearly 30 years,it has been an extremely faithful servant in that time and if the day comes that i need to go to a bigger calibre for Sambar i will give it all away.

I have a 300 Sako Win Mag,also a 308 Norma mag but neither of them kill a sambar stag any better than my 7mm and i have taken sambar deer with both of them.

My hunting partner carries a 9.3 x 62 ....he needs follow up shots at times.He did use an `06 Bar that he took several hundred sambar with too.
Dale we get out there and do it often we are not keyboard hunters and can go on the experience gained in many years of it.

gryphon 1
good point about not being keyboard hunters,I feel like I am until I can get out there.
I'm leaning towards the Tikka T3 or the Howa,I want to get a rifle in 7mmRem Mag by the long weekend in November to go hunting,so cannot wait until Winchester come out,so it will be a rifle from the three I mentioned,Mossberg 4x4 Tikka T3 or Howa.
Got a quote from my gundealer,the Howa is cheaper than the Mossberg 4x4 ($705 Blue/Black Synthetic stock or Black Synthetic stock and Marincote $778),Howa ($671 Blue Synthetic or $850 camo/Stainless)or Tikka T3 ($940 Blue/synthetic)
Decisions decisions
What would you go for?
Cheers
Dale

the T3 in camo,saves taping it up

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
the T3 in camo,saves taping it up

Yeah,I was leaning to that mate
Thanks for that
Cheers
Dale

I'd go with the T3 out of that bunch . Stainless laminate would be my choice but the camo looks OK . Availability could be an issue .

No question, get the T-3.
LD

I would go the Howa - no plastic bits....

If you went the Vanguard you could have the 300 Wby... real Sambar medicine..

Dale

While it is true that the vast majority of your shots taken using standard type projectiles will be successfull, the premium bullets come in handy when the shot has to be taken when things aren't perfect - like at a running away animal or an extreme quartering shot etc. And you can bet your boots that it will be the trophy of a lifetime that presents such a shot.

To my way of thinking premium projectiles are worth the extra money - at the end of the day you have probably invested significant $$ on a vehicle, rifle, scope, binos, clothing, boots, not to mention time and effort to get out hunting so you may as well arm yourself with projectiles that will give you the best chance of success if things aren't perfect. That projectile potentially has to make it thru all manner of obstacles to get to, and destroy, vital organs.

I really like my 7mmRM and have used it for many years to cull brumbies, pigs and scrub bulls but I think at most normal hunting distances any of the 7mm's, especially with the premium projectiles, would be just as good.

Regardless of cal the trick is to get that bullet into the right spot.

Just my thoughts.

Cheers.

GG

quote:

Originally posted by Dale Hodges:

Hi Dave
I like the Woodleigh bullets and the Noslers,what do you think of Speers Grand Slam???

Cheers
Dale

G'day Dale. I haven't tried the Speer GS.
Sorry can't help you there.
But thinking on Griff's post, I have had good results with both the Power Point, and Corelokt in 150gr. In a 7x57R, not the Mag.
But with all due deference to Gryphon, I feel that I tend to use Partitions for those days when things go wrong, not when everything goes well.
It could be that the construction of them has changed (I am still working through a batch of 20 year old 175's) but they all perform as advertised. The projectile expands nicely up to the partition, and the base drives through the critter.
For sure, Griff has shot a lot more Sambar than I have, but so far I have no complaints with the Partitions.
JMHO.

Best of luck.

S9.3/Dave
We all have our ideas of course and i try and base mine on my own experiences or of " being there" when it happened etc.
Corloks? Many swear by them...i dont so far,i bought a pack of 20 a year back as there were no Wins in the shop (Gamehunter Epping) and still have 18 left,i shot a stag in the shoulder and found him the next day,a same situation that using the Winchester`s would have dropped him on the spot, ( i swear) a hind i shot this year through the shoulder went 350 yards,i thought i had missed/shot high as the bullet raised a mist off the wet grass behind her...it was a pass through and geezuz i hate that,i like the bomb to go off inside the deer not on a tree down range,none the less she was dead but the same scenario with the Wins has a far quicker effect and its usually on the spot.She is in the dry spur country pic.

I dont doubt the corloks ability but i myself would rather the Wins so far.

A stag i shot with my Sako 300 Win mag this year copped a Nosler partition 180 right through his shoulder,the bullet smacked the bank behind him (pass through) so loudly that when he immediately turned and ran from the shot i thought that once again i had shot high (very steep) although i had told myself to hold lower for the incline,i found that stag nearly 300 metres away after some diligent tracking right on dark...he is only a little rat but he still took that 180 Nosler for a 300 yard ride still. He is in the pic with my GF that decided to come along "for a look".

I will throw in a hind that i took earlier this year with a norma vulkan in 7mm, a mate gave me a few to try..she dropped dead as on the spot,that was a shoulder shot too,she is in the green gully pic..

Last but not least 2 weeks ago i took young Mick into my spot "X" and kept him calm enough to take this neat stag using his 375 Ruger with 260 gr accubonds.. it smacked though the shoulder and passed through, the stag threw his tail up and ran full bore straight at us both for 40 odd yards then did several circles on the ground right in front of us,Mick asked "will i shoot him again" "nope he`s dead" that stag was rubbing a tree when i found him and was shot un alarmed with a fairly heavy hitter,yep he`s dead but i have shot plenty much the same way with 7mm mag 150 grain pp`s and i can swear that they usually drop on the spot! Why? Dont know,is it a power to weight combo/ratio that seems to work so well? Who knows i can only tell you how it is after using the Winchesters for most of the sambar i have rolled over nearly 30 years. .the fern camo rifle is my old 7mm....new barrel soon, its new B+C stock is in the mail as i type and its new Zeiss arrived in yesterday`s mail,hope to blood it soon too.

I have to add i did shoot a hind up the pooper one day over the hounds,i used a Nosler P 150 in my 7mm...it dropped her on the spot and i thought then that it was a bloody hard pill..in the 300`s the Nosler p`s will often pass right through the hinds and smaller sambar..my 308 Norma mag using Nosler P`s Swiss cheesed them. I am an extreme believer that the energy should be expended INSIDE the animal,others will say they like the big hole out the other side to leave a good blood trail...not needed if hit right and with the right pill...keep the energy in for far quicker kills and any sambar thus shot in the shoulder will bleed plenty if one has to follow at all.

Gryphon, I agree completely about the dumping the energy in the animal thing. The older Partitions I have been using will usually expand back to the partition, leaving only the base section to fully penetrate the critter. At least, that's all I have ever been able to find after the critter is down.

I do understand what you are saying about the Corelokts. I have seen a few projectile fail miserably (not necessarily CoreLokts, some Silvertips as well) but have a good deal of respect for the Power Points.
For several years I used the 130 PP exclusively in my old 270 on pigs, with never a failure.
Good, inexpensive projectiles, IMHO.

Addit: I have also had very good results with the Norma SP 154gr. Run at 7x57R speeds, it is a reliable performer on deer, with good shot placement.
Can't speak for it at 7mm Mag speeds, but at the 2500 fps or so it is doing, it works very well.

Hi ya Fellas
Just an update on the rifle front.

Went to buy a Tikka T3 Lite in 7mmRem,the distributor has no more and won't be in until next year,could of got a Tikka T3 in 7 mm WSM,but I wanted the 7mm Rem.

I gave the Mossberg the flick,could not get a Savage in 7mmRem,so went with the Howa 1500 Camo/Stainless in 7mmRem,maybe I should have went with the Hogue stocked one's for they have pillar bedded the actions,the camo one's do not have pillar beds.
So just waiting for my permit ot purchase to come and pick it up.
What scope and mounts and rings would you suggest?
I was thinking of a 3x9 or 2x7 scope???
Cheers
Dale.

Either would do if you already had it, but I'd probably lean toward the 3-9x40 in a decent scope if you were buying just for this rifle.

Best of luck.

my three deer rifles all have 2 x7 Leupolds on them....until two days ago when i screwed a 3.5 x 10 Zeiss onto my favourite 7mm,i love it!

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
my three deer rifles all have 2 x7 Leupolds on them....until two days ago when i screwed a 3.5 x 10 Zeiss onto my favourite 7mm,i love it!

gryphon1
I was thinking of going with the 2x7 Leupold,then I thought of a good 3x9 from Leupold or Burris.
Zeiss would be well out of my price range,but I can dream.
Cheers
Dale

IMO the 7mm Rem Mag is one of the most ideal cartridges in the hunting world. It's accurate and powerful enough for all but the largest and most dangerous game animals, it's been around long enough and is common enough that ammo is not that difficult to find. And it dosen't have the recoil of the .30 caliber magnums (of which I have two).

I've had two 7mm Rem Mags, both Remington 700's. I took each to Africa on separate safaris, making one shot kills on everything from Duiker to Kudu and Blue Wildebeest, and also to the Artic for Caribou and Musk Ox.

My current 7mm RM is a Stainless Rem 700 BDL with a Rem composite stock that is glass bedded and has the barrel fully floated. It is topped with a Weaver 3-9x scope. Nothing fancy, but it works! It consistantly shoots 160 gr Accubonds under 1 MOA to 200 yds.

quote:

Originally posted by buffybr:
IMO the 7mm Rem Mag is one of the most ideal cartridges in the hunting world. It's accurate and powerful enough for all but the largest and most dangerous game animals, it's been around long enough and is common enough that ammo is not that difficult to find. And it dosen't have the recoil of the .30 caliber magnums (of which I have two).

I've had two 7mm Rem Mags, both Remington 700's. I took each to Africa on separate safaris, making one shot kills on everything from Duiker to Kudu and Blue Wildebeest, and also to the Artic for Caribou and Musk Ox.

My current 7mm RM is a Stainless Rem 700 BDL with a Rem composite stock that is glass bedded and has the barrel fully floated. It is topped with a Weaver 3-9x scope. Nothing fancy, but it works! It consistantly shoots 160 gr Accubonds under 1 MOA to 200 yds.

buffybr
Hi mate
With what replies I'm getting from all the members here and finding information on the 7mmRemMag on the internet,I think I will really love it and I cannot wait to get it in my hands
You remarked that ammo is not that hard to find,you are right,a little town where I go had Remington Premium Core-lockt ammo 175gr,for $8-9 cheaper than the local gundealer I go to,so I snapped them up

If I can get under 1 MOA at 200yds,I WILL be happy

Thanks for the reply
Cheers

Dale

gryphon1

Have to say mate
Nice looking deer you got there,I'd be happy with just one.


Signed Envious
Dale