I had a 264 before I had 7mm RM's. The 264 was a fine cartridge. I shot a lot of crows with it. I also shot jack rabbits, raccoons, and badgers. I only shot one deer with it. I sold the 264 after that. Bullet selection was only one each for game, IMO. That was the 140 grain Nosler Partition made on screw machines.
The guy I sold it to used it on long range PD's. It was his first center fire.
I have a bunch of 7mm bullets on my shelves. I own or I've owned, 7 TCU, & 7 International, 7x57, 7mm-08, 280 and 7mm RM's. Plus I cast bullets for the 7mm.
Of all those cartridges I suppose I like the 280 best. But I have 3ea. 7mm RM's. The two 700 7mm RM's I have are less than 1 MOA with loads I've tried. The Ruger 77 is about twice that in MOA capability, still not bad.
The 7mm RM is a mild recoiling rifle that even my arthritic shoulder can handle easily.
I for one do not believe that it has lost it's popularity.
However, there seems to be more and more cartridges coming out and more loads for old cartridges (270) that are in the category of "I can almost get 7mm RM performance with this amazing cartridge." Which is as good of praise as it gets, I suppose.
