Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How good is a 7mm remington mag for a longer range rifle.

I haven't seen any real difference on deer or elk sized animals between a 270 WSM, 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag with similar if not the same bullets (Nosler Partitions). I have seen elk take the hits a little harder with my Whelen and 338 Win Mag.

Saying that, I picked the 7mm Rem Mag as my first rifle and could've stopped right there and been just fine. Whenever someone asks me about which cartridge they should look at, the 7mm Rem Mag is first. Especially for a non hand loader, a box of 160 Partitions as loaded by Federal is amazing as is the Winchester loaded 160 Accubonds.

I really liked the 7mm's so much I had a 7mm Mashburn made up. Fires 175 PTs the same speed as my 300 Weatherby does the 200 Partition. Lighter recoil and a lighter rifle.

If I could rewind 20 years I'd be just fine with an excellent 7mm Rem built by a great smith that weighed 8lbs loaded. Probably be money ahead in the search for perfect.

Today is the first time I've read any of this, but before the scope discussion I was thinking Leopold 2.5X8 with the B&C Reticle.
I use one on a 338-06 with 210 Noslers and getting over 400 yards is a cinch
A seven Mag with the same should do 500 easy.

Very little left to add here. For me, the 7mm x 180 grain x 3000 fps bullet hits the recoil sweet spot while yielding great ballistics.

Meaning it's about all I care to shoot (a lot) in a hunting weight rifle. The T3 may or may not be twisted right to optimize this.

However, for the range you mentioned, I would not go that big. .280 Rem is fine. Some have allegedly run the lowly 30-06 and .270 just fine a longer ranges ...

But the 7 RM should sizzle at 500.

With today scopes and bullets,the 7 RM gets to 500 and way beyond that easily.


Actually it always did. I've killed with it to 500 yards and with nothing more complex than a fixed 4X scope and seen the same on mature bull elk at the same distance. This with common 140-160 gr bullets.

Loaded to full potential and sighted correctly,it offers a substantially flatter trajectory to 500-600 yards, than anything on a standard case I can think of....sort of a game saver at times.

Bob,
For the 160gr bullets (Partition/Accubond), what is "full potential", about 3000-3100fps? zero at about 250-300yds?
Inquiring minds who own a 7mmRM want to know.

160 AB @ 3000fps, zero for MPBR. In my case 3" high @ 100 yds.

Sponx: Yes. Or a 140 at 3200-3250....or a 150 at 3100-3150.....

With those velocities and zeroed 2.75"-3" high at 100 (precisely! Don't cheat!), you will be app. POA at 300 yards,maybe a tad low....,anywhere from 8-12" low at 400 depending on the bullet,and app. 2 feet low at 500 yds.

But you have all those lines, dots and turrets to help you today once you get past 400.


Before someone tells me I will miss at mid range with this sight setting, forget it. I am used to it having done it successfully for about 40 years now.

Thanks,
That is what I had calculated, and trying to load to. Dang work doesn't allow much time for tweaking loads and shooting.



With 3" high at 100yd, unless you are holding on the back of really small critters at less than 300yds you shouldn't miss.
What is max altitude of that MPBR? 4"?

Yes...maybe less. It depends on the bullet but those numbers are for Nosler Partitions,Sierra's etc. More standard bullets.

The plastic tipped bullets may show more midrange and I found the formula did not work for Swift SS 150 gr. I had to lower 100 yd zero to 2" high and I still had a 300 yd zero, or close to it.

A 162 Amax will also shoot "flatter" than the stuff I typically use.

Good idea to shoot the distances to confirm which I always do.

Probably about a 340 yard MPBR.

I have always used the 140 Nosler partition. It fit the A dial on the old Redfield Accutrac scopes real well. The built in range finder worked real well too. A 140 partition will punch through both shoulders of a 150 buck at 600 yds. You can't beat a 7 mags if you consider how much power vs recoil. In my opinion

If that was a guess it is pretty close. At 7500 ft altitude and 50F degrees my calculator suggests about 348 yards. That is with a max rise or fall of 3.85" above or below line of sight or MPBR for a 7.7" target. Zero range would be 295 yards. Approximate retained velocity and energy of 2624fps and 2446fpe.

Not much different than a 140g AB @ 3214fps and 3" high at 100. 307 yard zero, 360 yard MPBR. Approximate retained energy and velocity of 2666fps, 2208fpe.

At 600 yards they measure up about like this:
140AB: -39.3", 2335fps, 1694fpe, 17.1" 10mph drift
160AB: -42.7", 2309fps, 1894fpe, 16.2" 10mph drift.

My own preference is to MPBR sight for a smaller 6" target (vs 7.7" in the above calculation.) Max rise/drop from line of sight is 3", zero is 277 yards, MPBR 326 yards. with a 140g AB at 3214fps/7500ft/50F. (3214fps is my chrono'd M.V.) Since 1982 when I started all but 4 or 5 of my kills have been closer than 326 (including antelope) so the 6" target MPBR works well for me. For mule deer keep it on fur out to around 450 yards, about 500 yards for elk. (This obviously depends on where you want to hit, shoulder joint, vertical center, heart, etc.). And, obviously, you need to check the trajectory at the range, not just with a calculator.

you shoot to confirm??
... "buh..., but it was boresighted at the store"
I may need to push the 160PTs a litte more to get 3000fps, try different primer. Will kill just fine at 2950fps though

I have shot the 7mag for many years. I have killed gobs of deer using the 139-grain Interlock loaded to 3100 fps. The 140 Accubond or Partition is also good.

My favorite elk load is a Partition loaded to 3000fps. I have killed elk at 326, 400 and 443 yards using this load.

Out to 500 yards, you will not need to worry about splitting hairs with bc. All that bc crap is good for, is if you intend to push it to 800-1000 yards and beyond.

I got my first rifle cheap in a trade, or I would probably be shooting an 06, but I have sure had good luck with my 7 mags.

They have been pretty much shelved, as I do not hunt elk much anymore and my .308s get the most use on deer. I will soon be adding a .260 Rem to that group, too.

You laugh but the first elk I saw on the ground was killed with a Browning 7mm RM with a scope that was bore-sighted at the gun store. The hunter had never shot the rifle. That was my first year big game hunting, 1982.

The lack of practice wiht the rifle and scope didn't matter as the hunter and the bull were standing under the canopy of the same pine tree when the shot was fired. The hunter couldn't see "anything but brown" through the scope so he used the rifle like a shotgun.

Luck happens.

I only have one 7mm. It's a BDL 700 that Hill Country Rifles tuned. I added a Williams steel guard/floorplate and it's ready to go. I haven't killed anything with it yet, but that'll soon change. It shoots quite well at 200 with 160 Partitions. I wouldn't feel too sorry for myself if this was my only big-game rifle.
Bob

Oh I dunno. I checked zero on my '06 last night, then picked a gallon of wild blueberries while I was out there on the tundra.

Aim point was a white 4x5 1/2 inch card at 325 long paces, taped to a 30 inch square of brown cardboard. I forgot the rangefinder but was probably within 4 yards plus or minus. Rifle wears a 3.5-10x Leupold used on high, previosly (last November) zeroed at 300 yards. A 3 round group using only a front rest strung along the bottom edge of the card with only about a half inch vertical separation and about 5 horizontal. That was me of course. One shot at target out another 90 paces with a hold about one card height over the card and both a front and back rest (day and fanny pack) centered the card and I called it good enough ! 150 grain factory Hornady Superperformance with an advertised 3080fps.

Last year I popped two caribou maybe 2 minutes apart with the rig , using the snow machine windscreen for a rest ( forgot I had the Bog-pod with me. The first was an eyeballed 300 ( actually worked out to 290), the second was a ranged 433 yards, using line of back holdover. Both were double-lunged, one shot each.

I'd say a 3-9 scope will do just as well - ain't that much difference. I've never liked the 7 Mag personally, but it will do fine. It doesn't have anything ballistically on the '06 to 300 under hunting conditions but then it becomes marginally flatter after that, assuming similar bullet weights. It will kill anything at 500 that an '06 or 300 Mag will with proper placement.

Oh yes - a few years ago I killed a caribou at 356 long paces with a 17 inch barreled '06 wearing a 2-7 Leupold, one shot. Using a prone position and literally rock solid rest that I built up myself from a few flat slate pieces and my cap for a pad. That was not an "under-powered" scope either.....

True, I estimated the range (pre rangefinder) at 300, but a heart shot works as well as a lung shot. That had nothing to do with the scope's power. It's good when one gets lucky!

Personally, I could hunt with a 6x fixed power the rest of my life and never look back. I'd not feel underscoped to 500 yards. In fact the longest shot I ever made - well in excess of 500 yards- was made with a 3-9 steel tubed Weaver set on 3 power. Long story why. but my eyes were 40 years younger then and certainly seeing the first bullet kick up snow on the hillside below her didn't hurt any for applying Kentucky windage on the second shot, which centered her lungs.

Alas , I only have one 6x ....and several more rifles than that. Tho I love the 3.5-10x Vari-X III that I have on my Tundra gun. It was given to me so what's not to like?

Nothing wrong with the higher powers tho if you don't mind the bulk and weight. Compromises are everywhere.

Sponxx,

With 160 grain Partitions and H-4831. According to my chrono, I get just over 3100FPS. Keep in mind this load was taken from circa 1975 loading data. It shoots well in my rifle, and will one-shot kill huge elk. Newer data list my H-4831 load as above maximum, which is ironic because it was listed as 3 grains under max when it was printed.

My 150 grain load come right outta Nosler's manual: 63 grains of IMR 4350 for just over 3200 FPS. This will shoot very tiny groups.

I'm prone to thinking that a 150 grain Partition might be the best single bullet for all North American big game. If I were to hunt the biggest bear, I'd go with a 175 grain Partition.

I don't shoot anything lighter than 150 grain bullets. If a lighter bullet will get the job done, I'll take a .270 Win, which I'll assuredly do from here on out.

R-22, which is really Norma's MRP, will give highest velocity. H-4831 might be the most versatile 7MM Rem Mag powder. It also provides excellent accuracy.

BTW, I've bought a 100 Norma brass. It was expensive, nearly a buck a piece. But they ought to last many, many years.

The 7MM Rem Mag was created as a long range elk rifle. In that capacity, none are better. In really it is more gun than necessary for the largest mule deer. But for a hunter who wants to own only one gun, a 7MM Rem Mag is hard to beat, especially if you hand load.

I own a Belgian Browning, a beautiful rifle. It is closing in on 50 years old. I've never hunted with it. I've never brought it on a hunt. It's chambered for .338 Win Mag, which is far too much gun for everything in North America except the largest bear.