Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The 10 Most Overrated Cartridges

No, if the sales numbers are high that means it is very popular and it is popular because it is a good round. Lots of people buy them and shoot them. There is a reason for that. You do grasp that concept right?

There is a reason for it. Because its overrated

Petzal has plenty of experience with the 7mm Remington Magnum, along with a bunch of other cartridges in the same basic class, including the .270, .280, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, .30-06, etc.

I would guess that one reason he calls it overrated is the "magic" many hunters considered it to have when first introduced. Here in Montana a lot of 'em would often roll their shoulders, almost flexing them, while saying, "I shoot a SEVEN." They thought it was far more powerful than the .270 and .30-06, and some of 'em thought it was more powerful than the .300 Winchester Magnum. I have no idea why.

One of my good friends in the gun-writing fraternity got one when he was working at his first adult job at a Montana sawmill in the 1970sl. He handloaded the Speer 160-grain Mag-Tip with a load the Speer manual of the day said got over 3000 fps. He killed a bunch of game with his Seven, including elk, deer, and some big black bears, and it knocked the snot out of 'em.

When he started gun writing, he of course bought a chronograph, partly because they were becoming more affordable. He found out his magic load was getting around 2700 fps at the muzzle, about like a warmly-loaded 7x57. He also found a lot of the factory ammo of the day (but not all) was getting .270 or .30-06 velocities. The reason his Seven worked so well, of course, is that he was good shot.

I have nothing against the 7mm RM, and have not only had at least one of various makes in my collection for many years but killed quite a bit of game with the round--and seen hunting partners do the same, both in North America and Africa. It's a fine cartridge, but have never found it quite as magic as many regarded it in the 1960s and 70s, when a lot of hunters judged cartridges on the size of the case (and also perhaps the magic magnum belt) rather than actual ballistics.

For many years I wanted to hate the 270 WCF, then I compared it with the 7mm RM and found it largely identical. Except the 270 would accept another round down in the magazine. No creature you can shoot with one will know the difference from the other. Begrudgingly, I have become a fan of the 270 WCF. From 130 grain to 160 grain, it is a killer.

Nah, he's got a good sense of humor& likes to poke fun................besides, he's 100% right about the 378 Wby. Absolutely the most wicked fast, sharp & painful recoil of any rifle I've ever shot.

MM

Great summary of the 7 Mag..........couldn't have said it any better myself.

Perfectly good round if you like it's recoil, but magic it is not................good bullets & better shooting make it work.

MM

Most average / typical shooters can hit more consistently with a 270 than a 7 Mag....................that alone makes it more effective for most hunters.

MM

Yep. IF the 7mm RM is actually getting "magnum" velocities, the recoil isn't exactly fierce, but in a typical rifle it's somewhat above the level which some (not all) hunters can tolerate.

In fact, I find myself unwilling to put up with as much recoil as I did when younger. Can still shoot a .375 H&H accurately, but don't hunt with one much anymore because that sort of power isn't required for much big game.

And after experimenting with Reloder 26 in the .270 Winchester a couple years, to see if 26 was indeed the new magic velocity powder, I found it could indeed push 150-grain bullets to around 3100 fps using published data, even from the 22" barrel of my O'Connor Commemorative Model 70 Featherweight--which with scope happens to weigh exactly the same as Jack O'Connor's favorite Model 70 .270, eight pounds. Eight isn't considered a real lightweight anymore, but I found that with RL-26 and 150s my rifle kicked more like (guess what?) a 7mm Remington Magnum. And I'd never seen a .270 150 Partition "fail" on a big animal because it was only started at 2900 fps--and that includes elk, similar-sized African plains game, and the quikest-deadest bull moose I've ever seen killed. So decided that if I want 7mm RM ballistics I'll use a 7mm RM, not a .270

Petzal definitely hit a home run with his byline. I would again state that the proof is in the pudding with my comparison to JB. John does what a lot of very good writers, the favorites(JOC, EK, FA, PS, CB and even TW) do and it is the stuff of the hot stove league that drives home what I like about good gun writing. He has very concrete details(I take a hit and say that EK was a bit more about the story) but does something that I don't get out of Petzal. I know JBs guns. I know that he likes his NULA 30/06 and that he owns a 270 JOC that I like too. He has sold some of his guns but he is into drillings and european doubles now. He could and probably still does travel the world but he has been there and done that and concentrates on the finer elements of life in Montana before the Californios(Liberal expats that are invading Bozman and Butte) muck up the country. Hell, I know a lot of the guns that his wife Eileen uses. He takes you along on the trip. Craig and Donna do too. I not only know about Phil's guns but I know what his kids use. I have no clue what Petzal uses and it seems that he has no favorites. I know that Ron Spomer loves his lightweights. Petzal, as I have said, knows a lot more about guns than I do and is probably a nice guy, but I get a glimmer or glint of Russell Annabelle who was a fantastic story teller until you find out that he appropriated stories like Peter Capstick from bars and taverns throughout the north.

I have what used to be good friend(prior to his present wife) who was a fantastic writer(still is but continue following) who could have been one of the best outdoor writers of all time. I say that with an understanding of what is good and what is trash. He still has four or five books and probably 300 or 400 articles that are all very popular. He hunted throughout the arctic and even in other countries and you knew about his 243 sako mannlicher that he used to great effect. He wrote about handloading and he even developed loads for his rifle with his audience along. He wrote very well for about 10 years and then out of his solitary bachelor life, he married a liberal. He is now the freaking torch bearer for wolfsong and is a complete bunnyhugger. This guy who I went on winter sheep hunts and fall caribou hunts is as green as a girl scout. He still writes a monthly byline but the energy and the personal voice of his writing is gone. His present wife took his balls and he lives like a house cat in southern Florida writing about his halcyon days in the North. That is what I get from Petzal. He is one of those guys who believes unequivocally that he is right and is the expert. He has quit learning. Right now, it is the golden days of outdoor writing, tons of new hunters have entered the woods. I believe that we will squander this time. That is why I was a bit pessimistic. I probably would like Petzal a lot but he comes off as a know-it-all.

Exactly where I've evolved to.

All my magnums below 338 caliber are gone & I've killed more stuff with the 270 & 150 grain Partitions than with all other BG cartridges combined.

MM

M M - What you said is true for a lot or some hunters, no argument.

For Me, Noticeable Recoil BEGINS with my 8 mm Rem Mag. 80 grs - IMR 4831 - 200 gr Nos, 3100 FPS.
JRS wound up close to that with 220 gr bullets.

** Again - My load in the 700 BDL is less punishing than the 338 WM in a 77 Tanger (OG). I've experienced that.

I have absolutely NO trouble shooting my T3X Lite SS 7mm RM. Not only have I killed WT but also coyotes.


Nov 23, 2020



I never think about recoil with that gun 'before' or 'after' making the shot. I've made kills on WT & coyotes out to 300 yds

My load in MY rifle is only +/- 8 " low at 400 yds. ( 3" Hi at 100 yds ) That is what I like about it.


As we all know (I think) recoil tolerance is an individual thing.

Jerry

7.62x39

I grasp that the 7 mag has been down loaded since its introduction and was not over rated until the down loading of the cartridge. The 7 rem mag has about the same capacity as the 7mm bea and should have about the same velocity

The 7mm Weatherby is capable of somewhat more velocity, due to the "freebore" (longer throat) than the short throat in the 7mm RM. SAAMI also allows the 7mm Wby.. a 65,000 PSI Maximum average pressure, versus 61,000 for the 7mm RM. This, plus the 26" barrels often used on Weatherby rifles, often results in a 100+ fps advantage tor the Weatherby.

And as I have noted a few times here and there, everybody "knows" another 100 fps of muzzle velocity makes a VAST difference in "killing power".....

Coors Light is very popular, but that doesn't make it good beer.

No it doesn't make much difference in killing power, a magnum should have magnum velocity. The 7mm original got 3070 fps with 175 grain bullet according to the chronograph rest from Speer in 1969
Throating issues seems to be why the 7 mag was watered down

It's a statistical issue actually.

Jwp,

Dunno about any Speer chronograph test in 1969. Where did you find that?

But my #6 Speer manual (published in 1964) includes a big list of chronograph tests of factory ammo in their test rifles. The 175-grain factory load got 2990 fps from a Remington 700. The 150-grain Remington ammo got 3135 fps.

MD needs a sarcasm emoji too.

😁

1969 manuel. Throated correctly the 7mm rem can produce excellent velocity. In terms of killi game well the 7X57 and 7/08 does that well