Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7mm mag or 300 win. mag?

I currently own a nice LH Model 70 in 338mag. I bought it years ago for some elk hunting out west. Been there, done that, now because of age and interests I just don't use it anymore.
I would like to rebarrel to either a 7mag or 300mag. If I do use it, it'll be for mule deer or whitetail and maybe elk again someday if my son every would end up with it.
I've become a little recoil shy and the 338 off the bench is just no more fun to shoot, so I'm thinking maybe the 300mag isn't what I want either.
But I would like to hear some opinions on the two either way.

A 264WM would be nice if you handload.

I'd go for the 7mm. Less recoil than the .300 and very effective on deer sized critters and elk.

As a deer rifle (WT or MD) and occasional elk outfit, the 7mm RM has few detractors - and recoils less than the 300's.

I set up my 7mm to shoot 140 TSX's to cover all the bases you mention, although my primary elk rifle is a 300 SAUM. After much gacking and experience solicitation, I'd not sweat using the 140's on Elks either.........

7mmRM gets my vote.

For what you want, 7mm RM, 140 or 150 TSX and never look back.

For me it is a slam dunk to the 7 RM side, I find it more user friendly and just as capable in the field.

But, in all honesty I could hunt the world with either.

And, I should qualify this with the fact that I try to run 1K rounds a year thru my big 7 and from the ground some days get a bit longish when I was running the 300's or 340's.

Dober

In rifles of approximately equal weight, I can't tell much difference in recoil between the two. I have been working with a CZ Model 3 in .300 WSM with 200 grain AccuBonds at 2,900 fps, and the recoil is not as objectional as 175s at a little over 2,800 in my old Ruger 77 in 7mm Rem Mag. They weigh about the same, but the CZ has a better recoil pad.

Obviously, either would work well for your intended use. If it were me, it would boil down to finding a good deal on one or the other in the rifle that I wanted to hunt with.

I have shot all three and to me the 7RM is way gentler to the shoulder. Hard to beat a 7Rm. Only downside it's not COOL..... I could care less but resale of a 7RM is about as bad as it gets.

Dave

That's why I shoot a 7 Mashburn Super it has panache...

I can't speak for your area, but it our area it is one of the easiest rounds to sell in terms of resale.

Dober

It's been a while since I have looked at the ballistics charts, but when I was making the same decision you are now making I looked at the charts and determined that when using 160gr projectiles, (The most useful projectile in either caliber in my opinion) the 300WM would have more energy and flatter trajectory inside 300yds because of it's superior muzzle velocity. However, past 300yds due to the superior BC of 7mm projectiles, the 7mmRM retained more energy and had flatter trajectory than the 300WM. I reasoned that the ranges where the extra energy and trajectory would realy matter were those beyond 300yds and any advantage inside that range would be purely acedemic because they are not appreciable enough for any game animal to tell the difference.

From my experience shooting hundreds of rounds of both species, I have subjectively concluded that the recoil from the 7mmRM is the least pleasent of the two. While objectively the 300WM has a higher recoil load, I find it to be more of a fast shove. The 7mm, on the other hand, is more of a sharp punch which is more noticeable even at lower recoil loadings. (There are scientific principles to explain this effect but I will leave it at that unless asked more about it.)

Similarly, I settled on 160gr projectiles from the 7mm because of the subjective recoil factor and its versatility for use over a broad spectrum of game at various distances. Put simply, I can shoot 40 rounds of hot 160gr hand loads before I start to get tired while I can usually only tolerate about 10 rounds shooting factory loaded 140gr projectiles. My hypothosis: That even though the 140gr projectile has a lower recoil load, being lighter, it accelerates at a quicker rate during it's progression down the bore. There being an equal and opposite effect, the rifle is accelerated in the opposite direction toward the shooter. Since the lighter projectile accelerates quicker in one direction, I have observed that this causes the rifle to accelerate more quickly in the opposite direction, thus resulting in a quicker peak in acceleration even though it achieves a lower over all impulse.

The result on the shooter is that even though there is less recoil from the 140gr projectile, the shooter subjectively finds that recoil less pleasent than shooting a 160 gr projectile.

To me the difference is enough that I turn black and blue after using 10 rounds of 140's and have no lasting effects after shooting up to 40 160's

The difference in subjective recoil between the 300WM and the 7mmRM (with the 300 being more pleasent) are not as noticable as those noticed when varying the loads in the 7mmRM. However they are still noticeable, but not enough that it influenced me to trade the 7mmRM's superior long range ballistics for the more pleasent recoil of the 300WM.

Thats the first Ive ever heard that a 7mmRMs recoil is worse in any way, than a 300WMs....

Huh......?

Dober

For what you are describing, 7mm MAG, STW or, better yet, 7mm Ultra would be ideal all around. With Barnes TSX bullets you will be able to do it all, and well.

Just my experience, It might be a different story with the next guy being that he might find different aspects of shooting subjectively more or less enjoyable than I do.

I've now read on the 'net that:

The .338 Win Mag is more objectionable than the .375 H&H;
the .300 Win is worse than the .338;
now, the 7mm Rem Mag is sharper than the .300 Win...
... and gets worse with lighter bullets.

Following that progression I'm thinking most will reach their recoil tolerance threshold around the .25-06, and should not even consider a 6mm - the resulting flinch would be horrific.

Does this mean I screwed up my kid by starting him with the 7-08? If he develops a flinch would the likes of a Lott be the cure?

by that equation the 338 win mag is more pleasent than the 7mmRm. Having shot both, this is not a conclusion that I can support.

Accordingly the 7-08 will be just fine for you kid because it accelerates an identical projectile at a slower rate.

Like I said these are just my subjective experiences, It might be a different story with the next guy being that he might find different aspects of shooting subjectively more or less enjoyable than I do. If you don't like my conclusions, that's fine come shoot the same rifles I have shot and decide fro yourself. Even then you are welcome to come to a different conclusion because like I said, the human interpretation of felt recoil is subjective and sometimes entirely individual.

You see, under this SUBJECTIVE interpretation, argumentation cannot conclude whether it is OBJECTIVELY right or wrong.

I like this. 7mm mag is a good one too. If 338 Win is too much, I'd say 300 Win is too much as well.

I had a 7RM back in the day when they were sexy. It was a good rifle and shot well, and the recoil was manageable, but the ammo was not as available in remote areas I was stationed in those days. I sold it and picked up a 30-06. Not a lot of difference in real world hunting terms.

I also have a 300 WM and it is a fine rifle. It recoils about 25% more than the 30-06 and about 15% more than the 7Mag in similarly equipped rifles. If I have to take extra recoil, then I want all the performance I can get, so give me the 300 Winmag. Shucks, you can always load it down to equal a 7Mag. And if you want/need some extra horsepower, step on the pedal, and let 'er rip.

No question in my mind -- 30 mag all the way!

need to know if you handload but my vote would be (seeing how you shoot backasswards and have a somewhat rare duck there )

cool factor and biggest bang would leave the action alone (so the 338 tube can be reinstalled with ZERO fuss! ) and install a barrel contoured to match and chambered in ,,,, drum roll............................................................

257 weatherby!!! why pound yourself to kill some long legged dogs? dress up and strut your stuff with the original death ray.... quarter roy on a lefty 70 classic would be the balls.....

why, just show the deer the box of ammo and they would fall over dead.....

if elk ever show up just shoot the smith a small bill and have him swap the tubes for ya'. no headspace issues etc....

do it, i would..............

woofer