Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 280 rem vs 7mm mag

I am new to this forum and elk hunting. I do hunt white tail in pa and only really know this area. My wife's uncle has been out to montana 2 times with a 7mm and was successful. His shot was 350+ yds and took a bull. Adam

The difference I see is the 7mm will hold more powder, and is capable of handling bigger bullets. Say, 160 to 175 gainers better than the 280. Rem. The 280 is more efficient on powder and you can achieve the same velocity with less powder, as opposed to a 7mm. I shoot a .280 hand loaded with 140 grain bullets. I like the 280. Always been an odd ball though.

Adam,
Better question is what can a 7mm do that YOU can't do with a .280? Can YOU shoot well enough to take advantage of the slightly flatter trajectory? Will that additional energy/velocity matter at 350+ yards? I'd say no, not at 350. Is that 7 or so inches of flatter trajectory at 500 yards going to matter? I've killed elk with a .280 and it does just fine, but I also trust physics. A 7mm is more powerful and delivers more energy downrange. But, so what? Is it enough to matter? In my opinion, no, not at the ranges most elk are shot at.
Since I can't see a question in your statement, I'm assuming you're asking if your .280 is enough for elk. It certainly is. But if you already have a 7mm Rem Mag, I would consider taking it instead.

Yeah, what they said.

are you sure.

The biggest difference is the rates of twist in current production rifles. Same caliber but rates of twist are different. 7MM Mag will shoot heavier bullets and stabilize them.

We have several of both in the gun safe (or have had at one time or another). We load the .280s (including the AI) with 160 Partitions for elk. We load the 7mm RMs with both 160s and 175s. With these two chamberings, so far, we have had only two one-shot kills on bull elk--both with the .280s. That said, I can't really tell any difference in effectiveness in the field at the ranges at which we shoot elk. We don't shoot them at 300+ yards, primarily because we can almost always get closer. If we can't, we pass on the shot.

I played around with a 7mm STW when Layne Simpson first wrote about them, but found that, for me, the extra powder, noise and recoil didn't yield that much extra range. This was in a rifle with a 26 inch barrel that weighed well over ten pounds with a scope, sling and full magazine.

Admittedly, I am not a "long range hunter". I don't use a scope that goes higher than 9x and I don't trust turrets that can be turned by rubbing on my clothes or other gear. Confronted with a B&C bull at over 300 yards, I would probably twist the damned thing the wrong way anyway. I have seen both of those things happen with rifles carried by guest hunters that I have guided over the last ten years or so.

I've owned two 7mm mags and two .280's. The only real differences are the 7mm mags can open the same bullet a little further out because it starts them faster, and it comes with a much better selection of factory ammunition.
On the other hand, the .280 recoils less, and I tend to shoot one better, especially when under stress.
So, I shoot a light weight .280. E

Either one kills elk very handily. 7mm has a slight advantage, but not earth shattering. I have killed several with the 7mm mag and love it, but would not feel handicapped with a .280 at all. Flinch

I have a good 7mm-08 and a 7mm RM. I figure that I have it covered. That said, If I could only have one rifle that shoots as accurately and mildly as the 7mm-08 and nearly reaches the potential with trajectory and energy as a 7RM, I would own a .280.

Years ago, I had wished I went .280 instead of 7mmRM. But....now with this 7mm-08, I wonder if I would have ever "needed" the .280 Rem. The 7mm-08 comes awfully close to duplicating the performance of a .280 Rem. So many great cartridges and oh so little time.

By the way, for elk, my 7mm RM is what I reach for. My load with a 160 Accubond and H1000 powder is flat out impressive in my 7mmRM. Extremely accurate and not a single elk I have shot at, said I needed more power. Of course none of them were killed "too dead" either.

FH

First off, I want to thank you all for your personal info and assistance. I had failed to mention the root of my question. I am in PA and hunt mostly with a bow. When I go rifle, I use my .303 enfield open sights. I know i need/want something more and vercitile. Ammo in a little hard to get for the 303 so i don't want to have this problem agien. NOW, I am looking at 2 rifles, both used, 1) rem 700 in .280 no scope, $499, 2) rem 700 7mm mag $599, with leapold vx III 3.5-10. I know the scope makes a great deal, but the .280 has a nice thumb hole stock and stainless 26" heavy barrel. My local gun shop has about 3 choices of factory ammo, and approx. 13 for 7mm mag. I haven't shot either, but that .280 fit my frame very well. Thank you all agien , adam.

Adam,
Were it me, I'd grab #2 and never look back. That's a heck of a deal right there.

I just came back from an elk hunting trip where a 6x6 bull, a big cow and a 4x4 buck mule deer were hanging. They were all shot with a .25-06 and 117g Hornady bullets. By a 12 year old girl from Michigan...

Your .280 will be fine. I hunted elk for 20 years with a 7mm RM using 160g bullets at .280 Rem velocities. No lost game, no long tracking jobs - most were DRT or went just a few steps. One made it about 40 yards.

Choose a good bullet (Grand Slam, Partition, TTSX, Norht Fork, A-Frame, etc.), learn your load and carry a skinning knife.

.280

ateam1975:

deal #2 is a real winner, it'd be hard to turn that down no matter the caliber. I'd be all over it.

but you sound like your heart really wants the .280 with the thumbhole and you liked the fit. I'm sure we've all passed on "good" or "better" deals for something that we would be happier with, in your case it sounds like the .280 is what you want.

now the ammo situation... since you clearly have access to the internet I would suggest ordering your ammo off the internet. Midway, www.midwayusa.com , has over 16 different loads for the .280 and I'll bet you they're cheaper than your local gun shop. Or your gun shop may be willing to special order ammo for you, especially if you buy your rifle from them.

to sum it up if I were you: I'd get the .280 because you like it more due to the stock and fit. I believe I've heard "it's the rifle not the caliber" somewhere on these forums, I believe it to be true. Also see about ordering the ammo from your dealer or off the internet.

you can prolly get a real good deal on a scope in the classifieds forum. there's always a ton of them for sale at really good deals.

let us know what you get friend

Brett (Mac)

ps: welcome

Now that you have gotten specific with the two rifes that are tempting you at a gunshop, IMO the best choice for your western hunt will be the 7 Rem mag. From your description the 280 sounds like a fairly heavy rig, besides you'd have to get a scope. Do you realize how much a 3.5-10 Leupold is worth?

Grab that 7 rem mag before someone else does.

Given those choices, I would take the Rem M700 every day of the week. Check out the cost of a 3.5-10 VXIII, new or used. They are a great scope. Worst case you could sell it for considerably more than the cost difference in the rifles. And you would still have the rings and bases, which you will have to buy for the .280.

The .280�s heavy 26� barrel may feel great when checking it out at the local gun shop, but when carrying it up and down the mountains you will get an entirely different and much less favorable perspective. I just built a heavy-barrel 24� 6.5mm-0AI and, based on many years of experience, there is no way I�m carrying that thing up and down the mountains when hunting elk.

If a thumbhole stock turns your crank you can always change stocks on the 7m RM in the future.

You can buy ammo online and probably save money or I�m sure your local dealer will special order anything you want.

One of the main advantages of the 280 is that you can chamber it in a nice light rifle with a 22-inch barrel. The heavy critter you're looking at negates that advantage - I'd go with the 7RemMag and scope and never look back.

If the 280 were a 700 mountain rifle then we'd have ourselves a real dilemma.

The 7 mag can also be chambered in a nice light rifle with a 24" barrel, such as a Tikka T3 lite.

Both chamberings are factory loaded weak, but hand loads can bring either greater velocity, the 7 mag will always be faster with more recoil. But the recoil is more like a 30-06 than what most people associate with the word MAGNUM.

You could probably get $300 for that scope depending on the shape of it, making that rifle $300 (7mmMag). But, keeping that scope on that rifle will make it a great all around rig, not just limited to elk.

joe