Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7mm anything vs. 30-06

Yes . . . my mileage has varied.

But my rifles were not identical, so my experience with the 338WM may be tainted.

The only 338 I have owned, a bone stock tang safety Ruger 77, was an a$$-kicker. Even so, the rifle was too heavy for my liking.

Maybe a 338 that fits me better, with a GOOD recoil pad would give different results.

But the rifle has to be lighter too . . . or I won't like it.


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The wife hasn't uttered nary a whimper while shooting the Limbsavered boat paddle and H.S. Precision stocked rifles. If you don't tell 'em aforehand about any recoil they don't seem to notice.

No one said it did.....there's that reading comprhension thing again.....obtuse.

I assume you're shooting 250s, or 225s at a minimum.

I personally have no use for an over-30 caliber with light bullets.

No doubt the hard red Ruger pad on my 338 should have been replaced right away.

I probably need to give the 338WM another try (a fair shake).

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I sure haven't followed this thread from beginning to end so for give me for just jumping in.

But Whelen, if you've had issues with recoil with the 338 in a M77 and wish to give it another go I'd encourage you to just jump to the 375 Rugger. That to me is a goo jump above other rounds.

Now if you're jonsing to go 338 again, get a good pad, get a stock that fits you and maybe begin with the 180 NBT's or 180 Accu to get the game going.

And if I am way on on this post then forgive me and look past it...

Have a great day all!

Dober

225's normally though I've given all the rest a whirl.

Killing power definitely isn't perfectly correlated to unexpanded bullet diameter....

Depends a lot on your definition of �meaningful�.

Does retained velocity of 2000fps at 750 yards represent a meaningful increase over 570 yards? Depends on the shooter.

Can an extra 300fps provide more satisfactory results? Sometimes, yes.

Can a 10� or 24� difference in trajectory make the difference between a good hit and a poor one or even a complete miss? It can.

Will a hunter see a big difference between the two at most �normal� ranges? I haven�t seen it, but I like the extra insurance for longer ranges.

Is there a downside to beating .30-06 ballistics with less recoil? I fail to see that, either.

why not just get a 300 win mag. nothing walks away from a hit with that. 3006 on steriods!

A "good " hit",yes......I've had,and seen, spectacular kills from 300 mags when bullets from them were properly placed.But seen pretty dismal results when they were not.

In that regard, they are much like any other cartridge.

Lets try another angle on the 7RM. Have had numerous 30-06 and 7RM's from which to compare. I always fall back to the 7RM. The 30-06 does many things adequately but nothing particularly well.

For me, I've found the versatility of the 7RM more useful than the 30-06.

Examples:
Want a laser? 7RM, 120 TSX at 3500
Want thump? 7RM, 175 Partition at 2950
Want all around? 7RM, 160 Partition at 3050

I've shot/loaded for numerous of 30-06's. I've struggled a bit to get my 06's to shoot 150 grain anythings at the safely attainable 3000 ft/sec - not so with the 120/140 in a 7RM. My experience with 06's indicates its relatively easy to get a good 180 to shoot accurately. In fact, I normally start there with new rifles. It also not a secret to get 2800 from a 30-06 with a 180 and remain under 65k psi - try 57/58 grains H 4350 fired by a WLR primer.

At the end of the day, about any bottleneck cartridge will shoot sufficiently flat out to 300 yards to hold on hair for deer size critters. Many will do it out to 375 or so. The 7RM does it w/o much fuss, with several bullet weights, with very tolerable recoil.

I'd also pontificate and say that holes in animals kill them. Think about the difference in cross-sectional area of an expanded 0.284 and 0.308 bullets. As a percentage, the 0.308 is greater by ~ 17%. Does anyone really think a 15% bigger hole matters all that much? Throw bone/bullet frags into the equation and the actual difference is more muddied.

Buy a 7..........

b: That has been my experience as well....(and this not to take anything away from the 30/06,which is one of my all time favorites)......but as a matter of personal preference, I'll take the 7mm ( Remington or Mashburn,which I wish I'd built 20 years ago).

You are obviously a man of very discriminating taste

The .300 Win Mag is a definite step up from the 30-06 and 7MM Rem Mag in killing power however that is defined.

A 200 grain Nosler at 2930 fps is just a hammer on whatever it hits...

And as JJ Hack and all his experience said.....

The 300 mag is a far more lethal cartridge then the 7mm mag. At this point in my career no matter who tries to convince me otherwise, I'm not buying!..JJ Hack

Jayco

Hmm.. Gets me thinking about the 7mm again. One of these days, one of these days

I wonder why some call it the "7MM 'Hit 'em again"....



Gotta love it......

Jayco

Somehow the 30-06 has this "magical" quality, much like Jack O'Conners 270. In my experience, unless your using 200g or heavier bullets, a 30-06 doesn't kill any better and sometimes not as good as a 270. With heavier bullets (200g or 220g) it's a better grizzly gun. And if you're going to compare apples to apples "light magnum loads" don't count. That being said, if I was going to buy a .308 caliber rifle it would be a 300 Weatherby. A 30-06 or a 7mm Mag just isn't enough of a step up from my 270.

I would suggest a 340 Weatherby. It will shoot as flat as a 7Mag with the lighter bullets and loaded heavier will take care of all NA.

With the 270 using 130 and 150 Partitions I've taken 26 of NA 29 big game species I have also taken 26 of NA 29 with the '06 using 165 Partitions and 200 BBC or Partitions... my experience has been the '06 and 270 when loaded with Nosler Partitions or BBC are both deadly... critters are DRT....meat in the freezer

My favorite 30-06 bullet for Elk, Moose and the Coastal Black Bear is a 200 BBC or Nosler Partition..loaded to its full potential...the ol' 30-06 and the 270 are both more than adequate killers for most of NA big game species...if the rifleman does his part...

Two reasons: Lousy bullets...or can't shoot.

Same as a 300 of any stripe.

Save it Jayco...no one with a brain or any experience is listening.