Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The "best" 7mm magnum

I have always liked the idea of a 7mm magnum, and I have been tempted to taste the 7mm Mashburn Super kool-aid that BobinNH and Dober glorify. However, I don't want to have to make brass.

So, given the constraints of being able to buy brass, what is the "best" 7 magnum?

I have mixed feelings of the 7RM. I know its gets squirrely at high pressures. The one I have now shoots best at 280 Rem velocities, which doesn't take advantage of the extra case capacity.

Tanners 7rem shoots good and so does the one my neighbor has. We loaded somethin like 65.0gr of 7828 under a 162sst blem. Sucker flat out shooots.

I have 4 7mm remmags..they all shoot & kill very well. I use 160 gr Sierra/Speer 160gr bullets and either a max load of RL22 or an over book load of IMR4831 @ 3,000fps. The next step up 7STW is a known barrel burner. I have zero experience with the 7 mm Rem ultra but know it kicks more than I want to endure.

My 3 280's get about 2,700 fps with a 160 gr bullet but will hit 2,950 fps with a 140 gr pro hunter bullet.

herschel what rifle are you running and what velocities are you getting from it?

I find when a rifle for any cartridge goes to hell at its' normal velocities (top end loads), it is generally the rifle itself having issues and not the fault of the cartridge itself.

No reason to go Mashurn or any wildcat as that is a "want", not a "need".

Bob: There you go being all sensible/reasonable again.

-Jonathan

Shooting Times West

Bob,

I am shooting a Rem 700 Custom KS that I picked up used. It shoots nice groups 160 gr Sierra BTSP with 59 gr of RE22 at around 2800 GPS but opens up with higher loads.

I also recall hearing the 7RM has more pressure swings than other cartridges. Just wondering if something like a 7 weatherby magnum would be a little better.

I feel like if you know what you're doing at the reloading bench, pay attention to your brass and chronograph, and use appropriately burning powders, it'd be silly to say that the 7 Rem has any pressure issues not found in every other cartridge. (Given that your chamber, barrel, and components are properly arranged.)

After shooting a 280 for a good amount of time, and then moving up to a 7 Rem Mag, I can only imagine that picking up more velocity by moving to a round such as the Mashburn is only going to add a whole bunch more kick ass to the equation. I've shot this one piece of steel I've got set up at 500 yards probably 300 times with various cartridges, and have yet to see one dent it, UNTIL I shot it with a 162 A-Max leaving the spout at 3050ish fps. Add another 100fps on to that.... and things only get nastier. That sounds like a job for the Mashburn to me.

In addition, the Mashburn is going to fit incredibly well in a LA 700 magazine, while the STW and RUM are going to be smooshed in there if you're using a standard issue box. Something to be said for being able to seat out those long, heavy, needle shaped bastard bullets and get them out of the powder column and close to the lands.

So.... I guess I'm advocating for the 7mm Mashburn not by experience (as I've yet to light the torch on one, even), but by logic. Take a case that'll better the already BA performance of a 7 Rem by at least 100fps, make it fit in a 3.6" box, and you've got a damn winner.

I sold all my 7mm magnums & got a 300 WSM.

Likewise with Tanner, my 1" thick AR400 didn't get dented much until 162 Amaxs starting hitting it.

I have 7stw,7rum and 7mm rem mag the plain rem mag is the best.

7 STW

Well, at least we've gone from "I KNOW the 7RM is squirrely...." to I've HEARD there are pressure problems.........
My experiences with the7RM is two over a period of around 40 years. I've never had any problems like what the self-styled eggspurts allude to but can give no concrete information about.

Well, at least we've gone from "I KNOW the 7RM is squirrely...." to I've HEARD there are pressure problems.........
My experiences with the7RM is two over a period of around 40 years. I've never had any problems like what the self-styled eggspurts allude to but can give no concrete information about.

I don't have one, but the 7WSM has always been interesting to me. Performance similar to the 7RM, but in a lighter, handier package. I do love my 7RM, but I can see myself trying the WSM someday.

herschel first please forgive the horrible grammar and stuff...the upper case shift on my laptop decided it doesnt wanna work...

OK you have a good rifle.i worked with a pals 300rum that behaved like that and it was just sloppy assembly...once the action was properly squared up,lugs lapped it, etc it behaved fine.But before you have it checked out i would try some rl 25 with 150s and 160's....also h4831 and 150 gr and dont be afraid to run it hard and see what she does.this won't take long and will tell you if responds to a change in loads and slower powder, etc.

but most load chasing is really like a dog chasing its tale....if the rifle is not well assembled no load adjustments will make it shoot better.and no rechambering will help a sloppily assembled rifle shoot well either.

in addition I would completely ignore a lot of the internet wisdom about squirrely pressures,and whacky behaviour regarding the 7 RM mag....with the exception of lab ballisticians and maybe 1 mile shooters looking for the lowest velocity spreads and tiniest verticals,most 7 RM users wont see these problems if they bit them in the ass.

That said I would I would try a couple of different powders and give the rifle a chance with these...try somthin quicker burning, too like 4350....maybe the rifle is not in sync with r22 at top end but something else may work.

if the rifle does not respond to load juggling I would then send it to a good rem700 accuracy smith for proper floating, bedding and have the rifle gone over to find the problem.the rem 700 KS MR is a great rifle and the cartridge is for sure NOT THE PROBLEM....ITS JUST MECHANICS. get it fixed.

of course if you just want a different cartridge that's something else....Me, I would have punched it to mashburn by now, like my pal recently did with a rifle just like yours....but not because the 7 RM is no good and is the cause of the problem.

Yo Jonathan how is your rifle. Did you have a good deer season.

Can't finds a reason not to like the 7 Remmie. 162s at 3k easily.... brass is everywhere... bullets are cheap and plentiful... recoil is very manageable.... everybody chambers it in pert'near every rifle format.... and they're typically throated/twisted/mag boxed appropriately from the factory.

I've seen pards trip two .308s and a .300 Winny in the last couple of weeks... because they watched the 7s eat wind and bang steel while they were sucking gas....

dogshooter you have a way with words....

Now that I'm running one, I see what I've been missing out on.

Would it be wrong of me to turn my .308 into a heavy 7 SAUM?