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One of the few deer I killed with my 7mag took 5 shots, all through & through all in the vitals last and I believe the last one was in the head.

Tim B-

I happen to agree with your assertion regarding the mismatch of bullet and cartridge. I hear a lot of stories of bullets popping like corn on impact when shot from high-velocity cartridges, and I have no reason to doubt them. I don't like a lot of recoil or noise though, so I don't shoot magnums at big game. I like cheap and accurate bullets, and cup&cores are certainly that. Too much of what I hear seems like marketing hype to me: 'Magnum! You need a magnum!' and its corollary 'The cheapest part of the hunt is the bullet, so let's change that!'

I wouldn't trust what is printed, as it is advertising, regardless of which bullet company prints it. The guys who make the bullets and the guys selling the bullets are not the same guys anymore, and they get paid for different things. Pick what you think you want and try it out. If it works, you may have a new favorite. That is what being a Loonie is all about.

I have no doubt that really tough controlled-expansion bullets kill game, and well. I just eschew that they have never been necessary for most killing.

Well written.

The magnum thing, IMHO, should be for those that either have no choice or desire no choice. IE drew a tag of a lifetime, flew 4000 miles, only have a few days to hunt, and so on. IE those that want to be able to take whatever shot offered rather than tag soup.

If not for those feelings myself some days.... I think most anything I desire coudl be done with a 243 Win and a 100 grain cup and core. Though I"d take teh 85tsx over that any day.

Bottom line is what you need to get done. And what you desire. If you let that solve teh answer to the question then you will have the right round and bullet. Rather than listening to the advertisements etc....

Never been much of an advertisement man myself. Tend to research and learn and then choose.

Some folks tend to not want that hassle and want the newest and bestest....

i'll still have a 284 bullet in my collection...just not a "magnum"

going with a 280 ackley to replace the 7mag


I think the problem that the average hunter (me included before trying to educate myself more) gets into and loses game is they fall into the bullet/ammo mfg's hands and don't educate themselves. I went 7mag for bear hunting, but wanted to kill something so I took it deer hunting used a different bullet than those for bear but now that I've learned more, a more expensive bullet (probably something tipped?) would have done better since the tip would have helped to encourage faster expansion.

I went with a winchester XP2 figured rated for deer good to go.

HuntnShoot-

your comment makes me think of my previous bullet problems.... I think I just had the wrong caliber for the job. 7mag was going too fast at 30yards with the bullet I was using.

which is yet another reason for reloading, selling the 7mag, and paying a lot of attention to bullet choice (currently leaning heavy on Nosler & Barnes, Nosler will show you a picture of their performance at 3000fps, 2800fps, 2000fps and I feel that should help a new reloader choose which rifle & bullet for the job and to what distances the bullet will potentially preform the best)

I think 5 bullets through the lungs producing 5 holes that were the same size on entry and exit says the bullet passed right through and all 5 were within a pie-plate sized diameter

to me that says wrong bullet, going too fast to have a chance to expand

i have other reasons for selling the 7mag, but that is just an example of mine saying bullet and caliber choice are an important factor

Tim the answer to your "problem" isn't a new rifle in a different chambering....certainly not going from a 7RM to a 280AI which will solve......nothing..... .

5 shots into a deer with a 7 magnum tells me the bullets were not particularly well placed and a different cartridge will not help that situation at all.

If by saying the bullets were going "too fast" at 30 yards that they failed to penetrate,you might want to consider a different bullet..I have never seen a deer or anything else take a chest shot from a 7mm magnum and stay on its feet very long.

The only way to tell how a given bullet kills animals is to shoot animals with it.

Mule Deer-

Yeah I read of your experience- in New Zealand? and it was partly your write-up that convinced me to try Bergers in my gun. I am completely sold and very satisfied so far. And I am getting fabulous accuracy. Have yet to shoot them really far, which was the point for me: to make my '06 into a legitimate 600 yd gun for big game. I could have bought a faster cartridge, but there were many reasons, sentimental and logical, why I got what I got. I still may get a fast 7, but I will likely want to shoot Bergers in that one too.

I like the fast killing and accurate shooting that many who use Berger tout, and I like that I don't have to spend a buck a bullet to shoot something I have supreme confidence in.

I can't recall seeing any bullet blow up on the surface of any animal ever, but like I said, I have no reason to doubt others' claims to their own experience, and I keep hearing it, generally on the internet.

Maybe it is in my nature to be contrary at times, and that is why I am a cup&core guy, in the middle of all of the premium hoopla. I am sure that I don't care whether there is an exit hole, or how the bullet looks like if I find it, other to be interested in what happened to it on it's journey because I loove those details . I am interested in quick kills and well-placed shots. That has been my MO.

I think 5 bullets through the lungs producing 5 holes that were the same size on entry and exit says the bullet passed right through and all 5 were within a pie-plate sized diameter

to me that says wrong bullet, going too fast to have a chance to expand

i have other reasons for selling the 7mag, but that is just an example of mine saying bullet and caliber choice are an important factor

I tell you what, TimB and HuntnShoot your full of crap. Magnum Man

When I go to Africa, I will use a 300magnum of some sort stoked with 180gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Just to piss the bullet snobs off.
Rost, in the scenario you painted above I would not hesitate to put a BT into the shoulder,especially on deer. I have done so on elk with a BT and it worked great and Zero tracking.