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

I think it will work great in a Sendero!

1. 7x57 my pet caliber, very well balanced, classic caliber
2. 7x61 S&H (my synthetic stocked rifle - a traveler)
3. 7x64 (universal)
4. 7X75RS von Hofe (for a light single shot rifle, perfect for mountain hunt)
5. 275 H&H for the connoisseur

CZ

Well these days I shoot a 7mm RM I have shot a 7mm Weatherby for a few years, and my second rifle that I bought with my own money back in 68 was a 7mm RM. Loaded old 4831 in it. Killed every thing I ever shot with it. The 7mm Dakota has a lot going for it, if case life is anything like the 330 Dakota I had. Brass was still going strong with 15 shots so that one might be worth looking at. But for a traveling hunter, who is more interested in putting game on the ground and meat in the freezer, a 7mm RM would be the one with the 7mm Roy being a close second for me. I had a Japanese Fibermark that would shoot one inch or better at 200 yards. Heavy gun thou.

The 'best' 7mm Mag is the Ruger M77 RM on the left. It's been a faithful companion sine 1982. Factory brass is relatively inexpensive compared to some others, load data is plentiful and no case forming needed.

The 26" #1 on the right, in .280 Rem, which I acquired used in March of 2011, isn't a mag at all but again factory brass is inexpensive, load data is plentiful and with the longer barrel it is close enough to the 7mm RM I couldn't choose one over the other on the basis of ballistics except in the most extreme cases.

To me, it's the 7 WSM, wrapped in the Kimber Montana platform. I don't see how it can be improved upon in any way. Lightweight hammer.

I am personally a fan of both the 7mm Rem Mag and 7mm WSM.

My first centerfire rifle purchase when I was a poor college student was a Savage 100 pkg rifle in 7mm Rem Mag. Killed a very respectable buck with it at 200+yds a couple of months later. It was a very accurate rifle, but was just a plain ol' Savage so down the road it went once I picked up a Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem Mag. I kept the Ruger 'til I picked up a Win M70 SS Classic in 7mm Rem Mag, which I still have mounted in a McM Supergrade Edge.

I slowly came around to the 7mm WSM. I tried the 270 and 300 versions first, mostly 'cause they were more common. But my love of the .284's eventually led me to picking up a M70 SS Classic in 7mm WSM (in a McM Supergrade Edge), followed by a Win M70 Coyote in 7mm WSM and now have a Win M70 CRPF (McM A5, Broughton bbl, Badger bradke, ...) in 7mm WSM coming back from Redneck very shortly!

just grab the tried and true 7mm rem mag. after all, it's one of the "3 kings" (270 win, 30-06, and 7mm rem mag). the 7mm rem mag has been getting it done for many years, and all indications are it will continue.

A few years ago I would have said the STW was the best 7 around, without a doubt. It gives a meaningful performance boost over the 7Rem and 7Wea without too awful much more powder or BOOM.

But that was before components dried up.

I still have a 100 virgin W-W cases in the cupboard besides the 150 I have been working with for the last several years. And someday Midway will list STW brass again, so I am not worried about my needs. But I would have a hard time recommending the STW to anyone else today.

I have never worked with the Mashburn, but have followed Dober's and Bob's comments on it. It does not sound too hard to build the cases, and there will always be 300 Win brass available. Well, if any brass is available at all.

Need a load for wife's custom Weatherby 7mm mag. Has been shooting nosler part. 140s with imr 4350 64gr @3180. Shots less than 1 MOA.
Want to try Barnes LRX 145.
Bought rifle from friend who had it made for wife after she passed away, sodo not know twist rate.
Since Barnes has not bothered to publish load data for the LRX yet, ineed some info.
Thanks. Marley

Idaho, brass for the STW is one reason I have not followed through with the cartridge.It isn't exactly common.

For that matter nothing much is these days... I have had to scrounge lately even for WW 300 Win Mag but managed to locate some recently.

What's the "best" 7 mag? I figure if it gives over 3000 fps with a 160 gr bullet without stomping on it,they are all "good".From there it's just a matter of choosing the platform you like.They all do basically the same things...like comparing various 300 magnums.

No doubt though,the Remington is the most convenient of the bunch.

This thread defines Rifle Loony-ism. Just wow...

Pretty much the bottom line truth on this. Back in the late 70's early 80's? Bob Hagel wrote an article for Handloader Magazine detailing his experiments with long throating a M700 Rem in 7mm Rem Mag. Hagel understood the 150 & 175 gr 2 dia Remington Corelokts used in Remington factory ammo with std Remington throating. He also understood exactly why his loads with the 160 & 175 gr Nosler Partitions couldn't be loaded to the same levels of velocity because of having to short seat them with then resulting decreased powder capacity. The 700 had a 3.6" mag box whereas a lot of other rifles chambered for short mags have only a 3.4" box. Hagel reasoned that running the throat out to let one seat a 175 NPT with the base even with the neck/shoulder junction would give him the powder capacity to run 175 NPT's at an honest 3000+ fps with the slow burning powders they had back then. He also realized that the lighter weight bullets more often used for deer and antelope would be handicapped by a longer bullet jump accuracy wise. It was an experiment, he wanted to know if he could game the one dia component bullets to the same factory velocity levels by seating them out via long throating. I believe he felt the 7 mm Rem Mag would be at it's best long throated for heavy high bc bullets with the NPT's performance level on heavier game in the longer range environs of the mountains. Like more than a few guys here he was building a special tool for his use. Hagel wasn't a big guy, but in his time he was a giant in his understanding on how to get things done and achieve what he wanted. Needless to say he didn't saw off his magnum barrels to make "them handle better" either. Magnum Man

While I only have a 7mm RM, I agree the plain 7mm RM is "best" for most people. Availability of brass for handloaders and factory ammo for the others coupled with the ability to provide more than is needed in the vast majority of situations makes it a winner in my book.

As Bob said, everything else is more a want than a need.

Oh, so very NICE!!!!!!!!!

Assuming a fast enough rifleing twist, and a barrel long enough to use the powder being burned with some semblence of efficiency, then the best one is the one which holds the most gunpowder and can fit into your action. To me, this make the 7mm Mashburn Super or 7mm/300WinMAg the "best" for 2.5 inch length actions and a great, inexpensive upgrade for about any 7mm RemMAg. If your action is a true Magnum length, I would pick a 7STW or 7RUM.

Regarding powder capacity and speed: "If some is good, more is better, and too much is just right!"

I LUV me some speed, for various reasons. Highest possible impact velocity, other things like bullet weight and BC being the same, is increasing the odds of hydraulic overload in soft tissues far from the bullet strike zone and thusly more liklihood of DRT kills. Less suffering for the animal is not only good sportsmanship (although any of us can make mistakes and hit a little off at times) but also renders better tasting meat with an animal's Adrenal System not having any time to kick in and pump all of the "Flight or Fight" Chemcals like Cortisol, Adrenaline, etc into the bloodstream and thusly the meat. That is my experience anyway. While the SLIGHTLY flatter trajectories is a good thing, that is not as big an issue with todays modern optics, rangefinders, turrets, mil dot scopes etc. But the OTHER two benefits remain, IMO.

Plus, fast is just plain FUN!

Ed: I know

Only the 6.5mm boys can top it.

+1 for STW

7RM is next on my list. 162's at 3,000 FPS, I'm done. Larry P says 162's will be available in May, plenty of brass in stock (at least there was on Saturday). Just gotta find 250's and R-22....

I thought it was the 280 rem that was his sisters?? Back to the thread: I'm happy enough with my 7mm Rem. It loves the 162's (A-max and btsp interlocks) too. 3,050 fps is about right in my rifle, stoked with RL25..

I realize this thread is nigh on two years' old.

The 7MM Rem Mag might just be the single best big game cartridge of all North American big game. In a good-quality rifle, a hand loader ought to get 3100 FPS with 160 grain bullets and 3200 FPS with 150 grain bullets.

While I've not yet hand loaded 175 grain bullets, I'd anticipate achieving 3000 FPS with them.

The two most accurate rifles I've fired were both 7MM Rem Mags.

The reality is the 7MM Rem Mag ain't a whole lot better than the .280 Rem. Were I accorded a do-over, I'd go with a .280 Rem with a 22" barrel & never look back. I don't think that it'd be all that difficult to get 2900 FPS with 160 grain bullets out of a .280 Rem.