For the first time since 1964, Winchester will not offer any regular production Model 70's in 7mm Rem. Mag. other than, surprisingly, the M70 LT in left hand. This is according to the 2004 USRA catalog. I found this to be pretty interesting and was wondering whether this is a conscious decision by Winchester to promote the WSM's to the exclusion of other standard cartridges, or whether sales of the 7mm Rem. Mag. have fallen lately. Perhaps Winchester is taking a calculated risk by dropping the other mag cartridges, or it could be to limit the number of various rifles they offer. In any event, I must say that I was very surprised by this development. Could it be that the short mags are truly here to stay and that USRA is reaping the benefits of decent sales? For myself, I have a 700 in a 7mm Rem Mag. and would never buy another gun in that cartridge. Maybe the 7mm Rem. Mag. has saturated the market and there aren't that many people buying new ones. I don't anticipate other manufacturers doing the same thing anytime soon, except for perhaps Browning, but I wonder if this is the first step in a phasing out of some of the standard "workhorses" for some manufacturers. Interestingly enough, the standard .270 and .300 Win Mag are limited to the Classic Stainless and the Classic LT in left-hand, and the Classic Featherweight for the .270.

Good question. When the (long) RUMs first came out, the sales of the std. 7rm and 300 wm slipped some. Then quite a few folks found the Ultras to be too much gun and the std. magnums came back. Hard to say this time around as the SMs are still fairly new. Certainly in Winchesters case, it's a safe bet that 270 and 7WSMs are cutting into sales of 7 RMs.

The biggest key in marketing is to offer a product that is percieved as different enough to get somebody to dump what they have in favor of something new. It's also important for potential buyers to think that it's succeeding. The WSM cartridge group offers not just a new cartridge but a new package as well.

Also food for thought is the continuing trend from WW to offer new cartridges in the series. Some of the new SSMs and the upcoming SMs in 25, 6.5, 338, (whatever) may not succeed in the market. However, they may not actually care all that much. Continuing new news of more and more "stuff" in that series will keep the short mag concept in the publics face for some time to come. That is a pretty well thought out marketing plan. Nothing could suit the marketing group at WW better than for the Short Mag concept to give the buyer the perception that the long cartridges are old fashioned.

JimF

While the wsms may have taken away some sales the 7mmremmag and 300winmag are still selling strongly.Winchester is taking a gamble that by discontinuing the chambering of 7mmremmag in their rifles they will increase the sale of the 7mmwsm.This may work but then again it could result in potential buyers of the 7mmremmag simply buying guns made by other manufacturers.

Maybe their tooling for 7mm Magnum is worn out so they want to wait and see if there is enough justification to pony up for new equipment..

I don't know how much this stuff costs, but if you're only selling a handful a year and half end up as donors anyway...why bother?

Mike

As much as I love the 7mmRemmag,I surely wouldn't build/buy one today.

Them squatty bodies sorta call me................

seems like the 7mm RM has mostly always been a love it or hate it proposition... my dad considered it an overly loud and overly flashy 06.... his cousin bud treasured his and considered it to be like chained lightning... i have never owned one myself but have never resided in the western states.... attitudes change with geography... on my one planned bear hunt i was the only person there with an 06... every one else carried a 7 RM or a 300 winchester...

if i were to guess, i'd say that it is a marketing decision, and a sound one.... a lot of casual hunters out there have been force fed stories of the 7 RM all of their lives.... many of them are only peripherally aware of the short mags, but when they show up at the sporting goods hangout to buy a rifle for their big trip the short mags are an easy sell.... particularly , i suppose if there aren't too many of the standard length magnums around.....

ballistics charts are not intended as shooting tools, they are marketing devices, and they do sell rifles..... john w

Excellent response JimF. WW was late in chambering the 7mm RM in the first place as well as the .222R.



They are just pushing thier stuff to see what happens. The way that some clerks make stuff up across the counter I can hear it now about why.



The 7mm RM is a good cartridge size. If it did not have a belt I would still have one. I got my first 7mm RM in a fancy Browning/FN and it was kind of heavy but a nice shooter then in the late 60's I got one in a Ruger #1 and hunted with it quite a bit. Both it and the 30-06 are about the same performance wise on game. I give the edge to the 06.



Winchester should copy Remingtons idea of the Classic series.

I have nothing against the 7mm RM. It just seems to me that there are always a few of them on the used rack at every gunshop I go to. Then maybe an 30-06 or 270. I think the newer rounds are going to get pushed to justify the factory cost of retool etc..

I only know that at the end of last year Winchester and Sako/Tikka had a boatfull of 7mags left over to sell.
Sako has dumped the RUM line, they were dogs and not selling. The short mags are the thing right now.

If Browning chambers the 7mmRM,they still have it covered,they are the same firm.

I doubt that we'll ever see the 7mm rem mag ever really go away. With the proliferation of all these new short magnums and ultra mag's, winchester and others are going to push whatever their new potential superstar might be. Ultimately however, it could boil down to ammunition. Here in Montana where the word magnum is hot, there is 7mm rem mag ammo in virtually every store but not so of these new rounds. Unless a guy handloads, he could be disappointed by walking into a sporting goods store in Lewistown, Malta, Miles City, etc. and count on buying factory ammo for his new whiz bang rifle 'cause it might not be there. I don't know if the rest of the shooting world is like here, either the store carries remington ammo or winchester ammo but in many cases not both. But 7mm rem mag is usaually on the shelf with 30-06, 243, 270, 300 win mag. etc. So where does that leave us in the end. Owning a rifle in an old workhorse caliber where ammunition is readily available and competitively priced or one in some new obscure caliber where the ammo is hard to find and expensive when you do. My guess is you'll see sales of the 7 mm rem mag slip while people who would have gone that way buy one of the new mag's but that they will level out if not rise again once the newness is worn off.

I agree with Bull. The 7mm mag will not go away. It is a REALLY popular caliber here in Utah, especially for elk. It is also at the top of the heap in RCBS die sales. The guys that use it, love it and would likely never change. With good bullets, it is tough to beat it. It feeds smoothly, shoots flat and kills stuff well. 7mm mag shooter are very happy with the killing power and the manageable recoil, yet still have a magnum. I think quite highly of the round myself. Flinch

Along those lines, remember that WW was promoting their (fairly) new at the time, 264 WM. Hence, I'm sure they thought that if they boycotted production of the 7mm RM, they might maintain numbers among the buying public. At the time, it backfired on WW because the 7 RM basically stopped the 264 dead in the water. Only the most loyal Winchester guys bought 264's and when WW finally caved in and started producing the Rem. cartridge, it immediately passed the sales numbers of the 264 (in Winchester rifles).

At least Remington has recognized the market trend and has started to chamber the WW cartridge. Ultimately, that's their best move. The 7 RM has such a following, that it's hard to imagine that the short stuff will drive it from the market, but that remains to be seen. Certainly all the other newer, better, gooder, bigger magnums have not done so to date.

JimF

They can sell all the little wizzum's they make ... the 7mm RM isn't going anywhere. Just my opinion ... it can do so much in such a nice package.

The 7 Mag is always up there with the 06 in sales, so I doubt it's on the wane. It's a great cartridge. Incidentally, I just received my copy of the SCI magazine, in it there's a story about Bert Klinegunther and his 7 Mag going all over the world and taking anything from Brown Bears to dik-diks. I don't think we need to worry. jorge

In the areas where I live the Big 7 is still one of the kings (from sales to useage)--I seriously doubt it is thinking about working over its portfolio and taking an early retirement.



I spend a good part of my year working in the gun world--from the two sizeable shops I've worked in (here in Montana) and from the others I am in tune to this is what I've learned about the shorts.



They are largely a market driven tool.



Win has done a marvelous job of pushin the rounds (I am constantly amazed at the people that come in and tell me how they need a short fat because it goes faster than the standard mags).



Personally I do not see them or their purpose-unless you can build them in a rifle that is considerably lighter than say a rilfe in a standard mag caliber. But when you consider that Tikka can make the short fats and the mags the same weight well once again I just don't see it. However the fact is that what I think/feel doesn't really matter. The fact remains we do have them on our shelves here-the next fact is that we do sell some of them. The key word being some of them. The Win line has gone well with the .300 and the .270. The 7 as far as our sales goes may as well go away, it is not even in the game. Same can be said of the Rem line of short fats. While their rifles I like (especially the Model 7 in the short fats) their sales are non existent and not worth the shelf space, and certainly I would not imagine worth Big Greens time or money.



We still sell the mags buy a huge ratio more than the short fats and I would be suprised to see that change much over the years to come. Personally, I feel that once the world understands the speed difference is there, and that the short fats lose the race then things will begin to change even more so. I do not feel that there are many out there able to take advantage of the speed difference, but then again I feel this is true if say we compared say the 06 verses the 06 Improved (that is what I call the 300 WSM).



To me the short fats are the AI's of the time's--just a few years after P.O. Nice rounds for sure, however I do not feel they will surpass sales or useage over the regular old mags.



Just my thoughts for sure.





"GET TO THE HILL"





Dogz



One last quick note--I do not see much for sales of the Win line in the area's I am in tune to-what is there for sales is largley driven by the WSM line. In fact aside from the occaisional Fwt I feel we could just stock the WSM 300 and the 270 and not miss much. Just my thoughts.....

Big Stick,
Come on big fella....stay on topic <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
best,
bhtr

I pretty much agree with the other Montana boys here. I've been shooting for over 30 years and have seen a good many "hot" cartridges come and go. In rural Montana, you can always find 30-06, 7mm Mag and usually .338 and I'd guess these are the more popular cartridges here. Personally I use an '06 and my old Winchester .45-70s.

Here's an old post from '04 that I commented on. I have been working on a project gun for a while and wasn't satisfied with the scope so was looking for something different. I ended up picking up a 700 338RUM with a great leupold scope for a bit more than the price of the scope. Me being left handed and the rifle being right handed, I fully intended on pulling the scope and selling the rile. Seeings how I got some ammo with the deal, I thought I'd shoot it first and found it to be tolerable so I started looking around for more ammo and found enough to satisfy my needs but it looks like the 338RUM is going to be impossible to find in most places. I have become a victim of my own premonition as noted in the above post. Great caliber but apparently not terribly popular. Now I only wish the handle was on the other side.

Damn! I didn't know the 7mm Mag was on it's way out, I just bought a new one this week ...............547.

Aint dead yet. I wonder if this thread was worth resurrecting? But then I will read anything about the 7RM anytime.

As Samuel Clemons said "the rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated".

Although I have never been a 7 Mag fan as I think the .280, 270 and 30-06 are just as good, but hey thats pretty good company to be in and it's right there with that bunch....

I would hate to see the 7 mag. disapear and I don't think that is even remotely possible as there are way too many of them out there and its a very popular caliber as it should be. Even if it did then the value of the existing guns will sky rocket, the custom gun builders will get flooded with orders, it would, in fact, be a shot in the arm for the 7mag..and I think its the best of the magnum 7 MM's......you can always have brass as the 338 brass is just a resize or two away..

If they quit making them, I'll surely buy one! thats the way I think on these things.

The seven mag is not going anywhere its has a big following in the south i myself do not shoot one but just listening to people and how they feel about theirs and the availability of ammo it will be around when alot of these short mags are things of the past

Proponents of new cartridges(whether manufacturers or disciples) are always going to snipe at older cartridges with 50-60 years of proven field experience,because the new cartridge has....what???....nothing except "Field Tests" and marketing to go on...and has to overcome a lot of shooter/hunter loyalty in order to sell.So,comparisons are inevitable.

Commercialsm, and the durable nature of rifles,necessitates that gun manufacturers create new cartridges that offer some "advantage" over the older cartridges, to sell more rifles,and thisleads to peculiar notions like the 7mmWSM (or something else) is "superior"(some actually believe this) to the old 7 Rem Mag.Such comparisons are fun and highly entertaining,but I bow out when someone actually expects me to believe it..

Over the last 10-15 years,I have played with(and ditched)the 270 Weatherby,the 270 WSM,the 7mmWSM,the STW,and the 264 WM.They were all great....they did exactly what the 7RM does.....

The 7mm Rem Mag is here to stay. It is a total Fallacy to think that it is going anywhere.

I think the 7mm Rem Mag is a great round, right along with the 270, 30-06 and 300 Win Mag. I sure hope it stays around ...



Chuck

I ain't worried about the 7mm Rem Magnum going anywhere but on the other hand I don't think the new 7mm WSM is catching on too well, I like all the short mags I hope it makes it.......................547.

The 7-Mag does nothing for deer hunting that the .270 or .280 won't do and it does nothing for elk hunting (and the like) that a .300 Mag won't do better!

That said, it'll do a fine job of either for the guy that wants fewer guns and more hunts.

It's as good an "all around" cartridge as it gets!

If I was limited to a very few rifles, a 7-Mag would definitely be in high consideration!

The short mags out there may be cutting into 7mm Rem Mag new rifle PRODUCTION NUMBERS. The gun companies have only so much production capacity. That capacity has to be allocated according to what management WANTS TO SELL the year in advance.

According to some here at the campfire the 270 WSM and 300 WSM are selling well. The 7mm WSM is in distant third. So maybe management will say that next year increase the 7mm RM rifles produced, at the expense of the 7mm WSM.

Anyone who owns a 7mm RM is not going to have any hardship getting ammo now or in fifty years. Too many rifles already out there. Hell, how many new rifles have been built in the last fifty years in 300 Savage? I can still get ammo for mine.

I'd bet that 80% of Idaho rural stores/gas stations carry ammo in 30/06, 270 Win, amd 7mm RM!

The problem with the 7mag is most people shoot 140 to 150 grain bullets through them,which is nothing more than a glorified 270/280 with more recoil,muzzle blast and less mag capacity.

VIVA the 7mm Mag.
I'll always have at least one rifle chambered for the 7 mag.
For me, 7mm rifles are where it's at.

Back in the late 60's and 70's,the 7 Mag was the gun to have,the all time classic was a Remy BDL with 3-9x Lupy,now I see them all over the used gun racks. They seem now to have become the donor premiere....
My old Sako was built to shoot 160 Partitions it seemed and really, nothing else made sense to me. It needs to be fed like a Mag,to work like a Mag.It you don't need a fast 160,175 bullet,why bother anymore?

Big mistake.. Winnie just keeps shootin' themselves in the foot..

Pretty soon they'll be walking on their knees..

Nothing wrong with a glorified, enhanced, or hot rodded version of an already proven game killer.

No, I don't think there is anything wrong with a 7 mag. They still do what they were designed to do, shoot
as flat as a .270 and hit as hard as an 06.

All I know is that after the .300 WSM came out, a BUNCH of used 7mm Remington Magnums showed up in various places in Montana--just like a BUNCH of used .270's and .30-06's started showing up in the 1960's when the 7mm Remington was The In-Cartridge.

I find it a fine all-around cartridge. Enough for elk, not too much (is there such a thing?) for mule deer. Modest recoil which I can handle just fine and still shoot it well. Have always preferred the 160 & 175 gr bullets with hefty charges of slow burning powder. Truth be told, it's an awful lot like my old .30-06, which is another favorite of mine...

Am not sure there's any pending demise to the 7mm Rem mag, but if there is, it's simply a marketing thing - newer flashier cartridges attracting buyers who just have to own something new. Nothing really wrong with that, I've sent plenty of good rifles down the road when something else became more interesting to me.

Regards, Guy

It really sucks to buy a rifle that will shoot $17/box ammo when you can buy exactly the same performance in another cartridge for $49/box.

!

This could be me. IMO the creep upwards in caliber has got a lot to do with better stock designs and better recoil pads.
My first 270 back in 1966 had a monte carlo stock without a pad. When the 7 mags came out they were sold with pads, now Rem. sells the SPS with LimbSaver pads and a straight stock.
So, to me a 300 WSM in SPS is easier to handle than my first 270 without a pad.

But I still think the 7 RM is going to be around a long time, they are just too good in the wind etc.

The Remington 7MM Mag. along with the .243Win. are among my least favorite cartridges. I was rangemaster during the 1970's and those two cartridges were in their heyday. I mostly got bored with them, but neither seemed to do anything other rounds didn't do better, or cheaper. I tend to lean towards more traditional and old miltary chamberings in my interest.

if i didn't prefer the 30-06 i'd go with the 7mmremmag. both great cartridges which will be around (in factory loads) for another 50 years.

Two 7 RM reside in my gun cabinet. Likely never be less than one..........

Great cartridge.

1974,

To me the advantage of the 7mm RM's magnum capacity is its handloaders versatility. As in you could load a 140 grain at 2700 fps and have ballistically a 7x57mm, or a 280 Rem, or have a 160 or 175 grain at standard 7mm RM velocity, or go buy the Hornaday "heavy magnum" for that extra 200 fps over the standard magnum load.

But as you say most people have over bought and would be better off with a 280 Rem or a 270 Win.

Most folks would be better off with more practice . . . .

But hey, who an I to argue?

The 7mm remmy SUCKS, btw . . . . . .

BMT

Damn, Syncerus, that as funny!!! I got choked and sprayed coffee all over my screen.

I suppose you could say it's good for the economy.

That's it! You're doing good and the Administration is proud of you!
Good show!

You have to love a 2004 thread that's still pertinent.

The perfect ALL AROUND cartridge for every big game animal in North America?

7MM Rem. Mag.

Big 2nd

Haven't owned 7mm RM in 6-7 years only because, well, other cartridges just caught my interest I suppose. But quess what!? I just bought a Ruger Mk2[not a Hawkeye]7mm RM two weeks ago for no other reason than just to get one back. They are still popular, and as others have said, they ain't going to disappear anytime soon. Just a thought. Tom

I have no idea about the sales for Winchester. But I was in Academy today and a gentleman was in the process of having a brand new scope put on his brand new Rem. 700 sps in 7mm remington magnum. I have no idea how they are selling else where but from what the guy at the counter said they are still a pretty good seller. No idea what he means. 1 a week, a few a month or 20 a month. I didn't go to deep into it with him. I think it is a great round but has slipped a little with the introduction of the wsm's and the rum's

I agree that the wsm's are taking a chunk of the market. I was considering one once, and talked to a bear guide in AK. He said he sees a lot of feeding malfunctions with the wsm's. Enough for me.

I love my '87 tang safety Ruger M77, 7 Mag. If I had to get rid of every rifle but one, that'd be the one that stays.

One of the 7 mags biggest problems is that it has become as common,in general, as the 30/06,270,300 Win mag,etc.Comparisons are inevitable,and rifle nuts are trendy folks,and like new,different stuff even though they may not work any better than what preceded them.

JB's analogy to the 7 mags traded in on 300 WSM's is an example....other than fit on a short action(important to some people)there is nothing I know of that is fodder for one, that can't be done with the other.Load the 7 RM with a good 120-140 gr bullet,and you "have" a 264,270 Weatherby,etc.Load it with good 160 gr bullets at over 3000,or 175's over 2900,and you have something that approaches the 300 mags in effectiveness,and while not as powerful as 300's,shoots just as flat and makes stuff just as dead,while kicking less in the process.So,it gives useably high velocities with everything from 120 to 175 gr bullets,which cuts a pretty big swath on a lot of game animals.

It does all this without burning hat-fulls of powder,and recoils moderately in the process.

Like anything that's popular,the 7 Rem mag has always had its' detractors,most prominent among them are the slew of big game animals that fall to it every hunting season.I don't know what more you can ask of a big game cartridge.

I've owned a lot of rifles, but never a big 7. I once carried a borrowed one on a mule deer about 20 years ago back in my rifle poor days. Have been thinking I may need to try the 7mm out. Maybe need to look for an early M700 with stainless barrel and pressed checkering, the classic 7 mag.

Bob,

Outstanding job of explaining my 3 points. Recoil, small bullets for smaller big game, and heavier bullets for the big boys. 7Mag can do it all, and is still manageble.

I very much doubt the 7Mag will ever go away.

Its too close to the 30/06/270 to go away.....folks just love to hate 'em.

Well considering that Winchester last of the M-70's were made in 1959 or earlier its a moot point. There is no flies on the 7mm Remington Mag or the Weatherby version for that matter. My second centerfire rifle was a Remington 700 BDL that wore a fixed 4x Leupold on it. Did some of my very best shooting with that rifle in Kenya in 1972. I when and played with other rifles and cartridges since then then a Blaser R-93 came my way four seasons ago and it had a 7mm Remington Barrel on it and well I rediscovered what a good no BS hunting cartridge it is. I been thinking of having an NULA built and so chambered for when I quite flying. Not in my life time. but its a nice though. Would like to be able to do that 1972 Kenya 30 days again too, one can hope and change for something. Shooting 60 175 gr Nosler Partition into meat is hope and change any one can belief in.

Don't own a 7mm RM - I use the 30-06 - but these RCBS die sales figures seem to indicate that the cartridge is in no trouble whatsoever:

7mm Remington Magnum
RCBS Sales position
2003 #11
2004 #6
2005 #13
2006 #13
2007 #12
2008 #8

I wish someone would have told me I was wasting my money with a new trigger, bedding and recrowning, I could have bought a short mag.

I will keep my 7mm Rem Mag. rifle. Factory ballistics being trounced by ammo maker's marketing boys does not affect my shooting hardly at all. I still use the same loads that have worked for me since my first 7mm Rem Mag rifle was bought in 1965. Velocity is still the same as is sub-MOA accuracy. You know what, my rifle will shoot right alongside the 7mm WSM without buying a new rifle to do it.

I had a 7Mag for 20 years, killed lots of moose with it. Now I have a 3006 to replace it as my light rifle. The modern 06 is as effective,if not more versatile than any 7,and it weighs less, is shorter, and has less muzzle blast. in a Sako is as accurate as the REM 700

Never came across a 7mm Rem Mag yet that I couldn't get to shoot well. I love them.

I don't know much about the 7mm mag because I have only shot seven deer with it. However I can tell you that those seven deer have gone a total of twenty one feet after they were shot and that twenty one feet includes the distance that it took them to fall on the ground.

drew

There are lots of good cartridges to choose from, the 7mm Remington is one of them!
whelennut

Bump for a good thread..

7mm Remington Magnum isn't going anywhere. It'll be around for as long as people own rifles. Look at the 30-30. I'll bet marketing specialist,and engineers are still wondering about that.LOL

Like many people here. Most of my hunting was done with a .30-06.
Most of my handloading experience is with that too. It's killed everything I've ever shot. But then so has everything else I've ever fired at anything.


My current beat the bushes rifle. Remington 700 circa March 1966 factory blued stainless steel barrel. (Shiny!) 7mm Remington Magnum.

http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll337/OldClay/Picture.jpg?t=1258842019

My newest toy.. Sako Finnbear L61R. Circa 71-72
Apparently something of an oddity. Late date 3lug bolt. Very very sweet on the longer shots. 7mm Remington Magnum..

http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll337/OldClay/Picture099.jpg?t=1258845521

The 7mm Uber Mags? While I think they are somewhat interesting.I myself don't think they'll ever supplant the 7mm RM. At least not as a hunting round. (Some will disagree and they are welcome to.) I've got five good reasons for thinking thus. But to explain would go well beyond the scope of this thread..

the 7mm rem mag is here to stay. probably in the top 3 of rifles used in the western states (30-06, 300 win mag, 7mm rem mag). the other 7's aren't even close, nor will they ever be.

Looking back, I gotta say the Warren Page did a hell of a job selling 7mm Mags. His was the Mashburn version, but there really isn't a whole lot of difference between it and other belted 7mm Mags.
As a college kid in the early to mid 1950's, I drooled over having a 7mm mag, a belted one, based on my midnight reading of Page's African adventures with his 7mm Mag. So, I got one as soon as I could afford it.
Mine came 6 years before Remington came out with theirs.
I now have one 7mm Rem Mag, and I won't be selling it in favor of some WSM.

Winchester should chamber their rifles for the same cartridges that their sister gun company does. Their current lineup of cartridges does nothing for me. The 7MM rem mag is one of my favorite cartridges ever and a lot of fellow hunters feel the same way and it is not going away anytime soon.

That will happen with any cartridge as popular as the 7mm RM has been.

A while back I read a "Global warming" story where the "evidence" to support the theory was that someone was quoted as saying that in recent years they had started to see greater numbers of dead polar bears on ice floes. I guess the thought was that the bears were having to swim further and the longer swims were just too much for them in the long run. The truth is, that the person quoted may well have been seeing more dead polar bears - not because of global warming but because the polar bear population has been and still is increasing significantly.

I wouldn't consider 7mm RM's on the used rack as a sign that the cartridge is dying - it is still one of the most popular in terms of ammo and rifle sales. My first centerfire rifle was a 7mm RM back in 1982 and it is still one of my favorites. When it comes time to thin the herd it will be one of the last to go.

My guess is Winchester is wanting to sell more WSMs so they can sell more WSM ammo. The 7mm RM will do everything the WSMs can do and given the much wider selection of factory ammo, would get my vote for a new rifle. As a handloader, I still prefer the 7mm RM.

I also prefer the longer, older versions of the ShortMags, in both 7 and 30 caliber.

I guess familiarity makes it hard to buy into a "reinvention", though some of the merits of the ShortFats are viable.

have a 7mm WSM in a Kimber Montana

also have a 7mm RM in a Winchester Laredo.

love 'em both. and i'm a .264 slut

I was unaware of any demise of the 7mmRM. IMO that's not happening.

"My guess is Winchester is wanting to sell more WSMs so they can sell more WSM ammo"

CH: I have no inside info, but I would doubt that this is correct since the maker of Winchester rifles is an entirely differeent company than the maker of Winchester ammo.

For the "demise" to occur the existing 7mm Rem Mag rifles would have to cease to exist. That is not going to happen. This brings us to the real issue which is that rifles stay in existence for a very long time. Rifles don't wear out or get destroyed.. Remington has been producing the M700 7RM for 46 years. Most are still out there working quite well.

Just went to the safe and checked mine. It's still OK. Maybe the board just doesn't want to offer up something with rhe word Remington stamped on it.

I'm in the minority I guess. Never could warm up to the 7RM. Had one and traded it for my 35 Whelen. Haven't looked back either. Several years later, I bought a 270 WSM as my open country rifle. Went with the WSM as I wanted a 270 "something" and that is what I chose. Those are my go to rifles, love them both though I do have a few others.

My hunting partner just bought a 7 RM to replace his 30/06. He is quite happy with it, two deer for two shots as of last week.
He dosen't see the 7 RM going away anytime soon. FWIW, I don't either.

Had a couple and just never warmed up to them. Have noticed they are about the most difficult caliber to try to sell in a used rifle for the last couple of years.
Not a bad round, but the 300 Win Mag does more.

True, but I think there is still a license agreement in place between the two companies.

Yeah, that was my thought as well...

I doubt the 7 Rem Mag is going anywhere. Maybe the general public is bored with it right now due to all the other stuff out there but it will stay. Just like the 30-06 which went through the same phase not that long ago. All you could find was plain Jane ammo but finally a little resurgence in popularity around it's 100 yr. mark made ammo companies load better ammo for it. It's popularity has hit a plateau but it will be an old stand by for a very long time and be a classic cartridge just like the 06', 270, 30-30 and the rest of the time tested rounds. Personally I like the .280 Remington better but I still respect the 7mm Remington Mag and wouldn't rule out buying a good used one. It's about as much as I would want in a 7mm caliber. The bigger 7's are a bit too much. Just my humble opinion.

You don't hear anything about the 30-06 either but, guess what, it's still around. I would imagine that the gun writers have used up their whole bag of words on the big 7 and now have all of the super new shorties to talk about but that don't mean the 7 is dead. It'll still do stuff the shorties can only think about. Not everybody just hunts whitetails.

I guess I could be considered old school because all of my rifles are in the tried and true calibers. 243, 270, 30-06, 30-30 and a Remmy 7 mag. Never had a critter say you can't kill me with a old caliber.


Reggie

I agree, you have to practically give them away to sell them here. I'd rather have a 30-06 with a 24" barrel as have a 7 mag.

Love the new WSM cartridges and they are extremely efficient ... up to the heaviest bullets for the caliber. However, the longer magnums perform better with the heavier bullets. I have a Win Laredo 7mmRemMag that I LOVE ... had it rebarreled with a Lilja 1:9 twist and had the action trued. She stacks 'em in tight. IMHO, the 7mmRemMag is one of the top 5 best calibers ever made. Slight more power than the '06. Doesn't have the recoil of the heavy mags. Extremely high BC with 175gr bullets. Capable of taking widest range of game. Love it! Neck turning + case uniforming + all the other bench rest tricks + Lilja barrel = dead deer at 450yds through the neck. Love the 7mmRemMag.