Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Effective range 7mm Rem Mag

Can't speak directly about the 175g bullets, but...

My elk hunting mentor and most of his party used 7mm Rem Mags. They had been hunting Colorado elk for many years and they convinced me to get one as well. That was 1982.

The bullet weight they recommended was 160/162 grains. That bullet weight had worked for them and for the next 20+ years it worked for me as well. It also worked for the last decade for my hunting buddy. In the camps I've been in the 7mm RM/160g failure rate (lost elk, hard tracking, etc.) is exactly ONE and that animal was recovered the next morning. (It was neck shot by my hunting buddy, went about 120 yards and was recovered the next morning. It was NOT a problem with the bullet but rather placement.) Many animals have dropped in their tracks or taken only a couple steps. I can think of two that went about 40 yards (which I considered a long ways) and only one that went further (the one my buddy neck shot).

Given the proven efficiency of the 7mmRM with 160's, (and my experience with a .30-06 with 165's and a .300WM with 180's) all I can say about the 7mm RM with 175's somehow being inadequate is:

BS