Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm Rem Mag and Hodgdon's data

I agree on building a 6.5 lb 7 mag but that is what my 270 weighs. I've had several 7 mags that weighed 7.0 lbs and didn't like the felt recoil.

My point is the 270 with Re26 is dang close to the 7RM with 150-160 grain bullets. It will never beat it because of the bigger boiler room of the 7 RM hull. Its not the 'beating it' point that I'm emphasizing - its the sum total of the package - light rifle, viable elk bullet, recoil. The 7RM and its brethren will always win the speed race but, at least to me, the 'cost' is recoil - some may find it objectionable, some don't. I could live the rest of my days with a 7.5 lb 7RM - but it doesn't do anything that my current 270 package isn't doing. And my 270 is lighter. I wish I lived closer to NH, I'd come up and we'd shoot them side by side to see how they really compare. If I send you my rifle and loads, want to run them side by side?

The last several posts have all been spot on.

One thing to consider, however, is that if a guy wants to compare performance between a .270 Win and a standard 7Mag, in fairness we should really look at a 7Mag with a SAAMI MAP rating closer to the 65k level of the .270. The 7RM is rated at 61k and the 7WSM, while having slightly less case capacity, is rated at 63.8k, which while not equal, is more comparable to the rating of the .270.

Check Alliant's R26 data for the 7WSM and 162gr bullet, and you'll find 3171 fps with 71.2gr of powder in a 24" barrel. That's a solid step up from the 150/3040 .270 load. So 32% more recoil may be worth it in this case. Or alternatively, for 40gr of powder a 7-08 can push that same 162gr bullet at 2700 fps, which gives 19.1 ft-lbs and 13.7 ft/s of recoil in that 6.5 lbs rifle, which is a solid step down from the .270 in recoil (the .270 has 39% more recoil) for similar ballistic performance. Here's how they stack up at 500 meters in theory (atmospherics at my usual shooting spot used for all loads). There's no 150 ELD, so I used the slickeriest 150 I could find:

7-08/162ELD/2700, 19.1 ft-lbs/13.7 fps (recoil via JBM), drop (mrad) 2.9, wind (mrad, 8mph full value) 0.6, velocity 2091 fps, energy 1571 ft-lbs

.270/150VLD/3040, 26.6/16.2, 2.3, 0.7, 2203, 1615

7WSM/162ELD/3171, 35.1/18.6, 1.9, 0.5, 2506, 2257

It's all just a sliding scale of performance and trade-offs. There is no one right answer.

I have never been upset with the recoil of a 7mm magnum with the sole exception of the Kimber Montana, 7mm WSM and Federal factory ammo that was goosing 160 gr bullets at 3260.....geezus.

I build 7 mags to come in at 7.5-7 3/4 pounds . This has worked well for years. My 270's come in about 7 pounds or so.

Good post and points - but the difference in trajectory using the bullets I did for comparison (Nosler Partition), the difference is 3.8 inches less drop at 500 yards, 1.2" less drift, ~ 300 ft/lbs. I'm not good enough rifleman to capitalize on that advantage. Plus I get to deal with that much more recoil to achieve 3171.

In my mind, and it might just be me, the 270/Re 26/150 Partition is hard to beat for an overall package.

My only issue is the RL26 stuff is brand new. The QL data I have seen shows close to 65,000 psi, is that correct?

And while it has the 270 getting a bump,no one yet has told us what kind of bump the 7 RM gets with new powders since it's been laboring at 59,000 psi for decades. If we load a 7 RM to 65,000 psi what do we get? Blown to Kingdom Come?

Of course every time you mention higher velocities for the 7 Rem Mag you get slammed with pressure swing problems and other issues preventing it from gaining any more velocity. If the cartridge is such a menace (along with the 243) I wonder why the companies keep producing it?

So I still have a problem imagining that the 270 can keep up in the face of its smaller capacity.


My son shot this last week. He rarely shoots. He said it's a pussy cat.I watched and the rifle never left the bags. kew recoil can be subjective but I have never found a 7mm magnum to be abusive in a rifle of proper weight.

I hear you guys on the 7 RM. Re 26 changed my whole view of the 270. I have no doubt it will give the 7RM an extra 100 ft/sec - and anything else in that case capacity. I think my deal is that I get 7RM-esque performance in a lighter rifle with less recoil. I dig all those things alot.

Since you brought up the 7mm-08 I'll chime in with my experience this year. My brother killed a nice buck at 534 yards with his T3 in 7mm Rem Mag, 160 AB at 3000 fps at the muzzle. It wasn't any deader than the buck I shot in the same field a day earlier at 541 yards with my 7mm-08, 140 Partition, 2870 fps at the muzzle.




P

The same can be said for the 7-08 vs .270. Sliding scale

Bottom line is that there is ALOT of overlap in the cartridges available for any given hunting appkication.

We are blessed (or perhaps cursed ) with many combinations of cartridges and bullets, all of which can perform very similarly in the field

I don't recall bringing up the 7/08 but maybe I did(?).

JOC made the same observation 5 decades ago.

I don't think you're wrong at all. My little M70 270 WSM runs the 150's out at 3150 pretty easily. I'd hunt anything with that combo as well.

I know a 7 has more but honestly we're all splitting hairs since good Bullets equalize what we probably see in killing power.

Besides we all know the Mashburn Super whoops them both

Bob, have you ever seen an exception - here on the fire - to guys touting
eg 243 is just as good as 25-06, 25-06 = 270, 270 = 7 RM et. al.
et. al.





Jerry

Hear people say it all the time.

Do I believe there's no advantage to the 7 Rem Mag over a 243?

No.

Obviously neither do I.

I 'sometimes' wonder if they have convinced themselves.

I also have another idea 'why' that is but........

edit: MERRY CHRISTMAS

Jerry

Exactly my experience, and I am a small frame guy, 7RM knocks me around a lot but doesn't hurt.

When I go to the range I usually fire 40 to 60 rounds often in a tee shirt. With a decent recoil pad my shoulder is not sore the next day...

However, I cannot say that about any of the three .308 Win. rifles I have owned. They may not knock me around as much, but they abuse my shoulder with that quick punch. Sometimes I'm sore after only 15 rounds from a .308. I know it is not logical and can't explain why, but that is what my shoulder says loud and clear.

I wasn't referring to you.




P

Oh.