Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The 7mm Rem Mag thoughts.

Thinking back, I kind of did that - bought a .300WM for more horsepower.

Mostly it was a question in my mind of whether I had made the right decision 21 years previously when I purchased my 7mm RM.

The .300 WM provided significantly increased recoil with at best marginal additional, useful lethality at the ranges I'm willing to shoot. Then I built a .338WM. It makes bigger holes and kills stuff dead, but no deader than the 7mm RM.

My last elk was killed with a 7mm RM and a 160g Speer Grand Slam at 411 yards, 4 steps and down. The last elk I killed with the .338WM went about 25 yards (225g Nosler AB @ 487 yards) and the last with the .300WM (180g Barnes MRX @ 400 yards) went maybe 5 yards.

Not only is there nothing wrong with the 7mm RM, I've found it easy to load for with recoil about the same as a .30-06 (can be more or less and tales of its fierce recoil have always puzzled me). If it were to do over, and knowing I would be handloading, I'd make the same 7mm RM choice again. If not handloading my first choice would be a .30-06.

Absolutely ! He wouldn't be happy if we quit.

Jerry

He sure influenced a lot of decisions I made with guns and scopes for sure. If it had not been for him and Dober I would not even know what a Mashburn was.

I bought a LH Model 700 in 1980. Used it exclusively on Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail, Antelope and Caribou for a dozen years or so. Used it on Elk for 35 years. Over the years, I had the shiny metal coated with teflon and turned it into an ADL with an H S Precision stock. This one has the 24" barrel but still shoots 160 grain Nosler Partitions @ 3090 fps.

Everyone needs at least one 7 Mag of some kind. Doesn't kick much. Mine groups 3 in about 3/4". I've enjoyed it a lot.

I had asked Bob here about a long throated 7 Rem Mag. Well, just shot the 162 ELD in it and the average of five is 3160 fps. He was right, it works. Thanks Bob.

Just reading BobinNH posts...

Amazing he could write that well in his near terminal condition. He was sharp to the end.

I really like this 7RM, a MkV with 24" #2 Brux, 8 twist in a Wby. Express McWoody, Timney trigger, pillared, glassed, free floated and torqued.

It's a tack driver, really likes 175's and 180's. VX-6 2-12x42 non illuminated duplex in LW Talley's.

I'm not a Wby fan per se, this is my only one. But, the MkV is well made and cycles really fast. Not the lightest, IIRC, this one somewhere in the mid 8# range.

DF

Total weight of above rifle is 8#'s ? How do you like the express stock? Is it thicker in the foreend then the regular Mark V stock?

I'll weigh it again when I get home from the office, had posted from memory.

I like the Express stock, the drop of the comb and the way it fits. When I got this one, McM called it the Sako Safari, Wby inlet, now it's the Wby. Express.

The VX-6 is super quick to acquire a target, eyebox is very generous. The gun is a pleasure to handle and shoot.

The foreend is short and pretty trim. If it was a big boomer, I'd want the front swivel stud on the barrel, not on the stock. I think the short foreend was set up for that. With this gun, not an issue. For precision LR shooting, I don't want a sling hanging off the barrel.

DF

Yeah that stock looks like it fits the bill perfectly . I just liberated a 270 bee sporter from the LGS . Going to have the barrelled action satin finished and then put it in a gorgeous Euromark stock I have in the closet. I also wanted to get a Mcmillan stock for it and I do not like the current MArk V version they sell.

This stock is std. fill.

You can now get a McWoody with Edge fill, I have one on a 98 FN/Shilen 6.5x55.

Edge fill will save a few ounces if wt. is an issue.

DF

Good to know , thanks for the info

I much prefer this McM Wby Express shape, fit and handling to the std. factory Wby profile; I don't like a big, fat cheek piece.

I use a more heads up shooting position, don't stock crawl; I set my scopes back a bit compared to most. This stock is perfect for that type shooting style, comes up very quick.

And, it's a more conservative profile, looks better to me; besides, I like the Safari look.

DF

MkV with 24" #2 Brux in std. fill Wby. Express is 8# 4 oz.

VX-6 2-12x42 non-illuminated is 16.8 oz, Talley LW's around 2 1/2 oz.

So, all up it's approx. 9# 5 oz, balances and handles like a lighter gun. Very pleasant to shoot, even with the heaviest bullets at max velocity.

DF

8# 4 ounces is what my Mark V 270 bee weighs with the 34 ounce synthetic stock and 26" # 2 barrel. I guess if I put it in a Express stock Mcwoody pattern in an edge it would be around the 7.6 area which is ideal. It balances perfectly in the synthetic and the euromark stock I have for it, the weight is deceptive for sure.


DF thanks for posting that information.

If you have a 300 win mag you do not need a 7mm Remington magnum to fill that same slot. Where the 7mm really shines is with the 140gr bullet and the animals appropriate to shoot with them. Deer/Bear/Cougar/ Antelope/Sheep. Even Coyote if you do not mind making them extra dead. Look up the ballistics of assorted 140gr 7mm bullets at 3200fps. If you do not like what you find, you do not need a 7mm rem mag.

140gr bullets are far from what shines brightest in the 7 Rem Mag.

Tanner

I have both and like both the.300 and 7mmRM.. My late wife took over the 7 for her rifle the last 10 years of her life.. We mostly loaded it with a heavy load of Re22 and a 140 BTBT.

It killed everything from rockchucks to moose.. Great load.. But it did shoot faster that 3200.. Maybe due to the altitude here..
I like both, simply for variety.. Shooting one caliber or rifle all the time gets plenty boring for me..

140gr. bullet in a 7mm rem mag? Damn that's putrid. Try stepping up to a 162 A-max or 168 VLD or 162 ELD.... That's where it really "shines"....

I also have and like both.

For over 20 years I loaded the 7mm RM with 160g bullets while the .300WM has only been loaded with 180g bullets. Still have some of those 160g 7mm RM loads but load 140g bullets these days. Like you, I get over 3200fps with them. Good 140g bullets (Barnes TTSX, North Fork SS, etc.) will expand well and still drive through several feet of animal at ranges near and far.

Some 7RM's like 140's better than 160's. I go with what the gun likes. My Len Brownell Chaplin and Haskins prefers 139/140 gr. bullets, shoots them sub MOA. It won't shoot 160's that well, unlike the 8 twist, 7RM Brux/MkV posted earlier. I haven't measured the twist on this one, probably slower than 8 if I was to guess.

With local WT's and such, 140 gr. is more than enough, don't need heavier bullets.

DF