Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm Big Game Cartridge Showdown

I have worked with nearly all of the contemporary 7's. The only two I have not is the 7x57, 7 PRC & 7 RUM. None of them offer anything I cannot obtain from the 280 AI or 7 Wby.

I think a 7 Rem is a bit more flexible if you can get it past the 3.34" mark myself with the longer bullets. Saying that, my favorite rifle I own is Bob's old Brownell 1-10 twist 7 Rem and it's only 3.4" max. But that rifle was made in 1965 when 175's were blunter nosed and picking a bullet was way easier than today

I would agree on the 3.6 length in the 700. My follower measures 3.65. I load 180 Berger Hybrid to 3.6 and with Retumbo and it chronys at 3020 fps., 26 inch barrel. I believe the 7RM cartridge potential is hindered by short mag boxes and throats in factory guns cause Remington wanted the case to function in all of them, unlike Wby. That being said, in a pinch, factory ammo is everywhere.
Properly set up, there`s no flys on the 7 RM.

I'm sure it would change, but for the ones listed I believe the 160gr is the best all around choice.

#1. He is not picking one cartridge over another

#2. To keep things equal, he has chosen the 160 CX because he feels like it is a quality hunting bullet with a good BC capable of killing Elk cleanly and humanly to 600 yards. I had the 175 ELD X blow up on an Elk (7 PRC) ant 247 yards. Through another video he does not recommend them for Elk. I will never use another one for hunting!

#3. He is using an 8 twist 26” barrel for all. We don’t care what your 7 mag barrel will do.

#4. He wants to dispel any myths and wants to present facts about each cartridge including the bullschit 3K fps of the factory 175 ELDX 7 PRC. With my 26” Bartlein, I am getting 2880. I bought into that cool aid.

#5. He is not going to declare a winner. Just facts.

#6. It seems to me that when this subject turns up, a lot of folks say I have this or that and I am not interested in the PRC. Fine, but don’t knock someone for buying something new. New stuff is fun!

I really do think that the 7mm PRC makes the other long action & mags superfluous, a little better than the AO, no belt, modern case design, effective and easy to shoot. Haven't shot my 7mm RM since I completed the PRC, don't imagine I'll use it much again.

He wanted to give the other cartridges a chance, beretzs!

This should be interesting. I like that they're going to test the best factory options at 100 and 600 yds as well as all the handloading stuff. I wonder how they'll address pressure differences in the handloading part. This guy seems very knowledgeable but, he's definitely got opinions. How he handles the testing will be make or break. Super smart idea for his company though - tap into all the angst over these questions and personal feelings. If done methodically and fairly, it'll be great and sell some rifles, too I bet!

As he said, mag box length/handloading is huge comparing these cartridges. On a side note that might interest a couple of you, I'm packing up my 7PRC CLR to go back to Outkast for a re-paint. You learn alot about yourself with a custom build if you're open to it and, I've had to admit to myself that I'm just not man enough for a brash paint job on a rifle stock! God bless you guys who are and can handle the sideways looks from your hunting buddies when you uncase those tawdry shootin irons. Anyway, I emailed Glenn to let him know it was on the way and asked him about lengthening the mag box. He told me he had just finished a fixture to make that a standard option on his CLR jobs - milling the mag box well and ejection port and installing a Rem 3.7 mag box. Those guys are killing it. So, that's on the work order. When I get around to handloading for this thing or rebarrel it for the Mashburn I'll be all set!

You may think the long actions and belts are superfluous, and that's everyone's choice. For myself, I think the PRC is a marketing gimmick to sell more rifles and ammo. It does nothing for me as a reloader because I can load any bullet I want and match or beat it in velocity and accuracy. Gotta love choices and maybe for the majority of hunters that shoot nothing but factory ammo it may have an advantage for now. But as more gun makers put 8 twist tubes on their 7mm Rem mags that could very well change.

The real problem is that they don't make animals as definitively different as cartridges within the same caliber, so that there can never be a separation of these cartridge with this one will kill this animal and this one won't.

That's why comparing cartridges can only be separated by different bullets used and different ranges of application.

BUT, and there is always a BUT, if the same bullet is used in each cartridge, something universally respected such as the 160gn Accubond, there is no appreciable difference between any of them if the bullet is placed in the same spot.

Something else I learned culling, the more cartridges you use, the more similar the performance over a number of animals. When they all work, it negates most arguments.

on the competition side the 7 SAUM, and the 7 PRCW (6.5 PRC expanded to 7 mm) are all good…

The 7 PRC is a LONG dog compared the the 7 PRCW.

The hitch with many of the short mags is the brass is so thick the necks don’t seal well unless you neck turn, and keep it annealled

Unless they have pressure testing equipment I have to wonder if the testing will really be fair. Brands of cases can vary in softness or hardness and that can skew results to a fairly large degree.

SL, No personal attack intended, but these minutia topics are funny when you understand that a plain old every day Model 70 Featherweight with a boring 10" twist in a heaven forbid, shortish 22" barrel can comfortably send a 175gn Barnes LRX at over 2800fps and do anything any cartridge a week either side of it can do.

The only surprise is that no gunsmith has named his company "Minutia Barrels", "When the littlest things matter".

Carry on......

Yes....its a good entertaining story, but without all the real data, its a lot of guessing going on..

Last I tested the 7mm Rem mag with 175 grain Partitions, 3000 fps measured in the mid 70,000 psi range. With a 27 inch Lilja 1x9 twist barrel.

Blasphemer!

What they really need to do is bring you and your pressure equipment into the test, Charlie. That'd be worth the time.

Folks can buy their own equipment for less than some scopes cost !!!! But they wont do that. It's a lot of work learning how to use it. And a lot of time.
Charlie

And some problems will likely go away. No money in that !

Well said...

And, no fun on the 24hourargument.com!

The guys that biotch about the belt affecting feeding, need to get a different rifle. I have never seen or had issues with rifles chambered for belted magnums. And that even includes the Ruger m77. The pre 64 and classic model 70's feed those belted magnums with ease too. You buy or put together a piece of schidt, I guess you could have problems.