Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 280 rem vs 7mm mag

Ateam: I have Hunted with both a 280 Remington and a 7mm Remington Magnum for a LONG time now.
I have killt Bull Elk, Mule Deer, Antelope, Whitetailed Deer, Mt. Goat and Black Bear with bo'fum (urban youth word for "both of them"!)!
Properly placed projectiles (through the heart/lungs!) from either cartridge WILL harvest your game!
In fact I owned a Ruger heavy barrel Model 77-V in caliber 7mm Remington Express starting back in 1982. The 7mm Remington Express was simply the 280 Remington with a "fancy monicker"!
That 77-V in 7mm Remington Express (280 Remington) was an Antelope and high plains Mule Deer killing MACHINE!
I wish I had never sold that one.
Then in 1986 I had a full custom Rifle built for myself in caliber 280 Remington.
It was built on a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 action (that was "born" the same month and year as I was - July 1947!) with a 25" Douglas barrel and a McMillan stock - this Rifle is one of the safest, most reliable, most accurate and handsome Rifles I have ever owned!
And at about the same time I purchased a Remington 700 Classic in caliber 7mm Remington Magnum. It was a whimsical kind of a good deal purchase but that Rifle shot so well that it has been in my Hunting Rifle arsenal for 24 very successful years now.
I shoot 160 grain Nosler Partitions out of my 7mm Remington Magnum and 140 grain Nosler Partitions out of my 280 Remington.
Seldom do I ever fire more than ONE shot at a game animal with either Rifle!!!
Indeed the 7mm Remington Magnum has slightly more energy and a slightly flatter trajectory than the 280 Remington but I would not consider either cartridge to be lacking in any way when it comes to Big Game Hunting.
IF, you are considering one over the other and Montana Elk Hunting is in your future then I would tend to direct you to the wonderful 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge for that - along with the SUPERB 160 grain Nosler Partitions. Then I would suggest you have another loading tested and ready for your Pennsylvania Hunting - for this I would use either the 140 grain Nosler Partions or the 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Best of luck to ya with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I"m gonna drag this off topic a bit, but I'm kinda wired again today.... You don't need more than 9x to shoot longer distances.... I have taken deer out past 550 yards with iron sights. You only need to know what you are doing. X of the scope isn't all there is to it.

Turrets can't get changed by rubbing them on clothes. They have covers and guns are generally zero'd for chip shots like 300 yards and under. Its the longer shots where you have time, you take the caps off and adjust.

And he says he'd adjust the wrong way, well certainly if you don't practice it. But to this day if you tell my wife to turn left up there at the light, she'll have to THINK about it. But due to years of shooting I can scream 6 left and 2 down, knock it down, and in the matter of a couple of seconds the CORRECT correction is on the gun EVERY time, and the shot is gone.

What you say is all fine and true to you, but to others its VERY simple, not a disaster like you make it out to be. The good thing is folks know their limitations and where to stop, but they don't need to be bashing others methods or tools that are proven to work.

I prefer as close as I can get. Yet if the only shot is a long one, I'm generally set up for it and ready to shoot. Actually the problem we get is judging quality of antlers way out there, making a shot is easy compared to seeing if the animal is what you really want or not.

What, yet another person that finds the 7mm "Hit-em-Again" Remington Magnum to be a perfectly adequate elk cartridge?

That makes at least three of us!

My wife and I both killed elk this year in NM with shots over 300 yds. She shot a 7-08 AI (140 gr TSX) and I shot a 7wsm (150 gr Partition). It took her two shots, but only due to shot placement with her first one. 280 Rem is a tad more gun than the 7-08 AI, I would not feel undergunned shooting one.

You missed my vote, so that makes 4 ;o) No caliber has impressed me more in the game fields than the 7mm Remington mag. I shoot a lot of stuff and a lot of calibers, but the 7mm just crunches stuff. I sure do have a soft spot for the 7mm-08 though. Very impressive round.

Get both rifles, take the scope off the one and put it on the .280 with good DUAL DOVE TAIL mounts, then sell the heavier 7mm. Flinch.

The 7RM deal you mentioned was a great buy, and there is no better choice for you as an entry level set up that would cover the gamut of western game from antelope to elk.

Thumbhole and heavy 26'' tube does not a mtn elk rig make. Truly a SUCKS rifle.

It sounds like your factory ammo shooter. With the 2 choices you have in front of you, I would go with the 7mm mag. Great ammo selection and at that price with the Leupold a good deal to boot.

Personally, I'm not a magnum fan and own a 7mm-08 and 280 in the .284 calibers. I probably only need one of them but what fun is that. I do not hunt Elk but feel a good quality 160 gr bullet in the boiler room will put down any elk and when I get a Moose Tag here in New England would have no problem doing so to a moose.

Great post. I'll only contest that turrets usually have caps. Many do not. However, they sure aren't getting changed by rubbing on clothes, either way!

Jeff and Rost,

I do not know what you are talking about. When ever I have to dial in my turrets I just hand my rifle to my buddy and tell him to rub it on my close. Usually dials it right in

Must be a Bushnell scope if the "turrets" are changing zero that easy. Maybe you should start wearing "clothes" instead of "close". That might be part of the problem ;o).

I use turrets on all my rifles and if you can change them by rubbing on anything, you are a better man than I am. I swear buy them and use them year round. I don't touch them if shots are under 350 yards, but over that, nothing beats a dialed in turret, a range finder and a solid rest. I have taken out a bunch of first time turret users. These guys and gals can shoot well, but had no idea what turrets could do for them. They borrowed my rifles with me in tow. The First guy wacked his buck at 481 yards, second girl 556, third guy 351, fourth guy 501. They all have turrets on their rifles now and swear by them. If you don't shoot a lot at long range, then they aren't for you. If you are a weekend warrior, they aren't for you. For western hunters that simply can not get closer to game across the huge canyons, they are a life saver for those that are dedicated to puting in the time it takes to get good at long range shooting. I wacked a small prairie dog at 746 yards on the third shot with turrets and witnesses. Deer an elk are a chip shot after shooting pop can sized targets at long range year round. Flinch

My 7 Mags will shoot the 154's comfortably at 3200 fps, 400 yards is a chip shot with the Bushnell 4200 4-16's at the rifle range that we shoot at. Brother nailed a large bullet at 550 yards, one shot DRT with the 154g hornady bonded bullet.

As a point of clarification, the .280 can indeed �achieve the same velocity with less powder� as a 7mm RM, but only within the limits of the .280 Remington. Case in point, Hornady 7th lists 162g bullets at 2800fps with IMR 4831 for both � 51.7g for the .280 and 56.2g for the 7mm RM. The difference is that 2800fps is top end in the Hornady manual for the .280 while the 7mm RM has loads to 3000fps.

With lighter 120g bullets, Nosler #6 shows differences exceeding 300fps, with the advantage going to the 7mm RM.

Its really hard to beat case capacity when looking for velocity.

I have been shooting the .280 for several years now and I think you are just fine with using it for elk. Just use good bullets that your rifle shoots well and practice at the distances for shots that you might encounter and have fun.

VarmintGuy,

I built a similar .280- mine on a 1949 vintage M70 action, with a 22" stainless PacNor barrel, and Bansner stock, painted by Rick Bin. Scope is a Leupold VX3 2.5x8.

With Federal Vital Shok 140 gr. Accubond ammo, it's a sub-MOA shooter. With my handloads, it makes ragged one-hole groups at 100 yards. Accuracy is way more than acceptable!!

In fact, I've given my custom 7mm Rem Mag. to my son, for elk hunting- I really don't see the need for it anymore.

280's belong in light,svelte,mountain weight rifles that handle like batons....not heavy barreled laminated thumbholes that you wield like a railroad tie....that's like putting combat boots on Michael Jordan......can't think of anything less desireable for an elk hunt.

OTOH, the 7 mag is closer to perfection. This is not a caliber issue...in this case, it's a rifle decision,made easy.....

I am going to be contrary here, and say that neither of those rifles is a good set up for a first time elk hunter that shoots factory ammo (probably is not a high volume shooter).
The 280 is way too heavy, and I bet the 7 mag is also heavy. I'll bet that Leupold is also a gloss scope with Ao, and you need a 10 X gloss scope with AO for elk hunting like John Candy needed another sandwich.
A 308, 30/06 or 270 is going to be less expensive to shoot(read practice here), and with the astoundiung price of factory ammo, and the more astounding need for substantial practice, that is an issue.
Also, all of those calibers are available in fairly portable rifles, which is another important issue.
The scope needs to be reliable and user friendly. A fixed 4 power gives more than enough aiming precison on elk to 600 yards or so, and is light and reliable.
I would have a trigger job done, and I'd have the stock glass bedded so it wouldn't be as apt to change zero after being knocked around on the trip, humidity changes, and temp changes.
A Nosler Partition from any cartridge in the 308/30/06/270/280/7 Mag class with Nosler Partitions is going to kill elk just fine.
JMO

Royce

.....words of wisdom........

Of the two this is the way I'd go as well. With time I'd add a Ti take off handle and some Talleys and a Uncle Mikes Mtn sling. Good action, wonderful round and with all due respect to my elder friends from the Fire (Royce and Bob and Ingwe, thought I'd toss him in the mix just cause he uses a 7x) I really like the 3-10 Leo and it's one of my fav scopes going and one I could easily use for the rest of my days of hunting and shooting. (my 7 Mashburn Super has a 41-14 on it go figure...grin)

To me, the scope power issue is a personal one much like picking a woman for a wife. I'd buy the big 7 and then with time would change out the handle.

Just my way

Dober

Dober: I've had a 3.5-10X Leup..............several times

I actually like it.....

Can you put a standard Rem barrel in a Ti takeoff? Will it fit?