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

ha! No Vettes...
...BMW M3 , but sold it a while back.
Makes me even worse, eh?

I sure am pleased with the 130 Part in my 270.
60 grains of H4831SC, Fed210M sparklers and it shoots 3050fps out of my little 22" M70-shoots really well when I do my part.
I may just use that for elk next season if I finally draw a good tag out south of town here.
(I can only hope!)

+1

Tim,
Today is the last day of anterless season here in WV. I think I may take my 280AI and my 7 RM and let my son and grandson shoot a couple of does. I will also take my stop watch and see how long it takes the does to die. We will shoot 120 TTSX's out of the 280 and 150 NBT's out of the 7 Mag. I hope they don't bounce off. In case they do I'll have my 6MM Ackley with me to take care of any problems we may have. I could call my ex brother in law and he could use one of my 270's with 130 NBT's so we can see whether they will dispatch a doe too.
Not sure the 280 will be enough compared to the 7 Mag. lol

Dave

Tim: 130 Partitions work

Adam,

Just my .02 here and based on your description I'd quickly buy option 2 and "I" would be selling off the 3.5x10 for a leupy 2.5x8.

CLB

Dave, first of all, good luck to you guys on your last day.
Must be very nice to have 3 generations of your family in the hunting fields together.

As far as the 280/7 Mag deal goes, I don't have any experience with either-but my 'knee-jerk' response would be to say: if a guy doesn't reload, the 7 mag is the best choice but if you are a 'loony' the 280 or 280AI looks very interesting.

Bob,

IIRC, your experiences with the 130gr NP was what finally got me to take the 270 seriously.
Probably is my single favorite caliber/rifle now.
That little PF FWT is flat amazing with the 130gr nozler.

Go for the 7mm Mag, I've always liked the 280, but it won't do much if anything more than a 270 will do and 270 ammo is everywhere. A 7mm Mag particularly with 160 and 175g ammo is a big step up in power and recoil is still relativey mild in a normal weight rifle.

Tim,
Personally I am "bit" bad as in thinking that going forward a guy might redirect any investments he has left into rifles, pistols, shotguns, and ammo or at least open up a store. Been thinking about it hard.
I was trying to be humorous regarding the 'bullets bouncing off" and the "Stop watch". All of us know that a well placed or even a not too well placed bullet out of any 280 or 7 Mag will drop a Whitetail or Muley or Elk. A not so well placed will obviously create a tracking job or at the least he won't be laying right where he was hit.
Gotta get after a doe or two this afternoon. Gonna call #1 Grandson and see if he wants to go. BTW he is lefthanded and I am looking for a Model 7 in LH if anyone knows where one might be. .

Dave

Dave,
Oh yeah, I noticed your humor, sounds a bit like my own.


I just was happy to hear you and your son and grandson do some hunting together.
Me, my dad and grandpa(when he was still alive) only hunted a few times together, but still a good memory.

Tim: Accurate,goes fast,shoots flat in a light rifle,and kicks little...also knocks the snot outta stuff if pointed correctly....not much not to like

Very well stated BobinNH. You make a very good point. I just wanted to read about the pros and cons of the 280 rem and 7mm rem mag, but instead have to listen to this nonsense about bows and arrows vs guys with rifles. As a fellow native american though, I'd have to say we should of progressed more towards the modern firearm instead of the old stick and string.

chief: Sorry if I hijacked the thread;I was just reacting to where the thread had "gone";apologies...

On the 280/7mag issue,I'd say it's hard to wrong with either one....I like them both!

See if you can get the gun shop to rob the scope off the 7 Mag and make you a deal on the 280 and the scope! It's worth asking!

Gun fit and feel should be the deciding factor. Factory 280 ammo is limited and close to the same price as 7RM.

On the other hand a heavy barrel thumb hole stocked rifle doesn't fit my image of an eastern woods rifle. But if it suits you and where you hunt then it may be perfect.

Well I would go with rifle number #2. While the scope is on the large end power wise for my tastes, it would serve you well. Start with plain Blue Box Federal 7mm Remington Mag 150 gr bullet weight. Zero your rifle spot on 200 yards and just go shoot some till you can hit a grape fruit as far as you want to shoot and go enjoy yourself. That other rifle is a hanger queen. I would buy it myself if I was in the market for a rifle and yea I would even keep the current scope on it. Thou I am more of a fixed 6 x guy.

Not really. If I wanted a significant step up in power over a 270/280, I'd probably go at least a 30 cal mag, maybe 338.

I've hunted with 7mm's for a long time. My first was a 7mm Remington Magnum. Within months of Layne Simpson's first articles I was shooting a 7mm STW. After many years I got a 7mm-08.

Having used them all - I am a confirmed "less is more" guy now.

With range-finders - flatter trajectory is way over-rated. It comes with significantly less bore life, louder blast and way more recoil. All these noticeable detriments - for so little noticeable gain. I think after a life-time of hunting - you probably wouldn't notice a difference on game-killing power. I know I haven't seen it yet.

I still own my big seven - but, almost always - I reach for my little seven these days - with no regrets.

PS - to get a "big step up in power" - I shoot my 375H&H.

And - with less than a tenth of an inch bigger around hole - through the animal (and with similar penetration) - I'm not so sure that even a cartridge like the the 375 is such a "big step up in power" - as some people seem to think it is.

280 !!