Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sold the last magnum rifle in the safe..have gone.full circle

I cannot fathom life without a 22LR, the 38 Special to a hot 45Colt, 222's to the 416 Rigby.

Play with what you like. I'm just glad there are so many to play with (that could be a lot of things) grins

Beer works fine for me, but a single malt bourbon on occasion is nice too...

Terming them all useless is not in my vocabulary, lest its a SSM (ha).

Give up my magnums??? No way. the .300 WM is a definite keeper and the 7mm RM will likely be the last to go.

Except for the occasional hunt with a lever action for old times sake, it's all magnums for me. To me theres no disadvantage possible to having more power unless you can't handle the recoil.

No magnums in my house. Got two 270s (one for each son) and old 336C Marlin 30-30 and a 500 Jeffery ...



Chuck

I almost had a magnum-itus relapse today. There was a real sweet M70 300 Winchester Magnum at the local gun shop on consignment...good price. Fortunately my son pulled me back from the brink.

Is there such a thing as AAA organization for recovering magnum owners?

Well, contrary to popular opinion on this thread, I love the magnums, shoot them well and use them ALL....

Let's see......338RUM, 300RUM, 300win, 300WSM, 7WSM, 7STW and a 257ROY...

I had : 338WIN, 270WSM, 7Rem that I got rid of....

With the exception of the 338RUM, I have taken game with them all, and never lost an animal that I shot at with them.

The 338RUM was bought for griz and big brownies...it will be used.

Also have an '06, 308, 22/250, 218bee that I use frequently.

Frankly, I don't see WTF the problem is with mags ????

My personal fav. is my 300RUM, which has taken elk, moose and Mtn goat. One elk was at 450 yards, the goat at 350.

My everyday deer rifle is the 7WSM, loaded with 150 partitions at a mild 3000fps. It do shoot that load.

My 300winnie has taken elk, wt and mule deer, antelope.

My 7stw is my western long range MD bomber, along with WT.

Later,

Tony

It would be very hard for any rifle nut, magnum fan or no, to turn his back on a minty pre'64 M70 in .300 H&H..

Magnums are here to stay in this house.

I really have nothing against magnums...owned and harvested North American big game with them. Nostalgia, new bullet design and construction and new powder selection motivated me to see what some of the non-magnum calibers I owned in my youth would perform on big game today (actually the last 10 years). The thread was not intended to be a slam on magnums.

I can't possibly remember all of the different rifles/calibers that I have owned over the last 35 years. Gunbroker.com shows that I have purchased 93 in the last 3 years. However a critical family emergency type situation came up a short while back and we all had to reevaluate our priorities so I sold all but a handful. Thanks to a numb skull named Obama I got top dollar for all of them too. A few of them that I had planned on passing on to family when I croaked just got passed on a little early. I have added a few since that big sell out but the only cartridges in my house now are 22 lr,17HMR,222,223,243,270,7mm-08,30-30,308 and last my wack em and stack em big thumper a 8X57!

There is not a thing wrong with owning and hunting with magnums. I just don't need them anymore. I lost track of the number of deer I have killed at 125 and thats been a while back. The longest shot I ever made on a whitetail deer was just over 450 yards and I did that with a 243. The longest shot I have made on anything the last 10 years was less than 200 yards(just out of bow range for some of ya! smile).

I sold a CZ in 458 Lott but not until I shot up the only box of shells I had for it. It kicked but it was manageable so I'm not magnum shy....just don't need them!

Shoot what you like, like what you shoot, but hit what you aiming at.

I got turned off on the magnum thing back in the mid 80's. Ran into a guy out hunting and was carrying a 7mm Rem Mag. He started talking smack about how it was soooo much better than the 270 Win I was carrying. Really?? What a clown.

And belts?, I don't need no stinking belts. Magnums with belts? I just can't like them.

I have owned a few
7mm Rem mag? My 270 covers that.
300 & 338 Win Mag, 350 Rem Mag? My 338-06's will do the job.
375 H&H? 9.3x64 Brenneke's get the nod.

Sold them all. Now I have exactly two.

A 7mm Rem mag in 700 ADL that my Dad won at a banquet quite a few years back. Less than a box of shells put through it by him. Finally gave it to me to sell. Haven't gotten around to taking pics and listing it yet.

A Win Model 70 Classic in 300 Rem UM, even though it doesn't have a belt. It still smacks of magnumitis mentality. This is soon going to be a 404 Jeffery.

I don't have an issue with recoil, just the image that goes with magnums.

I don't have anything against the magnums......just can seldom see the advantages they offer.

To me, the advantage of a magnum is the ability to shoot a heavier bullet to a useful velosity than a "standard" round can do. It's NOT about pure velosity as I am not a long-range kind of shooter. Once a bullet gets into the 2800-3000 fps range it's trajectory is such that anything inside 400 yards is feasable......more velosity and a "flatter" trajectory are not needed or even desirable (bullet performance becomes tricky past 3000 fps). Only when I feel the need for more bullet weight in that velosity range is a magnum justified.

I do own and shoot a few "magnums" because there is no standard round that will do what I want. One thing to remember too is that the word "magnum" alone doesn't make it so.

The .220 Swift and even .22-250 are in every way "magnums" (by that I mean rounds that are larger than "standard" for their caliber and normally slightly over-bore capasity).....even though neither has the word magnum in their name. I use both because varmit hunting is one of the few applications where excess velosity really IS sometimes needed.

Likewise the .25-06 is certainly a magnum just as much as the .257 WBY even though it lacks the belt and name. It too is very useful to me as I can drive a 120 grain bullet into that 3000 fps range I like......something that is impossible with the standard .257 Roberts or .250-3000.

The .338 Win. Mag. is also one of my favorites (and it has both the name and belt) because it will shoot medium caliber, heavy (200-250 grain) bullets into that "sweet" velosity range (2800-3000). No "standard" .33-.35 caliber round can match that ability.

Likewise, the .375 H&H (or newer .375 Ruger) has no equal in a standard round......athough the 9.3x62 comes pretty close.

Most magnum rounds, however, just can't be justified.

The .224 WBY??......less than a Swift (although I admit the Swift IS a magnum without the name).

The .240 WBY???......Why? (unless you are using it as a long-range varmit caliber) The .243/6mm Rem. already shoot into the 3000 fps range.

The .257 WBY.....basically the same as the .25-06 (another non-named magnum).

The .270 Wby. is just too much of a good thing as the .270 Win. is already almost too fast with 130 grain bullets.

7mm Magnums? Sure it will shoot heavier bullets bthan the .270, but if I REALLY need more bullet than a 150 grain .270......then I actually need a bigger calibar than the .284. The .280 is a much better fit in that caliber for "normal" use.

The .300 magnum is much the same. If I NEED more bullet than the .30-06's 165 grains at 2900-3000........then I probably should be shooting a .338 in the first place.

The 7mm and .300 magnums ARE useful as "crossover" rounds as they will shoot flat enough with "normal" bullet weights, but can be pushed and used on larger game with heavy 175 or 200 grain bullets. However, since I own some 200+ rifles, I can hardly justify any dual-purpose rounds.

Once you get into the medium bores (.338-.375) and large bores (.400 and above) the magnums shine as very few standard rounds can push heavy bullets as well......but in truth, most of the medium/large bore magnums are "magnum" in name only. The .338 and larger rounds mostly ARE standard rounds even though they may have a belt and Magnum in their name.

Some "magnums" make you scratch your head and wonder.....why??? The .350 Rem. Mag. is anything BUT a true magnum (it's actually a "standard" .35 Whelen....only shorter). What were they thinking when they added a belt that takes up magazine space and introduces potential feed problems?

I don't "hate" the magnums......jus can't find many that are justified over a standard round.

I have done the same.....most magnums have gone down the road. I like light weight rifles and that combo with a magnum is no fun to shoot. I have killed plenty of critters with the mags but I like to shoot alot for fun and practice and thats hard to do with a rifle that gives you a headache after a dozen rounds. I agree that with todays bullets most game can be cleanly taken with the standard rounds.
7mm-08 is a personal fav

While I don't use magnums much I just have to have a few. Long ago I thought I might go to Africa or for brown bear. You know the same thoughts many have. So I got a .375 HH and still have it.

Then an old M70 in 300 HH came by and a Westerner. Can't say no. How could you turn them down? No way.



Since the SS/syn and lighterweights came out I have had one or more and a 270 WSM in a Montana is set up for long range deer.

I care less and less about shooting at some beast at long range. Sure I have the laser RF but the zeal is fading.

Definitely have to learn how to ignore the recoil thats for sure.

I OTOH have made some shots that I'd be almost scared to take with a standard round.... well past 500 yards and creeping up on 1000. Not that a 308 wouldn't do it but I like the extra buffer a bit.

And my take on recoil is why worry, its going to bite you anyway, if you pull the trigger you may as well hit what you are aiming at. But then again I'm young, and I might get rid of the big boys later too.

I was never a big magnum fan. Have had the usual belted suspects, but currently have only one, the "semi-magnum" 300 WSM in a Kimber Montana. I like it.

A 180 at 3K is elk medicine if there ever was, and the rifle is very shootable and packs easily in the backcountry. So I suppose, it's more about the overall package than the round itself.

Thinking about it, if there ever was a round that looked like a wine magnum, the WSM is it!

I have also sold my 7mm mag. and 300 mag. not that I had anything I didn't like about them. I hunt Canada and shots are from 50 yards to 250 yards. My 30-06 with proper handloads works just fine. I reload and it is easier to find a lot of bullet powder combinations for the 2900 ft./sec area than 3100 ft./sec. The bullets are not stressed as much and brands like Sierras and such really work well. Also with more combinations I get to really find what the firearm likes for accuracy. I am not saying the 30-06 is the be all end all it just fits the bill for 300lb. Whitetails in Canada. When I think of changing to some other caliber I am usually giving up energy for a smaller faster bullet. I have moments when I think a 270 WSM or a.270 might be nice but for what I hunt and where it is not anything appreciable in the dead buck-bottom line hunting experience. So the 30-06 is not the greatest but once you find a solution in the field it is hard to find reason to change. Buckfever 1

I think if you could design the perfect soft skinned BG cartridge for worldwide use it would be something on the order of a 300 Weatherby that weighed the same as a Kimber Montana,kicked like a 243,had the barrel life of a 30-30,and the report of a 223.......but physics being physics, we can't have that...

So we and the manufacturers compromise,both recognizing that not everyone can or likes to get kicked(the reason the 270 came along in the first place),likes to carry a heavy rifle,or has a need for magnum horsepower......so I have nothing at all against magnums, recognizing they do pretty well what magnums are suppose to do....go faster with lighter bullets and shoot heavy ones to at least the same velocity as standard cases, and in some instances,even faster...

Do they "work" better at long range? Sure seems to me they do....and some folks with a lot of LR target and BG hunting experience seem to think so,too....likely at distances beyond the skill sets of the majority of folks.

But I think its' unwise to condemn all magnums as a class..because some of them do a good job of blending shootability with reasonable rifle weight,and manageable recoil....

Like any bullets, magnum bullets have to be put in the right place to be effective,and if the recoil gets in our way of doing this we are better off with something we shoot better...

It's no accident that Brad's 300 WSM has proven so popular;it manages reasonable ballistics with reasonable rifle weight without kicking your teeth out....in fact the only way I can think of to improve on it,.....is to neck it to 7mm!

Thats where I made my mistake when I selected the 270 WSM in the Montana over the 7mm WSM. At that time the consensus was that the 7mm WSM was not going to make it in the market with the late start it got, recall and all.

So I was practical. The thing is that I don't 'like' the .277" all that much. I want a 7mm! So far one has not been easy to come by.

Grrrr., my fault.