Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7mm mag on elk vs. heavier calibers

When both are zeroed at 250...Barnes # 3...shows 14.03 drop for 340 with 210 and 15.46 drop for 250 in 375 at 400 yards..

OU: About what we were getting with 4X scopes and rifles in hand;actual shooting,and any differences could be lost in the "hold",or in the group size....when we consider one is a 250 gr payload,and larger bore diameter, it speaks well for the 375H&H.

I'd be content with either one....but I don't need both

Agreed...that is why I picked the 375 H&H...over the 340 some 25 years ago after my first trip to Alaska.....

With a 250 yard zero...Barnes # 3 shows the drop at 400 yards when both 340 and 375 are using the 250s to be 15.74 for the 340 and 15.46 for the 375 .....

By comparisons the Big 7s with 175 show 400 drop to be 14.51...with 160 to be 12.72...

300 Weatherby with 180s 400 yard drop shows to be 13.64...

All "BG" aside but if I were to start looking for a big gun all over again I'd no doubt go 375 (over the 340). It's more user friendly especially in a rifle weight I'm willing to tote around these days.

My first 340 went 8 1/4 lb and from time to time wasn't all that much fun when I was shooting chucks/pd's etc. But, it was certainly manageable. Anymore, I don't wish to carry a rifle that heavy so for me the 375 would be the way to go.

By my way of thinking as long as I've a lightweight .270, my Mashburn that's a bit heavier and a 375 I could hunt the world several times over. And if I failed to fill an ark or three it wouldn't be cause of round choice.

As my Grandad once told me (when I was making excuses about a miss) the round will go where you direct it...grin

Dober

(side note and last bit of BG on this thread from me but when I go to comping rounds to see how they'll both run I always use a zero @ 100 so both rounds are starting out pretty much the same. IME using a zero of say 250 or so doesn't paint the true apples to apples pic. But, that's just my way and it don't have to be anyone elses)

Shoot straight and hunt often!

I think you have one of the best right now in the Mashburn for 26 of NA 29 big game species...my combo for NA is 270, 30-06, 300 Wby and 375..I use my 375 only for the big bears of NA...Coastal Grizzly of BC and Alaska, Kodiak Brown Bears and Polar Bears...or combo hunts in Alaska for Moose and Brown Bears...

Well.

Last night I swapped my 22" '06 into the stock that my 26" .338 lives in, to get an idea of how my .338 would feel with the barrel cut back. It felt really good. I hate 26" tubes on sporters.

That matters because, suitability of a 7-mag on elk notwithstanding, if I convertt my. 325 to 7mm then my .338 will likely become my first-choice elk rifle.

I've also convinced myself that even though I'm a recoil absorbing device of some repute <grin>, having my Montana be a bit less "sporty" could only help shoot it even better.

A financial analysis of the sitcheration shows a $1300 difference between retubing what I've got vs. buying another and retubing.

And on a tactical Internet forum pizzing match level, rocking a 7mm ain't never not a good thing <g>.

Gonna call Pac Nor today and ask how much to also chase the threads on the .325 tube they'd be pulling off, so that it'd be a fairly straightforward deal to spin that .325 tube back on there if I decided I'd made a horrible mistake! (I think as part of "squaring the action" they true up the threads on the receiver so that's why...)

Thinking Step One is getting my .338 cut back and then verifying that I didn't just ruin the best factory out-of-the-box rifle I've ever bought. If the. 338 is in a more pleasing config AND still holding sub-moa, then messing with the .325 Kimber is less... scary. Lol.

Thanks for the discussion fellers, much appreciated. Couldn't overthink it without ya!

The color off the tape on the barrel can change every thing, blue tape gives about a 100 yards more range than does the black tape, even though they both start with a "B"

Jeff-in a heart beat I'd cut that 33 back to 23"!

Dober

What IS wrong with you???

Don`t you realize the .325 was developed to REPLACE all else?

America NEEDS a great 8mm.

Anyway, what`s a silly millimeter gonna get ya? Really??

Funny thing is- I'll still own a .325! I got two of 'em.

Dober- I hear ya; I'm going to like it better at 23". I'm just hoping/praying that the mojo in that barrel isn't in that last few inches! If it is you'll hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from montucky because I will have just screwed up a Very Good Rifle.

But if ya wanna make an omelette ya gotta break some perfectly good rifles eggs, right?

U could always use some blue duck tape to put it back on...ork ork ork

You're gonna love it at 23" and the mojo that comes out of a barrel cut to an odd number you just can't believe.

Dober

I have seen 10 of 11 elk shot in the last 3 years from my buddy and me. 5 each from 7rm and 338rum. I can tell no difference. The die when hit in the chest, and require more shots when they are not. Ranges from 40-315 yards.

Well, Jeff, the equation is pretty simple. You have several rifles that are optimal as an elk rifle, including 2 in .325.
You arguably have no rifles that are optimal as a long range deer rifle. Even if the medium bores were optimal, there is a gap in your arsenal on the small bore end, so simply as a matter of balance you need a 6.5 or a 7mm.
My arsenal is almost entirely between 6mm and 7mm. And I would shoot elk with any of them.
You may have a pronghorn or sheep hunt in your future, so you need something smaller. It aint right to shoot pronghorn with a .338. Just sayin...

Yup. Caliber matters not, nor does bullet weight or velocity or range to the target. With blue tape all is well..

At some point a real cheap and slutty tramp of a .257 Bee is gonna wander into my life and I don't think I could put up much resistence to it's lascivious charms.

Well what the heck are you waitin' for, buddy?! Turn that Montana into a 7WSM and get on with load development and LR practicing!

You still have another .325 just in case everything goes awry, so there's no risk involved

That's a great summary and is about how I'm coming around to seeing it, too.

Heck, the cheapest route is to just use your 338 on deer and pronghorns (including little ones). That's what I do. Doesn't wreck 'em near as bad as you think, but they do get sick very quickly...






That said, I think there'd be very little risk in rebarreling to 7WSM. Heck, I'm on the look out for a turd of a 325 to do just that!

What kind of rifle is your other 325? If it's also a Montana, I say why not? Then again, it'd be a shame to potentially mess up a very nice gun!