Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The 7mm Rem Mag vs. the 300 Win Mag

Dan you've always been a larger is better about calibers kind of guy. You'll always go for a 30cal (maybe magnum) for elk and 7mm (or bigger) for deer.

Spoken like a true PNW' er.......

Thank you bobinNH Premiums are the reason I tend to use the 7mm caliber on ANYTHING. It took a while, but I finally noticed the partitions and such in the 7mm Lost little to no ground compared even to the .338 in expansion, penetration, bone busting, blood trails. Granted I have not gone after brown bear yet, or calmed a nasty grizzly en' rout for me, but when the chance comes nosler will probably be the bullets.

If got a hanker'n for 300 or a 338, by all means get one, or both!! They are DEADLY on game and a fine addition to the 7mm rem mag. Between those three calibers, short of blue whales, you could kill any game animal on the globe.

That's not totally true as far as deer go. I'd take just about any legal caliber deer hunting unless the ranges were bound to be far. Then, I'd take enough gun to shoot through the wind. 270, 280, 7mm Rem Mag have been favorites of mine though I'd love to give a 25-06 a spin.

As far as elk, you have me pinned. I've been a fan of 30 or 33 calibers for elk but I know for a fact that it doesn't take that much gun to kill an elk. Just my own personal preference I guess.

Safariman: Yes I have seen some times when I got that impression...and then something or several things have happened that made me more confused about the whole cartridge/bore diameter thing than I was before..... This is nerve racking!But I try to keep an open mind which is hard sometimes.

One of the fastest black bear kills I have had was with a 280 Remington and a 140 Bitterroot at about 80 yards(he weighed about 300 pounds later on scales); no running gear involved, pure rib/lungs/rib,but the bear was down to the shot and never got up...among many we shot, two of the toughest recoveries came from bears hit a smidge far back with a 340 Weatherby and a 257 Roberts.....

Three companions spread out in an oak brush canyon on an elk hunt we were on....and by good fortune they each got cracks at bulls...These were not really long range shots, maybe in the 250-350 yard range,and when the melee was over all 3 elk were dead.Funny thing was one was armed with a 340 Weatherby, another with a 300 Win Mag, and the third a 7 Rem mag.....I carried a 300 mag a lot in those days, either Winchester or Weatherby,and used both with good success...another bull on another hunt,gave me a bit of a problem with a 300 Weatherby.I chased him down and killed him,jumping him from his bed,injured but still very much alive.

There are more of these "experiences" but these come to mind...

In reconciling this stuff over the years,it dawned on me that the biggest single factor that made things go from "simple" to "rodeo",and distinguished these experiences,was...... bullet placement . I noticed that the truly spectacular kills, with any of the cartridges, depended on putting a good bullet in pretty exactly the right spot.

It makes sense to me that certain bullets (not all) of 30,338,358 and 375 caliber of heavier weight,tougher construction,and greater cross sectionl areas, should do a better job of breaking heavy bones,tearing up more flesh and tissue,and creating more trauma,than smaller calibers..(if this were not true,we'd shoot Cape Buffalo with 243's)...but it also seems that some (not all) bullets of (say) 6.5, 270, and 7mm,also do a good job at this stuff,and while they may lack the weight of the bigger stuff,their construction lets them inflict enough wounding capability to overwhelm the life support systems of a pretty wide range of game animals,if properly placed.

Bullet placement and construction seem to be the equalizers,and the shooters ability to direct a bullet where it needs to go is paramount,whether,from a big cartridge or a smaller one...the reason I don't get too excited anymore over the "differences" between a (for example)270 and a 280AI or 30/06.

For some shooters, excessive recoil gets in the way of the placement equation;and some have the "bigger is better" mentality but at the same time do not have the training and practice levels to extract full value from a bigger, heavier recoiling rifle..They mistakenly buy the bigger cartridge,and expect dramatic results,even if they can't shoot it well(They also frequently kid themselves about their ability to do so)......these are the guys in search of magical effect from rifles and cartridges, thinking the magic is in the caliber,the headstamp,and the power...it isn't. It's in the bullets, and where they go that matters most.

I think this is why you saw what you saw,and what many of us have seen over the years. My 2 cents....

Bob,

Terrific post, thank you for your thougthful, reasoned and experience based comments. I agree that good bullets have leveled the playing field greatly. I would not hesitate to hunt Elk these days with my 257WBY using the Barnes 100gr TTSX bullets and may yet do so.

My Uberfast 33 might become a 7RUM or STW someday. Jury is still out for me as I just plain like the big bullet on some things where my 416 Rigby is just a tad too much. Probably old prejudices and my love for overkill combined with good experineces with this rifle and cartridge both here and in Africa. If the lower 48 was the extent of my hunting, the rifle in question probably would have remained a 300WBY like its last barrel was or maybe have been a really big 7mm of some sort.

Safariman: You have the field and shooting experience to extract full value from your 338 wildcat;know how to manage the rifle well.If I were you I wouldn't change a thing....

But what I also seem to see is that for guys like you, it doesn't matter what you shoot. You will do well with anything you pick up....and if the time comes that you decide to do it,you could step down to a Big 7mm or something in that range,and do just fine!

The first bolt action centerfire I bought was a walnut Ruger Mk II 7x57. The second I bought was a walnut M700 in .280 with 24 inch barrel. You gentlemen are making it very hard for me to justify a 7 Mashburn Super, a 300 Weatherby, and an 8mm Rem Mag!!!!!

Dogger a guy always needs a spare!

Shoot what you like,and like what you shoot.

I like just about everything... that is my problem...

.280 Rem, 7mm RM, .308 Win, .30-06, .30-06, .30-06, .300WM, .338 WM.

What I've done with any could have been done by all.

I like the redundancy and the backup.

It certainly makes sense in Washington. Use something bigger, put it down faster. Then, hopefully, avoid the "that's my elk" argument with someone else who shot your elk as it ran off, though already fatally hit. *and no this has never happened to me, but have heard about it*

I quite honestly don't think I even want to hunt in (western) Washington anymore.

I am pretty sure it is a good start....

7x61 S&H,.308 Win, .30-06, .30-06, .30-06, .338 Win, .35 Whelen,

About three years ago really bad snow made it impossible for me to get to my old haunts in the SW Mt. Adams area. It also made it impossible for many others to get to THEIR old favorite spots. All of us hunters were packed into lower country. After two days of seeing a sea of Orange around every possible Elk travel route and no elk I called it quits on my week long scheduled hunt and packed up camp. Just was not fun and I thought it dangerous. I have not been back there since.

At a loss as to what or where to go in WA state to have a decent Elk hunt. Cannot stomach hunting only Spikes on this side of the Mountains.