300 winmag vs 7mm mag

[captacademy]

You're exacty correct, I went with a smith that I trusted and who had the experience to support what he was telling me. That for me is what help me make my choice. Pick a great smith! if you like, send me a pm and I will tell you what I was told and by who.

 

[COBrad]

I've used both, extensively, and have gone back to the 7mm Rem mag. I'm getting 2980 with 180 gr Berger VLD's from a custom LR rifle. Anything the 300 Win can do, the 7mm Rem can do with less recoil.
I had no problem shooting the 300, but I'm tired of needless recoil. My light weight elk rifle is a 270 WSM. It has been accurate enough for 600 yard marmots, and still has enough left to shoot elk at that range as well.

 

[snowpro440]

Don't believe a word about the 7mag doing what the 300 mag or WSM will do .Go with the .30cal , so many more choices an the energy to back it up . Most guns kick at the bench but when you get that elk or deer in your sights I never really feel the recoil ......terminal performance at long range on a .30 is better overall.

 

[kennygss]

Don't believe a word about the 7mag doing what the 300 mag or WSM will do .Go with the .30cal , so many more choices an the energy to back it up . Most guns kick at the bench but when you get that elk or deer in your sights I never really feel the recoil ......terminal performance at long range on a .30 is better overall.

With all due respect, why would you make a statement like this? Don't "believe" a word about the 7 Rem Mag, one of the most proven and re-proven cartridges in the world? ( like the 300 Winny) The old 7 has definitely proven itself, there is no "smoke and mirrors" there. I'll agree that a 30 may be better, and a 338 even better, and a 416 is real good. My Dad shoots Elk with a downloaded 458 Mag, kills the hell out of them. But, a 7 will DEFINITELY getthe job done.

 

[Joe King]

Don't believe a word about the 7mag doing what the 300 mag or WSM will do .Go with the .30cal , so many more choices an the energy to back it up . Most guns kick at the bench but when you get that elk or deer in your sights I never really feel the recoil ......terminal performance at long range on a .30 is better overall.

I picked these 2 loads based on common results, comparable muzzle vel, and the # of people that turn to them. In short using what folks are using.
How is that? Run a 300WM with a 210gr Berger at 2900 which I believe is pretty common, against a 7RM with 180gr Berger which is pretty common. At 1000yrds the 7RM has a 7 1/2" trajectory advantage 5" wind drift advantage 66fps advantage. The 300 has a 106Ft/lbs at advantage. Because of the higher BC and SD the 7 is going to out pace the the 30 in every category in another 100yrds. The point is their both so **** close together that the only real difference is in recoil. Myself I think I would just as soon spend the 2-300 $ that getting a 300 braked would run and spend it on other things like bullets and powder or what have you to aid me in becoming more proficient at putting that 1st round on target. but that's just me.

Your right recoil is seldom felt when shooting at game but at the range is a whole different story, and that's where skills, and habits both good and bad are developed. I personly don't really have anything against a muzzle brake, but they do tend to **** the guy off next to you when you blow the water out his eye.

 

[snowpro440]

Guys , no disrespect intended but you all aree that you can send the .30 cal bullet down range a little better to do the job at hand with the right bullet than the 7 . The 30 cal has more choices of bullets at hand for each needed situation. The 30 bullets are readily available most places and factory loaded ammunition too. This is personal preference also , I would rather have a bigger bullet hit the target for a quicker clean kill, I have 300win 300wsm and a 7 rem meg and I cant tell the difference at short range but when I hit the animals with the .30 cal bullet at long range it makes a bigger hole and quicker kill with more energy . If your dialing up an know the range what does Bc matter? So the 30 takes care of the task at hand, Bigger is better most times an this is one of them.

 

[Wheatgerm]

+1 on the .30 the bc on a 210vld is almost the same as the 180 in the 7mm (the 7mm is a little higher) but the energy that you deliver to the animal there is no comparison that the 30 cal hits harder. 7mm is a great gun and will certainly kill an elk but elk can be very tough. That's why I chose a 300wsm with a heavy bullet. And for deer.... well they don't put THAT much of a bigger hole in a deer lol

 

[Joe King]

Guys , no disrespect intended but you all aree that you can send the .30 cal bullet down range a little better to do the job at hand with the right bullet than the 7 . The 30 cal has more choices of bullets at hand for each needed situation. The 30 bullets are readily available most places and factory loaded ammunition too. This is personal preference also , I would rather have a bigger bullet hit the target for a quicker clean kill, I have 300win 300wsm and a 7 rem meg and I cant tell the difference at short range but when I hit the animals with the .30 cal bullet at long range it makes a bigger hole and quicker kill with more energy . If your dialing up an know the range what does Bc matter? So the 30 takes care of the task at hand, Bigger is better most times an this is one of them.

Not really I never seen an animal say "oh your just shootin a 7mag pfft wut ever" then turn around to your buddy and say "oh well! you sir are shoot a 300 mag well in that case let me just go ahead and lay down for ya" putting the bullet where it needs to go is what gets the job done period, unless you want to step up to a monster like the 510 AM, bigger isn't going to kill better than bullet placement. Like I said both cartridges are so close in performance your best bet is in the gun and how well you shoot it. The trade off between the 2 is 7 has less recoil 300 has likely slightly better barrel life. My experience with each is that I can do 30-40 rounds in one trip to the range with a 7mag and a little less with a 300Win. But that's about all I can do with my 270 also. Which also kills em just as dead as anything else just not as far away.

 

[johnnyk]

You guys must want to argue. The original post was from July 2009. The guy has probably "picked" a caliber by now. LOL. JohnnyK.

 

[Joe King]

You guys must want to argue. The original post was from July 2009. The guy has probably "picked" a caliber by now. LOL. JohnnyK.

doh

 

[pondskipper]

I know this is an old thread but I ran across it and thought I would put in my 2 cents, there are very large differences between these to cases and what they will do, bullet weights being equal the 7mm mag have the advantage due to their inherently high bc bullets for long range say past 5-600 yards even when comparing bullets of different weights between the 2 you still end up with the bc being higher for the 7mm line than the 30 cal. for example, a 180 grain swampworks bullet has a bc of .735 while their 210 gr 30 cal bullets have a bc of .665 so depending on your intended range of use will dictate which caliber would be best suited for the job. On the flip side of this the 300 win mag has it's advantages as well, a fair abundance of good factory match ammo is available should you ever find yourself in a pinch and need ammo right then, federal and black hills 190gr match come to mind. And the last and probably the biggest deciding factor in this whole debate for most people is barrel life, for a 7mm mag you'll be looking at between probably 900-1400 rounds of peak accuracy from the barrel before it begins to go south, with the 300 win mag you would likely make it to 2000 or more rounds, this is due to the bore to case volume capacity, mind you it sounds like a lot of rounds but in the off season there will likely be a lot or practicing going on and honing your skills at long ranges so there will be quite a few rounds down the tube and if you aren't very well off and don't want to send your gun to the smith very often to have a new barrel installed then this would be something to keep in mind.