7mm or 30 cal? Just for curiosity’s sake

[baldhunter]

I really like both calibers.My centerfires have been reduced to those two calibers and one 338.Both the 7mm and 30 cal cover a wide range of bullet weights and that makes both very versatile for hunting.For deer,the 7mag is hard to beat and so is the 30-06.Both those cartridges are capable rounds for larger game too.I like to think of those two as all arounders.My 300's definitely hit with a little more authority and really shine when you're shooting bigger animals.I'd have to rate my 7STW right up there with the 300 Win Mag.Both of those are hard hitters and **** flat shooters too,but they are kinda over kill for deer at closer ranges.I usually always get exits with both calibers,but I have to say,the 30 cals tend to have a little larger wound channels and kill a little quicker as a result.

 

[shinbone]

7mm vs .30? Good question!

With old fashion bullets, the .30 was the historic favorite. But, times change and technology improves. With modern bullets that hold together well, the 7mm is the clear winner. The 7mm will easily take anything in North America, and grain for grain, the 7mm has a better BC than the .30 cal.

 

[cardon1122]

I'd take the 7mm for several reasons. It is more pleasant to shoot at the range when shooting multiple times. Hunting doesn't matter so much when you're taking only a few shots at most. The biggest reason is my wife. We like to hunt together. She's a petite woman so if we both have tags we usually share the same gun and I carry it. She can handle a Remington 7mm magnum but that's her max. We went on Safari to Africa and it was very effective. She took 7 animals with 7 shots. I shot it too and honestly I couldn't tell it was any less effective than the 300 Rum I'd used on a safari the year before. I highly recommend shooting and hunting with your wife if you've never tried it and they're willing. Started taking her shooting, then varminting and finally big game hunting. Never get any complaints about leaving to shoot or hunt because she's as excited to go as I am. We put in separately for tags so we draw out more often. Get to hunt twice as much and I've found it's just as fun hunting even when she's the only one with a tag and pulling the trigger. My wife with her 7mm below

 

[7fan1967]

Question says it all. The 22s, 6mm, 6.5, and .338 bore are all pretty common here but it I think it's safe to say the big 7mms and 30s are the unchallenged all range all purpose hunting versatility kings. I bet pretty much everyone on here has at least one 7mm or 30 caliber rifle.

im a 30 guy myself, .300 win mag being my favourite cartridge to play with, .30-30 being what I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with.

but I only bought my first .300 because my other rifle was a .270 win and I wanted a more significant difference in performance than what a 7 would gain. No regrets. But if I didn't already have a 270 I may have gone 7mm mag and had no reason for a .300 or a 270, who knows?

the 7mms are objectively the best of all worlds for long range hit probability. The 180 eld m for example has a bc of .79. There are no similar bc bullets of lesser diameter that I'm aware of and to exceed this bc significantly starts at the 250 atip or such. That's a huge jump. Not to many 30s, if any, will be launching a 225-250 grain at comprable speeds to a 7stw or 28 Nosler with that 180, and if they do it won't be in as portable or pleasant to shoot package.

that said, I maintain the big 30s hit and affect big game very noticeably harder than the 6.5, .270, and 7mm cartridges so they get the nod from me

Now for the just for fun question. If you could only own and shoot either a 7mm or a .30, not both, which would you choose?

The 7 is it . Long live the king !

 

[hoeram]

Well I own both calibers, a 308,30-30 in a 788 and a 06AI. I own a 280, 7 WBY, 7CBS, 28 Nosler. My 7MM's are my favorite I never really had a strong love affair with the 30 caliber I've sold most of them threw the years. My real love is the 358 caliber.

 

[Hunt_4life]

Absolutely 7mm. I am currently in the process of building the ultimate long range and long range hunting gun (in my opinion) 7wsm built on a savage short action (max coal 2.960" aprox) ibi 26" carbon fibre barrel, mdt xrs, and a vortex strike eagle. I think that the 7mm is the best caliber for every thing from pronghorn to moose.

 

[Charles Keethler]

Great pic's and congrats to your wife and you to be able to hunt together, my wife would love to be able to still hunt with me but time and arthritis has done us in, still love to read all of the post on LRH . We found a Rem youth model left hand in 7mm-08 that will shoot lights out for her.

 

[cardon1122]

Well I own both calibers, a 308,30-30 in a 788 and a 06AI. I own a 280, 7 WBY, 7CBS, 28 Nosler. My 7MM's are my favorite I never really had a strong love affair with the 30 caliber I've sold most of them threw the years. My real love is the 358 caliber.

Bought a 26 Nosler when it first came out. When they came out with the 28 a little later I regretted getting one so quickly. First rebarrel, plan to convert to a 28.

 

[zzchipster]

308, 3006, 300wm. Doesn't get any better.

 

[cabelasken]

I belive in the 300 mags - in all forms for elk. I know thousands of elk are taken every year with 7MMs and smaller calibers, but I've seen enough elk escape or try to escape with pretty good hits with 7MMs and 6.5s. For smaller and less hardy game, the 257, 6.5, 270 and 7MMs are ideal, I even saw a bull get up from a 338 lapua and was headed to greener pastures before we caught up to it and finished the job 3/4 of a mile away from the first hit. Most will say shot placement is critical, but it is even more critical with smaller calibers. I just watched a video of a hunter using a 6.5 PRC on a nice bull at about 300 yds. He put 3 out 4 shots in a 4" circle right behind the shoulder and that bull stayed on his feet for over 20 seconds before making his death run down the hill. All 4 out the hits were what I would call killing shots. Also, this bull was feeding and not pumped up with adrenaline which makes them even harder to bring down. Almost as important to using an adequate caliber is using the proper bullet. Some of these wounded animals were from using inadequate bullets. I use tough bullets that hold together and fully penetrate from side to side 90% of the time. I've only recovered bullets on angle or straight on shots and even then the bullet had hit a major bone - shoulder or hip bone. Last year I took a cow elk with my 300. On field dressing, I discover 3 holes in the hide. The third hole was just in front of the hips from a 30 caliber - penetration was only a few inches and the remaining part of the bullet was less than 70 grains.

 

[lewislance13]

That question is more difficult to answer than I thought it would be. I love my 30 nosler Montana Rifle and my 300wsm Fierce CT Edge ...... BUT ..... I think (with skepticism) my SAKO custom 280ai, 7stw No.1, and 7rm CCR long range are my favorites. Seriously if you ask me tomorrow and the answer may be different.

 

[Sending156s]

i love my 300 WM, but my 6.5 PRC launching 156 EOLs at 3200 fps surpasses my 300 WM launching 208 gr EOLs at 3000 fps at 700 yards in ft/#'s of energy expended on target. Don't own a 7 with no plans on buying. we have so many choices with new bullet designs there's a lot of overlap in what each can do. No knocks on the 7 i just I don't see anything it can do my 6.5 PRC built on an XM action can't do.

 

[Win.308Stealth]

Started of with a .308 Winchester, switched over to .300 RUM (loved it), then I got my hands on a Tikka 7 SAUM. Sold the .300 RUM, and by far my most shot rifle now is the Tikka 7 SAUM.

 

[Bullmark]

I'd take the 7mm for several reasons. It is more pleasant to shoot at the range when shooting multiple times. Hunting doesn't matter so much when you're taking only a few shots at most. The biggest reason is my wife. We like to hunt together. She's a petite woman so if we both have tags we usually share the same gun and I carry it. She can handle a Remington 7mm magnum but that's her max. We went on Safari to Africa and it was very effective. She took 7 animals with 7 shots. I shot it too and honestly I couldn't tell it was any less effective than the 300 Rum I'd used on a safari the year before. I highly recommend shooting and hunting with your wife if you've never tried it and they're willing. Started taking her shooting, then varminting and finally big game hunting. Never get any complaints about leaving to shoot or hunt because she's as excited to go as I am. We put in separately for tags so we draw out more often. Get to hunt twice as much and I've found it's just as fun hunting even when she's the only one with a tag and pulling the trigger. My wife with her 7mm below

Unless my eyes are fooling me, I don't see a brake on that rifle. Your wife needs to come to Va and show my 15yr old Son how it's done. He's fixated on recoil, and thinks a brake is mandatory on anything he gets behind. Although it's probably my fault....when he was really young I bought a super light little single shot .243...I can't recall but it couldn't have weighed more than 4.5lbs.....and I promised him it would not kick. Well it did, and 9-10 yrs later he hasn't forgotten.