7MM Rem Mag - hardly a sniper rifle!

[WildRose]

Sorry if this thread has been misconstrued but it is NOT about 7MM Rem Mag vs XXX, but rather why it hardly made it to the list above.

This came about because a friend in the 1990s asked me the same question and I didn't have an answer then or now. My friend has been in procurement and acquisition (40+ years until he retired in 2008 IIRC) of special weapons and tactics program throughout DoD which included small arms. He said, he had seen many request for proposals for sniper rifles at varying chamberings but never the 7MM Rem Mag.

Anyways, with all due respects to all that contributed to the thread, I was soliciting primarily "real world/hands on experience" as noted above and I'm glad WR chimed in.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's move on positively.

WR, if I haven't said it before, thanks for your service to our great nation. BTW, I've always have a soft heart for the SOC world , esp. now that my son flies with the AFSOC unit at Hurburt Field and currently deployed.

Thank you all!

You tell him thanks for me. We couldn't get anywhere without our "bus drivers". No that's not a slight, it'll crack him up.

 

[WildRose]

I'm not going to pretend to know anything but while reading this thread I kept wandering when someone was going to say something about the fact that they are close but that the 300 win mag is bigger diameter giving it more knock down power. Like I said maybe I'm missing something but that's why I always thought the 300 was better. I agree they are close ballistically but in my opinion when it two calibers are that close for me it comes down to knock down power. And I know I am about to get hammered with they both have plenty of that but I'd rather have to much. That being said, I own both and like both.

That's not really much of a factor when you're shooting at people. We're not elk or bears.

 

[WildRose]

If I'm not mistaken they're still using some of them in AR platform DMR's for special purpose uses. 6.5 Grendel is a cool little caliber. Alot of people overlook it for the 6.5 Creed and .260 Rem. The 6.5 Grendel will stay supersonic a long ways after the .308 Win goes subsonic.

I've thought about building a bolt 6.5 Grendel, but the only drawback is that it has such an unusual bolt face (same as 7.62x39 and 6.8 SPC), which is not commonly found in bolt guns.

Not an issue with battle rifles where 400yds is generally max range and most fights are occurring at sub 100yds.

The Grendyl had lots of problems with feeding and overheating barrels.

The 6.8SPC is a much better short range caliber.

The cost of changing over to a new caliber in service rifles is just too much in a time of drawdown so you won't see any changes other than for SOCOM where special needs take precedence.

One consideration will always be resupply on the battlefield especially on long ops where supply drops are difficult or impossible. No matter where you go in the world you can find 7.62x39, 7.62x51, or 5.56 so that's probably where we'll stay for at least the next 20-30 years.

 

[FEENIX]

You tell him thanks for me. We couldn't get anywhere without our "bus drivers". No that's not a slight, it'll crack him up.

LL! Will do, cheers!

 

[260shooter]

I'm NOT saying the 7MM wouldn't make a decent LR cartridge; what I am saying is that our 'Uncle' STAYED with what he knew would work and had already been proven which was the ole .30 caliber bullet. The 7MM Mag didn't come along until....IIRC 1962 and the .300 H&H plus the 30/06 were considered pretty decent cartridges out to 1000 yards and beyond! And there weren't any of these 'fancy' new bullets around many years ago; basically the Sierra 180, 190, and the 200 gr. HPBT were winning the matches so Uncle Sam already had a proven report in his hands for that day and era!

One reason the military went with the 300WM might be that the AMU (and the other service long range rifle teams) has had decades of experience with the round and the learning curve is flattened out considerably. Back in the 90's they were shooting 190SMK's. When the specops community took interest in the 300WM there were probably a few phone calls made, a few accuracy test, pressure and velocity test (at Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center) and the A-191 was put into service.