7mm Rem Mag load for Elk size game at 700 yards.

[Tall]

When I was a wee little boy at 16 years of age, I wanted to buy my own gun. I bought a 7 mm Remington mag because it was the best all around deer, elk, Moose gun. This is what I was told by my Dad, My older Brother, and my dads hunting buddy and ex Vietnam sniper.

I bought a 7mm Rem Mag based on the merits of my Elders. I heard all the discussions from people about my dick is bigger than your dick. Bahahaha! When I was younger we hunted for food not trophies. Yes of course shooting a trophy was still the goal. Arguments for the 7mm rem mag was it was a more accurate, flatter shooting gun. I think the only time flatter is not better is when talking about the curve of a women's chest.

My Brother inlaw hates the 7mm and thinks that .30 caliber is better because its bigger and better. I think he just doesnt like the sound of 7mm. Personally I thinks its because he is shorter than the average bear and always has to have the biggest baddest of everthing. This is why he shoots a Blaser 300 RUM. He insists that my 7mm 168 Gr Berger with a MV of 3030 fps is not going to have the knock down power of his 180 gr remington sciroccos. Personally I like my chances. 9 of the last 10 elk I have shot was under 100 yards and the 1 out of 10 was over 300 yards and droped in its tracks. A few were shot in the head. When Elk take cover in the pines that is were I go. Most places in the pines you can't even see 100 yards.

It hasn't been until the last 5 years that I had the right scope and set up to shoot long ranges. I think to shoot a monster mule deer my chances are going to get much better being able to shoot between 400 and 800 yards. I am shooting the same 7mm I bought in 1984. I am putting 5 inch group at 1000 yards. I think that is rather amazing for an off the shelf hunting rifle. My wood stock broke so I put a synthetic stock on, its not pillar bedded or glass bedded yet. I plan to do it soon. Sorry I went on and on.

 

[Joe King]

When I was a wee little boy at 16 years of age, I wanted to buy my own gun. I bought a 7 mm Remington mag because it was the best all around deer, elk, Moose gun. This is what I was told by my Dad, My older Brother, and my dads hunting buddy and ex Vietnam sniper.

I bought a 7mm Rem Mag based on the merits of my Elders.

Much the same reason I bought mine, never regretted that choice and it never let me down. If anything I have more confidence in it now than ever, so much so that if I do ever add another LR rifle to the stable it'll likely be one of the big 338s.

 

[ILtoMT50]

just wondering what you guys were shooting, i have a mid 80s ruger m77 with stock sporter barrel. i bought from a buddy of mine. he got it at an estate sale with a few others. its pretty much brand new and ive only shot it around 20 times or so screwing around at about 90 yards last year. i recently did a pillar/glass bed on the action aswell as glass bed the rest of the stock then free floated the barrel. im now waiting to some cash together for a quality scope. the interweb says stay under 160grain for the 1-9 twist i beleive it has...also that the stock sporter barrels arent all that great. whats your take on it? obviously a nice longer heavier barrel would be better, what are the ranges with a stock setup like this one.

 

[MudRunner2005]

With a 1:9 twist you are fine with a 180 and 190gr bullet.

My Sendero SF 7mm STW stabilizes 180 Berger VLD's perfectly, and it has a 1:9.25" twist.

My A-Bolt II has a 9.5" twist and it stabilizes the 168's and 180's just fine.

 

[Tall]

Pillar and glass bedding is the cheapest and best place to start to make your gun accurate. I would also evaluate your trigger. I put a Timney trigger on and i love it. The next step would be to fine tune a hand load to your gun. If your more of a turn key person then find the best ammo you can.

When you put a long range optic on your gun make sure who ever mounts the thing that they pay close attention to the steps for long range shooting. Once that is done then add an anti canting level to your scope.

Practice shooting starting at 200 yards then go out to 300, 400 and 500 yards.

I also think that a chronograph is a must have item for long range shooters. If you don't know what your muzzle velocity is doing then your fighting an up hill battle.

 

[Joe King]

just wondering what you guys were shooting, i have a mid 80s ruger m77 with stock sporter barrel. i bought from a buddy of mine. he got it at an estate sale with a few others. its pretty much brand new and ive only shot it around 20 times or so screwing around at about 90 yards last year. i recently did a pillar/glass bed on the action aswell as glass bed the rest of the stock then free floated the barrel. im now waiting to some cash together for a quality scope. the interweb says stay under 160grain for the 1-9 twist i beleive it has...also that the stock sporter barrels arent all that great. whats your take on it? obviously a nice longer heavier barrel would be better, what are the ranges with a stock setup like this one.

Mine started life as the same rifle, I've long since shot that one out. Your barrel should be fine with 180/190gr like MudRunner said. Though coming from a sporter M77 she'll jump a bit more but recoil should still be tolerable. What did you think of the whole process of pillar bedding it?

 

[Jumpalot]

Please explain about the flat shooting? Who holds over for a thousand he shot

As for as margin of error goes it is the extreme BC. that larger calibers can offer thatcuts how precisely your wind dopeing must be .

My 260 @2800 with a 140gr has twice the drift of my 338 at a slightly slower speed and a 300gr bullet making that vital shot less difficult .
We can choose what ever we want that is what makes things interesting.[/QUOTE

If I were going to have to shoot a 30+ cal bullet then the 338 would be my choice because it offers a great BC. But if you look at the 30 cal bullets only then the 7mm is no doubt the better round. Just simply comparing the berger bullet selection the 30 cal 185 grain bullet offers a .549 BC. The same bullet in a 7mm at 180 gr offers a BC of .659. Now we are comparing apples to apples since the bullets weigh close to the same. If you looked at just the BC and bullet weight, which one would you choose?

Not sure what you mean about comparing apples to apples. I have a .260 a 7mm RM and a 300 WM and 338 Edge. You talk about similar bullet weights. Let's compare similar BC. I shoot a 180grn Hybrid in my 7mm with a G7BC of .345 and I shoot a 215grn. Hybrid out of my 300 with a BC of .356, slight advantage to the 300. But, I can also shoot the 215grn Berger over 100fps faster out of my 300 then the 180grn Berger in the 7mm. Higher BC and higher velocity. Now which one would you choose??

Just went and checked my load notes, I guess it's only 95 fps faster. Still an advantage.

 

[Joe King]

Jumpalot

What load are you running in your 7mag? just curios

 

[ILtoMT50]

joe king, it wasnt near as bad as i thought it would be. im no gunsmith but i have access to tools and am in the construction/carpentry line of work so im decent with common sense type stuff...most of the time lol *alot of youtube viewing helped too. if someone is doing a tang safety m77 try checking out mauser action bedding, it helped me a lil more than looking for ruger m77. which there really isnt alot of stuff for out there. i was trying to look for a drop in barrel replacement before i did all the glass bedding but couldnt find anything. im pretty pumped to see how it does when i get some glass on it. all in all i think it came out pretty good for my first time going through the process.

 

[Jumpalot]

Jumpalot

What load are you running in your 7mag? just curios

68 grains of H1000 over a CCI 250 primer in Norma brass seated at the lands. I could go probably 2 grains more but this load shoots very well out to 1000 yds.

 

[Joe King]

I tried H1000 with the 168gr classic hunter oh man it shot good. when I decided to try the 180's I figured, meh may as well give Retumbo a go while I'm at it. Gained a little over 100fps over the Classic hunter and put my vel right at what a lot of guys are reporting with their 300wm and 215gr Hybrids.

 

[Jumpalot]

My ES with the Retumbo was 37 fps and ES with the H1000 was 9 fps. About 100 fps faster with Retumbo but my groups fell apart after 500 yds. I opted for the better accuracy. Don't get me wrong, I love my 7mm RM. In fact, I had it built because of the better BC Bergers available at the time over the 30 cal. But the new 215 and 230 Bergers have changed all that. Even if you get the same speed with the 7mm as the 30 cal., you are still shooting a 35 grain heavier bullet and on elk that matters. I'm probably going to go back to the 168 VLD in the 7mm and use it primarily for antelope and deer. Killed an antelope over 900 yds with that load. Wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk either.

 

[ridge rider]

Jumpalot

What load are you running in your 7mag? just curios

Nothing wrong with the 7mm Rem Mag and "light" bullets.
I just came back from shooting a 410" Bull Elk / Wapiti in New Zealand.
Rifle was a stainless Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag shooting factory Swift Sirocco 150 grain bullets.
Deer was 300 yards away facing me at around 15 degrees turned to his right and did not present a good side shot into the shoulder or into the lungs.
So I took the option and shot him in the neck for a one shot kill.
Will post pictures later.
Good bullet placement is more important than saying bigger and better bullets are vital.
I do in fact shoot bigger and heavier bullets in 338 and 375 calibres but am merely stating that smaller calibres can be very effective.
Just my opinion here.

 

[ILtoMT50]

totally agree witht he bullet placement on about any shot. i was curious as to if you would target a different spot on one of theese aimals depending on distance. seeing that some of theese bullets are recomended for 200-300 yards out for proper exspansion. what if you see that monster at 50 yards? do you shoot and hope that the bullet doesnt pass right through them or dissentigrate before it penetrates? i read a couple of stories about massive wounds but not killing the animal.
i knwo this is for elk sized game but would the 180 bergers be good for everything out west? i have some 160 noslers now but wanted to get my hands on some bergers to test the accuracy aswell when i get the setup finnished.