Which would you choose?

[Idaho Lefty]

There's NOTHING "Wrong" with, the old, 7 MM Rem Mag. IF, you find, the proper Bullet for, the Twist !
168 grain, H-VLD Berger's have, Killed a LOT of Elk for the Long Range Boys at, GunWerk's !
Put a "Deal" together on that Used Seekin's or, a New Tikka and get to,.. Killin', chit !

 

[std7mag]

Don't get me wrong. 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 264 win mag, 270 Winchester are all great rounds. When you can buy something beltless, faster twist, steeper shoulder's, higher head height, why would you buy the old cartridge. 7 rm is a great round in terms of case volume matching to bullet size.

I would suggest 280ai in 9 twist or faster, 7 PRC or 6.8 Western, but you know that. If I were building a custom, I'd probably do 280 ai or 270 win with longer freebore and 8 twist.
…..I'm just making the point, when buying a new factory rifle, why buy an old school cartridge.

Because i don't want something in a cartridge i have no want for.

But then i like the obsolete cartridges.
250-3000 Savage
257 Roberts
257 Roberts AI
25 WSSM
25-06
257 WBY Mag
7mm-08 AI
280 Rem
284 Win
7mm WBY Mag
30 M1 Carbine
45 Colt

Most of the bullets i shoot from the current barrel on my Rem Mag are the 150-175gr.
I have a 26" barrel with break throated for the 184 Bergers.

@Idaho Lefty ,

The typical 1:9 twist in most 7mm's is good enough to shoot all but the 197gr Sierra's or heavy mono bullets.

The 1:10 in my Weatherby Mark V is good enough for up to 180gr bullets.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

There will be, 7 MM Rem Mag. Ammo and Brass, available, LONG after, the "Modern",.. 6.8 Westerner, is,.. GONE and, forgotten !
Take IT to the Bank !
Seekin's makes, NICE Rifles and, I'd look hard at, one !
I do see a bit of a "Problem" with that One tho, SADLY, the Bolt's on, the wrong side, for Me !

 

[Laguna Freak]

Looking to pick up a good gun without going full custom. I'm going with the old faithful remington 7 mag.
I believe I've narrowed it down to two guns. A christensen arms mesa long range or remington sendero (preferably an older one, don't know if I trust the new rem arms company)
What would you go with, and why?

Thanks

Sounds like you're shopping the used market. Your value timing is pretty good. Are you going to send it to a gunsmith for blue printing and re-barrel if needed? I would. I recommend you invest in a bore scope to inspect used rifles. I would not limit myself to 2 mfrs. In the Remington, I'd be looking for a 60's to early 70's and late 80's to 90's production, also would add New Haven Winchester model 70 crf from 90's through 2003 unless you find an acceptable price on a pre-'64. I can't remember if Steyr made a 7 rem mag in the Pro Hunter in the late 90's to early 2000's but if you find one on the used market at an acceptable price, it would be folly to pass on it. Steyr may be the absolute highest performance oem action ever produced. However, re-barrel of a Steyr could be pricey. They don't come off easily. That said, their radial hammer cold-forged barrels are pretty bullet proof. I have a 25 year old Steyr 30-'06 with several hundred rounds through it that still shoots 0.3 moa with hand loads and has shot sub moa with every factory load I ever fed it. Also Tikka has a really good reputation. All that to say don't put yourself in a 2 mfr box.

Best wishes!

 

[nksmfamjp]

Because i don't want something in a cartridge i have no want for.

But then i like the obsolete cartridges.
250-3000 Savage
257 Roberts
257 Roberts AI
25 WSSM
25-06
257 WBY Mag
7mm-08 AI
280 Rem
284 Win
7mm WBY Mag
30 M1 Carbine
45 Colt

Most of the bullets i shoot from the current barrel on my Rem Mag are the 150-175gr.
I have a 26" barrel with break throated for the 184 Bergers.

@Idaho Lefty ,

The typical 1:9 twist in most 7mm's is good enough to shoot all but the 197gr Sierra's or heavy mono bullets.

The 1:10 in my Weatherby Mark V is good enough for up to 180gr bullets.

I like most of what is on your list. I have:
30-06
45 colt
7-30 waters
30 herrett
300 Sherman
28 Sherman Magnum
and have studied most of those for purchase.

Im also an accomplished shooter/reloader.

i'm not suggesting to the new to buy something that is old school just so he can struggle.
rifle, ammo, bullet and reamer makers are all working together to make about 10 cartridges wildly successful. To encourage outside that is not appropriate!

 

[Small Lady]

Christensen!!!

 

[cajun]

It's one thing to already be invested in old technology (belted magnums) and continue it's use for financial reasons.

It's entirely another thing advocating that someone that is not already invested in it START getting invested in it.

To start with, to use a belted magnum properly in handloading, you must use a neil jones collet die if you expect continued use of the brass beyond just a few firings. Then there's the fact that a primary and secondary headspace is a pain in the butt to deal with, and has been known to create not only sizing issues but various other feeding/extraction/ejection issues over time with various platforms. The belt was never a desire, but rather a design necessity given the limitations of the time.

Literally any non-belted option would be a better choice. The 7 PRC is aimed squarely at this exact use case.

That said, the reasoning of "because that's what I want" is reason enough for anyone to shoot whatever they like. It's only when they start advocating what someone else should do, that faulty reasoning (if it's present) becomes a problem.

I still remember the first pronghorn I shot with a 7mm rem mag. Fixed 4x optic at nearly 600yds. Downright amazing cartridge that took a long time to eclipse.


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I dont own a neil jones collet die. Never heard of it. But then again I've gotten more than just a few reloads from my 7 mag brass using normal reloading practices with minimal shoulder bump after fire forming. I've also never had feeding, ejection extraction issues. Once you fire form the brass and head space off the shoulder the belt is a non issue. Also lets not forget the prc chambers are having clicker issues due to the initial chamber design being too tight at the 200 datum line near the web.

 

[jjmp]

Gentlemen it's a Larry Willis ,Belted magnum collet die. Made by Innovative Technologies. Cheers

 

[cajun]

Gentlemen it's a Larry Willis ,Belted magnum collet die. Made by Innovative Technologies. Cheers

And I've never had to use it either lol.

 

[jjmp]

Bought one years ago , it's Quality and extremely well made and designed, Example , I get once fired brass from many different rifles ,some chambers are sloppy Or bigger so the brass expands above the belt about 3/8 of and inch , and the collet die pressures it back to normal .

 

[orkan]

Gentlemen it's a Larry Willis ,Belted magnum collet die. Made by Innovative Technologies. Cheers

Thank you for that. Sold mine years ago when I walked away from belted magnums for good.


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[orkan]

And I've never had to use it either lol.

Unfortunately, just because you've not run into it, doesn't mean it isn't widely known and quite easily proven.


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[ntsqd]

I would buy the one that you like the actual example of. Go shoot it. If it won't shoot as-is then have a new barrel put on it. The odds of getting a used dud are about the same as the odds of getting a new dud, with the exception of if the throat's been shot out of it. When I buy a new to me used vehicle I plan on there being things that will need to be fixed or replaced as part of the budget for that purchase. I'd do the same thing with a used rifle. Plan on it needing some work before you're happy with it, and that *might* include it needing to be re-barreled.

Y'all reminded me that I need to track down one of those collet dies for use with my .308 Norma build.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

Don't know where I've been, but never heard of one until now, myself.
I've had great results with accuracy and brass life in 7RM.
Maybe using the same brass in the same gun and only bumping shoulders helped me over the years??
I'm asking.