Why the 7mm Rem Mag?

[Panteradave]

It's all about ballistics. And recoil. When you run the numbers with any bullet, 300 WM vs 7mm, you have to go heavy with the 300 wm. I have two guns. One 300 wm shoots a 210 Berger around 2890 FPS and the 7mm shoots a 168 Berger vld around 2950 FPS. They have the very similar drop or click values. Same weight with each gun but the 300 kicks like a mule.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Yes, I wouldn't want to pass up on a sweet gun just because it was chambered in 7mm Rem Mag.

That's why I owned a Rem 700 Sendero II in 7RM, because I didn't want to pass on a good rifle….even though it made me sick to my stomach. I fixed that though. Rifles now has a custom 7STW chamber and another barrel in a custom 264WM, just to show up the 7RM!

Cheers.

 

[jerry moore]

just wondering how many missed or wounded @ 600+yds vs killed elk?

 

[Tom Wright]

This is an apples to oranges question. The 6.5 is a great cartridge, but it shouldn't go into the same category as the 300WM if you are hunting really large game animals in the US or overseas. Deer sized game or maybe elk, but anything larger you have too little in bullet grains and terminal velocity. That can be seen in the fact that many outfitters won't allow you to hunt moose, bear, red stags or African game with anything less the a 300–they have had too much experience with game lost due to shots from underpowered cartridges. Even here if you are hunting nilgai or oryx they'll tell you 300 is the minimum caliber. Sure a perfectly placed round MAY kill any animal, but that shot is rare, and a larger round makes up for a lot of issues/vagaries when hunting. The biggest problem many encounter when buying any gun, especially a 300 WM, is the recoil felt, which is always made better or worse by the construction of the gun. Case in point is Browning A-bolt vs Browning xbolt. The A-bolt kicks worse than my .375, and the xbolt less than my Remington 700's in 7mm Mag. ALWAYS find a way to test fire a rifle BEFORE you buy one if you can! If you see someone with one at a range, ask if you can shoot it. There is a reason for a huge difference in gun prices—an A-bolt costs $400+ dollars less than an Xbolt.

 

[cajun]

Ballistic coefficient. Sectional density. You have to shoot a heavier bullet in 30 cal to equal the 7mm. All else being equal the 300 will always have more recoil because you are shooting heavier bullets. The 7mm is a good balance between bc and bullet diameter.

 

[ndking1126]

We have so much overlap in cartridge capability now, the question of why one cartridge over another is almost pointless. Flip a coin, draw it out of a hat, or close your eyes and point at ammo boxes on a shelf. They all work for 95%+ of hunting situations and if you are considering a cartridge that has "magnum", you're covered for at least 99%. I chose the 7mmRM over 300 because of the lower recoil.

 

[bigdogone]

7 mm RM is a great sheep/goat cartridge for the ballistic reasons mentioned in earlier posts. You can spend decades waiting to draw a tag, multiple weeks scouting and hunting and tens of thousands of dollars to finally put crosshairs on a trophy in conditions that will not permit stalking to closer range. In that case, you will need the rifle that you carried on your back up and down mountains to be the most capable to reach out and touch them and will want every last advantage of inches and fps.

Other than that, give me the 300 wm, Africa, elk, whitetail... But why choose either or. Just get a bigger gun safe, that's always the right answer.

 

[BrentM]

It's seem pretty straight forward. For caliber and weight the 7 has higher bc. Clearly external ballistics tells us the a higher bc bullet in a lower weight with similar case volume is going to net a higher velocity and therefore better performance for trajectory and deflection. The terminal performance is a different study as you then have to look at the range at which you can honestly deploy a wez hit factor of 90% or better. At this point the terminal performance will be based on retained down range energy and sectional density for desired effect. In many cases a 180 7 vs a 210 30 the net affect is almost the same at the terminal level but the external level the 7 generally has less drop and drift. When hedging a bet against wind calls I'd lean toward the less drift the better. I also tend to lean toward the cartridge that helps me view my impact. I have had both and prefer the 7's over the 30's but having said that, I never shoot them when I have plethora of 6.5's at my disposal.

 

[gilk1]

External ballistics. The 30cal bullet is not very aerodynamic until 230gr + (source: Litz, Applied Ballistis). The medium-heavy weight 7mm bullets are more efficient (aerodynamically) than heavy 30cal bullets and fly faster = more range, more KE, less wind drift.

While they share the same parent cartridge, the 300wm uses more powder to produce less performance.

 

[if4not]

When there exists the 300 WM? Just curious. Might need a nudge

Better question would be why 7RM when there is a 280 AI.

The obvious answer to the original question (and the .280 question) is "cause 'Merica!!" We don't need no stinking metric calibers!

 

[adam32+P]

My life's work has been to promote 7mm over 30 cal.

5 minutes on a ballistic program will tell you everything you need to know.

Was your life's work...now it's growing creeper stashes and scaring little kids.

 

[bballard]

The 7mm Remington mag is almost perfect, but because it's not we have the 300 winnie......it's for those times when you need just a little more thump.....both are favorites...

 

[Shootin4fun]

Gimme a brake! Same weight rifle, same length barrel, same brake, the 7RM is launching a will generally recoil less. Why the need to pick only one? Does anyone here really only have one caliber?

Why does Jelly Belly make so many flavors when 10 would probably be enough?

 

[mrbigtexan]

Flatter, faster, less wind deflection to comparable b.c. 30cal bullets, less recoil, that's why it's called the Magnificent 7!!