7mm Rem. Mag

pwd72s · 03-01-2021, 10:32 AM

7 minute video. Kind of illustrates well why I hang on to my 70's vintage ruger M-77 in that caliber. There are fancier spoons, there are spoons with the "american sniper" look, etc. But why change when you know that what you have shoots damned well.

No, never have tried 1,000 yards like here...but 500, with an old 3-9 Leupold golden ring with duplex hairs. Yep, it shoots...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqQOzLjZ-eY

gsxrken · gsxrken's Garage

It is also a very powerful round even down range. We have have some silhouettes that the 7mm punches right through and most every other caliber just puts a small crater in.
More pop than a 30-06 and less recoil than a 300 Win Mag. It’s an excellent round.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I love 30-06. You generally can find ammo of all types, anywhere.

It fits multiple rifles I own. I keep thinking I should get a .270 or this or that. I do not need another type of ammo to stock.

MRM · 03-01-2021, 01:08 PM

I have a running debate with my son. He is of the generation who is in thrall of black guns and their picatinny rails, infinite customization and ability to fling lead downrange. I maintain that the most perfect rifle is a bolt action 7 MM Mag, specifically a Winchester Model 70 or Ruger M-77 with a high quality scope. He calls me a Fud as he totes around his Portuguese AR-10. I call him a slave to low class fashions that will never outlast the reliability, dependability and accuracy of a well sorted M-77.

You can't play pool with it, but it's accurate enough to drop the 8 ball with only its recoil anywhere ten paces or less from the trunk of your GT 350.

HardDrive · 03-01-2021, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard

I love 30-06. You generally can find ammo of all types, anywhere.

^this. I have yet to have a deer stand up and complain about the lack of stopping power.

pwd72s · 03-01-2021, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRM

I have a running debate with my son. He is of the generation who is in thrall of black guns and their picatinny rails, infinite customization and ability to fling lead downrange. I maintain that the most perfect rifle is a bolt action 7 MM Mag, specifically a Winchester Model 70 or Ruger M-77 with a high quality scope. He calls me a Fud as he totes around his Portuguese AR-10. I call him a slave to low class fashions that will never outlast the reliability, dependability and accuracy of a well sorted M-77.

You can't play pool with it, but it's accurate enough to drop the 8 ball with only its recoil anywhere ten paces or less from the trunk of your GT 350.

LOL! Agreed..although it's not a rifle to shoot for fun. One box of 20 makes for a sore enough shoulder. I'd imagine that a well trained military sniper could do pretty good with my old rifle in a pinch. Remington released the 7mm mag back in 1962,

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

I am all about guns and shooting but I only got half way through the video. Nice gun but the almost as boring as watching paint dry.

pwd72s · 03-01-2021, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

I am all about guns and shooting but I only got half way through the video. Nice gun but the almost as boring as watching paint dry.

Okay, how about 3,000 yards? Same caliber..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPbZqPjtRvU

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Okay, how about 3,000 yards? Same caliber..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPbZqPjtRvU

Great guns, great shooting, boring to watch (didn't look at new video but if it was as slow as the other then no interest).

Rapewta · 03-01-2021, 06:12 PM

I like the 7mm Rem Mag.
Put a Kick-Ease butt pad on the rifle and it got rid of the anticipation of recoil. Don't hunt anymore but I sure like going 300 yards down range with the Nikon 40 3X9 at 6.
Shoot both 150 and 175 grain.
Just ordered a Boyds stock for it. Can't wait. Unbelievable long distance nail driver.

Jeff Higgins · 03-01-2021, 08:03 PM

I related some time back how I re-acquired my old Model 700 BDL from my lifelong hunting partner. I bought it in the mid 1980's from a guy in one of our shops, then sold it to my partner in the mid 1990's.

I have to admit, I've never personally had much use for the caliber. I would defy anyone to grab identical rifles, one in 7mm Remington Magnum and one in .30-'06, shoot them extensively in the field, and tell me which is which. I did just that myself for about a decade. Just not enough real world difference to tell. I killed pretty much every common variety of game available in the western United States with mine in the ten years I first owned it. The end result was that I sold it to my partner and went back to my old M70 in .30-'06.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is a fantastic caliber for western hunting. Anyone who has one would be hard pressed to find anything realistically any better. It's not just a great hunting caliber either, it's very friendly to the hand loader, working quite well with any reasonable load. It's not finicky in the least. Properly treated brass seems to last forever. It's lack of body taper and relatively sharp shoulder keeps the brass from stretching as much as older designs, which contributes to its longevity. It's a hand loader's dream cartridge, really, and a real pleasure to work with.

Its single greatest attribute, however, is its almost complete lack of recoil, which makes it so just about anyone can learn to shoot it well without flinching. It's just not an intimidating caliber to shoot. This is probably the single biggest reason it got so popular with American hunters, with guys who don't do a lot of shooting outside of their hunting pursuits.

So, this time, I'll hang onto it, but not because I have any real use for it. Townsend Whelen once said "only accurate rifles are interesting", and this one happens to be a very "interesting" rifle. Maybe someday I'll hunt with it again, maybe pronghorn or something, but for now it's just another fun plinker, and an interesting hand loading proposition. That's enough to earn its keep these days.

pwd72s · 03-01-2021, 08:23 PM

Jeff sounds a bit like my dad..I'd extoll the advantages of the 7mm rem. mag. He'd reply, that was fine, but he'd stick with his '06...a semi sporterized Springfield.

So..thanks for the memory...

Bill Douglas · 03-01-2021, 10:37 PM

I really like my Sako 7mm Rem Mag.

I think I've fired about 12 shots then went to the pub to recover.

That's it on the left. Don't know much about it other than it's a 7mmRemMag.

Jeff Higgins · 03-02-2021, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Jeff sounds a bit like my dad..I'd extoll the advantages of the 7mm rem. mag. He'd reply, that was fine, but he'd stick with his '06...a semi sporterized Springfield.

So..thanks for the memory...

Anyone who has spent any time at all in a hunting camp with a bunch of guys has had this very same debate. Good times. Realistically, though, take the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, 7mm Remington Magnum, .264 Winchester Magnum, .30-'06, .308, 7mm-08, 7mm Mauser, etc. etc. and there just isn't any "real world" difference in performance on game. One might shoot a bit lighter bullet a bit faster, one might shoot a bit heavier bullet a bit slower, one might shoot a bit "flatter", and all of that. The differences are so minimal, though, that anything you would have hit with one you would have hit with any of the others, and anything you would have killed with one you would have killed with any of the others. Fun debates around the campfires, though.