7mm mag practically

Problem as I see it is: An animal has no idea of how much energy was in the bullet that hit it. That minimum energy level to kill an animal is
bullpucky IMHO. What if your 2100 ft lbs of energy is mostly wasted on the real estate behind the moose because the bullet
passed through? Does this mean the moose will not die? I think not. I have quit thinking about
energy figures, and choose dependable bullets placed precisely to do the job. Thousands of moose have fallen to the 30-30,
which does not deliver that much energy at the muzzle, let alone at out there a bit. All that being said, it is comforting to
use an adequate rifle for bigger animals. D.

:) Well put and a good assessment.
 
I think that the numbers that guides and gunwriters have come up with as good minimums are based on their combined field experiences over many years, which have witnessed countless variable field conditions, shot opportunities and presentations, on a variety of big game animals around the world, and last but not least, the biggest factor, of many clients not always being able to put that first bullet in the best place possible for a quick, clean harvest, for a myriad of reasons.

Yes, there are many instances and opportunities where everything is excatly as we would wish for (i.e. an unwary animal perfectly is on level ground, broadside to slightly quartering away, with the inside shoulder forward and not covering the vitals, at reasonable range, and the bullet is placed well and provides perfect expansion and penetration) and the animal is harvested quickly and cleanly. In these instances, there are many examples of less energy providing for successful harvests! Have experienced this myself!
But this does not happen in all instances (i.e. the animal is worked up or alarmed, is standing or moving face on, straight away or at a sharp quartering to/from angle,and/or change in elevation, and/or the vitals are covered by the shoulder, with obstructions between the shooter and the animal, at longer ranges, and the bullet is not placed as well as it could be, such as a liver hit and/or one lung hit, and/or perhaps does not expand or penetrate as it should for whatever reason) and the animal is not harvested quickly and cleanly.
This is where the higher levels of energy assists in the bullet being able to traverse through more hide, tissue and bone, and possibly even a full stomach of grass/vegetation, to reach the vitals than would be encountered in the optimum instance.
I know that I have experienced some of these less than optimum circumstances and have been glad for the extra energy! It was a welcome margin of safety.
 
125 yards, from the even more magnificent 280 Ackley. Salvaged most of the heart, made a nice meal

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Well ... extrapolating between todbartell’s table (which I highly recommend) and my own ballistics table , your gun delivered between 1360 ft/lbs and 1207 ft/lbs ...which is less than BlackRam’s notion of the required energy fer moose (Thank’s for the input, BR) ... and waaaaay less than the 2100 ft/lbs minimum that I endorse. Let’s here it for shot placement!! Be honest now... do you really put all your stock on shot placement or is there something else? (Prayer perhaps?)

Personal observations and skills....I don't have to read what someone else wrote to know what works.
 
Lots of elephants also fell to the 6.5x54. Not sure about 22's, but I have not read many of the books out there on hunting elephants...
I do know that one of the old ivory hunters did prefer the 7mm 175 gr solids to the 6.5mm 160 gr solids, as they did not tend to bend and penetrated elephant skulls better.
 
7mm Rem Mag is an excellent moose hunting round - some people where I hunt in NL would say its TOO much gun in the close woods. Two years ago I dropped a very nice cow at over 200m with one shot from my father's Remington 700LH in 7mm Rem Mag - I certainly did not feel under gunned.

I do find that it has some bite in a light rifle though, and the thing is LOUD.
 
I started hunting moose with a 7 RM, bagged >10 with it as well as black bear.

A g-bear encounter in the early 90's got me thinking a 338 WM might be better, shot some moose with it and some b-bears, really couldn't tell the difference between the 2, the 338 caused more trauma but the animals wondered after been well hit.

The 338 I had was not a good one , less than good accuracy and could only run a 250gn bullet ~2600 ft/s after which pressure signs appeared, maybe barrel was cross threaded in the receiver.

THEN I saw a Rem 700 in 35 Whelen 'new' at Stalkers Sports in Saskatoon for $435, bought it and never looked back for ~20 years. A 250gn Barnes FXB at 2400-2600 ft/s literally anchored these animals on the spot.

Finally sold that one off and went to a 9.3mm, 'cause it is stainless synthetic, more of the same performance with good options on heavier bullets.

Anyway, for the past 10 years or so i have been using a 30-06-200gn Accubond combo at 2690 ft/s. This is very close in terminal performance to the two mediums I have mentioned. Plus it ranges better.

I think the take away here is that big animals need big bullets.

Will the big 7 do it? Of course! But there are better options for large big game.

YMMV
 
Lots of elephants also fell to the 6.5x54. Not sure about 22's, but I have not read many of the books out there on hunting elephants...
I do know that one of the old ivory hunters did prefer the 7mm 175 gr solids to the 6.5mm 160 gr solids, as they did not tend to bend and penetrated elephant skulls better.

This is how real men hunt!
 
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