7 rem mag vs 7wsm
- Thread starter tuffteddyb
- Start date
In a word, no.
Either will do what the other does. There are small theoretical advantages to both, but in real world use, their performance will be identical.
The only thing to consider between them is the ease of finding brass and/or ammo, locally. And the length of the receiver.
If you opt for the WSM, buy as much brass as you can when you buy the rifle. The manufacturers think nothing of discontinuing a cartridge with no regard for their existing customers.
I wouldn't use either of 'em for serious target shooting. If that's part of your plan. Mostly due to the selection of match grade bullets, but neither is a target cartridge. The Mag is a hunting cartridge and a lot of matches, not all though, do not allow magnums of any kind. Plus a whole day of magnums will hurt.
The WSM is rumoured to be a barrel burner with hot loads too. 6mmBR says as bad as 700 to 900 rounds.
If you opt for the WSM, buy as much brass as you can when you buy the rifle. The manufacturers think nothing of discontinuing a cartridge with no regard for their existing customers.
I wouldn't use either of 'em for serious target shooting. If that's part of your plan. Mostly due to the selection of match grade bullets, but neither is a target cartridge. The Mag is a hunting cartridge and a lot of matches, not all though, do not allow magnums of any kind. Plus a whole day of magnums will hurt.
The WSM is rumoured to be a barrel burner with hot loads too. 6mmBR says as bad as 700 to 900 rounds.
Sask_Hunter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Are you buying or building? If your building I'd go 7wsm as it's a better case design than the belted 7rem. Performance wise they are the same.
I have both and like both. The 7mm rem is easier to find components for but performance will be almost identical. I do have much more experience reloading the rem although. 7mm rem is less prone to feeding issues. Since you reload most of the downfalls of the WSM are non issues so more likely firearm choice will make the difference.
blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
7mm Rem
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
Go with the 7mm rem mag, as you can buy brass, ammo everywhere you go. Both with preform the same, and you can pretty much get a 7mm rem mag in any gun you want, as with the 7wsm normally browning and Winchester makes them.
The 7mm Remington Magnum has been used succesfully for 1000 yard target and has seen service as a sniper round.
It was also given the reputation of "barrel burner" when introduced.
It is extremely versatile when it comes to a do it all cartridge.
Maybe the OP should just turn the belt off and call it the "Tuffteddyb" without the magnum attached to compete in matches that dont allow magnums.
Given a choice between the two, I would choose the one which had the most commonly available components. Any real differences would be with the rifle, not the cartridge.
WSM brass shouldn't be to much of a issue with the correct Dies one would run them through a Sizer die, Plenty of 270s 300s and 325s around.. pretty sure the shoulders are bumped in an out to stop loading a 270 in a 300 etc, but the brass should reform pretty good?
In Aus ya wouldn't buy a 7wsm, ya just wouldn't.. In Canda & Us of A the 7 Rem mag is what a 30-06 is in Aus.... Available everywhere!
.2c anyway
WL
In Aus ya wouldn't buy a 7wsm, ya just wouldn't.. In Canda & Us of A the 7 Rem mag is what a 30-06 is in Aus.... Available everywhere!
.2c anyway
WL
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Growing up reading Warren Page left me with a positive attitude towards a long belted case that drove a 7mm 160 gr Partition on the far side of 3000 fps. While I have no experience with the 7 WSM, I have put enough rounds through a 7 mag Remington to have an opinion and my opinion is positive. Recoil tends to be mild, trajectory is flat, versatility is high, accuracy is excellent. Its handloader friendly, and there are enough bullets choices available to result in severe information overload. I prefer long cartridges to short, although I get that the accuracy buffs like short and fat, as might those who prefer to carry a short action mountain rifle. Perusing the pages of one of the more popular loading manuals, it appears that the WSM requires a few more grains powder to match the velocity of the Remington, which might be what's behind the barrel burner claim, although I doubt that the difference in powder charge weight has much effect on throat erosion in the real world. But one of the reasons I prefer long cartridges is that when long bullets are seated, less powder capacity is lost in a longer cartridge compared to shorter cartridge. Short action rifles require bullets to be seated deeper than long actions, if the cartridge is to be cycled through the magazine, so if one was going to load say a 180 gr VLD, a longer cartridge, in a long action rifle, would have the advantage.
I think the beltless cartridges that have appeared over recent years, such as the WSMs, the Rugers RSMs, the .375 Ruger, and Remington's Ultramags, both the long and short versions, provide a small advantage over their belted counterparts. A belt interrupts the smooth surface of the cartridge, and opens the potential for feeding issues; although a feeding glitch due to the belt I believe would be, and should be pretty low on a potential buyers list of concerns.
Some folks are concerned about the feeding reliability of cartridges with rebated rims, and the WSM's rim is slightly rebated. Having fired several thousand rounds of .375 Ultra, I can say with some authority that there is little need for concern over the feeding reliability of rebated cartridges, even though my rifle certainly showed a preference for the cartridge to be located as far forward in the magazine as possible. It was possible for the bolt to slip past the rim when the cartridge was against the rear wall of the box, so it became my habit to position the top round in the magazine so the bullet nose is against the base of the feed ramp. One of the nice things about the .375 Ultra is that the first shot automatically positions the remaining rounds in the magazine.
If I was in the market for a 7mm magnum, the chances are that it would be the Remington version, unless I felt the burning desire to wildcat a 7 mag from a .300 Winchester, but the advantage would be somewhere between slight and non-exisitant. I could be persuaded to purchase a 7 WSM, but it would probably be a custom rig built on a long action with a long throat, but seeing that I'm about to enter my .280 Ackley phase, that could be some time in the future.
I think the beltless cartridges that have appeared over recent years, such as the WSMs, the Rugers RSMs, the .375 Ruger, and Remington's Ultramags, both the long and short versions, provide a small advantage over their belted counterparts. A belt interrupts the smooth surface of the cartridge, and opens the potential for feeding issues; although a feeding glitch due to the belt I believe would be, and should be pretty low on a potential buyers list of concerns.
Some folks are concerned about the feeding reliability of cartridges with rebated rims, and the WSM's rim is slightly rebated. Having fired several thousand rounds of .375 Ultra, I can say with some authority that there is little need for concern over the feeding reliability of rebated cartridges, even though my rifle certainly showed a preference for the cartridge to be located as far forward in the magazine as possible. It was possible for the bolt to slip past the rim when the cartridge was against the rear wall of the box, so it became my habit to position the top round in the magazine so the bullet nose is against the base of the feed ramp. One of the nice things about the .375 Ultra is that the first shot automatically positions the remaining rounds in the magazine.
If I was in the market for a 7mm magnum, the chances are that it would be the Remington version, unless I felt the burning desire to wildcat a 7 mag from a .300 Winchester, but the advantage would be somewhere between slight and non-exisitant. I could be persuaded to purchase a 7 WSM, but it would probably be a custom rig built on a long action with a long throat, but seeing that I'm about to enter my .280 Ackley phase, that could be some time in the future.
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I agree with Boomer as I usually do. I have not loaded the 7wsm But have extensive experience with the 7RM. It is easy and very forgiving to load for and if the 7wsm is similar to the 300wsm it is a fussier cartridge. I've always loaded the the 7RM as if it had no belt and headspaces on the shoulder.and I have been loading for the 7 Rm for about 50 yrs. You can easily drive a 160 gr partition or accubond to the 3100fps level. As to how easy it is to load for in the early 70's as an experiment I loaded up 5 different bullet weights
139gr 145 gr 154 gr 160 gr speer and 175 Hornady's using random loads from the book which at that time was an old lyman book so these were fairly hot loads. I fired all 5 and had a sub 3/4 " group. The rifle shot every load to the same POI at 100 yds. My present loads for the 160 partition have the same POI as 150 sirocco's and 160 accubonds. I know this caliber will still be around long after I;m gone but the 7wsm is already dwindling in sales and is difficult to find factory ammo for. This is not usually a problem but as we age there is more of a likely hood of us leaving something at home . Fortunately it has not been ammo yet.
Just the ramblings of a senior who is a fan of the 7RM
Neil
139gr 145 gr 154 gr 160 gr speer and 175 Hornady's using random loads from the book which at that time was an old lyman book so these were fairly hot loads. I fired all 5 and had a sub 3/4 " group. The rifle shot every load to the same POI at 100 yds. My present loads for the 160 partition have the same POI as 150 sirocco's and 160 accubonds. I know this caliber will still be around long after I;m gone but the 7wsm is already dwindling in sales and is difficult to find factory ammo for. This is not usually a problem but as we age there is more of a likely hood of us leaving something at home . Fortunately it has not been ammo yet.
Just the ramblings of a senior who is a fan of the 7RM
Neil
...burned my 7mm RM throat out at between 2500 and 3000 rounds (high pressure loads)...Rem 700 BDL...bought in 1979 and rebarreled by Ross Spagrud at PGW in a stainless .375 H&H in 2003 (?) (http://www.pgwdti.com) ...took him a year to get around to it but it was worth it...but i'd go with the 7mm RM because it's been around for quite a while now and is easier to get components...kinda like the 45-70...whatever's been working for a while...well, there's a reason...
