Choosing...............

33hoffman

33hoffman

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Calgary
300 win mag or 7mm rem mag?

The guys I usually hunt with use 308 (have one) and 7mm rem mag. I know the 308 is good for most stuff, just thinking about getting a bigger stick. Want to stay with Savage but can't decide between the two calibers............. Kind of leaning towards the 7mm (ammo commonality with other guys, better BC with reloading etc...).

Thoughts?

Thanks

Matt
 
I'm afraid to tell you they are absolutely identical, reason I'm afraid to say is that won't make your decision any easier. Any differences are so slight as to be near meaningless, with one exception; if you hunt truly big stuff, .300 Mag is the clear answer for being able to load bullets well over 200 grains. If your biggest quarry is Moose, it's an either or proposition, both shoot equally flat at all hunting ranges if you run the numbers. Both can reach 1300-1500 yards supersonic too with the right loads, neither has an advantage less for the bullet weight in the .300, which is usually not important to most Deer, Black Bear, and Moose hunters.
 
the only difference to me is a sight recoil reduction with the 7. i tend to use the 7 more than the 300 mag these days. seems to kill quite well. both are capable hunting rounds. pick which ever flavor makes you happy. the animals will never know the difference.
 
You have a .308 already that nicely covers 90% of all you're hunting needs. If I were you and looking at a magnum for more umph and better BC bullets when reloading I'd look at steping up to a .338 Winchester magnum.
 
The 7 mag is hard to beat unless you want to run 200gr bullets. For most guys a 7 mag will be fine, but if you harbour dreams of really big game such as bison, zebra or eland then I believe that you're better served with the 300WM to take advantage of the heavier bullets available in .308".
 
"...ammo commonality with other guys..." Don't bother taking that into consideration. Each rifle will prefer different ammo.
"...308 is good for most stuff..." There's no game in North America that the .308 won't kill with a change of bullet and a shooter who can hit what the rifle is aimed at. Magnums are really just marketing things that make a lot of noise and muzzle blast.
 
33hoffman said:
300 win mag or 7mm rem mag?

The guys I usually hunt with use 308 (have one) and 7mm rem mag. I know the 308 is good for most stuff, just thinking about getting a bigger stick. Want to stay with Savage but can't decide between the two calibers............. Kind of leaning towards the 7mm (ammo commonality with other guys, better BC with reloading etc...).

Thoughts?



Thanks

Matt
Click to expand...

Pick up one of each. Hunt for a season and see which one you end up taking out the most. Keep that one and sell the other.
 
Ended up with a 300!

Picked up boxes of both 7mm and 300WM both Hornady Superformance- 7mm was the 136? gr and the 165gr 300WM. The 300 had less drop than the 7mm with a bigger pill.

Thanks for all the input!

Matt
 
I hunted with a 7 Mag for years and then moved up to the 300 Wm I found the 300 WM to have a significant increase in effectiveness on game. I can quote all the paper stuff explaining the better terminal ballistics blah, blah, blah...........However those don't impress me as much as the effect of a 200 gn Partion on game out to and beyond 400 mtrs. I was so impressed with the increased effectiveness that I thought more would be even better and moved up to the 300 Wby, with which I have hunted over a great deal of the planet. I still have great respect and admiration for the 300 WM and do not hesitate to recommend it to shooters and hunters looking for a Magnum. I have no doubt you will be very happy with your choice, but remember the 200 gn bullet is the absolute king in the 300 mags.
 
33hoffman said:
300 win mag or 7mm rem mag?

The guys I usually hunt with use 308 (have one) and 7mm rem mag. I know the 308 is good for most stuff, just thinking about getting a bigger stick. Want to stay with Savage but can't decide between the two calibers............. Kind of leaning towards the 7mm (ammo commonality with other guys, better BC with reloading etc...).

Thoughts?

Thanks

Matt
Click to expand...
I hunted with a 7mm mag for years and used it for everything, I found it spoiled a lot of meat on animals when shot at closer ranges (which are most shots in BC). bullets would fragment and make very large shock areas filling the tissue with blood and making it spoil and if you hit bone like a moose shoulder it would literally explode in to the meat making cleanup horrible.

I switched to a 308 and have had no issue taking the same game at even 400yds with much less meat loss, the lighter and shorter rifle has also made carrying easier and shot placement from off hand better . I now also have a 338 Lapua that sits in a case in the truck now just in case a long shot presents itself as you have tons of time to get ready and make the shot at those distances.
 
JamesM said:
You have a .308 already that nicely covers 90% of all you're hunting needs. If I were you and looking at a magnum for more umph and better BC bullets when reloading I'd look at steping up to a .338 Winchester magnum.
Click to expand...

I remember reading an article in the American Rifleman, a few years back, where the author stated if he could only have two rifles they would be a 308 Win. and a 338 Win Mag. . .
 
Brian46 said:
I hunted with a 7mm mag for years and used it for everything, I found it spoiled a lot of meat on animals when shot at closer ranges (which are most shots in BC). bullets would fragment and make very large shock areas filling the tissue with blood and making it spoil and if you hit bone like a moose shoulder it would literally explode in to the meat making cleanup horrible.

I switched to a 308 and have had no issue taking the same game at even 400yds with much less meat loss, the lighter and shorter rifle has also made carrying easier and shot placement from off hand better . I now also have a 338 Lapua that sits in a case in the truck now just in case a long shot presents itself as you have tons of time to get ready and make the shot at those distances.
Click to expand...

you don't mention what bullets you were using. I had similar experience using 140 Ballistic Tips in a 7 Weatherby. Incredible expansion/damage at 200 yards but i place the blame wholly on the bullet construction and speed it was driven, not the bore diameter.
 
BigUglyMan said:
you don't mention what bullets you were using. I had similar experience using 140 Ballistic Tips in a 7 Weatherby. Incredible expansion/damage at 200 yards but i place the blame wholly on the bullet construction and speed it was driven, not the bore diameter.
Click to expand...
I had similar results with all ammo I used through the 7mm Mag, accubonds, partitions, reg federal soft ponts and even remmington core lokt. I believe it was the speed of the bullet at impact was the issue with bullets fragmenting. I did not put the blame on bore diameter.
 
All things being the same...
A Browning A-bolt SS Hunter in 7mm and a Browning A-bolt in SS Hunter in 300 Win.
the shooter isnt going to be able to tell a tinkers difference between the two in a blind sxs test period.
One might be able to feel the difference once the trigger has been pulled, but a well placed shot is still a well placed shot.
Ammo availability to the Region you live in and hunt in are two factors that really need to be considered.
Just adding some fuel to the Campfire Discussion ;)
Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom