First Gun, Need Advice

Ardent said:
There is a whopping inch and a half of difference in drop at the extreme end of your range mentioned there, 300 yards, between the .308 shooting a 150gr and the 7mm Mag shooting a 150gr. Even if you make the 7mm Mag bullet lighter it really doesn't make any tangible difference. Inside 300 yards, all the standard hunting cartridges have virtually the same trajectory, we get worked up over differences that are imagined not real. Even at 400 yards, further than almost any of us shoot on a hunt, the difference between a 7mm Mag and a .308 is only 4"- less than the width of your palm. You can still shoot at the same point on big game and you'll kill it even that far out. At 200-300 yards, there is absolutely zero difference. The difference at 200 yards is a mere half inch, less than the width of my index finger! The margin of error in a hunting shot at 200-300 yards is far greater than any drop difference between any of the usual choices. So, pick up any rifle you're a fan of, and shoot it the same as any other rifle that does more than 2400fps- they're all the same. :) Yes, if we're shooting gophers at 550 yards, a couple inches can matter. But not in this discussion and big game hunting.

Drop

.308 Win --------- 7mm Rem Mag

100 -0.0 ---------- 100 -0.0
150 -1.0 ---------- 150 -0.8
200 -3.3 ---------- 200 -2.8
250 -7.0 ---------- 250 -6.0
300 -12.2 --------- 300 -10.5
350 -19.1 --------- 350 -16.4
400 -27.9 --------- 400 -23.9
Click to expand...
you are right to a degree but in my 308 i shoot 165g bullets and in the seven i shoot 140g bullets. the difference is getting wider add to that the average 308 shooter is using 180g bullets in factory loads and things get worse.
you're a smart guy and i see you are not far from me. but i am in farm country with wide open fields and my shooting is often 300+ yards. check my avatar, that deer was shot at 234 yards on a dead run (ranged after the shot of course, what else are range finders good for?) you can see the wide open country i am used to.
 
snoopycda said:
you are right to a degree but in my 308 i shoot 165g bullets and in the seven i shoot 140g bullets. the difference is getting wider add to that the average 308 shooter is using 180g bullets in factory loads and things get worse.
you're a smart guy and i see you are not far from me. but i am in farm country with wide open fields and my shooting is often 300+ yards. check my avatar, that deer was shot at 234 yards on a dead run (ranged after the shot of course, what else are range finders good for?) you can see the wide open country i am used to.
Click to expand...

Even with the .308 shooting a 165, and the 7mm Mag shooting a 140gr, the drop difference at 250 yards, a little further than your 234 yard shot, is a miniscule 1.7": the width of two of my fingers and an amount that becomes meaningless when compared to the standard margin for error on a field hunting shot. Even at 300 yards, the drop difference between the 165gr .308 and the 140gr 7mm Mag is only 2.9"- again doesn't affect the shot. The most common weight for .308 is the 150gr as well, not that it makes any difference out to 300-400 yards.

Not trying to be an argumentative jerk, but it's a very common misconception that started in the marketing of the belted mags and even back to the .270. "Shoots flatter" became a standard pitch line, nobody bothered to check what flatter meant- almost nothing, even at several hundred yards away, further than probably nearly all hunting shots.

Once you get the velocity over that roughly 2,400fps mark, which almost every modern hunting chambering does, drop differences all the way out to 300 yards become nearly meaningless. If you ever really want to have a laugh, catch a 7mm-08 owner defaming the .308 Win for dropping more! :p There we're really talking no difference unless we're shooting grasshoppers at 300.
 
7m Rem Mag is a great round for hunting anything in Canada I have used it on bear deer and moose. longest shot to date 600 yards on a Moose. If you are not shooting over 300 yards you could go with 7 08 good round less recoil it will do anything a 3 08 will do.
 
You have a big gun. Get a smaller gun that uses cheaper ammo and allows you more practise on the same budget. I'd either get a .270, .308, 7mm-08, or similar. I'd also get a SS/synthetic model as an all-weather rifle, so you can leave your wood/blued .375 at home in nasty weather and not worry about wrecking something that is special to you because your father gave it to you. Either that, or I'd invest in a protective coating product for that .375 if you intend to use it in bad weather.
 
Ardent said:
Even with the .308 shooting a 165, and the 7mm Mag shooting a 140gr, the drop difference at 250 yards, a little further than your 234 yard shot, is a miniscule 1.7": the width of two of my fingers and an amount that becomes meaningless when compared to the standard margin for error on a field hunting shot. Even at 300 yards, the drop difference between the 165gr .308 and the 140gr 7mm Mag is only 2.9"- again doesn't affect the shot. The most common weight for .308 is the 150gr as well, not that it makes any difference out to 300-400 yards.

Not trying to be an argumentative jerk, but it's a very common misconception that started in the marketing of the belted mags and even back to the .270. "Shoots flatter" became a standard pitch line, nobody bothered to check what flatter meant- almost nothing, even at several hundred yards away, further than probably nearly all hunting shots.

Once you get the velocity over that roughly 2,400fps mark, which almost every modern hunting chambering does, drop differences all the way out to 300 yards become nearly meaningless. If you ever really want to have a laugh, catch a 7mm-08 owner defaming the .308 Win for dropping more! :p There we're really talking no difference unless we're shooting grasshoppers at 300.
Click to expand...
you raise some good points, but i for some reason feel better off with my 7mm than i do with my 308 even though the rifles are identical including scope and mounts, both are Zastavia Mausers.
considering the shot on that deer the result would have been the same regardless of which i was holding.
i just read this and i copied and pasted, i think it sums up our debate well.
Gun nuts make choices based on almost invisible differences in cartridges and rifles.
How many times have you read about the vast differences between the .270 WCF and the .280 Remington? And how many gun nuts do you know who bought .280s because of those mythical differences?
 
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Ardent said:
Even with the .308 shooting a 165, and the 7mm Mag shooting a 140gr, the drop difference at 250 yards, a little further than your 234 yard shot, is a miniscule 1.7": the width of two of my fingers and an amount that becomes meaningless when compared to the standard margin for error on a field hunting shot. Even at 300 yards, the drop difference between the 165gr .308 and the 140gr 7mm Mag is only 2.9"- again doesn't affect the shot. The most common weight for .308 is the 150gr as well, not that it makes any difference out to 300-400 yards.

Not trying to be an argumentative jerk, but it's a very common misconception that started in the marketing of the belted mags and even back to the .270. "Shoots flatter" became a standard pitch line, nobody bothered to check what flatter meant- almost nothing, even at several hundred yards away, further than probably nearly all hunting shots.

Once you get the velocity over that roughly 2,400fps mark, which almost every modern hunting chambering does, drop differences all the way out to 300 yards become nearly meaningless. If you ever really want to have a laugh, catch a 7mm-08 owner defaming the .308 Win for dropping more! :p There we're really talking no difference unless we're shooting grasshoppers at 300.
Click to expand...

Listen here you argumentative jerk.... I for one enjoy shooting grasshoppers at 300 yards... sometimes crickets also... he he... just kidding, good post
 
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