Is 7mm the sweet spot for a long range big game Hunter?

Pat Brennan said:
Very very few hunters are capable enough shots to be shooting at big game animals at those distances. It is hunting after all, not just shooting!
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From my understanding these distances are not uncommon when hunting in the prairies and mountainous terrain, especially if shooting over a valley. I'm guessing the likes of 7 RM, 300 WM would be preferable to .308/30.06 at this distances to insure that more than adequate ballistics are available out to 600m.

It would take the right scope and lots of practice to be proficient at that level.
 
Pat Brennan said:
Very very few hunters are capable enough shots to be shooting at big game animals at those distances. It is hunting after all, not just shooting!
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And very few hunters are in the physical shape necessary to chase sheep in the Rockies... with sheep 400m is sometimes the only chance you get...
 
Between the 7 and .300, it’s a pick ‘em these days on ballistics, .30 cal has come leaps and bounds in the BCs.

This said, 7 Mag is a bit easier to shoot, and friendlier from a light mountain rifle. 7 Mag is one of my favourites, and have seen it take everything from bison to grizzlies. It’s damn near the perfect hunting cartridge, when hunting and not guns is the focus.

Seeing as I’m more into the guns than the hunting these days, I don’t own a single belted mag at present. But if I was on a mission again to justify life and adventures through what I can kill, there’s an excellent chance I’d be carrying a 7 Mag for 90% of it.

I like the .284 more, but it’s just so hard to feed, and such an oddball so I never got into it.

Northern Shooter said:
From my understanding these distances are not uncommon when hunting in the prairies and mountainous terrain, especially if shooting over a valley. I'm guessing the likes of 7 RM, 300 WM would be preferable to .308/30.06 at this distances to insure that more than adequate ballistics are available out to 600m.

It would take the right scope and lots of practice to be proficient at that level.
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On a goat hunt, 400 can be quite typical indeed. Long end of typical, but typical.
 
I would go with the 7mm-08 effective out to 400 yards with over 1,500 foot/pounds of energy. You can neck down 308 brass that you can find (once fired) at any gun range. The heaviest bullet tops out at 150 grain. But to each their own I guess.
 
If your going to be shooting factory ammo you may want to consider the PRC. Hornady is marketing those cartridges hard and I would think you would have better factory ammo because of it. A friend shoots the 162 eld-x in his 7RM with good success. Very capable to the distances you've mentioned. I prefer the 140's, fast & flat, in my 7mm for hunting. Might be time to sell a rifle and buy some reloading equipment.
 
Northern Shooter said:
For those of you who live and hunt in the Rockies, would you be comfortable taking shots on sheep/elk with the 7 RM at 400-600m?
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I have killed everything in NA short of Muskox, Grizzly and Bison with a 7 Rem Mag. From experience if conditions are perfect and you can put the correct bullet in the vitals it has just enough killing power to drop moose with 1 shot at 1000 yards. 400 to 600 is a walk in the park for the 7 Rem mag.

That being said a 30-06 with the right bullet will do the same.
 
Pat Brennan said:
Very very few hunters are capable enough shots to be shooting at big game animals at those distances. It is hunting after all, not just shooting!
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True ELR hunting is an art form that takes many years to become proficient at and many "hunters" who are not willing to dedicate the time and expense to become proficient yet still indulge, tend to give the few of us who are truly capable a bad name. The thing with ELR hunting is you pass up waaaay more shots than you ever take and unlike road hunting many tags are never filled.
Spot and stalk style hunting is also an art form, but not everyone is physically capable of hunting in this style.
 
I have jumped onto the 7mm mag band wagon in the last year as well. looking for a great mid to long range hunting rifle, with enough to knock down at those ranges.
Though I have many guns, I wanted a light weight gun that I can shoot alot, and shoot well. The 7 mag does that well.
I normally shoot 5-6000 rounds a year not including my handguns, so I wear out barrels, most hunters will never shoot that many rounds in there liftime.
And that is what is needed when you become proficient with your rifles.
I choose a Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT for my mountain rifle in 7 mag, components are not to bad to get, and it doesn't burn out a barrel as fast a stw or a 28 nosler. The PRC was too new and no brass available when I bought my last one. I figure that I will more than likely get a new barrel for this paticular one next year at some point, because by then it will need one. So every 3 or so years throwing on a carbon wrapped tube for $1200-$1800 is not to bad, the powder,primers and berger bullets cost a pile more than that.
I figure the 7 mag is one of more usable calibers out there, and shooting 168gr VLD's at the range the rifle doesn't kick near as bad as a 300mag with 180 vld's so thats why I went this route.
Thought about getting a 7SAUM but components were the issue again with it, couldn't find any at the time.
I don't think you can go wrong with the 7mag, there are other choices, but if I was going to only own and hunt with one gun in Canada you could do alot worse than a 7mag.
 
I had an orig Browning SS synth A-Bolt in 7RM. Traded my BLR .308 for it and carried that for roughly 10yrs as my only rig for Moose. Was easy to find a load for it with 150gr Nos BTs and 120gr Hornady SPs for fun stuff. Driven by IMR 4350 if memory serves me correct. As time progressed, work and a young family took priority. There it sat for a number of yrs in the safe until eventually it was traded for something else.

Had I still had the brass and projectiles, I’d jump back into the 7RM realm with no hesitation, but currently I’d like to try some other .284Cals in the near future.
 
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My dad just bought a 7RM last summer for moose hunting, a sako s20 that I will inherit at one point(he’s 81)! It a s20 precision that I’m thinking I will turn I to a s20 hunter when I get it!
I have 7x57r and will be getting a 7x65r soon(it’s being made as we speak)!
I like the what I read about the 7mm bullets and there performances!
 
Northern Shooter said:
Sounds like I will be making the right selection as many here view the 7mm RemMag as a do it all caliber.
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Have a serious look at the 7 PRC... It will most likely have the heavier bullet selection you are looking for, as far as store bought stuff. 175's and 180's. And it has the azz to push them...

R.
 
I like the big 7s for long range hunting and shooting. Out of my 7s I sort of put the sweet spot at the 7-300 Win. It's so easy that it doesn't even seem like a wild-cat to me. I didn't even need to buy dies since a 300 Win bushing die became one with a bushing change. I've also loaded it with 7mm Rem dies, and a universal 7mm neck sizer, mostly because I had them and wanted to see how they worked. The way I have mine loaded it will take a 180 Berger to 3050 fps at an idle, and 3150 is within reach if you don't mind shorter brass life. An STW that I use the same bullet in shoots the same chart with 2" more barrel. The 7-300 Win works well as a standard length cartridge in a magnum length magazine. So does a 7 Rem for that matter. That endearing situation allows great versatility in high BC bullets being able to reach and chase lands. The STW isn't so accomadating. My 28 Nosler takes a 195 Berger EOL up to 3080 fps with brass friendly loads. Besides hitting like the hammer of Thor, those long evil looking bullets seem to just laugh at wind.
 
My 7 Rem mag loaded with 168 grain Berger bullets has cleanly killed a variety of game animals at a variety of ranges. The heaviest animal it's killed was a 1800+ lb common eland. A number of different species were killed at ranges out to and slightly exceeding 550 yds.

For me, the 7 RM is pretty much at the upper limits of my tolerance for recoil.
 
BobbyinBC said:
My 7 Rem mag loaded with 168 grain Berger bullets has cleanly killed a variety of game animals at a variety of ranges. The heaviest animal it's killed was a 1800+ lb common eland. A number of different species were killed at ranges out to and slightly exceeding 550 yds.

For me, the 7 RM is pretty much at the upper limits of my tolerance for recoil.
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Im planning on having this chambering in a rather lightweight hunting setup which is why I'm opting for the 7RM over 300WM for recoil.
 
Northern Shooter said:
I see that 7 Rem is suppedly offered in 175 grain but I'm not seeing this in stock anywhere. Is this configuration only for reloaders?
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Back in the day when ammo was available factory loaded with 175 gr pills were common. It still exists but you gotta look for it now. Hand loading for any cartridge destined for LR shooting is pretty much a must. Using the wrong for application bullet becomes a real issue with ELR hunting.
Premium bullets use for closer range hunting like Nosler Partitions and Swift A frames are typically a disaster at long range as they are tough bullets that need a certainly velocity in order to open up as they are designed to do. 500 to 600 yards they work fine at 1000 plus not so much. Conversely bullets like Ballistic Tips and A-Maxs work well at long distance but tend to grenade at closer ranges, sometimes simply blowing up on the hide of a moose or elk.
 
I still have a few of the OLD Bear claw trophy bond 175 grain . I think the velocity was about 2860 on the box . cud chek .Anyway sure beats the little 6.5 crowd .
 
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