Perhaps a touch harsh Dick. When I was buying my first centerfire I did tons of research, but I only have one acquaintance who hunts. I was interested in the .270, .280, 7mm, and 30-06, plus the similar sized wsm's (basically looking for the old "one gun that can do it all, or most of it"). Luckily he had a .270 and a 30-06, so I could try those, but that was it. He told me either could do the job on deer, elk, and moose, so I just chose the one that had less recoil. So it's tough if you don't know people who own all the guns you are interested in.

I longed for a "demo day" for guns, like they have for golf clubs. Thats how I bought my clubs. Tried everything in one day, bought the set that I could hit the best (Pings, most expensive of course, sheesh). Since the gun manufacturers or retailers can't/won't have a demo day, maybe that is something AO members could do once or twice a year.... have it at ranges near Edmonton and Calgary, bring your gun or guns, let other people try them!

My reading of the responses here seems to be that technical issues apart, either one is deadly on the game you mention. Take your pick.

My question would be "Are you sure that is all you will ever want to hunt?" I would ask others more knowledgable here than me "What if Typical decided he wanted to go for black bear or grizzly, or buffalo? Would one be better than the other? What about if he wanted to move down to antelope, wolf, etc.?"

Perhaps if you thought about the likelihood of other game you might possibly be interested in, that might help make your decision (If there is indeed any difference between the two on that game).

X2

Ballistically there isnt enough diff betwixt them to amount to enough to matter to a critter...both are capable of minute-of-deer shots at long ranges.
the whole issue about 'felt recoil' is a mute point, especially when hunting..You rattle in a huge bull or buck to 100 yards, the adrenalin is pumping,,, you will hardly remember the shot much less the shoulder tap
you should never feel the recoil when your safety is in 'go mode'...and if it does.... you ott be reconsidering why your in the feild in the first place.

the bench and site-in is when your recoil tolerance becomes known. I firmly beleive that pounding round after round on the bench gives rise to the dreaded flinch.
the flinch creates the miss.
the miss disolves the confidence.
the confidence is blamed on recoil.
plus, shooting from a seated position feels so wrong to me. (unless you hunt out of your truck:lol: ) change your targeting focus from paper to balloons or gongs at various yardages and focus on removing the target instead of making pretty little cloverleafs. this works for teaching kids to ignore the recoil factor too
sorry for straying

Agreed Roger: The bench is for load development and evaluation.
But wait if it's hurting you on the bench, how do you evaluate or otherwise know load A is better than Load B?:confused:

Uh Oh, now we begin the spiral of un certainty. Can't determine one load from antother, so your form suffers even from a field positions, so now you can't responsably take anything longer than say a 150yd. shot, so now why the hopped up caliber. so, so, so.:rolleye2:

If you cant make the first step to accurate load and rifle evaluation, you've taken the whole point of responable hunter behaviour into the muddy murky depths of it being refered to as un ehtical behaviour.:D

Wow that was deep.

I use a Benchmaster for bench work. No felt recoil per say and allows for more shooting at the bench. Once in the field, recoil is not an issue as roger stated, once the critters in the crosshairs, recoil is not even noticed. I think the few dollars in terms of the benchmaster was the best investment I made. I can shoot my 300 Weatherby at the range like no one's business and also works good for sighting in the 204 etc.

Compared to years ago, there is just an amazing amount of data/tools available to hunters to help them select appropriate calibers, and cartridges within those calibers. One no longer has to go out and blast away at the range and make seat of the pants decisions. About all you are going to accomplish with that is evaluate how much recoil one is prepared to live with.

Accuracy of a gun is primarily determined by the gun quality, the shooter, and the quality of the components/process used to make the cartridge. There is no reason for there to be any difference in the accuracy of a 300 compared to a 7mm, or for that matter other good cartridges.

Oh great now we bring ethics into it!.....Copid##### are you here somewhere?

Sometimes when the opportunity is not there to try the rifle/cartridge we have to go off of other information...

Now if this is a new hunter I would recommend the 7mm because it is more all around..... big on deer and sufficient on everything else up to 400 yards...

300 too big on deer IMO and can be overkill on targets under 100 yards....

Both are excellent cartridges/calibres and are successfull.... i would say start with 7MM and if a person decides that they need more oomph at longer ranges as they add experience.... hey we all need an excuse to buy anther rifle might as well get the fella started off in the right direction

Now if it was a 7mm and 30-06 boy would we be splitting hairs!.....

Why is a 300 too much for deer? hear that lots and just curious as to why people say that. No slight intended to anyone, just curious is all.

I said nothing...

I almost went for a 300WM. Glad I didn't. Personally I think both are overkill closer than 300yds (I shoot a .308). Past that I'd suspect the shots get pretty rare.

7mm is probably a bit easier on the shoulder. Either will do.

deer don't seem to need to absorb much energy to be killed (they aren't that tough).
Then again, there are some that swear by the 458WM for whitetails.:cool:

ok, maybe not 300 yds...

All this mamby pamby about what calibre or rifle is best. Speed kills etc etc isn't worth a hill of beans unless you factor in the aging process, health, (such as arthritis and others) and think of where you'll be 20-30 yrs down the road. I can tell you from personal experience that a light weight rifle with minimum jolt is where a certain % of us will be. I have the 300 and owned four 7mm,s over the years and they recoil. Some not as bad as others. My Sako 300 is the best shooter I've ever owned and it's felt recoil on a bench is very palatable. As I,ve said on here before, it is relegated to the safe because it gets damn heavy after a couple of miles. I just wanted to throw this in for the guy with the original question. Factor in the weight of the rifle as well, or, like others, you may have to go lighter later. I don't know why but the 7mm seemed to me to knock animals down better for some reason. Another funny one was that I've shot a few deer with a 375 and it did less damage than a 25-06. Go figure. I know this won't help too much on your decision as to 7mm or 300. I like them both. Politically Correct.

If you mean less damage in terms of bloodshot meat then yes the 375 should do less damage as high velocities at impact always mean more bloodshot meat versus a slow moving bullet. Seen this dramatically in an elk shot with a 7mm versus a 416 rem mag. Both hit the same elk, 416 a little bruising around the hole, 7mm a lot more bruising!

This one shouldn't be a surprise. The .375 will out penetrate a .25-06 everytime, however, the .25-05 will do far more damage to the surrounding tissue due to the velocity and thinner jacketed bullets.

I had some friends who really wanted me to shoot a deer with my .416 Rigby. (they were interested in hunting but not really hunters) They wanted to see 'what it would do'. I assured them that it would be very unimpressive and, if not striking a large bone, would not put a deer down as fast as a .270 etc.. Sure enough, when I shot a doe with it, it left a .416 hole in and maybe a .500 hole out using 410 grain bullets. Got the heart so she when down in a short time but was hardly 'knocked over'. Most of the bullets 5000+ ft-lbs went into the hillside behind her.

I know just twistin your tail! CPDSMA :tongue2:

Good point on lighter rifle!....

I feel that if a 300 will inflate a moose at 60 yards to where both shoulders are dislocated and bloodshocked.... ruined a lot of meat... bullet placement was in ribs and was due to the bullet fragmenting at close range but hard to get bullets that open at 300 yards well without fragging at less range.

If a deer was hit with same bullet... you would have "Cervidus Blownapartus"

Now I have a friend who will not use light bullets on deer after having one hit the spine above the boiler room and travel down the spine and wreckk all the backstraps and the hind quarter.... he gets torqued when i tell him the problem was not the bullet but the placement........He hit High!....

Considering he will be going after deer/moose/elk, I would recommend the .300 over the 7mm. Go with 200gr bullet like the partition.

7mm vs 300
 

Go to the range with a box of shells for both calibres. More than likely. someone on the firing line will be shooting one or the other. Introduce yourself and ask them if you can pound a few rounds. See which you like best and which is more comfortable to shoot.

I hunt mostly deer and elk on open country so I prefer the 7MM mag. Fast and flat with good accuracy. "Stubblejumper" made a good comment, 140-180 grain will drop anything you are looking at, providing you are comfortable shooting the gun, know your ballistics, and place your shot. There are plenty of reasonable off-the-shelf loads available. For years I only ever shot the cheap, Federal Power Shok loads. $20 per box and always a successful hunt or day at the range. However, I can think of 5 friends who jumped on the 7Mag bandwagon and found it was too much recoil and barrel jump for them to handle. I have also seen too many guys at the range with 7Mags that can't control their rifles. Groupings like a shotgun pattern.

RE: 300 Win Mag: I like the range of bullet weights on the 300, and its impact power on moose within the 200 metre range.

7mm or 300
 

i've been in the same thought process and what about the 300 rum with using the 3 levels of ammo by remington. anyone got some insight or experience here?

The three levels of loading that Remington has come out with for the RUM is an intersting idea. However, a handloader can do that with any cartridge. My view is that for North American game the 300 RUM is too big, and in fact quite a bit too big (bore and case size). To me the sweet spot for bore size is in the 6.5-7mm range. Within that bore pick your punishment based on the case size. While an oddball of sorts, the 280 Remington is perhaps close to the ideal.

But then I don't believe in rifles with a big hole in the end of the barrel. If that was a good thing, I would just buy slugs for my 12 guage.

Ron

7 mag reload fan
 

The 7 mag is a lot easier to reload. The 300 loads that are the most accurate are compressed loads and that means you have to tap the brass to get all the powder in. The 7 mag is also double charge proof pretty much

It's not. Overkill....f... I have never seen anything toooo dead. Meat damage: You'll see more meat damage from a 270 with a 130 than you will with a 300 and a 180.

In fact a 338 Win is a marvolous cart for deer as well, which should get some comments from the guys that have no clue and havn't shot a deer with one.

Seems to be a lot of book shooters on this thread....and a lot of BS.

Keep shootin your 300 and things'l keep dyin. And to the rest: yes I have killed deer with a 300 and several 7's...have you.

Theres a lot of knowledgeable people on this thread....and some not so.


Yo Dick284....Your right, why didn't someone offer.......and ...............FORDS are better :lol:

The 7 mag is a lot easier to reload. The 300 loads that are the most accurate are compressed loads and that means you have to tap the brass to get all the powder in. The 7 mag is also double charge proof pretty much


I think you'd better go back to reloading school there billo. Not all loads in the 300 are accurate when compressed loads and if you think just because it is a 7mm mag it can handle all the powder you can put in it you are going to be very surprised if not dead.
This post is 2 years old! That's digging deep.

All the cartridges listed in the posts are relivant to your aspiration of having one gun that can bring down Deer, Elk and Moose. I've shot most if not all of cartridges listed over the course of this post. With the exception of the 7M-08.

I've placed a 7MRM case against a 300 Win mag case and the 300 is slightly longer. So the 300 Win Mag it is capable of using a little more powder.

I've successfully shot moose out to 600 yards with the 300 Win Mag 180 gain, and thus fulfilled the lethal disposition of my freezer.

I have sighted in the 7MRM with 175 grain softpoints as I consider it an Elk and Moose gun, and it does have kick to it, perhaps a little less then a 300 Win Mag.

If you want to feel less recoil then a 280 or a 30-06 is enough gun and puts out less recoil then a 7MRM or a 300 WM. Iv'e been successful with a 30-06 out to 400 yards on a bull moose. My thougths are that a 270 is a little on the light side for Elk and Moose, but I'm sure it could do the job.

I'd lean towards a little less recoil, like a 30-06, a good accurate bullet/load and a good scope. Spend some time getting used to shooting your gun, and always sight it in before your hunt. Most shots are usually closer then what I mentioned above, but it'sx always good to know what one can do with a decent rifle.

Pretty sure Typical has already purchased the rifle ;)

I'm hopin' he got the 300 :cool:

tm

30-06, no need for a magnum

[QUOTE=bingo1010;101610]300 all the way. bigger bullet, bigger hole= more blood.

Well put. 300 all the way. Something else to think about. If I can push a 180 gr bullet at the same speed and trajectory as a 160 gr bullet... I'd go 180 gr. The 300 is a bit flatter and more hits a bit harder. Can't recall who mentioned it, but I agree that shooting from a bench, you will feel lots of recoil. When you are shooting at that big buck or bull, recoil doesn't exist.

Considering this thread is 2yrs old.....almost to the day :lol:

What did you finally get Typical so we can end the suspense ;)

tm

He bought a 7. Says that waaaaaaaayyyyy back...:lol:

LOL.....I hope he's got both by now :D

My 300 bounced my 7mm over to my bros safe :cool:

tm