7mm rem mag

[Dmay]

Originally Posted by gwh12

Just wondering if 7mm is a overall good cartridge. I'm looking for a caliber that is a good at long range(500-800 yds) and has the knock down power for moose and what not.

I think its sometimes unfair, when answering such posts, to automatically equate "shooting" with "hunting".....
I shoot alot at 1000 yds plus, but have never considered taking an animal out there, not that I'm saying it ain't right, or possible to do so....to me that range is for "shooting"........."hunting", to me, is done at ranges where one feels comfortable with whatever he's shooting to make a good kill....

Having blabbed all that out, here is my answer to this guys post:

Yes, the 7mmRem Mag (here I'm presuming thats what he means) is a good over-all cartridge....because it can be made to "shoot" very well at 5 - 800 yds.........and it has plenty of power to "hunt" moose etc., albeit probly with completely different bullets and loads, and perhaps even a different rifle.

[ACKLEY ABE]

Well ...personally I think you can do better than a 7 Rem however...it is a fine cartridge. I won't address the range/ethics/ability issue, because that was not your question. 800 yards is a long ways for any cartridge.

There are a lot of different oppinions on "Knock-down" power and the interpretation thereof.

Good to see the long-range ethics police out in full force. I feel safer now.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Good to see the long-range ethics police out in full force. I feel safer now.

I didn't really mean to open that can of worms, but I thought the guy needed a gentle poke.

I shot my first elk, when I was about 18, with a 30/06 at a measured 700 yards. Yeah, lots of boiler room there, but I virtually amputated one front leg at the knee. Took about three hours of tracking to catch up with him, at the bottom of what, in those days, was officially known as the ****** John ridge. Then we had to pack him about three miles to the nearest road. Made me do a lot of thinking.
Grizz

[foothillsman]

Do your own homework. Look at the bullet that you're going to use, see what velocity envelope it's designed to expand at. Match up the bullet for the circumstances. Your choices will be limited to bullets with very high BCs. At 600 or 800 yds, will your bullet still have enough energy to expand?

For a reality check about those long shots, this spring the Full Bore( high power) shooters will be putting on shooting clinics at the Homestead Range. Show up and see what your capable of doing. This web site should give you the dates when they put on their clinics. You wils probably see them post it in April
http://www.albertarifle.com/

[jaybull]

Quote foothillsman----Do your own homework. Look at the bullet that you're going to use, see what velocity envelope it's designed to expand at. Match up the bullet for the circumstances. Your choices will be limited to bullets with very high BCs. At 600 or 800 yds, will your bullet still have enough energy to expand?

X2 Just cuz you can hit it don't mean it will do as it was intended to when it gets there.

[KBF]

supose you were into that long range stuff,which would be better the 7mm mag,300wsm,300 rum?

[foothillsman]

If you are serious about taking shots at game at those distances, the 300 RUM is the best gun hands down, simply because it's capable of the highest velocity.

At ranges beyond 400 yds, the higher the BC the better. Also consider that as bullet speed increases, so does air's resistance. Going to a heavy 200 to 220 grain boattail in 30 cal will really help with retained energy at those ranges.

Wind drift at those ranges make a miss very easy. Extremely few people are consistantly capable of hitting their target at that range. Most get lucky and boast about it, liking to think that their good. In high mountainous terrain like when goat or sheep hunting, it gets even harder. It's not just point'n shoot.

[trda]

The 7mm is plenty for shooting at that distance, with good hand loads and the right bullet. They have lots of energy and speed at that distance.

[foothillsman]

X2 Just cuz you can hit it don't mean it will do as it was intended to when it gets there

7mm rem mag most likely will not retain enough energy. 7mm RUM most likely will.

600 - 800 yds is where most cartridges get to the point where retained energy is not enough to initiate proper expansion of the bullet. The best way to find out how much retained velocity your choice of ammo has is to run it through the Sierra Ballistics program on a laptop. Then check and see whether it falls within the expantion envelope the bullet was designed to function within. Sierra's program is well worth the money.

[super7mag]

The U.S. secret service snipers still use the 7mm rem mag, they routinly practice to 1000 yrds and consider it for use out to 1200 yrds. ( from info on snipers hide) I do not know of retained energy at 1000, but they are pushing 162 a max bullets at 3000fps mv. My Ballistic table only goes to 600 yrds, they list energy at just under 1500 ft/lbs @ 600.

[jaybull]

Originally Posted by super7mag

The U.S. secret service snipers still use the 7mm rem mag, they routinly practice to 1000 yrds and consider it for use out to 1200 yrds. ( from info on snipers hide) I do not know of retained energy at 1000, but they are pushing 162 a max bullets at 3000fps mv. My Ballistic table only goes to 600 yrds, they list energy at just under 1500 ft/lbs @ 600.

An a max bullet correct me if i'm wrong is not intended to hunt big game as first post was asking. Snipers shooting humans in war is way different than hunting big game. We shoot allways to kill. Snipers shoot with many different goals. Sometimes to kill, some times to wound.

[foothillsman]

Ok, and at 1500 footpounds, how much will a typical boattail hunting bullet open up? Second of all, when you're shooting at that distance, what direction is the wind blowing at 150 yards, and how fast? Oh and what if the wind does a reversal at 350 yards, will you calculate that in with no flags and what speed is the change?

Shooting at a range with flags and a spotting scope to help judge the wind speeds and the effect of mirage( which even happens at 20 below) is one thing and we still get duped by the wind. What about out in the field with no flags to tell you which direction(s) the wind is blowing and the speed(s) of it.

I'm amazed at the facination with which people want to shoot game at long range, and occasionally someone does connect, but I wonder how many get hit or grazed and die slowly never to be found by the hunter. This looks like fodder for the animal rights kooks to screw things up for hunters.

[super7mag]

YEP! He asked if this caliber could be used at 6-8 and in a qualified persons hand with a good rifle it can be. I own a decent 7mm with a high quality scope, reload my own pills and shoot it as often as possible, my max hunting range for myself with my rifle would be 450 yrds. I know there are guys that shoot much farther , but thats my comfort level. The 1000 yrd challenge out of my league.

[Chinchaga Hermit]

Ballistics Table in Yards 7mm Remington Magnum 139 gr., .486 B.C. www.hornady.com
71gr RL 22 (handloads.com)

Range (yards) Muzzle 50 100 200 300 400 500
Velocity (fps) 3300 3181 3065 2842 2630 2427 2234
Energy (ft.-lb.) 3361 3122 2899 2492 2134 1818 1540
Trajectory (200 yd. zero) -2.0 -0.2 0.8 0.0 -5.1 -15.3 -31.3
Come Up in MOA -2.0 0.3 -0.8 0.0 1.6 3.6 6.0