7mm remington magnum

User00014

Well-Known Member
afternoon lads ,

does anyone use the 7mm remington magnum as an all rounder ?

im asking because i need a bigger rifle for boar , lowland reds but i also need to use it on roe and muntjac !

the pinifor government has given her blessing for the new rifle prob going to be a left handed reminton 700 , but i will have to sacrifice the old faithful 6.5x55 tikka t3!

i hand load so i can ajust my loads to suit my needs but need a little reasurance ,
your thought will be aprecated as usuall !

cheers lee
 
Lee I can highly recommend the 7mm Mag and it puzzles me why it is not more popular in the Uk than it actually is. If I am not on the patch in Glos shooting high numbers of fallow then my 7mm Mag is my go to rifle for everything.

I have had (I think) 4 or 5 different ones of the years I have had one and 3 have been Remingtons which are absolutely faultless in my opinion and also all 3 Remi's have shot brilliantly.

Here is a picture of mine when I was using it on the Sika a few years ago.

019.jpg


You can't go wrong with this as an all rounder and if you get a Jet Z on the end recoil is not an issue (well I don't think it is an issue anyway without a mod but with one it is like shooting your rimfire metaphorically speaking).

It will serve your needs very well.
 
Last edited:
thats the type of good news i like to hear :D

the 6.5 has served me well for several years now but now i feel like a change , i feel there will be some 6.5 reloading bits in the classifieds in not too short order

cheers lee
 
I have used the 7mm Rem Mag as an allrounder and it does work, I have much more experience of the .300 Win Mag though. Either make a very useful addition to your armoury but I probably wouldn't want one as my only rifle. Some method of recoil reduction is a good idea. In your neck of the woods, either 7mm or .300 with a .243 Win to complement it and you would be well covered. (do you really need to get rid of your 6.5 ?) I'm sure plenty of people will say its too much rifle but my only negative comment would be the cost to feed and the potential for hearing damage if you go for a muzzle brake rather than a moderator. JC
 
I'd just stick with your 6.5 Lee. It shouldnt have any problems using a 120g+ head, for any Deer in this country.
For the Pigs ( no not Norwich girls) I'd use the Sako 156g hammerheads or Norma Oryx.
 
No problem Lee

For the criteria you list above especially the boar, in my opinion your 6.5 would be less than borderline irrespective of bullet choice.

The 7mm Mag is a more sensible choice for what you want do do with it.

Actually to be honest the 7mm Mag is the minimum I would like to be using for boar and even some would consider it not ideal for this application.
 
Last edited:
surely if you want 243 performance you could just use reduced loads. Using a powder that is good for reduced loads (did I read blue dot is good for this?) would mean you don't need a 243 and then hot it up for the bigger stuff?
 
I think that your shooting needs would be well met by any rifle with a maximum velocity of no more than 2,800 fps. For all the deer maybe a 140 grain bullet at that speed. For the wild boar something above the continental suggested minimum advised weight of their 10 metric grammes. So that means 155 grains or better 165 grains or 175 grains.

The "long action" 284's all have a big advantage over the 6.5's or the 270's and it is - with the possible exception of the venerable 6.5 x 54 that of bullet weight. Quite simply even the 270 "tops out" with factory ammunition and reasonably priced factory bullets at 150 grains.

The "long action" 284's be it 7 x 57 Mauser, 7 x 64 Brenneke, 280 Remington or most 7mm Remington Magnum can all handle 175 grain bullets seated well out. This ranks then ahead of either of the "medium action" 284's the sometimes overall length critical 7mm-08 Remington or the moribund 284 Winchester.

For pretty much ALL European hunting I'd say that the 7mm Remington Magnum (or even the old 275 Holland and Holland Magnum) is all you ever need if you handload.

If you don't handload and only use factory ammunition then I'd have had, twenty years ago, slight second thoughts about the 7mm Remington Magnum as being too powerful. But not know. Just get Remington's "Lite Load" with a 140 grain bullet at some 2,800 fps. Perfect!

Two caveats.

The first is that to get full 7mm Remington Magnum performance you will need a full length barrel. If you go 22" you are pretty much sacrificing an extra round in the magazine and your hearing for nothing that the 7 x 64 or 280 Remington can do in a 24" barrel and with a extra round in the magazine.

The second is to check what overall length of round your proposed 7mm Remington Magnum purchase can handle. If you 165 grain or 175 grain bullet has to be seated back into the case you just lost all the powder space the larger capacity case is supposed to give you. (That's also why I rule out most rifles chambered on a "medium action" receiver for the 7mm-08 Remington). Might as well have got a 7 x 64 Brenneke or a 280 Remington to begin with! Or a 7mm-08 built on a "long action".

I looked at a nice Holland and Holland in 7mm Remington Magnum last year and rejected it. Why? Because for what I want and the shooting I do and intend to do (including driven wild boar where factory ammunition only might be required) I thought that 280 Remington was the better choice in a standard weight rifle. I could equally have chosen 7 x 64 Brenneke. They have all the velocity I'll ever need with any bullet weight.

I've also that irrational foolish belief that I need that extra round! Either that or being absent minded I prefer all five of my cartridges in the rifle where I know where they are and the reserve five rounds in my pocket in an old military clip.

But! 7 x 64 Brenneke isn't cheap and as far as the UK goes 280 Remington is almost as rare as an "exotic" wildcat cartridge! You'll always find 7mm Remington Magnum and if you handload it will make you a superb all around cartridge. Just keep it at 2,800 fps

If you don't handload? For those muntjac, roe and red shot "off the end of the barrel" in woodland? Get some Remington 140 grain "Lite Load" in your magazine or to use 175 grain bullets which will give you that lower velocity as factory full throttle standard load 140 grain bullets will wreck the carcase.

Lastly because of its American "plains game" origins with factory full throttle standard load 140 grain bullets the 7mm Remington Magnum will make a seriously good highland stalking weapon with a 24" barrel for those 150 to 200 yard long shots on the hill.
 
Last edited:
Having read all this i can't help but think you'd be better served by the good old 30.06,i'm sure it will do everything you could ask of it and you'd never look back,i'll shut up now,sorry.
Neil.
 
Lee

Dont do it most people that I have seen who have one have a flinch to match the recoil.:eek:

And most carcasses shot with a 7mm rem mag look like the ones you helped to deliver to griston.

6.5 is fine for reds and boar if you what something a bit punchier why not get a 270
 
Let me explain the situation a little more ,

Now my problem is my red deer land has a neighbour who will not alow me to cross the boundary to retrieve / dispatch a wounded deer or carcas , so I need to be dropping these deer on my side of the fence !

Not an easy task when the field the deer are on is always the boundary field , when you get 70 plus hinds and calfs plus grumpy farmer you can imagin the situation !
Also I have the added problem of the sugar beet field this year is smack becide a busy main road.

Now I'm shooting these reds at 235 yds (with out getting into the sniping debate ) and I'm dealing with a 6-7 in bullet drop , and I'm getting well shot deer heading over the boundary (which I do retrieve I hasten to add ) so I'm looking for a flatter shooting calibre but that will not trash the smaller deer
I am at present building a thetford high seat to narrow the range gap but with that road I just can't afford to have the deer running
And I'm hopeing I've found it with the 7mm remington magnum.

Cheers lee
 
Lee are you aware that you need a 26-27 inch barrel for 7mm rem mag to reach its full potential at 22inch ballistics are alledgdely comparable to .270win,surely a larger bullet is going to have more effect at dropping them quicker,just a thought.
Neil.
 
Last edited:
I have a 7mm Rem Mag that I use in Africa and on my ground in Scotland. I have found that with 120gn Nosler Partition, it does not do too much carcase damage to the smaller animals. Roe to Eland it does the job.
 
Lee

It is not the Holy Grail you might be looking for so to speak but I know which I would rather have for the purpose you describe. Like anything and in all of these types of debates regarding stopping power meat damage etc there are so many variables to consider that there is never a definite 100% same outcome time after time.

Where has the 22" barrel thing come from? With a Rem Mag you need a 24" tube minimum but a 24" tube is perfect to enable you to get the potential out of this cartridge - you don't need to go to 26" etc

Not sure where the recoil thing has come from either as I have never classed the Rem Mag as a magnum cartridge but more like a .270 +P or in actual fact the recoil is a more progressive type of recoil rather than the sharp type of recoil you might percieve from other cartridges. In any event the recoil is an absolute non issue if you are going to use a mod. The 7mm Rem Mag in my opinion is a magnum by name but not by nature.

Also if you aply for a variation put down 7mm Rifle and do not make any reference to 7mm Rem Mag or such like. Probably not an issue in your case but I know the FLO's etc can get twitchy with any reference to Magnum. What I am saying is you don't need to make reference to it so why do so in the first place.

Cheers

JB
 
Have you given the .30-06 or even the .300WSM any thought? Without wishing to begin another 'drop them on the spot' debate I would be inclined to go for something that delivers a heavy bullet at a reasonable velocity and let expansion and energy dissipation provide the necessary blow. Both calibres can deliver 200gn bullets at extraordinary veliocities and both, I would imagine, would be more than likely to knock a red to the ground more often than not. That said, I have dropped two Thetford reds with my .308 and 165gn Barnes TSX, one just sat down and rolled over, the second, who was alert to my presence, ran no more than 30 yards and dropped in the lee of a wind row.

Whatever you choose, enjoy!
 
A bigger calibre will not assist you in being able to drop the deer in a shorter distance.

Some of the worst runners I have seen have been from large calibres such as the 300 win mag.

Shot placement is the key and this is usually better with a smaller calibre.

If you can halve the distance you would be better neck shooting them if you do not want runners.

Have you tried using 100gr Nosler Ballistic tips in your 6.5 and shooting the reds though the shoulders.
 
I have had a rem mag for more then 12 years, and think its great.
I use my 6.5 swede for most aplications now but have some good loads for the remmy.
I have shot driven boar sika stags fallow roe munties and red with it, oh and its a great long range fox rifle with 110 tnt hp's @ 3500 fps.
a reduced load I developed out of the Lyman manual was 44 grs of reloader 7 mag primer and a 100gr hp. @ 3050 fps. kept recoil down and duplicated a .243 even shot many roe with this round and not much meat damage.
Keep away from balistic tips with this cartridge I tried em all and they do far to much meat damage on roe.
Stick to nosler partitions or speer grand slams. great heads. 160gr @ 3060 fps in a 24 1/2 " barrel.
regards john.
 
I to have a 7mm rem mag and have shot most things in this country and abroad with 140gr nosler partition.
I have had hardley any carcass damage on munties through to reds. It is also a very good long range vermin round.
atb
paul
 
get your self a .270 win. a beast can still run a but if shot with the 7mm rem mag the .270 will do all you want, plus its an awsome fox bullet.

ATB
 
Lee

By the way 6.5 will do ok on the reds but it won't cut the mustard on a big boar, no debate........... my parting shot.

Cheers

JB
 
Last edited:
Back
Top