Namman
Well-Known Member
I have always been surprised that the 7mm Mag is not more popular in England/Wales. I shot my first one out.
7 mm rem mag or......
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John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
There is quite a difference at both ends.
Two very clean 7RMs in different styles
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9-10 lb is really no issue for me and virtually all my CF rifles are 23” minimum even the hornet, 24” for the 6.5x55, 25” for the 25-45 and 26” for the creedmoor........ long barrels don’t bother me.
Having looked at the data the 7x64, .280/AI and .284 will not do what the rem mag will out of the same length barrel. The person who owns the wood where I’m shooing the reds has a .284 that he loads hot and it nudges 7.5RM velocities, to do so he has a 30” barrel!
Yeah, that was my conclusio, it’ll have to wait for a few years and an Africa trip
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
I had an 8x68s in a Brno ZKK 602 a number of years ago . A very accurate and powerful combo , but your right , it is a large game cartridge . Mine loved 200 gr Nosler partitions ........... the Moose , not so much .
AB
Take note of what @smokey is saying in post#37.
I totally get needing to scratch the itch. Done it many times, with all sorts of calibres and cartridges. But I like precision shots with cartridges that have enough power for the target game, but not excessive amounts, and so I don't own a magnum any more.
A 7mm Rem Mag was designed for grizzly, moose, elk on Les Bowman's ranch in Wyoming. For shooting at long range. Not red deer and fallow at normal UK stalking ranges. A 7mm Rem Mag is way too much rifle for fallow.
A 7mm Rem Mag needs a 24" barrel minimum and a mid- to heavyweight stock. That makes for a lousy stalking rifle.
You'll forgive me for saying I think your mind is made up but it does risk being a white elephant, especially if most of your shooting is lowland woods.
I totally get needing to scratch the itch. Done it many times, with all sorts of calibres and cartridges. But I like precision shots with cartridges that have enough power for the target game, but not excessive amounts, and so I don't own a magnum any more.
A 7mm Rem Mag was designed for grizzly, moose, elk on Les Bowman's ranch in Wyoming. For shooting at long range. Not red deer and fallow at normal UK stalking ranges. A 7mm Rem Mag is way too much rifle for fallow.
A 7mm Rem Mag needs a 24" barrel minimum and a mid- to heavyweight stock. That makes for a lousy stalking rifle.
You'll forgive me for saying I think your mind is made up but it does risk being a white elephant, especially if most of your shooting is lowland woods.
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John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
Is it? I have shot a schitt load of fallow with mine old dodgy.
Mid to heavyweight stock?
I believe I was the first bloke here in Oz to shoot a trophy sambar stag with a syn stocked rifle, it was hand made for me.
Some years later I then bought a B+C that was on it for 18 (?) years until a change of colour was desired so another B+C was installed.
The rifle is circa 40 years old mate and I have carried and carted that favourite all over the joint in pursuit of game..shes even been up high in NZ`s Sth Island mountains and it has never ever been 'too heavy'.
The stalking I have done with it over the many years successfully relegates your assessment of "That makes for a lousy stalking rifle." to the junk bin old mate imo.
It makes for a wonderful stalking rifle for in your face bush hunting or cross gully shooting and has done well for both. Schite even The Pom shot his first Sambar with it!
Its a standard Win M70 7mm RM with the Bell and Carlson stock and a bit of bedding compound...oops it has an SS tube on her too.
My Irish hunting trips were done with HS rifles....faaarkin heavy beasts they were.
I think I had the option of a Blaser one time...NO THANK YOU!
Nope.
A well designed deer stalking rifle for shortish ranges, woodland, forest and small fields, i.e. typical lowland conditions, is a (relatively) light stock, short action, 20" barrel with suppressor.
A long barrel in the bush is a massive PITA.
That's why 26" barreled long action magnums are not seen very often in the kind of gentile Wiltshire New Forest deer stalking environments our mate knocks about in... other than in the hands of the lunatic fringe maybe.
If it was for regular gallivanting around the Scottish Highlands, or the S Island of NZ for a bit of proper long range, no problem.
But its not.
And it doesn't matter. Cos he's gonna get one anyway.
A well designed deer stalking rifle for shortish ranges, woodland, forest and small fields, i.e. typical lowland conditions, is a (relatively) light stock, short action, 20" barrel with suppressor.
A long barrel in the bush is a massive PITA.
That's why 26" barreled long action magnums are not seen very often in the kind of gentile Wiltshire New Forest deer stalking environments our mate knocks about in... other than in the hands of the lunatic fringe maybe.
If it was for regular gallivanting around the Scottish Highlands, or the S Island of NZ for a bit of proper long range, no problem.
But its not.
And it doesn't matter. Cos he's gonna get one anyway.
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
I always thought it funny that 26” shotgun barrel is a handy delight, wonderful in the woods, a joy to hunt with. However, a 26” rifle barrel is a clumsy tree snagging, rock banging pain in the neck.
It is odd when most people nowadays are happy to lug bloody great moderators around and will climb into a high seat with a foot of bean tin screwed to the end of the rifle but balk at the idea of an extra 2" of barrel is to make the most of their cartridge.
I admit a Sako TRG is not an ideal stalking rifle but a medium weight sporter with a 26" barrel seems perfectly manageable to me.
I admit a Sako TRG is not an ideal stalking rifle but a medium weight sporter with a 26" barrel seems perfectly manageable to me.
I Will most certainly forgive you, a trip to Scotland in a year or 2 will be on the cards as well, plus boar.Take note of what @smokey is saying in post#37.
I totally get needing to scratch the itch. Done it many times, with all sorts of calibres and cartridges. But I like precision shots with cartridges that have enough power for the target game, but not excessive amounts, and so I don't own a magnum any more.
A 7mm Rem Mag was designed for grizzly, moose, elk on Les Bowman's ranch in Wyoming. For shooting at long range. Not red deer and fallow at normal UK stalking ranges. A 7mm Rem Mag is way too much rifle for fallow.
A 7mm Rem Mag needs a 24" barrel minimum and a mid- to heavyweight stock. That makes for a lousy stalking rifle.
You'll forgive me for saying I think your mind is made up but it does risk being a white elephant, especially if most of your shooting is lowland woods.
I have chosen the 7mm because it is a smaller, less powerful magnum. Only just faster than the .280/Ai or a .284 which would probably be better choices. As above my buddy that I shoot with shoots a .284 win loaded pretty much to 7 mm REM mag velocities. But I want a magnum, won’t be a white elephant and will get plenty of use.
The area where the fallow are shot often calls for longer than normal UK shots (250-350 yards) and I know that the creedmoor may be more capable but I’m a H&L shot person so as the deer are generally within 200 yards of the boundary putting them down with a bit more authority can’t be a bad thing.
Finally it come down to cost of the rifle itself, particularl as I am as off this week looking at a bill of around £800 to replace the gearbox in my aging shooting truck. .284, 280 etc. could be had but would need to be in a semi custom. I have been quoted £675 for a howa Varmint so from a cost point of view it’s going to be the magnum....
Not stalking reds in Wiltshire....
As said above my normal stalking rifle is a 24” CZ 550 (Mauser action) rifle so I guess I’m on the lunatic fringe!! To be fair very little if my stalking is in woodland. More often in open farmland of grazing or arable type. If I am stalking the small fields, of which there are few, I use the 25-45 as shots are close. A lot of the fields are bigger, the last deer shot on my ground was in a field 1400x600 metres, around 149 acres so can’t really be called a small field.
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John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
Presumably i`m in that group then.
All this year I carried my 9.3 x 64 that has a 26" barrel and if you have ever watched through my sambar videos you would have noted the bush.
I suppose some blokes can handle it and some cannot.
My .308 Norma mag wears a 26 incher as well and she`s been in some hairy going bush too.
One thing is that the longer barrel actually helps the rifle man shooting off the shoulder also..no ifs no buts!
Namman
Well-Known Member
What an arrogant comment from an intolerant person.
If you're pushing out to 250-350 yards then a magnum won't do any harm at all. It'll offer a little more margin for error with wind and range and when shooting live quarry that's no bad thing. Not so sure about the Howa comment. For similar money you'll probably find a nice old rifle with a clean bore which will be much better quality. I've seen old Sako L series guns go for less than that and they're as good as they come.
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