The seven mm itch

Braces Airgun Masters
The 7x64 and 7x57 are both lovely and proven calibres. But they can be real buggers when it comes to load development. Both not only have a very long lead to the rifling but a real jump. With many bullets there is free flight from the case mouth to the rifling. These calibres are much more sensitive to bullet selection than their American cousins. Just something to take into consideration.
 
Owning both the 7x57 and the 7x65R I can recommend them both, the 7mm 08 just lacks the street cred and class for me.

Availability of factory ammunition is worth considering, here in the UK 7x57 is relatively easy to find, (the RWS 173 grain 7x57 is one of the most accurate factory rounds I have ever shot). Locally I've never seen 7mm 08 on the shelves. Dauntsey's stock 7x65R again RWS and again worth the money.

I've never come across a 7mm Rem mag in the UK in my time, I'm sure they are out there but if I wanted something with those velocities / energies I'd be tempted to move up a calibre, .308" Norma magnum still if you really want a high powered 7mm there's always the 7mm Shooting times Westerner of the 7x66 Vom Hoffe, not saying barrel life is great though.
 
Got the 7x57R and the 7x65R. Its a no brainer. Get the rimless version of each if you are going to shoot 250m or less. The RWS 173gr is the jazz.
 
I have owned three 7mm's, 7RM, 280Ai and 7mm08.

In terms of deer in the UK there is nothing the 7mm08 will not do well. Large Reds to Muntjac. I use a 150 grain bullet for everything and it's my go to gun for Sika and Red, the 6mm coming out for anything smaller.

The 280Ai is stunning. Soft shooting compared with the 7RM yet only 100 fps slower. I don't really understand why, but it is. Loaded with 140's it sends them at 3200 fps but I tend to stick with 160/168's which go at 3000/2950 fps. Dispatches large Reds very efficiently, great if reaching out a bit and will very happily shoot 1000 meters well. I plan to go to Africa next year and this will be the Plains Game rifle.

I sold the 7RM. Just a bit too much for UK deer species and kicked a bit more that necessary to get the job done. I have shot Moose with it but the 280Ai would have done the job perfectly well.

The 7mm is a great calibre, 120 grain to 180 grain, ballistically efficient, there are not many species they will not handle and great for a bit of longer range work.
 
dodgyknees said:
Welcome back. Remind me again what make / model rifle your .280AI is?
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Thank you Dave. Got home 30 minutes ago. 34 hours door to door. Bloody long way NZ but well worth the effort when you get there. Was great to meet you at last.

It's a blueprinted Remmy 700 L/A with a 26" #5 PacNor super match grade barrel in a B&C Alaskan Ti stock.
 
Rider said:
The 7x64 and 7x57 are both lovely and proven calibres. But they can be real buggers when it comes to load development. Both not only have a very long lead to the rifling but a real jump. With many bullets there is free flight from the case mouth to the rifling. These calibres are much more sensitive to bullet selection than their American cousins. Just something to take into consideration.
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I think this was the principal difference between the early 7x57 which was designed to shoot a long roundnose 173gn bullet and the 275 Rigby which shot a 14ogn Spitzer. But I have a 7x57 Rigby and it shoots all just fine.

Mine is very tolerant of loads - I was given a random assortment of 7x57 factory ammo - a mix of Hornady, RWS, Remington and Federal all with different bullets weights and vintages. All go into the same point of aim at 100, or close enough its not worth bothering with. But it loves the Fox 130gn Ammo - one hole groups.

The 7x64 and 7x65R were designed to shoot the Brenneke style of bullets which again are quite rectangular in shape, rather than spire pointed, and indeed most modern RWS bullets keep their width well forward. One of the reasons for their lighter weight cone point bullets is to make them work well in long lead chambers.



I started my reloading with 139gn Hornady Spire points in 7x65r and must admit to never having an issue getting them to shoot well - ok not bug hole groups, but certainly plenty accurate for deer. I have found that it does like a good crimp though.

But now have some 173gn H-Mantles and it just loves them. I tried working up a load with IMR 4350 - need n't have bothered. It put all loads from 47gn to 52gn into just over an inch and a half at 100 - and to be honest I was conscious of pulling a couple of shots.
 
NigelM said:
Thank you Dave. Got home 30 minutes ago. 34 hours door to door. Bloody long way NZ but well worth the effort when you get there. Was great to meet you at last.

It's a blueprinted Remmy 700 L/A with a 26" #5 PacNor super match grade barrel in a B&C Alaskan Ti stock.
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Nigel, do tell about your NZ trip; we're off for 5 weeks July/August.
 
McKenzie said:
Nigel, do tell about your NZ trip; we're off for 5 weeks July/August.
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It didn't involve any hunting so I wasn't going to post anything on SD about it. However, I did have a good day in Auckland with Dodgyknees who came up to see me and spent a week between work commitments touring the North of the North Island, having done a great road trip from Queenstown to Auckland when I was there 3 years ago.

Very happy to give some pointers if you want me to. 5 weeks is a great amount of time to spend out there, you can get most of the good bits covered in that time. July/August can be a bit on the wet and chilly side, but it will not spoil your enjoyment of a fantastic country to visit.
 
NigelM said:
It didn't involve any hunting so I wasn't going to post anything on SD about it. However, I did have a good day in Auckland with Dodgyknees who came up to see me and spent a week between work commitments touring the North of the North Island, having done a great road trip from Queenstown to Auckland when I was there 3 years ago.

Very happy to give some pointers if you want me to. 5 weeks is a great amount of time to spend out there, you can get most of the good bits covered in that time. July/August can be a bit on the wet and chilly side, but it will not spoil your enjoyment of a fantastic country to visit.
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Thanks, I lived there for 7 years so the weather shouldn't be a surprise; we're mainly drifting around & seeing my wife's relatives & perhaps skiing as it's a family trip. Too complicated to take a rifle when we're travelling about so much & don't know where we'll be staying & probably too difficult to borrow a rifle that fits unless someone has one with a freakishly long stock so probably not hunting either.

I did the Queenstown to Auckland run on a motorbike in the 80's. Couldn't stand up straight for days after that.

To get back to the original post I'm awaiting delivery of a 7x57 in the next week or two.
 
NigelM said:
I sold the 7RM. Just a bit too much for UK deer species and kicked a bit more that necessary to get the job done. I have shot Moose with it but the 280Ai would have done the job perfectly well.

The 7mm is a great calibre, 120 grain to 180 grain, ballistically efficient, there are not many species they will not handle and great for a bit of longer range work.
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Those first words reminded me of a long dead guy I used to meet on Pickering rifle range 20, 30 years ago. Weejk after week, he'd turn up on Sundays trying loads in his 7mm Rem Mag, apparently never satisfied with the results. Then one Sunday, he arrived with a Ruger 77 that spat muzzle flash and blast.

On asking about it, it turned out the new rifle was a 243. He'd spent forever - and he was a very capable handloader when there were few around - trying to get a satisfactory reduced MV/ME load for the 7mmRM, and had eventually given up and bought the 243 for his north of England roe stalking. The RM is great on Scottish reds he told me and he'd keep it for that, but just too much cartridge for roe for both his shoulder and meat damage.
 
Rem Mag. .308 is a nice slow round that hits hard. Only issue with it is the drop maybe. Rem Mag is great for pushing thigs out a bit further
 
Dropped Warthogs, Red Hartebeest, Impala, Blesbok, Kudu Cow all one shot kills with 7mm-08. PH mate use same 140grn bullet and 43grn of the same powder in his
7 x 57 results the same.

I never have had feed problems with either of my two 7mm-08. OK don't normally shoot heavier bullets than 140grn. For me still don't see any great difference
 
sundog said:
I’ve got an itch for a 7mm of some kind. I don’t think 7-08 is what I want as I already have a 308. I’ve had some experience of the 7x57 which I liked. Which cartridge gets the best out of this calibre? Your thoughts and experiences please gentlemen.
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7mm rem mag just get one you will love it im not kidding they are fun just remember they can hit things a long way off with a lot of power flop dead :shock:
 
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