Which 7mm for a long range rifle?

[brandon327]

Which 7mm for a long range rifle out to 800 yards on deer and antelope? What would the max efective range on elk. I would like something i can buy ammo for. I am eventually gonna reload but i would like to be able to buy some ammo. I would like a 24" barrel or maybe a 26". No longer than 26".

 

[WildRose]

Which 7mm for a long range rifle out to 800 yards on deer and antelope? What would the max efective range on elk. I would like something i can buy ammo for. I am eventually gonna reload but i would like to be able to buy some ammo. I would like a 24" barrel or maybe a 26". No longer than 26".

7mm Rem Mag or 7mm STW with those criteria.

You get a few hundred more FPS from the 7 RUM but it comes at a high price in terms of blast, recoil, and overall expense.

There's nothing in N. America I'd hesitate to shoot with the 7mm STW at 800yds with the right bullet.

 

[liltank]

For 800yds a 7SAUM would do you well.

Tank

 

[Sully2]

7mm Remington Magnum...

 

[INTJ1]

If you can't be talked into a 30 cal or better yet, a 338 cal, go with the 7mm STW. The 7 RUM doesn't give a significant increase in velocity, at least until you have a very long barrel. However, the 7 RUM has very poor barrel life.

On the other side, the 7mm Rem Mag is harder on throats than the 7 STW, and the 7 STW is a couple hundred fps faster.

 

[pyroducksx3]

If you can't be talked into a 30 cal or better yet, a 338 cal, go with the 7mm STW. The 7 RUM doesn't give a significant increase in velocity, at least until you have a very long barrel. However, the 7 RUM has very poor barrel life.

On the other side, the 7mm Rem Mag is harder on throats than the 7 STW, and the 7 STW is a couple hundred fps faster.

I have heard the opposed. As far as I'm aware the stw actually has a little freebore which causes significantly faster erosion and was a great factor for a member here creating the 7mm practical (7-300 win mag with modified shoulder I believe).You can narrow the choices by establishing your preferences. Short action Id say 7 wsm better available brass/ammo. Long I'd say 7 RM better barrel life. In regards to your question on elk with the right bullet (160+ vlds) you can take elk out to 800 but you are at the outer limits, still not unethical but still approaching the limit, if you want the longest range the stw gets the nod.

 

[backwoods83]

The 7mm wby mag gets my vote, with factory ammo the stw shows no gain in performance and has more recoil, and with the long bottlenecked weatherby case it will last just as long as a 7mm rem mag.

 

[brandon327]

Long or short action is does not matter to me. I was looking at the 7mm Rem Mag because of the availabilty of factory ammo if needed. I had considered the 300 RUM but i think it is too much gun for what i want. The main thing i hunt is deer. I would like something that does not have to have a brake to make it comfortable to shoot. I am thinking the 7mm is a good all around caliber. Just want to make sure i have enough gun of i ever decide to go elk hunting.

 

[angus-5024]

7mm Rem. would be your best bet. It will have the biggest variety of factory loaded ammo and factory rifles. I think that you'll be hard pressed to reach 800 with a factory rifle with factory loads. i think that 600 yards is doable though. When you do find a load that your rifle likes make sure that you buy several boxes of the same lot # or you'll get frustrated fast.

 

[brandon327]

I plan to reload. I just want the option to be able to buy ammo off the shelf if i were on a trip and run out or loose my ammo.

 

[WildRose]

I plan to reload. I just want the option to be able to buy ammo off the shelf if i were on a trip and run out or loose my ammo.

7mag (rem) or 7stw then are going to give you the best bang for the buck and ability to find factory ammo in a pinch.

STW ammo got to be hard to find for a while but they've made quite they comeback the last few years.

I guess our secret is out again HA!

 

[pyroducksx3]

7mm Rem. would be your best bet. It will have the biggest variety of factory loaded ammo and factory rifles. I think that you'll be hard pressed to reach 800 with a factory rifle with factory loads. i think that 600 yards is doable though. When you do find a load that your rifle likes make sure that you buy several boxes of the same lot # or you'll get frustrated fast.

Good point I have been doing much of my rem mag research pertaining to a custom build using a custom barrel and the smith has a lot of experience with his reamer so a factory gun could have potentially less effective range 600 yards depending on how fast it's gets those vlds is realistic

 

[INTJ1]

I have heard the opposed. As far as I'm aware the stw actually has a little freebore which causes significantly faster erosion and was a great factor for a member here creating the 7mm practical (7-300 win mag with modified shoulder I believe)........

The 7 STW's throat length will vary depending on how thw reamer is cut. However, it has nowhere near the .375" of freebore of the current proprietary Weather chamberings. Also, freebore doesn't cause throat erosion. If anything, it would lessen it because the rifling is farther away from the hot gasses upon firing.

The short neck of the 7mm Rem Mag coupled with it's shoulder angle allows the hot gasses to sandblast the neck of the chamber and accelerates erosion. The longer neck of the 7mm STW prevents that. That is the "turbulence point" theory and is an attempt to explain why the 7mm STW and 6mm Rem have better throat life than the 7mm Rem mag and the 243 Win, respectively, even though the 7 STW and 6mm Rem have larger capacity cases.

The question isn't whether or not the throat lasts longer with the 7mm STW and 6mm Rem, that has been observed for a long time. The question is why, and turbulenece is an attempt to explain it.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Well see there I go learning something again. But how about barrel life then it should be no argument that barrel life is longer with the 7 rm