7mm or 30 cal? Just for curiosity’s sake

[Savage 12BVSS]

Voted 7mm as its all I need for my hunting, the three 7mm's and only one 30 says it all .

 

[Calvin45]

Thanks for all the participation in this so far. Food for thought - i really like my .270 and my .300 win mag, these two rifles do all my hunting.

I got a .300 mag because my preexisting .270 is to my mind ballistically "close enough-ish" to the 7mm mag and the .30-06 to make either a less than sensible choice in a new rifle it said rifle is to complement what's already there. HOWEVER it is entirely possible that if I had started out with a 30-06 like I originally planned or a 7mag I would own neither a 270 or a 300. Now THAT is a scary thought!

 

[FEENIX]

i really like my .270 and my .300 win mag, these two rifles do all my hunting.

This is all that matters, and you do not need to justify which rifle/chambering to own. Both chamberings are excellent choices.

Ed

 

[gman19469]

Question says it all. The 22s, 6mm, 6.5, and .338 bore are all pretty common here but it I think it's safe to say the big 7mms and 30s are the unchallenged all range all purpose hunting versatility kings. I bet pretty much everyone on here has at least one 7mm or 30 caliber rifle.

im a 30 guy myself, .300 win mag being my favourite cartridge to play with, .30-30 being what I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with.

but I only bought my first .300 because my other rifle was a .270 win and I wanted a more significant difference in performance than what a 7 would gain. No regrets. But if I didn't already have a 270 I may have gone 7mm mag and had no reason for a .300 or a 270, who knows?

the 7mms are objectively the best of all worlds for long range hit probability. The 180 eld m for example has a bc of .79. There are no similar bc bullets of lesser diameter that I'm aware of and to exceed this bc significantly starts at the 250 atip or such. That's a huge jump. Not to many 30s, if any, will be launching a 225-250 grain at comprable speeds to a 7stw or 28 Nosler with that 180, and if they do it won't be in as portable or pleasant to shoot package.

that said, I maintain the big 30s hit and affect big game very noticeably harder than the 6.5, .270, and 7mm cartridges so they get the nod from me

Now for the just for fun question. If you could only own and shoot either a 7mm or a .30, not both, which would you choose?

300 Win Mag

 

[dale guthormsen]

Question says it all. The 22s, 6mm, 6.5, and .338 bore are all pretty common here but it I think it's safe to say the big 7mms and 30s are the unchallenged all range all purpose hunting versatility kings. I bet pretty much everyone on here has at least one 7mm or 30 caliber rifle.

im a 30 guy myself, .300 win mag being my favourite cartridge to play with, .30-30 being what I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with.

but I only bought my first .300 because my other rifle was a .270 win and I wanted a more significant difference in performance than what a 7 would gain. No regrets. But if I didn't already have a 270 I may have gone 7mm mag and had no reason for a .300 or a 270, who knows?

the 7mms are objectively the best of all worlds for long range hit probability. The 180 eld m for example has a bc of .79. There are no similar bc bullets of lesser diameter that I'm aware of and to exceed this bc significantly starts at the 250 atip or such. That's a huge jump. Not to many 30s, if any, will be launching a 225-250 grain at comprable speeds to a 7stw or 28 Nosler with that 180, and if they do it won't be in as portable or pleasant to shoot package.

that said, I maintain the big 30s hit and affect big game very noticeably harder than the 6.5, .270, and 7mm cartridges so they get the nod from me

Now for the just for fun question. If you could only own and shoot either a 7mm or a .30, not both, which would you choose?

30 cal,

huge availability of components for 308.

also military ammo available

for years all my rifles were 30 cal. kept components on shelf from 100 g to 200 grain. I still have 308 and 3006 but sold 300 wm.

 

[Lab rat]

I went with 7mm because I didn't want to have to shoot a gun with a loud muzzle break

 

[19elkhunter51]

I grew up shooting my dad's A3-03 Springfield. I have and always will be a .30 caliber fan. Have never owned anything 7 and never intend to. There is nothing practical a 7 can do that a .30 can't do better.
If I don't sound really one sided enough on this issue, let me be clear, I have no use for anything 7.
Grumpy old man and his two cents worth.

 

[NYHUNTER444]

Question says it all. The 22s, 6mm, 6.5, and .338 bore are all pretty common here but it I think it's safe to say the big 7mms and 30s are the unchallenged all range all purpose hunting versatility kings. I bet pretty much everyone on here has at least one 7mm or 30 caliber rifle.

im a 30 guy myself, .300 win mag being my favourite cartridge to play with, .30-30 being what I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with.

but I only bought my first .300 because my other rifle was a .270 win and I wanted a more significant difference in performance than what a 7 would gain. No regrets. But if I didn't already have a 270 I may have gone 7mm mag and had no reason for a .300 or a 270, who knows?

the 7mms are objectively the best of all worlds for long range hit probability. The 180 eld m for example has a bc of .79. There are no similar bc bullets of lesser diameter that I'm aware of and to exceed this bc significantly starts at the 250 atip or such. That's a huge jump. Not to many 30s, if any, will be launching a 225-250 grain at comprable speeds to a 7stw or 28 Nosler with that 180, and if they do it won't be in as portable or pleasant to shoot package.

that said, I maintain the big 30s hit and affect big game very noticeably harder than the 6.5, .270, and 7mm cartridges so they get the nod from me

Now for the just for fun question. If you could only own and shoot either a 7mm or a .30, not both, which would you choose?

I do have more than one of each, and I do prefer the 30s, but for essentially all game on our continent, and at the typical ranges shots are taken, either will do the job of we do ours.

 

[swampbug]

7mm
28Nosler

 

[sierracharlie338]

I deviated from tradition and community norms
by getting a .270 as my first gun when I was 14. the budget was for a savage 111 package gun. I settled for the .270 because they didn't have one in .30-06 in stock at the cabelas my dad took me to and I wasn't waiting another day to get my first gun! No regrets, still have that .270, love it. No other family members or friends had one at the time.
I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with dads 30-30, an uncles .303 British, another uncles .308 win, and a family friends .30-06. The only other popular cartridge around where I grew up was the .243 win, but understood to be a fine choice for women, children, and the frail elderly. 30 was really the only caliber to consider. There was one guy had a rem 700 in 7mm magnum, and was viewed as a hunting guru with an exotic cartridge haha.

My first hunting rifle was given to me by my father and it was a 257 Roberts. Grew up shooting a 3006 before that. That said, the first rifle I bought with my own money was a 308. I've owned several 30s and no 7s still. I will own one at some point just because of the great ballistics they have but my go to will probably always be a 30 out of the two calibers in question.

 

[wdlittell]

I just bought a Tikka t3x hunter stainless fluted in 7mm mag, but I have a good ol 30-30 that I've killed more deer with than anything else I own

Tried to vote for both but elections I guess the forum doesn't use the dominion voting system so it didn't work.

That's a good one!

 

[wdlittell]

I just bought a Tikka t3x hunter stainless fluted in 7mm mag, but I have a good ol 30-30 that I've killed more deer with than anything else I own

Tried to vote for both but elections I guess the forum doesn't use the dominion voting system

 

[Rebell]

30 for me.
300 RUM specifically - of course that is if I can only have one. But that is absurd. You can't have just one.

 

[Brian_Smith]

Question says it all. The 22s, 6mm, 6.5, and .338 bore are all pretty common here but it I think it's safe to say the big 7mms and 30s are the unchallenged all range all purpose hunting versatility kings. I bet pretty much everyone on here has at least one 7mm or 30 caliber rifle.

im a 30 guy myself, .300 win mag being my favourite cartridge to play with, .30-30 being what I learned to shoot centerfire rifle with.

but I only bought my first .300 because my other rifle was a .270 win and I wanted a more significant difference in performance than what a 7 would gain. No regrets. But if I didn't already have a 270 I may have gone 7mm mag and had no reason for a .300 or a 270, who knows?

the 7mms are objectively the best of all worlds for long range hit probability. The 180 eld m for example has a bc of .79. There are no similar bc bullets of lesser diameter that I'm aware of and to exceed this bc significantly starts at the 250 atip or such. That's a huge jump. Not to many 30s, if any, will be launching a 225-250 grain at comprable speeds to a 7stw or 28 Nosler with that 180, and if they do it won't be in as portable or pleasant to shoot package.

that said, I maintain the big 30s hit and affect big game very noticeably harder than the 6.5, .270, and 7mm cartridges so they get the nod from me

Now for the just for fun question. If you could only own and shoot either a 7mm or a .30, not both, which would you choose?

Really depends on barrel rate of twist. To really utilize the potential of even the old stand by cartridges with new heavy for caliber, high BC bullets, twist rate has to be correct. Generally, the 300 Win and 7mm RM won't stabilize heavys with "standard" twist rates.