There are a good number of posts discussing the "best" 7mm cartridge. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the best 7mm cartridge to shoot the biggest-for-caliber long range bullets while still being magazine-fed. Mainly the Berger 195 grain EOL , but really any 190+ grain (Sierra Matchking 197 grain , Hornady Vmax 190 grain, etc.)
I'm not too concerned with either recoil or barrel life unless the cartridge offers only a minimal increase in muzzle velocity but a more substantial increase in recoil / decrease in barrel life. My main concerns are accuracy & muzzle velocity with 190+ grain bullets. However, if I'm only getting 200+ or so fps MV but cutting the barrel life in half compared to the 7mm SS, then that's a problem. Let's assume a 30" barrel with a muzzle brake and a moderately heavy rifle. This will be a range gun primarily but depending on the hunt out here in the mountain west, it may on occasion be a hunting rifle (off a tripod) for elk & black bear. I have other rifles for light weight mountain hunts.
I currently have the 7mm Sherman short mag and have only shot a few dozen rounds but I'm already eyeing my next 7mm - not that I don't like the Sherman. In fact I love its design with a longer neck and sharp shoulders - it's highly accurate in my very limited experience with it. I've only shot 180s so not quite sure what the MV of a 195 Berger would be.
I recently saw an article about the 7-300 Norma imp and the article claimed 3,200+ fps MV with the 195s - this seems like one of the best options for what I'm looking for as I know 338 Norma is highly accurate and I'm guessing the 300 Norma is as well (and i know for the 338 is very efficient with barrel life relative to similar cartridges but obviously it's not overbored like the 7-300).
Anybody have experiences with the 7-300 Norma and can give me an idea of accuracy and barrel life? Obviously it's going to have a far lower barrel life than the 7 SS but that's my baseline to go off of. I'm guessing the 7 SS has about 2750 MV with the 195 Berger but I've never tested this.
Any other recommendations? I've heard the 28 Nosler isn't great with the 195s because the bullet needs to be seated too far in. The 7 PRC looks interesting but seems to only have the same muzzle velocity as the 7 rem mag, which is only slightly higher than the 7 SS.
Thanks!
I'm not too concerned with either recoil or barrel life unless the cartridge offers only a minimal increase in muzzle velocity but a more substantial increase in recoil / decrease in barrel life. My main concerns are accuracy & muzzle velocity with 190+ grain bullets. However, if I'm only getting 200+ or so fps MV but cutting the barrel life in half compared to the 7mm SS, then that's a problem. Let's assume a 30" barrel with a muzzle brake and a moderately heavy rifle. This will be a range gun primarily but depending on the hunt out here in the mountain west, it may on occasion be a hunting rifle (off a tripod) for elk & black bear. I have other rifles for light weight mountain hunts.
I currently have the 7mm Sherman short mag and have only shot a few dozen rounds but I'm already eyeing my next 7mm - not that I don't like the Sherman. In fact I love its design with a longer neck and sharp shoulders - it's highly accurate in my very limited experience with it. I've only shot 180s so not quite sure what the MV of a 195 Berger would be.
I recently saw an article about the 7-300 Norma imp and the article claimed 3,200+ fps MV with the 195s - this seems like one of the best options for what I'm looking for as I know 338 Norma is highly accurate and I'm guessing the 300 Norma is as well (and i know for the 338 is very efficient with barrel life relative to similar cartridges but obviously it's not overbored like the 7-300).
Anybody have experiences with the 7-300 Norma and can give me an idea of accuracy and barrel life? Obviously it's going to have a far lower barrel life than the 7 SS but that's my baseline to go off of. I'm guessing the 7 SS has about 2750 MV with the 195 Berger but I've never tested this.
Any other recommendations? I've heard the 28 Nosler isn't great with the 195s because the bullet needs to be seated too far in. The 7 PRC looks interesting but seems to only have the same muzzle velocity as the 7 rem mag, which is only slightly higher than the 7 SS.
Thanks!
