help pls 7MM REM MAG - 30-06

[soundwaves]

hi l live in turkey and licence for a rifle costs around 3000 dolars here for 5 years and l have reached the end of my licience.
l have 2 make a decicion of keeping my 7mm REM MAG heym sr-30 or sell it and buy a new one for my next 5 years of hunting.
so l have a few questions...
1- the heyn rifle l have has a quality heavy barrel on it but l am not shure about how many rounds l have put through it. but think its around 900-1500 rounds. it shoots verry accurate at the moment with no trouble of knocking down ibex from 500 meters. so will l loose a big deal of accuracy during some period of time by putting another 900 to a 1000 rounds through it?
2- there is not many choces of rifles over here so if l sell my rifle l will have to buy a 30-06 8x57 or a 308 as there are no magnums on the market at the minute. and l hunt ibex so my shooting is made at 300 to 600 meters so not shure how l would do with a 30-06 or a 308 at longer ranges like 600 meters?
3- should l change my gun. ( when l look through the barrel l can see the rifeling clearly like the first day l bought the gun but the end end of the rifleing looks verry faint) it was allways like that though? is that normal?
need help. what would you do? ...choices are mauser m03 heym sr21. dont forget lm gonna sell a heym sr30 straight pull. that is verry accurate less then 0.50 moa at 100 yrds.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Personally, I'm a big 7mm fan....So, my opinion is, keep the rifle you have now, and when the barrel wears out, just have it rebarreled with another 7mm RemMag barrel.

 

[soundwaves]

thats a great idea. tnx.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

Personally the 7mm can only be bested by the big 338. But that is to us long range money is nothing people. I would base my options off component availability. If you can get all the ammo you want the 7mm is clearly superior. I do not think at 300 yds or less the little critters will know the difference.

 

[angus-5024]

MudRunner2005 hit the nail on the head.

you would gain nothing more than a bit of barrel life going to another round.
Im not sure about the 8x57, but around here 8mm bullets are hard to come by (at least ones with a decent b.c.

 

[cowboy]

If you had access to a good gun smith in your area, I would order a new barrel only for your 7 mag. now and put it in storage. I'd keep shooting your current 7 mag until the groups start to open up. Rebarrel it and you're back in business. Of all the calibers you have access too, I'd put my money on the 7 mag - tough to beat for type of hunting you are doing.

About the time I think we have trouble to access guns/ammo/components here in the U.S. , I read stuff like this and realize how fortunate we really have it.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

The idea of re-barreling the 7mm is a valid one. I'm am guessing your current barrel will be gone soon. I shot one out in little over a 1000 rounds. You really can't see what a bore is like without a bore scope.

That said, the 30-06 barrel will last 2-3 times longer than a 7mm RM. At 600 m, the Ibex will not know the difference between a 160 7mm bullet and a 180 30-06 bullet.

If you are more comfortable in staying with the 7mm do that. If you want longer barrel life get a 30-06. I'm assuming you don't reload. If not, 30-06 ammo is probably going to be easier to find and with a better selection.