New guy from New Hampshire

[Ian02]

I don't really know what's drawing me into the long range shooting/hunting but it seems like it would be fun and challenging. I've read a ton of threads here about caliber selection and thought about what type of yardages we shoot and the type of game we have here in New Hampshire, and decided to go with a 7mm Rem Mag. No matter what caliber thread I read it seemed to always end with a divide of people with half saying it's great and half saying it's not big enough, and there was always a handful of guys steering new people to start with a .30-06.

I found a sweet deal on a "used" Remington 700 ADL (that I think is unfired)for under $400 out the door. It was a package gun with the Remington branded scope/rings/bases, don't worry I already traded them off for a box of ammo!

So, I have this very nice rifle and also had a new Leupold set of medium rings and Leupold 2 piece bases. Not optimal I know, but I'm $50 ahead of the game I guess, plus this is my rig to learn on. I'm looking at picking up a nice Nikon Buckmaster or Leupold VX2 to get started. I don't have much for a scope budget, and quite frankly around here the longest ranges we have access to are a couple gun clubs with 600 yard rifle ranges. I really doubt you would find a place in New Hampshire to fire a shot longer than 200-300 yards except for a dedicated rifle range.

I've had a Ruger 77 in .30-06 before that I did some hunting and target shooting with. With this 7mm, should I expect a huge jump in recoil? I've read varying reports here, some saying it's identical to a .30-06, some saying it's far more aggressive, just wondering what to expect.

Thanks for having me here.

Any other New Hampshire guys here?

 

[BitterrootBob]

I'm new as well. I picked up two scopes and only have one rifle lightbulb. The deal was so good I couldn't pass. I bought the Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14X50 with Target Turrets. Everywhere I have looked this scope goes for $850-$900 and Camera Land has them on sale for $600 NIB. If that is more than your budget they have some other models as well. They have a 3-9X40 for $350.

I posted my scope budget was $700 and a poster with much more experience than I suggested I save a while longer, until I could budget a couple of hundred more. So, I started looking at $900-$1100 scopes and this deal came along. I couldn't pass and I've always liked Zeiss. In fact, my go to binoculars are Zeiss.

As was the advise I've always received, "Get the best glass you can afford".

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I have and used a 7RM for a lot of hunting. It was a great rifle for the most part until it finally died on me. The 7RM will be plenty of rifle for NH hunting. No deer will no the difference between a 7MM and a 30-06 and if you ever get a chance to stretch it out, it's effective range is farther than the 06.

Felt recoil depends on a number of things such but all things being relatively equal, the 7 will kick a little sharper and harder (not huge) than the .06. After about 20 rounds on the bench, I was usually done for the day. Since then I have started using a slip on recoil pad for harder kicking rifles including the 300 RUM, and I can literally shoot all day with it.

The nice thing about the 7 is you should easily get a 250 yd point blank range if you sight to 200.

Good Shooting,

Mark

 

[walkinhorseman]

I left Deerfield, NH October 1 and moved to Sidney, NE. My property bordered Pawtuckaway Park. Prior to the two years that I spent in Deerfield, I lived and hunted in Pennsylvania. About the only long shots that you'll get in Southern NH is going to be on power lines. Whereas, PA offered much more opportunity for the rifleman. While I was in NH, I went to Nashua and shot an F-Class rifle on Thursday mornings. I also got involved with the monday morning old farts that shot Schuetzen. Nice club and nice range. Don't know if the membership is open. The Hi-Power rifleman there are very serious competition rifleman. They are helpful but if you go to shoot the 600 yard practice on Thursday's, you need to be already sighted in at 600 yards. It is not a leasurely time on the range and you'll have to pull targets. So, you'll have to get a membership and go practice at your own pace to get comfortable with your new rig.

I've had a couple 7mm Rem Mags and still have one. I also have 300 and 338 Win Mags. The 7mm Rem Mag is a great cartridge. I like the 160 gr bullets in this cartridge. Given comparable weight bullets with a 30-06, I don't think that the difference in recoil is noticeable. Most of the serious deer hunters that I talked to who hunted Maine and NH liked the 30-06 and 270. Those hunters were either stand hunting or tracking and jumping deer. The 7mm Rem mag is pretty much more of the same. For the areas that I hunted in the southern part of NH, I felt that not much scope was needed. I used a 338 Federal with a 2.5x8 Leupold. It's so thick, that I felt fast handling was more important. I went to the Maine Northwoods for Black Bear. That application mandated high quality optics over power. I could see where you could find some long range hunting in New England but you had to work at it. Here in the Nebraska Prairie, you have to work at getting into rifle range without getting busted by the game.

 

[pburton]

I have had a lot of different rifles over the years. One of the best I have owned is a 700 adl in .300 win mag. With a little trigger work and a new stock you will be doing well for the ranges you are talking about. I have a 7mm rem mag in Win mod 70. So far this is my favorite round. I have had .270, 30-06, .300 win mag, and now the 7mm rem mag. In my opinion the recoil depends on the rifle. But in the case that you are talking the 7mm will have a bit more recoil. My suggestion would be to change the recoil pad out to a limbsaver which is relatively inexpensive. With this you will not notice the difference. In my opinion that is a great all around round. My only other sugestion is do not go cheap on the scope. You may have to wait and save up now but you will not regret it in the future. Trust me I have been there. The VX2 is an OK scope but there are far better for a couple hundred more. Good luck with your new rifle...

 

[Ian02]

Well I picked up a scope last night. I kept looking at Leupold VX1, or Nikon Prostaff, just something cheap to get started. I checked out the gun shops "tactical" rifle section and noticed a Bushnell fixed 10x40 Elite Tactical 3200 Mil-Dot. It was in the same price range and felt more substantial than the other scopes I was looking at, plus it has the nice exposed turrets that felt better in my hand and the clicks and adjustments were nice. This will probably move to another rifle later but for now I know it's tough enough to handle the 7mm until I can afford better.

Hopefully over the long weekend my wife lets me get out and play at the range to get this thing on paper at 100 yards. Found a bunch of Prvi Partizan ammo locally for $16.50 a box, that will get me going for a little while.

 

[BitterrootBob]

Well I picked up a scope last night. I kept looking at Leupold VX1, or Nikon Prostaff, just something cheap to get started. I checked out the gun shops "tactical" rifle section and noticed a Bushnell fixed 10x40 Elite Tactical 3200 Mil-Dot. It was in the same price range and felt more substantial than the other scopes I was looking at, plus it has the nice exposed turrets that felt better in my hand and the clicks and adjustments were nice. This will probably move to another rifle later but for now I know it's tough enough to handle the 7mm until I can afford better.

Hopefully over the long weekend my wife lets me get out and play at the range to get this thing on paper at 100 yards. Found a bunch of Prvi Partizan ammo locally for $16.50 a box, that will get me going for a little while.

Cool, there is a good review on that exact Bushnell scope on this website. Here is a link to the review.

You should be happy with your choice based on that review.

 

[jmac603]

Probably going to be too much scope/magnification for NH hunting. I'm certainly now expert, but 10x might be tough getting on a deer in the hard/soft woods. I learned the hard way this year after I left my scope on 5x from checking out some moose. We jumped a nice buck and he was gone before I could hit the safety. That scope certainly has great reviews in the lower price tactical scope, but for NH hunting I think not.

 

[roninflag]

Ian- i would have a muzzle break installed. i would get a variable power scope not a 10x. i have a 7mm adl it shoots great. i recently shot a 5 shot group at 100 yards with that was in the .1s. the 7mm is a great long range round. the secret service used a rem 700 sendero/pss to protect the president.