Short barreled 7mm ??? Help me pick - people with experience please

If I was wanting to build an ELR rig for fun/competition or anything like that, this entire conversation would be completely different. I would be looking at different bullets, cartridges, barrel length, rifle weight, pretty much everything would be different ha ha
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Cody is not looking for efficiency, he is looking for a performance level with a specific barrel length with bullets heavier than you are talking about.
There is a class of muzzle brakes which really do a great job in both in felt recoil reduction and in keeping muzzle rise down
A third area of muzzle brakes that is NOT so well known is that in this group only a few don't have a big concussion to the shooter.
Since I typically run 14-18 inch barrels, I have learned which brake reduces concussion better to the shooter in short barrels-Holland Radial Baffle Brake
I know what a 284 Winchester and a 7mm SAUM does with a 162 or 168 grain bullet in a 18" barrel, and it will not give Cody the performance level he is looking for.
The performance level is way different than 50 fps.
My 7SS shoots 190s at 2810 w/ a 22" barrel. It's not way different than 50fps. I've owned a 7mm Rem Mag w/ a 27". Maybe let Cody respond to the comment.
 
As stated, this will be a hunting rifle for him, not an ELR fun gun, and our hunting ranges go from close on occasion, out to over 1000 yards for elk, so I'm looking for the most performance at those ranges, and elk at 1000+ yards need some substantial horsepower behind them, especially in a 7mm. It is very possible with a 20" barrel and the right cartridge, especially at the elevations we hunt, which start around 7,000 ft elevation. Trans-sonic/sub sonic performance/consistency isn't a concern, and 1300+ yard performance isn't really something we are gonna be working with
That info helps. I would go by the manufacture recommend velocity needed for proper bullet expansion. For Hornady ELD the last I checked was 1800 FPS. If a 7MM Rem Mag Launches a 175gr ELD bullet from a 26" barrel at 2850ish FPS and if you loose roughly 35ish FPS per inch ) I have seen up to a 50 FPS loss on magnum rifles ) of barrel length thats 280 FPS loss out the gate. That puts you under 7-08 performance. Ouch!! We will go with your selection of cartridges you gave us. Now that 175 grain bullet will be in the 2500ish FPS range. That will limit you out to 600 yards at 7000 ft above sea level. At 600 yards it will carry right around Hornady's recommended 1800 FPS for proper expansion. That is a bit shy for elk out to and past 1,000 yards. It would be different if you were talking target shooting. Sense your talking about taking the life of something than we need to stick to Hornady's recommendation FPS needed for proper bullet expansion. Or whatever bullet maker you choose. Hope this helps.
 
That info helps. I would go by the manufacture recommend velocity needed for proper bullet expansion. For Hornady ELD the last I checked was 1800 FPS. If a 7MM Rem Mag Launches a 175gr ELD bullet from a 26" barrel at 2850ish FPS and if you loose roughly 35ish FPS per inch ) I have seen up to a 50 FPS loss on magnum rifles ) of barrel length thats 280 FPS loss out the gate. That puts you under 7-08 performance. Ouch!! We will go with your selection of cartridges you gave us. Now that 175 grain bullet will be in the 2500ish FPS range. That will limit you out to 600 yards at 7000 ft above sea level. At 600 yards it will carry right around Hornady's recommended 1800 FPS for proper expansion. That is a bit shy for elk out to and past 1,000 yards. It would be different if you were talking target shooting. Sense your talking about taking the life of something than we need to stick to Hornady's recommendation FPS needed for proper bullet expansion. Or whatever bullet maker you choose. Hope this helps.

Seriously...this is ridiculous.
You are not doing a fair comparison, since he will likely go with a 28 Nosler (Not a 7RM)
The 7 Dakota is a smaller cartridge than the 28 Nos, and I know for a fact of a couple of SP guys that have 18" 28 Nosler's, and they out run my Dakota by about 50 fps.
But let's just stay with a smaller cartridge than the 28, the 7 Dak with 175 grain ELD-X's at 2900 fps at 7000 feet elevation.
This is a proven load/18" barrel, and Cody will likely be about 100 fps faster than me, with the 28 and just 2 more inches of barrel.
Let's just take my load at 7000 feet of elevation:
at 1000 yards I have 1902.1 fps
At 1125 yards I have 1793.1 fps
Your numbers are way off for what Cody is considering
 
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