trading my 7mm rem mag

[tincan]

I live in Wisconsin and currently have a savage 110 in 7mm rem mag. This gun is much more than I need for deer hunting. What I am considering is trading it for something like a 243, 270, or 25-06.
the reason for the smaller caliber is I am wanting something that is reasonable for both deer and coyotes.

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
tincan

 

[Derek M.]

270 is all you need. You can load 85 gr bullets in it all the way up to 165. I don't care for the other 2 you mention.

 

[Joe King]

I've got a 270 and 243, 270 I feel is a bit much for coyotes, 243 is a great round, but if you feel the 7mag is too much I think you'll find the 270 maybe also. Don't get me wrong my 270 is my go to hunting rifle, but I've never felt under gunned with the 243. I honestly can't remember the last time I had to shoot anything twice with the 243, like the saying goes "it kills better than it should"

 

[Derek M.]

With respect to Joe, he is correct with his advise on the 243.

Let me qualify why I do not like that caliber, and it has nothing to do with me thinking it is an inadequate caliber for deer. It is not.

Many years ago I took a friend on a hunt and placed him on a mountain about 50 yards off the property line for the hunting club lease next to ours. He had many years of experience and many deer kills with his 243. Nothing unusual.

From that spot, he shot a big buck through the lungs with a hunting bullet/factory ammo. Same stuff he'd used for years. The buck took off running down the mountain parallel to the fence-line. Ultimately it jumped the fence and headed 90 degrees into the next door club where 2 other hunters put the buck down with their 30 cal rifles.

Regardless that my friend placed a killing shot, he did not put the buck down and the other hunters claimed it. There was no argument from me. This would have been the biggest buck my friend would have taken at the time. The fact is, the deer was running and dying at the same time, it just didn't die fast enough and made it much further than I like to see with a well placed lung shot.

This is just the way I roll but if I see only ONE instance where something is not to my satisfaction, I will never use or promote it. The same thing happened with my first experience in TX with a buddy on his first pronghorn hunt. He shot his buck at 234 yards with a 308 and factory Hornady SST ammo. The buck took 4-5 shots to die and the bullets were exploding on the shoulder blade with NO penetration to the vitals. Hence, I will never ever use an SST bullet.

 

[FEENIX]

Keep the 7MM Mag and load accordingly for your game.

 

[baldhunter]

I agree.Keep the 7mag.Load 139-140gr bullets and shoot everything you would with the smaller calibers.It's gonna shoot flatter too.

 

[Joe King]

With respect to Joe, he is correct with his advise on the 243.

Let me qualify why I do not like that caliber, and it has nothing to do with me thinking it is an inadequate caliber for deer. It is not.

Many years ago I took a friend on a hunt and placed him on a mountain about 50 yards off the property line for the hunting club lease next to ours. He had many years of experience and many deer kills with his 243. Nothing unusual.

From that spot, he shot a big buck through the lungs with a hunting bullet/factory ammo. Same stuff he'd used for years. The buck took off running down the mountain parallel to the fence-line. Ultimately it jumped the fence and headed 90 degrees into the next door club where 2 other hunters put the buck down with their 30 cal rifles.

Regardless that my friend placed a killing shot, he did not put the buck down and the other hunters claimed it. There was no argument from me. This would have been the biggest buck my friend would have taken at the time. The fact is, the deer was running and dying at the same time, it just didn't die fast enough and made it much further than I like to see with a well placed lung shot.

This is just the way I roll but if I see only ONE instance where something is not to my satisfaction, I will never use or promote it. The same thing happened with my first experience in TX with a buddy on his first pronghorn hunt. He shot his buck at 234 yards with a 308 and factory Hornady SST ammo. The buck took 4-5 shots to die and the bullets were exploding on the shoulder blade with NO penetration to the vitals. Hence, I will never ever use an SST bullet.

I've had deer run when they should have dropped too, had it happen with my 7mag and with an 06, it was the bullets, the 7mag it was SST's the 06 BT's, the one with the 06 I had 3 rounds exit close enough that a lung fell out of the hole, the 7mag I put 3 into the boiler room and finally intentionally busted his back legs just to stop him(that deer was just a tough bastard) found out when I rolled him over he'd been hit hard already by somebody else. *** Lesson: some critters hang on to life with an insane tenacity others don't. If memory serves I've never had one go more than a few yards with the 243, correction 1 antelope buck went 50yrds I #$% up and only cut an artery in his neck, the 270 has been an absolute killing machine for me. My point is that shot placement is paramount but every now and then your gonna run into one that just won't friggin die no matter what you do.

 

[Derek M.]

Huh, I just noticed I misspelled "advice."

The 270 Win is my favorite all time caliber. I now have 3. One has a Hart barrel dedicated to Barnes bullets, another has a Broughton-Richards that shoots Bergers, and a brand new one with a Krieger I have yet to shoot.

If I ever decide to start parting with my gun-safe occupants and keep only a couple/few, all are gone but my 270s. For the hunting I do I don't need anything else.

 

[CogburnR]

As was previously stated ...If you don't have to deal with property lines the 243 is fine. It will kill anything BUT, you might have to go look for it.

If you need to put a deer down a 270 or 7RM with the Sierra 140gHPBT will drop one way quicker than the best bullet in a 243(probably the 85g HPBT Sierra). Both will put a fist sized exit hole in the ribcage where the 243 will to about a 50 cent piece sized hole. I have seen a deer run over 300 yards with blood pumping 6 feet out the 50 cent sized hole but have not seen one make it over 20 yards with the fist sized hole(most of the time they drop right there with chunks of lung and heart spread out behind).

There are some other good deer killers in the 243 family like the 260,7/08, and 308!

 

[Joe King]

As was previously stated ...If you don't have to deal with property lines the 243 is fine. It will kill anything BUT, you might have to go look for it.

If you need to put a deer down a 270 or 7RM with the Sierra 140gHPBT will drop one way quicker than the best bullet in a 243(probably the 85g HPBT Sierra). Both will put a fist sized exit hole in the ribcage where the 243 will to about a 50 cent piece sized hole. I have seen a deer run over 300 yards with blood pumping 6 feet out the 50 cent sized hole but have not seen one make it over 20 yards with the fist sized hole(most of the time they drop right there with chunks of lung and heart spread out behind).

There are some other good deer killers in the 243 family like the 260,7/08, and 308!

that combo gave the most dramatic kill I've ever gotten, 150yrds I shot a 4x5 muley in the heart. He flipped over backwards and stuck his rack in the dirt, propped himself up perfectly to dress him out. Took me quite a bit longer to dress him out than it normaly does though, I couldn't keep from laughing

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

Keep your hard earned money, there's nothing that old 7 mag can't be adjusted to do that any of those pip-squeeks can do, adjust the velocity and bullet types with powder until you find what your looking for..and in the future if you need some power you can always adjust upward way further than those little guys could be pushed.

 

[tincan]

Keep your hard earned money, there's nothing that old 7 mag can't be adjusted to do that any of those pip-squeeks can do, adjust the velocity and bullet types with powder until you find what your looking for..and in the future if you need some power you can always adjust upward way further than those little guys could be pushed.

Thanks for your input, but I am not a reloader.