7MM Rem Mag. Rifle Built - 24" vs. 26" Barrel?

[SkipD]

I'm in the early stages of having a rifle built in 7MM Rem Mag for elk hunting. I have the option of having the rifle built with a 24" or a 26" barrel and I'm not sure what would be best. What would folks here recommend? I primarily do my elk hunting in Montana where 300 yd. shots are more the rule than the exception. I appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks,
SkipD

[ElkNutz]

I would go with a 20-22" barrel which would make it more compact to carry. Your talking about a big game rifle not a bench rester so "handy" is the word of the day. I got a 24" Medium-Heavy sporter on my custom 7mm Mag and it makes the gun overly heavy to carry. If I had to do it again I would go with the lightest barrelI could find in a 20" length and wouldn't blink at a 300 yard shot with it.

[bigbulls]

IMO there is absolutely no point in having a rifle chambered in 7mm Rem Mag, or any other bested magnum,if you are going to handicap it with a 20 or 22 inch barrel. If I were building a compactrifle with this short a tube it would be chambered in.280 or 7mm-08. I honestly don't think that a few inches of barrel are going to make enough ofa difference in weight to make a particular rifle too heavy to carry. But that's my opinion.

A belted magnum needs at least a 24 inch tube to makeit worth having and is agood compromise between being handy and getting the performance out of a belted magnum.

[ElkNutz]

So if your theoryrings true what is there too gain from having a 2-4" longer tube... velocity? If so say what 100 fps (MAYBE). Is it worth making it 4" longer?I have a belted 350 Rem mag that is a 20 inch tube and it shoots like a dream.

[bigbulls]

Well 20-22 vs. 24-26 is 2 to 6 inches and in a an overbore cartridge like the 7mm Rem mag could be anywhere from 75fps on the short endto 300 fps ormore on the long end depending on each particular rifle.

A 350 Rem is a short action cartridge,holds about 10% less powder than the 7mm Rem, and has a bore diameter that is about 20% larger and is therfore a much more efficient cartridge than the 7mm magand does not needthe added barrel length that a 7mm mag would in order to achieve the velocity it was designed to achieve. So a 20-22 inch barrel in that particular cartridge would be a very acceptable berrel length IMO.

[ElkNutz]

Gotcha...

[SILVERTIP-CO]

I bought a Win Mod 70 Black Shadowin 7mm Rem Mag. It came with factory 26" barrel, which is why I bought it. It shoots laser straight out to 400 then drops some to 600. Plenty for for me. I use only Hornady Light Mag 139gr SST ammo, cheap it aint (33.00 a box at Gary Olen's) but I am dead serious about long range shooting. I may start to reload again since I cant afford gas any more. I'll probably stuff the empty cases with 168 Bergers as they seem to work well(at least on tv).

Good luck with yours.

[salukipv1]

Would you consider a larger caliber? Or are you set on the 7mm Rem. Mag.?
I'm thinking 26" in a 7mm, but if it were a larger caliber it may be easier to justify a 24" barrel. Though either way 24"+ is the way to go.

[hunter5325]

I've got a 26" tube on my 7 and it does about 70-100fps faster then my 24" 7RM's. I wanted to reach 3300fps w/ 140's so I could zero @ 300yds and not rise above 4" on the way there. I prefer to zero @300 and use hold-over for 400 and 500yds. If your zeroed at 200 or just use turrets then just go with a handier 24" as the fps gain will mean little if you know your clicks.

Brett

[hunter5325]

BTW - The 7RM is an awesome cartridge for long range elk. Mine are accurate and recoil quite a bit less than my 300 magnums yet on game performance has been just as good.

Brett