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