ORIGINAL: buck_master_101
How do they compare as far as range, acuracy, and knockdown?
First off, let me assure you that there is no such thing as "knockdown".
The 7mm Rem. mag and the .308 compare just about the same way as the 7mm Rem. Mag. compares to the .30/'06. The .308 has a reputation for being a very accurate cartridge. The7 Mag. is also pretty good in this department. But I'm a bit prejudiced hee, because my 7Mag. shoots 1" groups at 200 yards; this is perhaps a little better than most of them!
With 175-grain bullets at 3050 FPS from my 26" barrel, I would like to believe the 7mm Mag. is slightly better at long range, because you have to use a 200-grain PSPBT bullet in a .308 to equal the ballistic properties of a 175-grain .284" bullet like the Sierra or Nosler Partition, and you can get only 2400 FPS from a 200 in the .308". What does this mean? The 7mm Mag. will deliver the same performance as the .308", but at 150 yards furtherdownrange.....
I stopped using my 7 Mag for deer. It is unnecessarily powerful. I use it for elk and moose. For deer, I use a 7X57mm with 150 grain bullets at 2700 FPS. Don't have a .308 any more, but the 7X57mm with 140-160 grain bullets is very similar to the .308!