I started shooting a 7mm Rem Mag when I was 13 so that would have been 1976 or there abouts. My grandfather, father and brother all shot them as well. I've hauled the old 7mm all over the world and have taken about 40 species of game with it including zebra and wildebeest. I've also played with an old 7x57 Mauser that a buddy owns in Africa. I've taken a few impala and warthogs with it. 7mm is a great caliber for game up to about moose, which for me would be the biggest game I'd personally use it on.

That being said, once I started shooting the 6.5s I found I rarely take the old 7mm out of the gun cabinet. My 7mm is most accurate with 160 gr bullets and I can get bullets of that weight for the 6.5 and it has an even better sectional density than the 7mm does. I haven't seen much difference in performance on game until the range gets somewhat long. That would probably be negated if I used a hotter 6.5 than the Swede or the Mannlicher. For me and the hunting I do now, the 6.5s give me virtually the same level of performance with less recoil and burn less powder to do it.

That doesn't mean I'll never use the 7mm again. If I ever draw another bighorn or goat tag, I'll take the 7mm. Plus, I've been trying to draw a unit 2 bull elk tag in CO for 20 years. That is pretty open country with sagebrush flats and cedar ridges and the shots run long, perfect for the 7mm Mag. In the end, you can't really go wrong with either a 6.5 or a 7mm in whatever cartridge turns you on.