kansaswiderack

I am getting ready to buy a new rifle and would like to hear your opinions on the 7 mag and 300 win mag for larger north american game such as elk moose bear

Camosteel

Wow this could get technical fast. It boils down to be able to use heavier grain bullets in the 30 cal as compared to 7mm. Both will take all of the game you mentioned with plenty to spare as long as you use the proper bullets. The 7mm will shoot a little flatter at longer distances especially when using light for caliber bullets. Essentially it comes down to do you want to use a 7mm or 30 cal.

Sheridan

Pretty much right on, in terms of the .300 WM's ability to handle heavier bullets.

Plus IMO, for the same reason the 7MM RM is a little lite for the biggest bears.

Both deadly long range calibers though !

Camosteel

Agree 100% on the 7mm being a little light for the BIG bears. Would it do its job? Yep, but I sure would feel better with something a little bigger than a 7mm mag.

bigcountry

I have a few 7mm, and one 300winmag. I am considering thinning the herd, and trying to decide between keeping my 7mmSTW sako and my 300winmag 700. Now, I have put a mcmillan stock and trigger job, and complete bedded the 300.

I think I have decided to keep the 300winmag. The 7mm can be generally flatter. But the ability to shoot 200gr trumps my 7mm decision.

statjunk

Give middle of the road bullet weight for cartridge the 7mm RM is only flatter than the 300WM within a window after that window the 300WM trumps it.

If you count heaviest bullet for cartridge then the 300WM would be significantly flatter and more so as the range increases. There would be a window where the 7mm would be flatter but it would be much smaller.

Tom

Camosteel

A 300wm w/ 180gr bullet will be about 150+fps faster than a 7mm w/ 175gr bullet. Not sure what that translates to in trajectory at given distances but it does show if your looking to shoot heavier bullets for the larger game mentioned the 300wm should get the nod. These numbers are based off of Nosler data.

bigcountry

That doesn't tell the whole story.

One, a 7mm 160gr accubond has a SD of .283 which trumps a .308" 180gr accubond with SD of .271. Means it penetrates better therorectically.

With a 7mm rem mag with a 160gr accubond launching at 2950fps drops less than a .308" 180gr accubond launching at 2950fps. Both velocities are realistic values.

The .308" 180gr accubond has a BC of .507 and the 7mm 160gr accubond has a bC of .531. Which translates to 2" gain in performance to the 7mm at 500 yards, and 23" at 1000 yards.

Camosteel

Thanks BC, I knew I wasn't taking everything I should into account on this. So what's your call on the 7mm rm vs. 300wm if you were buying a new rifle right now to do what the original poster stated?

bigbulls

For game smaller than brown and grizzly bears it isn't going to make any difference what so ever. If I were wanting a brown bear rifle then I wouldn't pick either one. It'd be a .338 or .375. If you can afford a brown bear hunt then you can afford another rifle. Not that they .300 and 7mm won't get the job done but I would pick the larger bore diameter for the same reason you can't hunt Africa's dangerous game with anything less than a .375 in most places.