I'm new to precision rifles and honestly haven't even gotten my first one. I'm learning about certain rounds before I even have eyes on a rifle. I recently heard of the 7mm class and was wondering what is the difference between the 7mm Winchester short mag and the 7mm-08? Is it .223 vs 5.56 different or are there more differences then that? my only real rifle training is what the army gave me with the M4. Thank you for your time.

EDIT: The only thing rifle wise I am looking at bolt action. Because I know simi I well rush my shot and send rounds down range that will be unneeded and/or sloppy.

With a 140 grain bullet about 400 feet per second. The 7mm08 case life is generally longer for reloaders as most tend to load the 7mm wsm to it's hotter ranges. Some people have also experienced faster throat burnouts with 7mm wsm but that could be more to do with cheaper barrels than the round itself.

Within my ranges of ethical hunting (400 yards max) I can pretty much do anything with my 7mm08 as one can do with the 7mm wsm.

These are completely different cases. The WSM case holds quite a bit more powder than the 7mm-08 does. The WSM case has a rim of .535" and a length of 2.100", while the 7mm-08 has a rim of .473 and a length of 2.035.

This is not at all like the differences between a .223 and a 5.56.

What is the max affective range you have fired either one of the mentioned rounds? This is a round I would use to put food on the table, but my main intent for this type of shooting would be more recreational/competitive (I also think it would be unethical to fail to learn and master my limits with this type of rifle). Thank you for answering my question and for giving me more questions to think about, which is a good thing.

I'm not going to pretend that didn't go more then a little over m head, but it did answer my question. Which round would work better for longer range precision shooting for the recreational/competitive shooter side? I'm looking at hunting secondary for the time being. Thank you for your time and answering my question.

I guess I should have just said that the cases are not the same size. The WSM is bigger and takes a bunch more powder than the 7mm-08. The 7mm-08 is much more popular and has a much better chance of having rifles chambered in that cartridge. Neither one would really be ideal for competitive shooting but would do for recreational shooting - with the edge going to the 7mm-08.

If you are thinking about competitive shooting there are some good sources of information such as benchrest.com. Serious competition shooters should plan on spending a fair amount of cash on their sport. If you are going to shoot more casually (not competitively) there are many cartridges that have enough inherent accuracy to do the job.

What ranges are you planning to shoot?

I routinely shoot a couple of my 7mm08's at 700 yards on the 16" gong. For whitetail I wouldn't push the round further than 400. For Elk, 350 with a choice pocket shot. You could push the 7mm WSM further with a heavier bullet and cranking up the load a bit. As Uncle said, the case capacity is a bit larger for the WSM so you can get more powder in there for a larger bullet but once you past around 160gr bullet weight the length of the bullet will take up case capacity for powder.

Since you are new to shooting/hunting I doubt you will be jumping into reloading your own ammo so you will want to look at availability of factory ammo. 7mm08 is highly popular all across the country and I think the 7mm WSM is kinda losing steam with the masses. I may be wrong in that assumption and since I haven't bought any factory ammo except a box or 2 of something I needed right then in over 40 years I have very little knowledge of what the stores commonly have in stock for factory ammo.

Compare the "point blank range" for each cartridge (flattest).

Consider how much recoil you can handle, but still shoot regularly.

Spend more on your optic (target turrets), than you do on the gun.

Quality barrel (free floated), good trigger (+/- 2.5 lbs) and bed everything into the stock (many to choose from).

You know the last part........................Practice, Practice, Practice

Have FUN !!!

What distances are you planning on shooting at? How about hunting at? Neither are on my list for long range hunting but the 7mm WSM would be my choice if I had to choose one.

A 7mm Rem Mag will give you many more "match" grade over the counter ammo choices.

Distance wise I think 700-800 meters is reasonable for a point target. Maybe 900 is a bit much, but worth working for if a range can be found. hunting I'd say half that for ethical reasons. (350-400)