bronko22000

I know that this cartridge has been around for quite some time and has a great following but I often wondered why. IMO this "hot shot" 7mm was something that was never needed. My reason for stating this is that the 280 Rem (7mm Rem Express) can do pretty much what the bigger mag can do with slightly less velocity. The .270 Win is also close but can't handle the heavier bullets. My thinking is if I believe the 280 isn't enough gun then I'd likely opt for a 300 WM or bigger.
I'm pretty sure I opened up a can of worms for the 7mm Mag fans so have at it. I have thick skin.

Nomercy448

I “grew up” in long range shooting first with a 30-06 sporting rifle, then a rebarreled 7x57, then eventually a 7RM R700 Sendero. At the time, early 2000’s, I thought that the 7RM was the pinnacle of long range shooting… thankfully I was swiftly and not-so-politely corrected by more experienced and knowledgeable long range competitors as soon as I started taking my rifles from cattle pastures onto competition firing lines. At the time, my cousins and uncles and I were hanging old truck hoods and doors on fence posts, then driving away in a flatbed pickup with a Leupold rangefinder which could only range about 300yrds, leapfrogging the truck farther and farther away to be able to reach 1000-1200yrds. And we thought we were cool when we heard the massive truck doors and hoods “thunk” as bullets punched through them. Today, I’d do the same on targets less than 1/4 the size with less than half of the powder, and way, way less recoil.

I will defend, however, the 7RM is quite capable as a longer distance hunting cartridge, and I especially enjoyed it for dispatching coyotes at extreme distances. Today, I wouldn’t buy or build any belted magnum - I do have one 300win mag left, only because it can’t fit a 300PRC in the mag box or out of the ejection port, else I would have rebarreled it already. For anything I would have done with 7RM, I now use 6.5 PRC. My wife still has a 7RM barrel for one of her rifles, but I’m thinking it might get swapped for 7 PRC next year.

But a 140-160grn bullet at 3000-3200fps certainly is a viable answer to a lot of questions.

edmehlig

Clem, my 280Rem has done everything I could ask it to do. I took it to South Africa and shot a large Zebra and Kudu at about 230yds plus with Barnes 150gr bullets. The Zebra died within 40 yds and the Kudu dropped where it was standing. Every Whitetail died where they were standing or within a few yards. Can't ask for better cartridge performance. Now if I wanted a short lightweight carbine-type rife, I'd have it chambered for the 7mm-08.

Ridge Runner

In 1962 or there abouts when the 7mm RM came to be, the 280 was an underpowered round that was used in the remington autoloaders, then when remington dubbed it the 7mm rem. express it was brought up to its capabilities, however remington flubbed the first batch of ammo and nobody bought it, so they retagged the 7mm rem. express as the 280. anyone else remember when the 280 fired a 160 gr roundnose at around 2600 fps?

Bocajnala

It never interested me. I had a great uncle who used a .264 win mag so as a young'un I found myself in that camp.

-Jake

idahoron

I have three 270 winchesters, a 270 weatherby, a 7mm mag, and a 264 Winchester mag.
when I inherited the 270 weatherby and the 7 mag I instantly wanted to hate them. I owned them for years before I finally shot them. The 7mm is a Remington 700, and I was a Winchester guy.
The 7 mag Matter how much I wanted to hate it won me over. I have shot a pile of groups that are sub 1" at 300 yards. I used it to shoot a couple deer and an elk. My son shot a cow elk with it a few years ago. As much as I wanted to hate it, I can't.
my 7mm mag will toss a 139 gr Hornady at 3200 and some change. My 270 will do 3000. My 264 is a pre 64 Winchester. Im struggling to het it to shoot well.
my 7 mag won me over.