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Sooo..Why Do I need my 7mag?

Old 12-10-2010, 09:50 AM
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Nontypical Buck
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Default Sooo..Why Do I need my 7mag?

Each year on opening day I grab by 7mm Rem Mag and go hunting. Throughout the year I spend countless hours developing loads and then pick one come deer season. This year it was the Barnes TTSX 140g . Yes, it was VERY successful.

At some point during the season I look into the gun cabinet and I see her… The Marlin 30-30, and every year I give her a whirl. I load up some Hornady FTX (leverevolution for hand loads) to a paltry 2115 FPS and have at it.

Invariably, I shoot a deer and every deer has had its insides turned to mush. I have always had passthroughs.

This weekend I pulled a shot slightly and put the bullet through both shoulders. Both were destroyed with a huge exit hole through the far shoulder. Again, insides turned to mush and dead deer.

Yet, every year, the 7Mag gets top billing
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Old 12-10-2010, 11:03 AM
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Haha....

I bought a 7mag a few years ago. I plan on taking to the woods every year. A couple weeks before season, I bring it to the range to make sure it's zeroed in. But, come opening morning when I reach into the gun cabinet, I always grab my Marlin 30-30 topped with a Redfield Tracker 4X scope. The same one I've taken to the woods every year since I was 14 years old, which was 22 years ago.

However, I usually hunt a thicket where I can't see over 60 yards or so. I guess if I ever hunted a wide open area, I'd bring my 7mag. Until then, it's the trusty old 30-30.
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Old 12-10-2010, 11:48 AM
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so if a trophy buck walked out at 350 yards what would u rather have,your 30-30 or your 7 mag? hell i can kill deer with a 22 but still not my first choice.id rather be over prepared then under prepared.
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Old 12-10-2010, 11:58 AM
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Skinnner.
If my shot opportunity in the area I hunt on opening day was anywhere near that long i would wholeheartedly agree with you.

I'm looking at 125 Max
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Old 12-10-2010, 12:04 PM
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oh ok,didnt realize that,well its always fun to have toys isnt it? haha.
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Old 12-10-2010, 12:07 PM
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Well, later in the season i hunt an area that will present longer shots (maybe 250) and i certainly take the 7mag then.

I go to a particular property on opening day that will present a max 125 yd shot yet i still take the 7. no love for the 30-30 on opener
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Old 12-10-2010, 12:12 PM
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its all about haveing fun anyways,either one will work at close range,shoot what u like.ill usually just stick to one gun i shoot the best and use it for any circumstance.the man with one gun ussually always out shoots the guy with many guns just because of the simple fact that he knows his weapon inside and out from more experiance with it.
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Old 12-10-2010, 12:17 PM
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30-30 or 7 mag, hmmm....havent lost a deer with my 7 mag yet. (Knocking on wood) My Friend uses his not so trusty 30-30 and lost three deer in three years. One time in a hurry I grabbed our 25-06 and shot a buck at 200 yards and watched it run another 200 before piling up. I rather have them drop on site so its 7 mag for me.
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Old 12-10-2010, 12:23 PM
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DannyD,
I have two .338s, one 7 mag, one .243, and a .50 cal Muzzleloader for rifles. Here on my small property where I rarely get more than 40 yards due to the heavy brush I always go to my Accura .50 cal with open sights. Its been that way since we moved to the East from back west. That .50 cal sure puts a big hole in animals!!!!! I do, however, long to shoot my other babies!!!!!
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Old 12-10-2010, 11:42 PM
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DannyD,
A question I have asked myself every year. I bought my 7mm 25 years ago this year and have , as you, worked and worked on that special load for many years till I believe I have got it as perfect for both me and the gun as I can. I too, have a 30-30 (Marlin), as well as many other cal. which would be more than needed to take home a deer. And every year I open my gun safes and look at the hardware to decide which gun I'm going to use this year and yes it is a fleeting thought for each year I reach in and pull out the trusty Savage 7 mm, which is nothing fancy but shoulders so well. I suppose it's what we get used to or perhaps for me, it is that when I finally got enough money to buy it (wasn't that expensive compared to today's fire arms but 25 years ago I had to save for a while), and that gun has been muled by me over countless ridges, bush, and fields that I identify with it as much as my old hunting jacket which has been sewn so many times that I think there is as much reparing thread as original thread (not quite but it feels like it does) and I have also bought a number of hunting jackets over the years (that I end up wearing under my old one). Perhaps it is the memmoris that my old equipment brings back to me. Maybe this sound alittle silly to some of the younger hunters that may read this but 25 years later that ol 7mm is far more comfortable in the woods than the day I bought it. Just a thought from an older (but still obsessed) hunter that has been chasing the whitetail for almost 40 years.
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