# Yeah it's overkill but what the heck...



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

It's another gun, and a guy just can't have too many... I figure if nothing else, it will make great trade fodder.. 

I heard back from the guy that has that Remington 700 in 7mm Rem Mag... He's decided he's gonna give me a decent deal on it... Said he'll bring it by this weekend.

No idea why, but I just couldn't pass it up... It's was a nice looking great feeling gun, and I like things with a BIG bang... Can't wait to try it out next week... 

I'm also buying a Kaw 300 dirt bike off a friend, and I thought I just might see if he'd like this gun in trade instead of cash, and if so, I can save some money...


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Just in my opinion...the best thing to do with a 7 mag is trade it off. I've had three and they all went towards trades. They offer little over 270, 280, or 06, balistically, for me.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Even the 7mm. Rem.Mag. offers a significant increase in velocity and energy over, say, the .308 or 30-06. We're talking about four hundreds of feet per second here - not just a few. At the same time, the normal hunting bullets are about the same weight - there really isn't that much difference between 7mm and 7.62mm. What they use the 7mm Mag for is string-straight shooting over hundreds of yards, as in plains or peak-to-peak across the valley in mountains. At the same time, it gives you magnum power in your hands when you're walking around and could encounter dangerous game that needs to be knocked down in mid charge. I'm really impressed with what it can do in sufficiently skilled hands, but my hands don't qualify.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

I agree with wobblebug. The 7 RM holds its own and is definitely not a throw-away caliber. It's not for everyone, but throwing a (relatively) heavy bullet at screaming speed has its advantages. Remember that energy is the product of mass times velocity _squared_, so a small increase in velocity has more effect than a small increase in weight.

Simi - if you're interested in knowing when that rifle was built, my offer still stands. Just send me the serial #. I know a guy that knows a guy that used to date a guy's sister.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

LOL.. will do.. the guy is coming by with it tomorrow.. 

I have a feeling this one is from the 70's mid 80's at the newest.. this one has the brass pin that goes through the stock above the trigger...

Been looking around to find a nice used floor plate since the bluing is worn on this floorplate... hard to find... unless you want to spend a lot for a new steel one.. 

I've already got one 7mm and I really like that gun and the way it shoots and the trajectory... That was kind of why I was really liking this one... a really flat long shooting gun... with a big bang... Like I said though.. for WV, it's kind of over kill.. hard to find much for distances there.. and not really any big animals, but I'm sure one day, some one there will want a beefy gun, and have something they'd like to trade...


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Definitely overkill...but a good gun. 
That is my dad's go to gun when hunting in Alaska...great for loooong range shots. Has the mounts to prove it, with witnesses...LOL!
It would be trading fodder for me as well

Matt


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I'm sure I'll hang onto it for a while and use it for a fun range gun.... Until something I really want comes along.. 

It's been nice too, the guy has thrown in a little over 400 rounds of .38 Special brass, and he's also got a few hundred rounds of .45 auto brass he's bringing tomorrow too.... I'll take free brass with a purchase


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2013)

Don't shoot a deer with it unless all you want is burger .


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Huh? Do you make your ground out of lungs or neck meat or something?
I'm not tracking.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

A shot placed in the correct spot won't damage the deer.. you may lose a rib or two extra at most..


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

I had a 7 Mag 700 and it got sold.......


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

What reason kept you from hanging onto yours Ron?

Who knows.. I may tear this one down and smith it up into something really nice for long range if it's tight to start with..


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Oh, yeah, I don't know whether anyone told you what the pin (or sometimes pins) through the stock are for. They literally hold the stock together. They learnt from experience that if you touch off a bolt-action big boomer elephant gun or a magnum just a few times, the shock would split a wooden stock around the chamber or the fore-end. 
Put reinforcing pins/rods/bolts through the wood, holding it together, 
and the shocked wooden stock wouldn't.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Well cool.. I just got it and looked up the date code on the barrel.. It's actually older than iI thought it was. Turns out it was built in Jan of 1968... That's cool.. When you take that into consideration, this is in really nice condition for being that old..


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

simi-steading said:


> A shot placed in the correct spot won't damage the deer.. you may lose a rib or two extra at most..


Agreed.

With proper shot placement and a good bullet there won't be any excessive meat wasted. If you compare the 7mm with the 30-06 you'll see that at most the 7mm has about a 200FPS advantage with the lighter bullets. Get into the heavier bullets 165+, and it's down to a 150 FPS difference. I doubt there's a game animal on the planet that will notice much of a difference. 

For instance, Remington quotes:

7mm: 150 at 3110 fps, 175 at 2860

30-06: 150 at 2910 fps, 180 at 2700

What the 7mm does give you is less drop over the 06, but even that isn't too much to get excited about. I don't hear too many folks claiming that a 30-06 is overkill on deer. 

I've lent out my .300 win a couple times to guys deer hunting with me, and when using my handloads with decent bullets you'd be hard pressed to say what caliber killed the deer. 

Chuck


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

Chuck R. said:


> I doubt there's a game animal on the planet that will notice much of a difference.
> 
> For instance, Remington quotes:
> 
> ...



And for the handloader, 2,800 fps is usually doable with the 180gr in the '06, making the delta even less of an issue.

I started loading for, shooting and hunting with the 7Mag in 1974. It is a fine cartridge, but not enough different or better to warrant getting rid of a good 270 or '06 for. 

They will all do pretty darn near the exact same things, assuming similarly constructed bullets loaded to SAAMI max pressures.


Tim


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## BACOG (May 17, 2012)

simi-steading said:


> Like I said though.. for WV, it's kind of over kill..


Shoot it & enjoy it. There are several degrees of wounded but only 1 degreed of dead. 

I used to shoot deer & antelope with a .375 H&H. Even with that I only had one degree of dead.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Oh I'll shoot and enjoy it... Boy does it feel really good when you heft it up to your shoulder.. Yes, it's the heaviest bolt action I have, but it is also probably one of the best balanced rifles I've put up to my shoulder... It just feels so right.. 

The only issue I've found with it so far without shooting it, is the price of ammo for it... And even if I hand load for it, man is that a lot of powder per casing... 

I'm loading it in the truck tomorrow night and will go put a few rounds through it over the holiday..


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

simi-steading said:


> And even if I hand load for it, man is that a lot of powder per casing...


 It's a good cartridge, no matter how I feel about it! I tend to look at powder used anymore, and cost of reloading. Plus belted cartridges are just a turn off for me.

Almost all of my deer kills, were within 357 ranges no matter what I used. When I look at the cost of loading several thousand rounds, so I can have barter material as well. My nod would go to the .357 and I don't even have a rifle chambered for it...yet.

Furbearers I've taken to 500 plus, using 25/06 or smaller with 22-250 my favorite, but not at 500.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

If I get a rifle in a pistol caliber, it's going to be a 45 APC... I've always loved the 45, and I've had a hankering for something that shoots it.. .Like a Thompson, or maybe even one of the new AR 45's...

I do have a 357, but I tend to shoot 38's trough it since they are cheaper... I'll runs some 357's through it every now and then when I'm in the mood for a bigger bang..


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## 95bravo (Mar 22, 2010)

Depends on what your hunting. I have hunted elk right on high cliffs and needed to take a shoulder shot, so the elk would not make it to the cliff edge, and roll 800 feet down the mt and get all bruised/ busted up. I don't think it's overkill at all for what might be a 900 lb critter. 
I seen a man shot in the back of each heel of his foot with M249 saw. The Joe went to shoot in the dirt as the man was running away and caught him with 2 out of 3 rounds of the burst. The damage to his heels was shockingly slight.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Well, about the biggest thing to shoot in WV is a 200lb bear, or if anything like the last prepper show.. a 400lb marauder.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2013)

Of course I was exaggerating a bit . A friend of mine had one & shot a deer in the left shoulder & totally ruined both shoulders . The rest of the deer was fine . It's easy enough to take a deer at any reasonable distance with a 25/06 or 22/250 .
He donated his to the fire dept. to auction off .


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## 95bravo (Mar 22, 2010)

WV Hillbilly said:


> Of course I was exaggerating a bit . A friend of mine had one & shot a deer in the left shoulder & totally ruined both shoulders . The rest of the deer was fine . It's easy enough to take a deer at any reasonable distance with a 25/06 or 22/250 .
> He donated his to the fire dept. to auction off .


Still a lot you can do with a shot shoulder, sausage, summer sausage, jerky, Ground it for chili. 
A bad shot is a bad shot.
If you can get a correct shot placement with 22/250, you can get a correct shot placement with any cal. 
I'm not saying that you can't kill a deer with a 22/250. A skilled shooter with such a caliber is more effective than an unskilled one with a heavier caliber. 
I prefer to be skilled shooter with a heavier cal. I like the added distance, ability to take elk, and flat trajectory. 
There is a reason Army Snipers use the Remington 700. 
Just my thoughts, use whatcha got and what works for you.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2013)

Heck , I couldn't care less if you squirrel hunt with a 7mm mag .


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