Help Picking a 7mm

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Well I am having a blast playing with my new Savage Model 10 .243 having already shot 500 shots in a month. Took work to find acceptable loads but have the 70 MK shooting 1.5" at 300 and I am not a trained shooter, just a novice.

Already thinking of my next gun. I am very interested in the 7mm for long range shooting at targets and groundhogs. Maybe a deer or antelope out West someday too. I have never owned this caliber, do not know anyone who has one, and really would like to hear the pro's and cons, bullet suggetions, etc.

I was wondering if I should get the packaged Savage Long Range Hunter in the 7 mm mag with the muzzle break? Kinda seem interested in a 7mm STW, a custom barrell, and having the gun built, but need to stay under $1,000. Can you share your thoughts with me on these two options and if I go with a custom what you recommend I buy as an action, barrell, trigger, etc.

Is it worthwhile to have a muzzlebreak on the gun?

How long should the barrell be?

 

[TonyR]

A 284 Winchester with a 1:9 twist barrel and enough freebore to get the big bullets out into the neck would be a great choice.

 

[bheadboy]

my personal experience for what you are talking about,

280 Ai
7-08 Ai

Both are very accurate, good bullet, using 9 twist - both caliber in 3 rifles hart bbls shoot in the .300s with all the velocity you need for your intended use.

Bob

 

[dwcon]

I am a 7stw fan have built several for elk real shooters at long range. dannie

 

[Preacher]

I never saw a thing wrong with the 7 MM SAUM, but I do like the .284...
Muzzle breaks are a plus on anything....

 

[watercam]

Why not make your Model 10 a switch barrel? Barrels are easy to exchange with a little education and if you commit to single loading you can seat the bullets long enough to obtain needed powder space. Price for a Savage pre-fit barrel is running around $360 for 28-30", tad less for 24-26". If you want to shoot targets at 1000 yds., go with the 30. You should be able to push 180 gr. match bullets around 2900-2950 and be very nice in the wind.
Try Criterion for barrels. Have installed several on Long Range match rifles with good success.

 

[4xforfun]

If you are going to keep up on your 500 rounds a month deal, you better keep things on the mild side. Big, hot calibers are expensive to feed and hot chamberings are hell on barrels!!

Just my .02

 

[Laurie]

Well I am having a blast playing with my new Savage Model 10 .243 having already shot 500 shots in a month.

Yeah + 1 on the previous post. Shoot a 7STW as much as your 243 and that'll be a barrel shot-out every month!

If you MUST have a 7mm magnum, 7mm Rem Mag makes a lot more sense as a starter, better still one of the short magnums such as the WSM.

A muzzle brake makes any of these rifles much more pleasant to shoot recoil-wise at the expense of a lot more noise up front and to the sides of your muzzle. For this reason, brakes are banned in F-Class and on many ranges. Even if allowed in target shooting or by your club, you'd likely need a thick skin to ignore the dirty looks and complaints from others.

For under $1,000 that pretty well means a factory rifle / chambering and maybe something secondhand. So forget non-factory, special order / limited production jobs or uncommon / wildcat chamberings such as the STWs, .284 Win (not uncommon in target circles, but no factory rifles) and similar. You'll pay a lot more up front for dies and brass too. There's a lot to be said in sticking to the .308 Win 'family' - .260 and 7mm-08 Rem - with that sort of budget. Both are fine long-range performers with high-BC bullets in handloads. People who've shot antelope extensively like Craig Boddington say you don't need ultra long-range cartridges and the above pair, 6.5X55mm and .280 Rem all fit that bill perfectly. .260 Rem performs very well in 1,000 yard target shooting in the right rig with the right optics, so should have no trouble with the occasional varminting outing at better than .22-250 ranges.

 

[DanConzo]

The 7mm/300 Wby is a great long range target and hunting rifle. It's very accurate and a great killer, it will shoot with the best 7mm's and then some, especially in the accuracy category. Probably get a lot of arguments on this but it's true. Barrel life is not great though. The standard 7mm Rem Mag and the 7mm Wby Mag are also very good calibers. The old 7x61 Sharp & Hart Super is no slouch either on both categories. Don't be afraid of a belted case.

 

[NateHaler]

Already thinking of my next gun. I am very interested in the 7mm for long range shooting at targets and groundhogs. Maybe a deer or antelope out West someday too.

I was wondering if I should get the packaged Savage Long Range Hunter in the 7 mm mag with the muzzle break?

How long is "long range"? Out to 1,000y, then I recommend you consider less of a barrel burner and less of a kicker. A .284 or a 7mm-08.

Both are more efficient chamberings than the loud-n-boomers. And forget the damn brake. Muzzle brakes are WAY louder for the people around you, and can result in permanent hearing loss.

 

[DanConzo]

coyote--The 308 case isn't going to get you dependability very far away especially w/ the longer bullets, the 7 mags will for the deer and antelope. I don't think someone would build a high performance rifle for barrel life, recoil and noise. But we are all different and if it's your number one criteria go for it. I know a lot of us don't like fireforming for a specialized cartridge (barrel life) in case you have a blow out gun. Like someone said switch barrels are the answer, then when you go long range big game hunting you can switch it.

 

[DanConzo]

You would also have to switch the bolt or bolt face also if you went w/ a magnum from standard.. I don't ever recall the 260 Rem or 7/08 doing much at 1000 yard target shooting, but perhaps I overlooked it somewhere, I know they never did anything in 1000 yd B/R but I don't follow F class. The 6.5/284 and 284 do very well at 1000 yds.

 

[NateHaler]

FWIW, you'll see a lot more 6BR rigs at 600y and 1,000y matches out here (in the west) than you will a 7STW or 7-300 WBY or 7mm mangle-em. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing one of those 7mm variants on the line.

In the 70s, the 7-300WBY had its brief fame in the Williamsport, PA 1,000y matches, but that was then. Tom Drummond and his cronies also had success with it (and 6.5-300 WBY) on groundhogs. I had one of his rifles, but considered it more of a collector's item than a utility rifle. Built on a Sako L61R action, Drummond/Hoyer laminated thumbhole stock, 30" barrel, and Unertl scope.

As to the 7-08 for 1,000y target shooting, consider how many .308s run at that distance at most matches, whether F-Class, tactical, Palma, and maybe even BR. Then consider the BC of the Hornady (HORN-uh-dee) 162gr 7mm A-MAX vs. any of the .308 bullets available. Heck yes, it will do the job. 8)

As to the notion that the OP might try to shoot game animals at 1,000y or farther, that's a controversial topic, and hotly debated on various forums. IMO, unless the animal is wounded, or you -- the hunter -- are literally starving -- then it's irresponsible, unless you really know what you're doing in such conditions and have all of the appropriate gear and locale for such feats. For more on that, the OP would be served better by www.longrangehunting.com

 

[DanConzo]

The 308 and the 7/08 have never won a 1000 yard B/R match at the Williamsport 1000 yd club. The 6.5/284, 284 and all the magnums mentioned have as some others like the 300 Win Mag, 308 Norma, 300 Wby, etc have. The 6mms are great with the vld bullets and fast twist barrels of the last 15 years or so. We didn't have the small caliber vld bullets available in the 70s.I noticed that the light gun record for group just got broke a couple weeks ago at Williamsport w/ a 300 wsm, which is very close to the 308 Norma in ballistics. As said some of these calibers mentioned had world records and aggs in the past--but they DID do the job. The 308 never did, and it's been around a long tiime. Also in the 70s there was no light gun class so bigger cases made no nevermind, but at 17 lbs w/ a good brake most of these calibers are very manageable. I have vias muzzle brakes and Mark King muzzle brakes and I don't believe the noise is any louder than w/o one, but never metered it for decibal readings.

 

[DanConzo]

One more thing Tom Drummond was a good person w/ a lot of ability and loved long range shooting. He thought out of the box but contributed a lot to this sport.

 

[DanConzo]

If we are talking about 600 yds then it's a different story, but the OP mentioned the 7mmSTW which leads me to believe it farther and I don't think its impossible but I sure wouldn't want to shoot at an antelope or deer at 800 or 900 yds or farther w/ a 6mm especially one off the BR case, the energy just isn't thre.

 

[mattlewis]

.243 ballistics with the right bullet are great waaaaay out there for targets and varmints. you can bang steel at 1k with a .243 just about as easy as you can with anything else.

if you want to go up to a 7mm, i would think you would want to upgrade that considerably. which means you want to shoot the 180 class bullets at 2850+. i'd figure out what ballistics you want, and use that to back into a chambering.

then take a look at availability of components. i love my 7wsm, but finding brass is a pain.

 

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Why are alot of guys not fans of the 7mm? I study the data and think this is an incredible cartridge. What is better? PS...I have no intentions to shoot a deer or any critter ever past five hundred yards. Don't understand why I would be better served with a .308? Just don't see it. Open to other calibers just need to understand.

 

[DanConzo]

Well you can scratch what I wrote, I thought you meant long range when you mentioned the 7mmSTW. Those smaller cartridges might just do it for you.

 

[Laurie]

No, not saying you're better with a 308, but with the 308 case 'family', which is where you're at now, only it's the 6mm calibre version you've got.

STW is a specialist, barrel-burnin' long-range beanfield cartridge that was designed for one-shot 600 yard deer kills. Fair enough if that's what you want to do. But a man who puts 500 rounds down a 243 in a month looks like a man after my own heart who likes to shoot a lot and with a $1,000 budget, you don't get much of a 7mm STW and you get to shoot it even less after you take the mortgage out!

Hence .260 Rem - and it does hit a 10-inch 1,000yd F-Class target 'Bull', my friend - likewise 7mm-08 Rem, still on the .308 Win case and with longer barrel-life than your 243 Win will give.

Everbody's got their own idea on the 'ideal' cartridge. It's like the old joke that Jewish comedians tell - ask 20 Israeli lawyers for an opinion on a case and you get 30 answers. 7mm has a lot going for it for what you want to do. A lot depends on how you define 'long range' of course - to many on this forum (including me) that means 1,000 yards on paper. You won't get a factory rifle in a 7mm short magnum for $1K I'd imagine (but I'm not in the US), certainly won't get a good .284 Win as they're all custom jobs. So that leaves 7mm Rem Mag, .280 Rem, and 7mm-08 Rem as commonly available. If you go for the maggie, you get a 0.550" dia. bolt-face and are restricted to the magnums including the WSM and RSAUM short types on a re-barrel. If you go for .260 Rem, 7mm-08, .280 Rem, .308, or .30-06 you can rebarrel to .284 Win, a fine multi-purpose long-range cartridge especially in the long action. But ..... many people reckon .280 Rem in a long action is just as good, and there is the .280 Ackley version as well that gives 7mm short magnum ballistics!

Have fun ... and sleepless nights .... deciding!