A 7mm modern bonded 140gr bullet is more than capable of cleanly killing the largest bull elk with thru and thru hits to the heart/lung area, out as far as a hunter can hit. With hand loads one can get right at or a little above 3250fps MV using that bullet in the 7mm Rem Mag.
Hand loading the same bullet in my 280Rem I am getting 3050+ fps MV. Realizing that many of you have no interests in practical hunting practices, I thought you may still entertain this question.
Does the game know the difference out to a reasonable hunting range of 400 yards? ...... Others want to kill at greater ranges, but I have no interest in doing that, because I believe that to give game a fair shot, one should hunt and kill him while you are both in the same county. I was on a hunt in Craig, Co. in Dec. 2016. A number of the hunters used computerized scopes that when set up, will dope out bullet drop and do everything save for pulling the trigger. One young man killed a big mule deer buck at just over 800 yards with his rig. Again, my question would be; is he hunting or simply long range killing? Out there, in big country, with good optics, one can set up high and pick out game at 1000+ yards. But is to kill them out that far sporting?
7mmRemMag VS 280Rem VS 7x57mmMauser VS 7mm-08? They all use the excellent flying 7mm bullet, shown on ballistics tables to be better up to the 175gr. range of bullet weights, than are 30 cal. bullets. I have long been a proponent of the 7mm bullet over the much more popular 30cal because of the 7mm superior ballistics down range.
Using the modern bonded bullets and of course, good bullet placement no elk can live thru being hit well with a 140 gr. 7mm bonded bullet.
The current rage to put bullets in small groups on paper at extreme range is a game unto itself and I am not knocking that. What I am saying is that for a "fair chase hunt" range should be limited to how far away the game can detect the hunter, which puts the hunter in the position of stalking in the correct manner, so that he can get within 400 yards or less. At that range, I have seldom gotten deer type animals in my sight picture, without having them looking right at me. Their superior hearing and olfactory senses warn them when man is in the area and puts them on the alert. While their sight may not be great, they do detect movement, which gives them one more defense.
Of the cartridges using 7mm bullets, only the 7mmRemMag and 7mm-08 remain on many ammunition shelves. I would hand load my 280Rem anyway because I like "rolling my own", but if I did not, I'd have to search to find factory ammo. Same goes for the old stand by 7x57mm Mauser round, which is a great round, but like the 30-06 lacks the sex appeal of more recently developed cartridges.
The the .284 bullet used in the 280Rem is superior to the .277 bullet used in the 270Win. and, in my opinion, also superior to the 30cal used in 30-06, all three of which use the same parent cartridge case, the 280Rem lost out, in the main because the other two were already out there in huge numbers. If a shooter is already using either a rifle in 270Win or 30-06, I would be hard pressed to convince him to swap for the 280Rem, unless like me, he is a fanatical hand loader and wants the top performing cartridge within the limits that I have outlined.
Bottom line, if a newby wants to hand load and enjoys something just a little different running than what one sees among the herd, then take a look at the 280Rem.
Hand loading the same bullet in my 280Rem I am getting 3050+ fps MV. Realizing that many of you have no interests in practical hunting practices, I thought you may still entertain this question.
Does the game know the difference out to a reasonable hunting range of 400 yards? ...... Others want to kill at greater ranges, but I have no interest in doing that, because I believe that to give game a fair shot, one should hunt and kill him while you are both in the same county. I was on a hunt in Craig, Co. in Dec. 2016. A number of the hunters used computerized scopes that when set up, will dope out bullet drop and do everything save for pulling the trigger. One young man killed a big mule deer buck at just over 800 yards with his rig. Again, my question would be; is he hunting or simply long range killing? Out there, in big country, with good optics, one can set up high and pick out game at 1000+ yards. But is to kill them out that far sporting?
7mmRemMag VS 280Rem VS 7x57mmMauser VS 7mm-08? They all use the excellent flying 7mm bullet, shown on ballistics tables to be better up to the 175gr. range of bullet weights, than are 30 cal. bullets. I have long been a proponent of the 7mm bullet over the much more popular 30cal because of the 7mm superior ballistics down range.
Using the modern bonded bullets and of course, good bullet placement no elk can live thru being hit well with a 140 gr. 7mm bonded bullet.
The current rage to put bullets in small groups on paper at extreme range is a game unto itself and I am not knocking that. What I am saying is that for a "fair chase hunt" range should be limited to how far away the game can detect the hunter, which puts the hunter in the position of stalking in the correct manner, so that he can get within 400 yards or less. At that range, I have seldom gotten deer type animals in my sight picture, without having them looking right at me. Their superior hearing and olfactory senses warn them when man is in the area and puts them on the alert. While their sight may not be great, they do detect movement, which gives them one more defense.
Of the cartridges using 7mm bullets, only the 7mmRemMag and 7mm-08 remain on many ammunition shelves. I would hand load my 280Rem anyway because I like "rolling my own", but if I did not, I'd have to search to find factory ammo. Same goes for the old stand by 7x57mm Mauser round, which is a great round, but like the 30-06 lacks the sex appeal of more recently developed cartridges.
The the .284 bullet used in the 280Rem is superior to the .277 bullet used in the 270Win. and, in my opinion, also superior to the 30cal used in 30-06, all three of which use the same parent cartridge case, the 280Rem lost out, in the main because the other two were already out there in huge numbers. If a shooter is already using either a rifle in 270Win or 30-06, I would be hard pressed to convince him to swap for the 280Rem, unless like me, he is a fanatical hand loader and wants the top performing cartridge within the limits that I have outlined.
Bottom line, if a newby wants to hand load and enjoys something just a little different running than what one sees among the herd, then take a look at the 280Rem.
