I am trying to decide between a 7mm or a 300 magnum. I am shooting anywhere between 200-600 yrds any ideas?

Answer 1

If your shooting targets either are fine or Varmints that fine, over kill but fine.
If you are shooting Game animals, that’s not hunting.
Hunting is when you can stalk closer to your game.

The 300 Winchester Magnum gives you a better bullet weight selection then any other.
Just stop and look at any bullet chart by any of the bullet manufactures like Sierra, Nosler, and see the vast selection available to the 30 caliber.
http://www.sierrabullets.com/index.cfm?section=bullets&page=rifle&caliberID=9

Plus the 300 Winchester Magnum is less prone to wind drift as apposed to the 7 mm Magnum.

D58

To the Childish ones that are playing the games.
I love it when the inept thumb me down, it don’t dissuade me it inspires me more.


Hunting with Rifle, Pistol, Muzzle loader and Bow for over 3 decades.
Reloading Rifle, Pistol and shotgun for over 3 decades.

Answer 2

The 300s retain a bit more energy than the 7mm at long range, that's across the board for the higher end cartridges like the 7mm RUM, 7mm Weatherby, 300 RUM, 300WSM. The best 7mm retains around 1800 fp and the best 300 around 2100 fp. But that's not really enough to make a significant difference. They all shoot about as flat too.

There's better bullet choice in the 300s but that's marginal too. There's just not much difference between the 280 and 300.

With the same choice the deciding factor for me was the chambering available for the rifle I wanted, so I ended up with a 300WSM.

Answer 3

The two are so close that one has to ask what you're shooting at, especially on those shots past hunting range. For paper punching, you'll probably do a little better with the 300's. Depending specifically on which cartridges in each caliber you're comparing, the 300's will probably lauunch paper-punchers with a better ballistic coefficient a little faster. For hunting, the 7mm's with 160-175 grainers have a bit better sectional density for slightly better penetration than the 180 grain 30's most people use. Check your pockets and see if there's a coin you can flip.

Answer 4

First of all you should learn to stalk closer so your normal ranges would be more like 50-300 yards. It is lots more ethical to shoot game at those ranges. Wind drift, and range miscalculation get to be major factors at long ranges.

As Jack O'Connor used to say: "Shooting at long range separates the boy wind dopers from the men wind dopers." That is one reason I limit my 500 and 600 yard shooting to paper targets.

As others have said, both will do the job. I've had some bad luck with the .300 WinMag, but I guess I really have to blame the rifle more than the cartridge. All the powder burned in a .300 WinMag heats a skinny stainless sporter barrel real fast.

Even with my unhappy results, I'd have to say that the .300 WinMag would be a better choice simply because of the wide range of bullet weighs and styles available. Lets face it, with bullets ranging from 100 grains to 220 grains, and designs running from half-jacketed plinkers to some of the best expanding bullets ever designed, no small-medium bore caliber has a better selection.

If you are going to be doing lots of long range shooting, don't putz around with light sporters. Get a heavy barreled rifle. They offer better rigidity, and they don't heat up and ruin accuracy as fast. Another possibility would be a heavy fluted barrel, such as a Remington Sendero. It would be a little lighter than a plain heavy barrel, it would disipate heat faster, and allegedly is even more rigid.

If you are primarily going for long range target shooting, or even game for that matter, consider the .308 Winchester. It holds or has held nearly all the 1000 meter records, uses the same array of bullets as the .300 WinMag, and consumes nearly 20% less powder to get the job done.

Doc

Answer 5

If you are shooting animals the size of antelope use the 7mm. For moose and elk thats a bit light, but try both guns first as the 300 has a kick and concussion that makes it hard to avoid developing a flinch and a pain to work with to get accuracy at longer ranges. An antitank weapon won't get the job done if you can't hit the target.

Answer 6

either should work fine, i hunt and target shoot with a 7mm rem mag, and my dad hunts with a .300 win mag. ammo for the 7mm is a little cheaper and it shoots flatter, depending on bullet weight. .300 has quite a bit more recoil, i have a muzzle brake on my 7mm which supposedly cuts recoil up to 60%, so i find it comparable to my 30-30, recoil-wise. the .300 has more knock-down power, so that is also something to think about if u plan on hunting. i've shot quite a few groundhogs with both at up to about 300 yards, but really haven't shot much past that distance

Answer 7

I like the 7mm is made for flat shooting I know that for we would go to the desert to shoot and we would take a range finder to see how far we could hit a target at more then 500 yr. away the target were soda cans 12oz. or we would use a 20 oz. bottle fill whit flourier so we could see it when it got hit !

Answer 8

Depends on your target; what are you shooting? 300 is a better wind bucker at longer range.

Answer 9

Ditto D58*...