Is the 7mm Remington Magnum obsolete?

I don't care much for belted magnums, but the 7rm is a very good round and one I like shooting.

There are so many out there that ammo will be available for many decades to come.

it’s a great round that’ll do exactly what you want for mule deer, if it tickles your fancy go for it.

Stay safe.

If in the market for a new rifle, no; no 7 MM Remington Mag for me. I wouldn't consider it obsolete by any means. Just don't need it where I live. My friend used to hunt with it, but it is kind of overkill for this area. Obsolete never.

7mm Rem Mag has been eclipsed by 7mm RUM go big or go home...

It's a rare treat to have a discussion about something being "obsolete" where the person using the word actually knows what it means. This ain't one of `em.

My 7mag likes Speer, Sierra and Nosler 160s, even the Partition gave very good accuracy. That said, if it at most for mule deer, I'd most likely pick a 7-08 and use 140s from any of those 3 or even a Rem Core-lokt.

Certainly not even close to obsolete.
However, I wouldn't choose one simply because it isn't something that I feel the need to have.
I hunt whitetails out to about 250 yards. Heck, the .30-06 I use is "overkill" in some people's book. Not that I mind overkill, but the 7-mag just wouldn't provide me with anything I need. I don't feel comfortable in my ability to shoot a game animal past about 300 yards, and it doesn't take a belted magnum to do that.

Now that is my justification and my reasoning. I certainly don't disparage anyone who hunts whitetails with one, it certainly gets the job done with authority.

But unless elk or moose was on the menu, I wouldn't consider it, and would likely just stay with the ol' '06 in those instances as well. I'd just choose a different bullet than the one I use on whitetails.

Last I've seen 7 rem mag was the most popular magnum in the would.

No, not obsolete. It remains an outstanding cartridge for hunting, especially for those who do not reload. It's been going strong for over 50 years and I expect it will continue to do so.

As a reloader, I'm not a fan of belted cartridges, preferring a case that headspaces on the shoulder. Consequently, I would not consider a 7mm Remington Magnum. I much prefer the .280 Ackley Improved for a 7mm hunting rifle. But there are plenty of guys who happily reload their 7mm Magnums.

@CraigC, yes, many people use the word "obsolete" when they really mean "obsolescent."

The 7 mag was extremely popular for a while, but it's popularity faded for a while. But it has shown some signs of a small resurgence in recent years. It is far from obsolete.

On paper they look good and I've owned a couple over the years. At least until I bought a chronograph. If someone can actually get the advertised speeds out of one they do offer some advantages with recoil indistinguishable from 30-06. It shoots bullets of the same or similar weight as 30-06 to about the same speeds. The difference is the better aerodynamics of those weights in 7mm mean better performance down range. Think of it as a more efficient 30-06.

But all of the factory loads I tested came up short of advertised speeds and I could not get my handloads there either. I couldn't see giving up mag capacity, and paying more for ammo than my 30-06. With the real world bullet speeds I got it offered me no advantage.

If I were interested in going back to a 7mm it would probably be a 280.

I see it about on a par with a 30-06 but slightly better ballistics with the caveats of more expensive shells that aren't as widely available. I don't see myself ever buying one as I already own lighter and heavier hunting calibers, but as a one gun solution I think it's an absolutely solid choice, especially in the western US.

Buck13 said:

(Topic drift: I've never reloaded a belted cartridge. Does neck sizing alone work well?)

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When we (my wife and I) load for her 7mm Rem Mag, we adjust the sizing die down until it just barely touches the case shoulder. For that matter, that's how we size my 308 Norma Mag (another belted magnum) cases too.
It's called "partial" full-length sizing, rather than "neck" sizing, and you can find numerous sources explaining how to go about it, so I won't waste space explaining it here. I'll just say that if you full-length resize belted cases, setting the shoulders back every time you resize them, you're going to have pre-mature case head separation - at least that's what I've read.
Anyway, no I don't think the 7mm Rem Mag is obsolete, and my wife sure doesn't. But that doesn't mean I like it a lot. It might come as a surprise to anyone who has not read many of my posts, but even though I call myself ".308 Norma" (which is my 308 Norma Magnum) I'm not really a big magnum fan for North American big game hunting. Magnum cartridges work, and contrary to what some people think, they don't mess up any more meat than non-magnum cartridges, but they're not some kind of magic "ray of death" for big game.
Besides that, while my wife could load her 7mm Rem Mag up to it's full potential, she doesn't. So far, she's only used it for mule deer. And what amounts to 7mm-08+P loads, or for that matter 280 Remington loads, is all she ever shoots in it.
To be fair though, my wife got that Model 70 for a song, and had it customized. Because it happened to be chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum was just the luck of the draw.

Legionnaire said:

@CraigC, yes, many people use the word "obsolete" when they really mean "obsolescent."

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Or that they just don't like it. Or that it's less popular in their tiny neck of the woods or narrow frame of reference.

Affordable ammo is out there, even at Wal-Mart you can find it for under $25. I've shot the cheap ppu 7rm and it shot just fine.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/7mm-remington-magnum

I don’t know if any of us will live long enough to see any modern cartridge become truly obsolete. There are so many rifles in so many chamberings that ammo will always be available at some price. Is the 7mm Rem Mag’s popularity waning? Yeah, perhaps, but so is the 30-06’s and 270’s and 300 Win Mag’s. None of those four cartridges is in any real danger of being replaced though.

There will ALWAYS be the latest and greatest cartridge making a splash. Few cartridges have managed to do anything truly unique in the last hundred years and it’s mostly just a cycle of re-packaging the same performance into a new form. See 6.5x55 and 6.5 Creedmoor. Sure, there are some small improvements, but nothing earth shaking and the 7mm Rem Mag already survived it’s supposed death blow in the form of the 7mm WSM and 7mm SAUM.

So, no, the 7mm Rem Mag is not obsolete and is in no danger of becoming obsolete in our lifetime.

Buck13 said:

(Topic drift: I've never reloaded a belted cartridge. Does neck sizing alone work well?)

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Well, if you do an Internet search on that subject, you will see that it sometimes becomes a hotly debated topic.

However, I do neck size my 7mm RM and it works well for me. But whether or not it would work well for you is impossible to say in advance - there are more than a few variables. You'd just have to try it and see.

The 7 mag is STILL my all time favorite cartridge, so I'm a little biased.
I do see more of them on the range than any other belted magnum, and most guys that own one, own multiples.
If you HAVENT used one give it a try, you may not like it......or sometimes that thing we need least, becomes something we use most.
I've got no need for anything larger than a .243, but probably 7 times out 10, I'll be carrying a 7mag (or my .280, which produces similar ballistics, it just takes a couple more inches of barrel).

I agree the 7mm Remington Magnum is not obsolete, but it was never very rational for most North American game hunters in the first place. Here is my explanation for how it came about:

Otto Bock developed the rimless 9.3x62 cartridge for use in Mauser-style magazine-fed bolt action rifles which went on to achieve great popularity in Africa, displacing much more expensive English double rifles.
Holland and Holland introduced a straight-walled rimless cartridge that head-spaced on a belt because they wanted it to be rimless to work in box magazine fed bolt-action rifles, but they didn't want to headspace on the case mouth.
H&H later necked that cartridge down to create the .375 H&H Magnum cartridge which was subsequently much more popular but having a shoulder to headspace on, no longer required the belt.
Roy Weatherby was having Olin (under the Winchester name) produce magnum cartridges based on the .375 H&H for his Weatherby rifles because the brass had a large powder capacity and was widely available.
Olin wanted in on the magnum mania that Weatherby had caught onto and decided to produce their own series of magnums also based on the .375 H&H case. Winchester started with the .458 Win Mag which did make use of the belt, not having shoulders.
In 1959, Winchester introduced the small-bore .264 Winchester Magnum which promised excellent performance on everything from varmints to plains game. They knew from the beginning that such an overbore cartridge would cause throat erosion and barrel wear that was premature compared to what the market had come to expect. Therefore, they made their rifle barrels in stainless steel.
The .264 proved to be undesirable within the market for varmint rifles because customers were reluctant to burn their barrels with copious amounts of powder and lightweight bullets.
Buyers were also reluctant to shoot deer with bullets they considered to be too light to the convention. They were accustomed to 30 caliber cartridges. While the 270 might have been considered acceptable, light bullets weren't what Magnum-buying big game hunters were shopping for.
When Remington introduced the 7mm Magnum in 1962, it could be loaded with a 160 grain bullet and the ballistics looked better than .30-06 on paper. People bought it instead of the .264.
Rifle powders continued to evolve and the gap between the belted magnums and the traditional cartridges (.30-06, .270) narrowed. With velocities around 3500 fps, drag narrows this gap by punishing the cartridge with greater powder capacity more severely than the one with less. The magnums are still faster, but you pay a heavy recoil penalty for what amounts to only a little bit of velocity advantage remaining once you get past the first 100 yards.
Cartridge makers began to focus on accommodating bullets with higher ballistic coefficients and delivered designs optimized for ultra-low drag bullets like the Creedmoor and PRC series.
This doesn't make the 30-06, 270 or the belted magnums obsolete, but they could be considered old-fashion -- as in they were a fashion during an older time.

Your choice of Barnes LRX wasn't part of that fashion. Nevertheless, the 7mm Magnum is going to work well with a slow-twist barrel where it will shoot flat on big game at short ranges (under 400 yards) using lightweight copper monolithics like the Barnes 140 grain TTSX. A lot of buyers today are fascinated with ultra-low drag bullets for hitting targets well beyond 500 yards. They will need fast-twist barrels and longer bullets like the 168 grain LRX or lead core match style bullets. Those buyers are ultimately better off with 6.5 PRC.

Personally, I consider the 7 Mag appropriate for Elk and Moose but overkill for Mule Deer, Whitetail or Antelope. The Magnum case is good for flat trajectories, but we just don't need a 150 or even a 140 grain copper bullet to take that kind of game. I think 100 grains is enough. People that take deer and antelope with .243 have proven this over and over again. I would rather have a rifle that can take deer and antelope with 100 grain monos every year, and maybe step up to 120 or 130 grain monos for Elk and Moose on the rare occasion. You can do this with the .264, but by far the more popular choices are 6.5 Creedmoor and .270 Winchester. Back in the day, people wanted heavier bullets, but beginning in the 1950's they became fascinated with the high velocities and flat trajectories that magnums could give them. The more recent low-drag craze has tremendously improved ballistics at long ranges, but this may be irrelevant to most hunters. What is far more meaningful to people that hunt between 50 and 300 yards are the copper monos. These bullets perform well and are tough enough to withstand hitting game at high velocities, retaining their weight and penetrating. Therefore they can be optimized with a lightweight that enables a high velocity and flat trajectory within hunting distances. The 7mm Magnum can do that on a scale appropriate for African plains game, but within the North American context, it is really best suited for Elk and Moose.

Not so much obsolete as changing tastes. The 7RM was positioned as a flat shooting answer for western big game, but back in the day that seemed to mean 400 yards even if most shots were probably half or less that distance. I get the impression most new hunters anymore are buying the (suprisingly accurate) low cost scoped plastic bolt rifle combos usually chambered for 270, 308, 3006, or 300wm. Higher magnification optics and inexpensive laser rangefinders have taken a lot of guess work out of the shooting equation, plus modern bullets have people gravitating towards more streamlined lighter for caliber bullets with fairly flat trajectory.

My favorite rifle is chambered in 7mm rem mag. It's a great all around cartridge. It has enough popularity that it will be around for a long long time!
It has and will continue to be one of the top ten ammo sales cartridges in the u.s.

For North American game up to elk it wouldn’t even cross my mind, but it’s far from obsolete. Sure, ammo might not be as easy to get in some areas as say 30-06...but that’s far from obsolete.

With my shooting ability it’s like a more expensive ‘06 and if I needed better ballistics I’d drop below 7mm.

in a galaxy along time ago and in a far away place I acquired aRemington 700 adl from when they were made as well as the bdl's but with a different stock really cheap. I knew the kid who had bought it and he had shot one box through her... I shot the second.... it shot great! I was not into rifles then but thought it would bea good one to have and it is... I keep it for a rainy day since I have others now but it would be a great hunting gun for anything where legal in the states. I have reloading supplies and may play with it when I get the others set up properly... it makes me smile when I take it out now n again to oil her up

Buck13 said:

If you were in the market for a new rifle, would you consider the 7 mm Mag? Assume for NA game up to elk, but unlikely ever to get used for that species, so really maxed out at Mule Deer.

Thinking of only modestly priced off-the-shelf rifles. I would try to use the Barnes 168 grain LRX for elk if the rifle would shoot them, since the high weight retention would be helpful, but not sure if 1:8 twist is commonly available to stabilize a bullet that long. I reload, so scarcity of this bullet in loaded ammo isn't a problem. (Topic drift: I've never reloaded a belted cartridge. Does neck sizing alone work well?)

Conversely, it seems like one point in its favor is that the 7 mm Mag is common enough that loaded ammo is widely available in a pinch (with less exotic bullets).

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I used to consider rebarrelling my stw at its demise to 7 rem mag, (and still do) but likely will keep it in stw, there's one extreme, I WOULD like to acquire one way down the road but first I'll likely have a 7-08 and .280ai(this being the largest detractor from the rem mag for me) and really my 6&6.5 fetish is too much stronger than my 7 fetish to even pretend to put a timeline on those. From a (stupid no fun) realistic standpoint, the .223, .243, .270wsm, and 7stw cover everything I need (with some overlap) that my next logical choice SHOULD be a .375 Ruger. However the hottest 6.5 still calls to me, as does a 6 creed, and then and then and then......
So conclusion: 7 rem is awesome, not really always necessary (but who cares) do you need it for mulies? Nope, should that stop you from getting it? Nope.