Is the 7mm Remington Magnum obsolete?

If you reload, the 7mm RM can be loaded any way you want. With a 140 Hornady Interlock it can be one of the most accurate rifles you have ever seen. Over the years I have built several for friends and I still own three or four myself, including a 338 WM / 7mm RM switch barrel M-70. The 7mm RM is a very fine chambering and if you can carry your end of the log, it will do it’s job every outing.

climbnjump said:

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.

Click to expand...

I have ONLY necked sized for my centerfire rifle rounds and accuracy is great.

When loading ANY of the belted magnums, it's not a had idea to ignore the belt and neck size, or bump the shoulder only enough to get them to chammber easily.
On many factory guns the shoulder so far forward that if you put a fired case next to a full length sized case you can see a noticeable difference.

Most of my belteds get their necks bumped up a cal, then necked back down for those first firing. This is mostly to keep initial stretch to a minimum, and extend case life, but I've seen better accuracy from crush fit handloads right off the bat, than factory ammo shot in the same gun, with the same bullet, on the same day.
Your basically fireforming brass to your chamber before starting real loading
You can do the same thing by jamming a bullets into the lands, with all the warnings and caution that entails.

I have one and shoot it. I reload so I can customize my loads. Never bad to have one in the stable,it doesn't eat much unless you feed it.

Had a BDL in 7 mag, think '76 model.
It shot well and was not bad on the bench.
Sold it and got another in .300 winmag. Liked it fine, but it was a bit mean after a box from the bench ( t shirt ).
Blast and snap had my allergy hammered sinuses sloshing crud.....headache.

Sold the .300 to go .338 and never did.

Now I have a pretty .280.
So doubt i get a 7 mag.

Maybe if a Weatherby MkV w killer wood comes along ( 7mm wm ).
Just because.
Id rather have a 257 though.....just for yotes.

Armorer 101 said:

If you reload, the 7mm RM can be loaded any way you want.

Click to expand...

Sort of. It will always be a .284 caliber which in turn means you're limited to heavier bullets that will generate a lot of recoil when pushed fast enough to shoot flat or to light bullets that have more drag and less sectional density. You can hand load to slow the 7 Magnum down to lessen recoil and keep sectional density, or use lighter bullets to lessen the recoil and keep the flat trajectory, but you can't have both at the same time. Reloading won't turn it into a .257 or .264 which I think are better suited to deer. The former being fact, and the latter only my opinion.

I wouldn't call the 7mm rem magnum obsolete, but it sure is the least magnumy magnum that's ever magnumed, imo.
Never been impressed with its ballistics, for the amount of powder it uses and it's length.

Buck13 said:

Is the 7mm Remington Magnum obsolete?

Click to expand...

I guess you answered your own question in the OP. Sorry, I'm not trying to pick on you but it was a rather silly question, considering your last statement. It struck me as funny.

Buck13 said:

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).

Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of the belted magna, of which the 7mm has to be about the most popular, and if elk weren't on the menu, neither would the 7mm mag, but when I think of classic wood and steel western rifles, a Model 70 chambered in 7mm Mag is certainly one of the first to come to mind. If I were likely to max out at mulies, the 270 Win would more likely be my choice.

I bought a 7mm Rem Mag last week at a phenomenal price. It was an original Remington 700 Sendero and the pawn shop manager did not know what he had. I bought it strictly to turn around and have it re-barreled to 300 Win Mag. The short version of the story is that it shoots entirely too well to yank that barrel off of it, so I am now in the 7mm Rem Mag club after a couple decades of swearing I would never own one. Never say never.

It’s not obsolete, and it won’t become so in America until do firearms as a whole.

I was a huge fan of the 7RM for a long time. Admittedly, I became a little turned off on it when 7RM sales boomed in the early 2000’s simply due to mistaken identity when articles extolling the cross-canyon elk hunting prowess of the 7mm Remington ULTRA Magnum hit the presses, but I remained a dedicated fan to the 7RM until about 6-7yrs ago. I have also been a 30 cal magnum fan for a long time, but favored the 7rm over the 300wm for lesser recoil. But those years ago, I really decided the 7rm didn’t fit my paradigm, and likely never did. For any of my in-state hunting, Kansas, I ALMOST never need anything larger than a 6mm Creedmoor/243win/7-08 class rifle. Arguably, elk hunts here are rare enough to constitute an out of state hunt, OR the elk are typically small enough to still be tackled with ease by a 7-08... and frankly, I no longer put in for Elk in Kansas, because better tags can be drawn out of state. Then going OUT of state for anything larger than deer, I trust a 300wm more than I trust a 7RM to offer the added insurance I prefer. For long range plinking, equally, if I’m reaching past a 6 creed or 7-08; reaching past a short action cartridge; then I also reach past short action magnums and past the 7RM for at LEAST a 300wm, and in the modern state, at least for a 300PRC. I REALLY want to show love the 7RM still, and equally for the 300WSM and the newer 6.5 PRC, but I really just don’t have a hole in my life I find them to fill. If I lived in a state where bear and elk were annual fodder in my back yard, with far lower total cost invested into the hunts, then I’d still prefer a 6.5 PRC or a 300WSM over a 7RM today, but alas, I’ll never live in such a place, so today, my 7RM’s are lonely.

I would have never considered a 7mm rem mag so it was obsolete before it was invented to me. It has just never appealed to me at all. The bore size to case capacity is just off from my sweet spot. I think the case capacity is best suited to 30+ caliber. I just don't have a use for pushing the weight that the .284" has to offer as fast at the 7mm mag can push it.

Excellent round, but it seems to be falling from grace. I have had trouble selling magnums the last few years. I don't know if it is because of recoil or what. I have a gorgeous Husky 300 Win Mag that has been online for over a month and no sniffs. The same rifle in 30-06, 270, or 280 would have been gone in a week.

Few years back when typical hunting rifles became legal for deer here I got a Browning X Bolt in 7 mag. Big for deer but I got a screaming deal, and what’s not to love about Browning?

Moderate recoil, sub 1/2” three round accuracy (with my hand loads)

Edit to add to the above post....

At almost 70 Y.O. I’ve sold off most all my guns. I have only one true hunting rifle, the 7 mag. I’ll never hunt anything larger than black bear/elk and it’s obviously plenty for them. Hits as hard or harder than a .30-06, shoots as flat as a varmint rifle. As noted, extremely accurate. I’ve got a 2-12x VX-6 Firedot on it. It’s good for antelope to elk.

What else do we I need?

When I hunted I bought a 7mm Rem Mag for long range flat shooting for things like mountain goats. Still love the gun (Commercial Mauser 4000) and the cartridge, but never shoot it. I only shoot paper now and don't need the recoil.

Bob

If the 7 Mag is declared obsolete will it mean that I can no longer hunt with this pretty rifle?

That is pretty. Great wood.

I like it still has a steel but plate

I would not think “obsolete”, I would think simply off the radar because the mob has moved on to the next greatest caliber. There is a huge population of old and new calibers that basically do the same thing; the caliber getting the hype at present is the only one being worshiped. The talk goes on and on and then it shifts to talking about another caliber that goes on and on. I shoot the .308 because that is what I am familiar with and that is what I own. If I was familiar with and owned the 7 RM, or any other of another 100 different calibers, that would be fine also.

All my favorite calibers for hunting are "obsolete". .243, 25-06, .270, .308, 30-06, .300 win mag, .35 Rem...I suspect that for the most part I am "obsolete" as well! Heck, I still use a flip-phone! I did use a rangefinder once though!!

Offfhand said:

If the 7 Mag is declared obsolete will it mean that I can no longer hunt with this pretty rifle?View attachment 932440 View attachment 932442 View attachment 932445

Click to expand...

You can't hunt with it now! You put one ding in that stock and I'm telling my momma! Lol! Beautiful!

I agree, why risk dinging that stock. Unless you are a hunter that sets up a bench and hunts that way, then sure.

To me, Obsolete means either it doesn’t work anymore or it has been so outdated as to be of no use or a very poor choice for effective performance.

Neither condition is true for this round.

There are lots of other choices, to be sure, but that doesn’t take away from the performance of this round.

ob·so·lete

adjective

1. no longer in general use; fallen into disuse: an obsolete expression.
2. of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date: an obsolete battleship.

ob·so·les·cent

adjective

1. becoming obsolete; passing out of use, as a word: an obsolescent term.
2. becoming outdated or outmoded, as machinery or weapons.

The 7mm Remington Magnum is still produced and used popularly, and will be for a long time. It is (arguably) becoming outdated or outmoded, thanks to such cartridges as the .280 Ackley Improved, the .28 Nosler, and the 7mm Remington Ultra Mag.