Is the 7mm Remington Magnum obsolete?

rkittine said:

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

Click to expand...

I have never understood this. Why deny yourself the pleasure of hunting with such a fine rifle? There are worse things in life than dings. A fine rifle like that languishing alone in the safe being one of them.

I doubt the 7mm Rem mag will ever be obsolete. I shot one for a while. Then I shot one of my buddies 300 Win mags, and realized it recoiled about the same as the 7mm. For a magnum rifle, I believe the 300 mag is better, has more punch and knockdown power. As far as magnum rifles go, most could use a less. I bought a Kimber 84m, in 7mm08 several years ago. I bought it for my little girl, she thought she would like to hunt with me. Turns out she didn’t care for hunting. I love the 7mm08. There is just something magic about a 7mm 140 grain bullet. I have never had a deer to go more than just a few yards and most drop where they were standing. A light, easy shooting rifle, that doesn’t wear you out carrying, that puts game down is sure nice. For deer and such, a magnum rifle is overkill.

Here's a 2019 article by Ron Spomer in Outdoor Life.

7mm Magnum Showdown: 7mm Rem Mag vs. 28 Nosler vs 7mm RUM

At the end of the day, the author still favors the 7mm Remington Magnum for most hunting applications.

Why does it both people when a cartridge they like gets the title obsolete applied to it (validly or not)? I am going to hunt deer next year with a rifle chambered in a cartridge that is about as obsolete as obsolete can be in the firearms world. No one, and I mean no one, is currently making a rifle chambered in the cartridge. Only one company is currently making ammo and brass for it, and they do so only at very intermittent intervals and that company just declared bankruptcy, for the second time. Does that bother me? Not in the least, if anything it makes me more excited to take my scrap-bin rifle into the woods this fall.

Is the 7mm Remington Magnum obsolete? The better question would be does the 7mm Remington Magnum meet your needs?

I would also argue that it is impossible for any cartridge to be obsolete for hunting and individual use assuming the individual is capable of sourcing the required resources to use it. As an example the 30-06 is obsolete as a combat rifle cartridge yet it still serves the individual hunter just fine.

Doesn't bother me; I just enjoy the discussion. For the record, the 7mm Remington Magnum is not my first choice of .284 cartridges: I prefer the .280 AI in a standard length and the 7mm-08 in a short action. I'd even reach for the No. 1 in 7x57 (talk about obsolescent) before a 7mm Rem Mag.

With wood that nice, if I was going to go running around in the woods hunting, I would just get a simple stock to put on it during hunting season and save that beautiful, early wood.

troy fairweather said:

I like it still has a steel but plate

Click to expand...

I like curved steel butt-plates too, they add a lot of class to a nice rifle. Even better, this one has a skeleton plate, and grip cap..

I think when some people say "obsolete", they really mean "not as popular as it used to be".
I still love the 7mm Rem Mag. My favorite deer cartridge of all time. That and 264 Win Mag... Go figure.

troy fairweather said:

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

Click to expand...

I can certainly see that. In my area there is a pocket of 7mm mag shooters. Let me tell ya. If my uncle sees a deer anywhere between his nose and 750yds during deer season its as goos as venison in the freezer... I'll just say that my 3o-o6 does just fine at the sub 300yd ranges I hunt. Inside of 75yds the 357 on my hip takes on the task pretty well to boot!!

The 7mm has such good ballistics that itwit be around for a long time. The round can drop any game, hold terminal velocity well past a 1,000 yards, and does not nose dive like a 30-06 at distance.

Buck13 said:

So, .25 Remington?

Would the word "obsolete" pass muster in THAT case?

Click to expand...

Right company but a much newer and yet more obsolete cartridge. You can still find 25 Remington ammo made by a few specially loaders and Remington still runs batches infrequently. I will be hunting this season with an AR with a nonstandard upper, barrel extension, bolt, and magazine unique to this relatively new yet obsolete cartridge, 30 Remington AR. Remington is the only producer of ammo and no one else has chambered a production rifle in this cartridge but Remington. Only a bit over a decade since it's introduction and yet it could be the poster child for the word obsolete.

Buck13 said:

.280 AI seems brilliant, from what I've read (never seen one in the wild, AFAIK), and I'd love to have one, but I barely need a hunting rifle, so I'm interested in a modestly priced, off the shelf model, and then there's the appeal of sticking with a cartridge common enough not to be required to reload every round.

Certainly the improbability that I'll actually ever go elk hunting makes the 7-08 the most sensible choice, really. The main thing that inhibits me is that I had a .243 long ago, and it left me with a little sadness when I look at tables of rifle load data that don't start with a 3. With my skills, I really shouldn't be taking shots much over 200 yards, but I still love the idea of crazy velocity and a flat tradjectory.

A 7 x 57 would be fun as a piece of history. For that matter, I'm also tempted by the 6.5 mm Swedish, but I've convinced myself that I shouldn't go below 7 mm.

Click to expand...

The 280ai is that good, and 7x57 is a classic but does the hard work to mine gets out every year.

Buck13 said:

To be honest, the caliber I really want is the .270 Winchester, but for the silliest of reasons: something about the proportions of the loaded cartridge just looks perfect to me.

Click to expand...

I don't think there's are darned thing "silly" about liking a cartridge because of how it looks. Besides, the 270 Winchester works - the one I had never failed me, not even once.
However, this thread is about the 7mm Remington Magnum. So to stay on topic, I'll say this - I like how the 7mm Remington Magnum "looks" too. It's nicely "proportioned," and (cover your ears belt haters) it has a belt. I like how belts look on cartridges.

.308 Norma said:

I don't think there's are darned thing "silly" about liking a cartridge because of how it looks. Besides, the 270 Winchester works - the one I had never failed me, not even once.
However, this thread is about the 7mm Remington Magnum. So to stay on topic, I'll say this - I like how the 7mm Remington Magnum "looks" too. It's nicely "proportioned," and (cover your ears belt haters) it has a belt. I like how belts look on cartridges.

Click to expand...

I'd like em better if the belted cartridge had a cartridge belt, think of a moon clip looking think around an 8mm mag holding .223s/.308 classes, if the 3-5 lil reloads don't get it done, chamber the big boy lol!

Buck13 said:

So, .25 Remington?

Would the word "obsolete" pass muster in THAT case?

Click to expand...

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/71101
https://www.buffaloarms.com/25-remington-ammunition-117-grain-jsp-box-of-20-amo25rem
Not dead yet.......

mcb said:

30 Remington AR

Click to expand...

Ded, dead.......

CraigC said:

I have never understood this. Why deny yourself the pleasure of hunting with such a fine rifle? There are worse things in life than dings. A fine rifle like that languishing alone in the safe being one of them.

Click to expand...

LoL. I get what you're saying but if I dinged that beauty I'd be sick. Too many cheap rifles that shoot great to do that. Id hunt with them and keep that one for looking at.

Not me. I take more pleasure in using them. I'd rather ding up a fine rifle while hunting with it than hunt with a cheap one.

CraigC said:

Not me. I take more pleasure in using them. I'd rather ding up a fine rifle while hunting with it than hunt with a cheap one.

View attachment 933090

View attachment 933091

View attachment 933092

Click to expand...

That is beautiful

And Craig your flintlock would be another one I wouldn't risk dings on. That is a seriously beautiful piece.

I got it three or four years ago when I found the one I was using had a cracked wrist. I paid nearly $3000 for it and two weeks later, it had dings in the stock from hunting with it. I consider myself truly blessed to be able to own such a fine rifle.......and put dings in it.

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).

Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider obsolete. But it is extremely unnecessary in 90% of the situations I hunt.
New bullet technology made it possible for a 280 to be as effective as the 7rm was when it was new.
I am not a fan of larger than necessary cartridges.