7mm Rem Mag vs 270 Win

Those numbers must have been written by Jack O'Connor cult members

I had a similar choice years ago and went with 270 Win. Nothing wrong with 7mm Rem Mag but the 270 Win is just a bit more friendly all around IMHO.

I am a fan of neither cartridge. The 7 mag is overbore and hammers me too much. Jack O'Connor was delusional with his devotion to the .270.

I would opt for a .280 or a .25-06 for deer with Accubonds or Nosler partitions. Nothing short of a grizzly will be a problem'

You really need to decide what you are going to do with said rifle. If .270 is enough buy one and practice. If recoil is too much with the magnum, will you practice? Also, recoil is subjective by individual, so taking someone 's opinion is not going to help if you develop a flinch.

Good Luck

Ok Jack fans here it is.

The 7mm Rem Mag can do everything that the 270 can, but the 270 win can't do everything that the 7mag can.

Ive owned several 7mm Mags and a couple 270s. Bought them all when I was "going to get into hunting more" times of my life and it's always ended up with me selling them because Im not much of a hunter.

The 7 Mag definitely has more recoil but I wouldnt say it was A LOT more. I pretty much only ever shot 140 grain 7mm and 130 grain 270.

If I were to do it again Id go with the 270. Lower recoil (not much, but lower) and cheaper ammo. Plus it will kill elk fine, which would be the largest game I would hunt.

My advice is not to fixate on the cartridge, but rather focus on how / what / when / where you intend to use your new gun.

Gun weight matters a whole lot for recoil. Both of these are sub MOA 7mm Rem Mags. The M70 weighs 11 pounds and is fun to shoot all day. The 7.4 pound Tikka with sling is fun for about 3 rounds. The M70 kills steel and paper. The Tikka kills things I eat. Both shoot my preferred 175gr bullets. ELD-X or Gamekings.

I own an X-Bolt 7 mag. The X-Bolt has a very effective recoil pad. IMO, recoil is quite tolerable, and I’m 5’ 7”, 170#. Accuracy is exceptional.

Kinda funny but related story. Mine is a SHOT show limited edition. They had mine and a .270. I didn’t hesitate a bit, and I’m still very happy with my decision.

If you get it, I have a new, unused one piece DNZ scope mount. Actually I’d give it to you. I have no use for it. I think it’s 1”.

TSchwab25 said:

Im not concerned with price of ammo as I will be handloading

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As a handloader, you don't need to run that 7mm Mag "full bore." My wife uses loads in her Winchester 70, 7mm Rem Mag that are more like 280 Remington loads, or 7mm-08+P loads than full-house 7mm Rem Mag loads. The fact is, the only reason my wife bought that Model 70 in the first place is because she wanted to have a big game rifle customized to suit her own whimseys, and the barely used Model 70 she found to have customized just happened to be a 7mm Rem Mag.
Besides, using reduced charges of SR 4759 powder, and little 130gr bullets, my wife practices with her 7mm Rem Mag off and on all summer. Then come fall, using a recoil shield, my wife runs a few 160gr Speer Grand Slams over medium charges of RL22 though her rifle just to make sure it's "on" before deer season starts. She never even feels her 7mm Rem Mag go off when she's shooting at a nice mule deer buck.
My wife hasn't had the chance to use her 7mm Rem Mag on an elk yet. There's not a doubt in my mind it would work well for that though.

@TSchwab25 IMO the 7mm Rem Mag recoil is manageable. You mentioned that you are a handloader so you can develop sweet loads as @.308 Norma mentioned and step it up when you want more.

I have shot Hornady reduced recoil loads out of mine for testing when I borrowed it to someone that was recoil sensitive.
I have primarily used 154 grain inter bond and SST. From a lighter rifle.

I split the difference with a 270WSM. 130gr @ 3300fps.

WisBorn said:

The 7mm Rem Mag can do everything that the 270 can, but the 270 win can't do everything that the 7mag can.

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Not "everything" if barrel life, muzzle blast and recoil are factors that are important to an individual shooter. Speaking strictly "ballistics", your point is unassailable.

Have you looked at the 6.8 Western instead? Between .270 and 7mm RM I'd go .270. But the 6.8 Western is a more modern, better version of the .270, basically a .270 WSM with the faster twist rate the .270 WSM should have had to begin with.

SwampWolf said:

Not "everything" if barrel life, muzzle blast and recoil are factors that are important to an individual shooter. Speaking strictly "ballistics", your point is unassailable.

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A hand loader can always download a larger cartridge to some degree. Duplicating 270 Winchester performance with a 7 mag isn't really that difficult.
But equally, if you're going to shoot a 7 mag basically as a 270, why lose the extra round in the magazine and burn the extra powder?

In a factory rifle, I honestly don't see a huge difference in on game performance or general hunting distance ballistics for most of the cartridges from 6.5 Creedmoor all the way up to the 7 mag.... And I own a fair spread of them lol.

The rifle I was buying would dictate the cartridge I preferred in it I think. With the X-bolt, I would choose a 7 mag, mostly because of personal preference in the cartridge and only a little bit because of any practical advantage.
Something lighter like a Kimber or other ultralight, especially one that has a different action size for 06 diameter cartridges then it does for Magnums, I would definitely choose the 270 ( for my personal preference, the 280 AI)..... But again, that's all personal preference.

I own 2-.270’s, a 7mmMag a 7mm-08, and 6-.30/06’s!

The .270 shoots as flat as a 7mm-mag, kicks about like a reduced recoil load in an ‘06. Barrel life is slightly less than an ‘06, but much better than a .243...
The 7mmRemMag was designed, intended, and created as a gun that shot a 160gr 7mm bullet as flat as a .300H&H mag with a 180gr bullet, but recoils like a .30/06... John R. Sundra, a gun writer of the late ‘50’s and 60’s and co-hort of JCO’Connor was in on the design with technical staff of Remington.
The 7mag was designed as a “Loaner rifle” for outfitter/guides to loan guest elk hunters. 1st an elk gun secondary a “deer” rifle.
The 7mmRemMag has reached ubiquitous status akin to the .30/30 and .30/06, and .243.
I say this as a 25yr career game warden who saw many put to use.

Like a previous poster stated, YOUR intended use dictates your choice.
If deer/antelope/black bear is your primary use, with Elk and Moose secondary, get a .270.
If Elk are primary, get a 7mag. If hunting timber or where Brown/Grizzly are prevalent, get a .375Ruger.....

I bought my 7mag (Remington M700), on clearance at Walmart for less than 4 bills, out the door. Less than a barrel in .280AI.. I already had brass (range pickups), components (same as 7mm08), and dies (Lee bought for $10 at flea market). It has a synthetic stock, a 26”bbl. shoots MOA... Uses powders I bought 20yrs ago for $5/lb.(WC860, H4831).

Recoil is indistinguishable from a .30/06.
Neither is on-game performance, to 400yds....
You won’t likely see any useful difference between the 7mag with a 174/175gr bullet vs. your 6.5Creed with a 140gr bullet. If a little more recoil is a concern, just stick with the little 6.5.
BTW, I also have a RemM-7 in .260Rem.... NOT my choice for elk, but it would do...

Your pick!

Last years deer shot with .260. 120gr Speer HotCor @2,870fps. Range? 22yds! Entered left front shoulder, lodged in paunch. 140gr @2,650fps (20”bbl) would have exited. Did I mention that it’s a 1/2 MOA shooter w/120-123gr match bullet over RL17, RL22, H4350 or IMR4350. Gags on Varget!

I am not a particular fan of either but I would get the 270 for one simple reason. The 270 will be a 22" barrel and the 7mm will be a 26" barrel, I and don't want a deer rifle with a 26" barrel.

If it were my money being spent it would be a 280 or 30-06 just because of personal preference.

IF, I was going to hunt bigger big game, I'd hands down, pick the 7 Rem. mag.. Loaded with 175NP's it's BIG medicine even for brown bear.

The 270 Win. is no equal, but as a deer/blk. bear cartridge, a 270 is more than enough.

My personal pick for a lower 48 all around cartridge, (by far) is the .280 Remington.

DM

Others have mentioned…stock, fit, pad, weight, and etc….

For reference: https://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

I've read several people comment that a 7mm mag was just a loud 270.

In the real world I doubt if it would make much difference to most game animals at typical hunting ranges. You can get 2950 fps from a 270 with 150 gr bullets, 3050 fps from a 7 mag, and you need 4" more barrel to get that 100 fps. The 7 mag will have an advantage in that it shoots bullets that are more aerodynamic, and it will also handle 160-175 gr bullets. Most 270's won't shoot anything heavier than 150 gr accurately.

I'll throw 30-06 into the mix. All 3 rounds, 7mag, 270, and 30-06 shoot similar bullet weights to similar speeds. With similar recoil. The difference is that in similar weights, 7mm bullets are more aerodynamic. And 30-06 will handle 200-220 gr bullets whereas 270 tops out at about 150 and 7mm at around 175 gr.

The 270 is a slowly dying round. As is 30-06 for that matter. The 7mm Rem mag is experiencing somewhat of a revival due to the interest in long range shooting.

I'd be looking at 280 or 7-08. That way you get the advantages of high BC bullets in a rifle that holds 4-5 rounds in the mag vs only 3 for a magnum. You'll get less recoil, and no game animal will ever notice.

A 280 will shoot the same 150 gr bullets at 2950 fps. Same as 270, but with more aerodynamic bullets. Even the 7-08 will be close to 2800 fps. Either of those is an elk round at 500 yards. How far can you shoot?

I had a Remington BDL in 7MM Mag and the recoil was much less than my Remington Model 721 in 30-06. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another 7MM Mag! As an aside, neither of these rifles kicked as hard as my friend's 300 H&H in a Winchester Model 70 that I sighted in for him one time. Damn that was a kicking beast!

Go for a 280 Ackley Improved build

Not very helpful. So I say 270 win, but I only shoot Whitetail and my max is 250-300 yards. Deer would never know the difference if they got hit by a "mag" or not.

troy fairweather said:

Those numbers must have been written by Jack O'Connor cult members

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Well done, amigo. I needed this tonight, thank you!