Shocking revalations, .30-06 vs. 7mm Rem mag

ballistics data for the 7mmRM shows it out performing the 06 by about 100fps and 150 ft-lb at the muzzle with the same weight/type projectiles. as for why the 7mm takes so much more powder to do that i can only assume that the law of diminishing returns plays a big part. basically with similar case and projectile weight the amount of energy imparted to the projectile hits a peak value. at which time adding more powder will give you less and less energy per grain.

Does the 7mm have any ballistic edge on the '06?

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Yes, but so slight that I rather doubt whatever you shoot with either round will know the difference.

The 30-06 will have an economic edge over the 7MM mag when you start pricing ammo.

We reload!

The BC of a 7mm bullet has a slight advantage, but a 7mmMag kicks a bit much for my taste.

Have you considered a 7mm-08?

If you want a hunting rifle where 300 yds would be about the maximum distance you'd ever shoot then either would be fine but for anything beyond 300yds the 7mm mag retains about 36% more energy and has around 25% less bullet drop than the -06. with a 150gr bullet.

From a reloading perspective I would rather have a non-belted cartridge.

One of the things I learned from Handloader....

increasing the powder increases velocity at 25% of that rate (with the same bullet weight). For example, if you increase powder by 10%, it increases velocity by 2 1/2%. Seems pretty consistent.

If you go to a larger diameter bullet, the pressure has a larger area to push against, but you also have to push more air once the bullet leaves the barrel.

I recently went through the same thing when purchasing a new Savage rifle. I was very close to going with a 7mm Rem Mag for the retained energy but then I realized it's very unlikely I'll be shooting further than 300 yds and I already had all the reloading equipment for the 06 so I stuck with the 06.

I vote for the .30-06.
You can use up to a 220 gr bullet in the .30-06.
Ammo is less expensive and you can still find surplus to shoot.
There seems to be a larger variety of bullets and factory ammo available.
Reloading belted brass is harder and the brass has a shorter life span.
Less recoil.

The only real difference between the 7mmRM & the '06 is way down range where the better ballistic coefficient of the 7mm bullets of equal weight help with downrange terminal ballistics. But the '06 handles a greater variety of bullet weights better (heavier for the most part) than the 7mm. Also, the '06 is more efficient using less powder than the 7mmRM. I've had '06's & currently have a 7mmRM. The only reason I still have the 7mmRM is the darn thing shoots .5" groups at 200 yds. I've never had a rifle that accurate before & just can't bring myself to sell it.
If I were to buy all over I'd definitely get an '06.

How about a .280 Remington or 7mm-08?

But, if I had to choose between the two you stated, I'd go with .30-06.

06 for sure. Them two cartridges are so closely matched it just don't matter. Chief aka Maxx Load

30-06 vs.7mm Mag.

Check the price for factory ammo and then see what ya think! Compare the same brand and as close to same bullet weight and it'll tell ya what ya want to know!

When I began whitetail hunting, I bought a 7mm RUM. Talk about overkill. I loaded 89 grains of RL22 which pushed a 140 grain bullet at 3400+ FPS and factory ammo was $40.

I've since sold that gun as I've found a deer doesn't know the difference between the above 7mm load and a 150 gr. 30-06 bullet moving at around 2900 FPS w/ 49.5 grains of IMR4064. The 30-06 load produces consistant .5" to .75" groups. With the RUM, goups were also small, but I was done after 3 rounds.