How many have left the magnums behind for something smaller

[harv3589]

Just curious how many have left the magnums behind in favour of something smaller for their all round rifle?

[David Henry]

250-3000 Savage. seems to work for me and I am careful with the shots I take. D.H.

[58thecat]

6-284 as a wildcat but if I was to go to a newer fancy rig 7-08.....but the ol 303 is about as heavy a hitter I would need too....when was younger needed the magnum but realized it wasn't at all.....

[roper1]

From the time I was 15 to about 40, I shot an iron sights '06. Switched to a 300WM with a nice scope, be years if ever before I went back.

[elkhunter11]

I just went with a smaller magnum again. The 338×8mm, and the 300RUMs are gone, back to the 7mmstw.

[Dubious]

300wm and swapped to 25-06AI I prefer the 25 it’s still fast and they both do the trick on elk.

[Deer Hunter]

Bullets are really good now so I can run a lighter smaller caliber bullet faster and not have to deal with big cases and recoil.

[GrandSlam]

Had just about every magnum up to .460 Wby. My .30/06, .444 and .30/30 are the go to now.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by GrandSlam

Had just about every magnum up to .460 Wby. My .30/06, .444 and .30/30 are the go to now.

What did you ever shoot with the 460? I'd love to hear how it did.

[GrandSlam]

Originally Posted by sns2

What did you ever shoot with the 460? I'd love to hear how it did.

Unfortunately just paper. The .378 was much worse. Older Mark V with lighter contour barrel and no brake. Just wicked.

[daveyn]

Started out with a 30-06 for my deer gun
Moved to a .270 and loved that gun, It got stolen
replaced it with a 7mm
replaced that with a 270 wsm, which I really like, I mean it says magnum but is it really?

[birdseye]

Sorry not down but up,my sons both started with the 243,the adult son is was using a 300 win,but he passed his journeymen ticket and was givin a 300wby accumark,and the youngest is jumping up to the 300 win,and myself I’m back into archery more,but when I go back to rifles it will be a 338 Rum and or a 378wby,still feeling young and going up for as long as poss lol

[kujoseto]

Currently running 30-06, 7mm-08, and 9x57 (yes, 9mm) and I don’t see myself going back to magnums.
If anything bigger, I’d maybe go 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 but what will they do on Alberta big game that the 30-06 won’t?


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[Dean2]

So many miss the point. A 30-30 will do the job. Choosing faster, bigger, noisier is strictly about the fun factor. If you just want to shoot stuff a flintlock 54 will get the job done. A 460 Weatherby does exactly the same outcome just a way to have more and having something unique to play with.

[Scottmisfits]

I got the chance to shoot my 7mm RM yesterday with some handloads and was pretty disappointed to be honest.
I was shooting some loads out of my 308 as well.
7mm avg velocity on my fastest test load was 2893fps, avg velocity on my best load was 2820. That was wasn’t the best from a group size perspective but from an SD and ES perspective.
My 308 avg velocity of the best group in all respects was 2828fps.

For the extra powder, extra punch, extra price, extra hype, I was expecting a little more. I can't really say that I’m surprised after the reading about the 7mm, just kinda confirmed why I’m not really a magnum guy.i will continue to develop it and use it but highly doubt I’ll look at the magnums again.

[aulrich]

338wm to 270win at least for deer. I still have the 338 but mostly she is a safe queen now still an awsome gun just big for deer.

[catnthehat]

Many people can shoot the big cartridges well , but many can't and would be better served getting away from them .
However they have convinced themselves they need them.
I was speaking with a friend just the other day and told him I had found some 7mm bullets and did had wsnt them.
His response was that he traded that 7 mag for a 243 and had never been happier - less recoil and more one shot kills , with no sore shoulders from extended range visits!
Cat

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by Scottmisfits

I got the chance to shoot my 7mm RM yesterday with some handloads and was pretty disappointed to be honest.
I was shooting some loads out of my 308 as well.
7mm avg velocity on my fastest test load was 2893fps, avg velocity on my best load was 2820. That was wasn’t the best from a group size perspective but from an SD and ES perspective.
My 308 avg velocity of the best group in all respects was 2828fps.

For the extra powder, extra punch, extra price, extra hype, I was expecting a little more. I can't really say that I’m surprised after the reading about the 7mm, just kinda confirmed why I’m not really a magnum guy.i will continue to develop it and use it but highly doubt I’ll look at the magnums again.

Don't know how heavy a bullet you are trying to push out of the 7 Rem but with a 162 grain you should have no problem getting an accurate load to do 3000 fps and a 140 at 3200. If you are going to shoot the magnums you might as well get the performance they are capable of producing. With modern powders you can also get some pretty great speed out of the 308 with 150, 2950 fos or 165 grain at 2850 so like you said there isn't a huge advantage to the 7RM at the same bullet weight.

[Scottmisfits]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Don't know how heavy a bullet you are trying to push out of the 7 Rem but with a 162 grain you should have no problem getting an accurate load to do 3000 fps and a 140 at 3200. If you are going to shoot the magnums you might as well get the performance they are capable of producing. With modern powders you can also get some pretty great speed out of the 308 with 150, 2950 fos or 165 grain at 2850 so like you said there isn't a huge advantage to the 7RM at the same bullet weight.

165 gr in the 308 using IMR4166.
150gr in the 7mm using H4350.

We were also testing my buddies 7mm with the same loads as mine. His best was at 2816 with a half grain more powder. We still need to work on his. Start with a very good cleaning as he doesn’t know the last time it was cleaned and the best we could do at 100 yards was 1.65 MOA.

Honestly, with the recoil they were already producing, I don’t see why I would want to make it intentionally worse. I shot 17 rounds of 7mm, 24 rounds of 6.5CM, and then went gopher hunting after that with the 22. Obviously the 22 doesn’t do anything but with the recoil from the 7mm, my shoulder is quite sore today. Honestly, I’d jump all over heading out again today, but it’s still not a rifle I’d think about grabbing for a day at the range even though I quite like the rifle so far.

[Ram94]

I recently went from 7RM to a 7mm-08 that’s 2 lbs lighter. My take on it, is the 08 will push the same 162gr. bullet with enough energy inside of 500 yards to cleanly kill all species in Alberta. I shoot it more accurately than my 7RM and I have a smaller/lighter/handier rifle to tote around.

Beyond 500 is where the magnum shines though. (I won’t shoot at an animal beyond that anyways, but I can see the benefit for guys that have the skills to do so)


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