Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire My son is trying to decide between a 30-06 and 7mm Rem Mag

Truth!

easy, Granddads rifle

My thought exactly!

They still maken 7mm???.....lol

The only elk I ever shot was with a 7mag. Could just as easily taken it with my 30/06. My two 7mags can be a little more finicky, at least for me, to reload but certainly not a game changer. My two 30/06s seem to shoot whatever they are fed. If forced down to getting rid of all but one rifle, I would keep my father's M70 pre-64 30/06. If given the choice for two, I would include my father's M70 7mag.

Yep. No brainer.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I can't imagine having the opportunity to own Grandpa's or Dad's rifle and not taking it, whatever the caliber!

(But all else equal, I'd take the '06)

Can't beat .30-06 for flexibility. I'm persuaded by the argument that magnumizing the 7mm didn't increase its effectiveness on larger big game, only the flatness of its trajectory, whereas the .30-06 with the heaviest bullets has long been proven against the largest American big game.

Yup no brainer you allready know the 06 is a proven gun with family background. Mb

I suspect that sales of 30-06 cartridges are at least 10 times the sales of 7RM. Ron Spomer did an article on that a few years ago.

Whenever some company introduces a new rifle, one of the chamberings is usually 30-06. Usually one is not 7RM.

There is a reason for all that.

To be fairrrrrrrrrr

I'd shoot an elk with a 7/08 and feel okay about it.

For sure, if he can get his hands on it.

To be faiiiiiirrrrr.....

30-06. Keep it in the family. I've compared the two before and wondered why anyone would go with the 7mm Magnum for the same reasons as you.

About 30 years ago there was an article in one of the gun rags about a failure of the 7mm Magnum to stop a brown bear attack, i.e., center mass hit, but the bear tore the hunter up. I think he was killed.

Nothing wrong with the 7MM Rem Mag but if you reload it only has an advantage over the 30.06 with the lighter bullets. If you have a 30.06 with a 24" barrel it will shoot the 165 gr and 180 gr bullets about as fast as the 7mm Rem Mag shoots the 160 gr and 175 gr bullets with a lot less powder. The trajectories will be nearly identical.

Simple, since he can afford them now he needs to get both BEFORE he gets married. Anything other than that would be foolish on his part.

[Linked Image]
Image shows 30-06 is #13 and 7mmRM is #22 in popularity of 91 cartridges.

I own (12) 7mmRM rifles and (13) 30-06 rifles.
I own (2) 7mmRM reamers and (0) 30-06 rearmers.

When I buy a 30-06 in Rem700 or pre 64 Win M70, I convert them to 25-06, 6.5-06, 270, or 280 Ackley.

When I buy a 7mmRM in Rem700, I convert them to 7mmRM with a better barrel.

I have never hunted with a 30-06, but I have hunted with my brother when he fielded 30-06. When he lived in Seattle he got great groups at 100 yards and thought that was the answer. He has since moved 900 miles East [where we sight in to 600 yards] and converted to 7mmRM and shot lots of antelope, deer, and elk.

Where we hunt is over sage brush. hay fields, and wheat fields. Last year he pulled a trailer behind his pick up to load the deer that were eating from hay stacks. He was hitting does in the neck at 500 yards.

30-06 every time.