7mm vs 30-06

Thank you for the links to ballistic tables.
I cant wait forthe field report.

A question arises since you threw in .270 Win. I have so far a 308, 7x57, .243 and a 7mm Rem Mag for hunting and targets. I want to know where does the 270 fit in? I understand it is a very popular cartridge in US. Also, I am curious to know if for my next gun a 270 or 30.06 will be a better choice, given what I have already?

I know there are other great calibers but they are not available in Pakistan. Even when you find a used rifle you can't fine ammo.
 
If you are content at loafing the .30-06 out at 2650 fps, and compare it to a 7mm at 2900 fps, then you have some ballistical differences. However, if you load the .30-06 up to where it performs the best at the 2900 fps mark and then compare it to the 7, then the difference in ballistics are not much different.

I am running my .30-06 right close to 2950 fps with 165 gr boat tails. I can do anything you can do with your 7mm, with less powder, with less recoil, with less muzzleblast, longer case life, and less meat damage.
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All true.:cool:
 
Firepower,

I for one don't know what calibers you currently have. If you already have a big gun like a 300 Win Mag, there is no need to get a 7MM Rem Mag. The 300 Win Mag will be perfect. If you are limited by choices of ammo, I would either get the 30-06 or the 270 Win. I've had both. If I had to pick one for likes, I guess the better all around choice due to bullet selection as far as range of weight in grs, the 30-06 will be the way to go.

You said you wanted to see some ballistic performance tables on the 270.


http://www.federalcartridge.com/bal...firearm=1&bc=0.432&muzzvel=3060&bulletwgt=130

http://www.federalcartridge.com/bal...firearm=1&bc=0.496&muzzvel=2950&bulletwgt=140

http://www.federalcartridge.com/bal...&firearm=1&bc=0.48&muzzvel=2830&bulletwgt=150

http://www.federalcartridge.com/bal...firearm=1&bc=0.377&muzzvel=3400&bulletwgt=110
 
the 7 mm maus and the 30-06 are loved rifles in africa. my sugestion is this. have a look at the 8mm mauser, that compares better with the 06. 30-06 / 7mm or 8mm, if that is the choice will go with the 06. it is importend to say this- you are considering two of the best hunting rifles ever build, while doing that why not go 300wm? it is above mentioned +20%. if you dont like the wm recoil build the ultimate nl a 300H&H. same recoil as the 270 but more speed than a 300wm.this calibre is a well cept secret of the african hunter. and dont forget the H&H allure
 
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I have used both with great results, but am sticking mainly to the 30-06 because its not as loud as my 7mag, and I have tons of ammo for it.
 
I would love to get a 300 or even 375 not to forget 700 nitro!

That said, unfortunately these calibers are not available in Pakistan. Even when you find a rifle in those big bores you are out of luck for bullets.

Recoil and noise are no problem.

Today I did purchase a 7mm Mag. Now I want to scope it, and would like to know what is highest power scope best suit for this caliber?

I might buy 30-06 as well in future as I have found one with engravings. Its German with some very strange name starting with O.
 
Like many a post, 7mm Remington Mag has flatter trajectory, because it has more case capacity resulting in higher velocity.

.30-06 can do 220gr bullets. Biggest I've seen for 7mm is 175gr factory load and 180gr target bullet.

For those long shots(1000 yards) with a BDC scope across a canyon to drop that prize elk, the 7mm Mag.

My coworkers and I shot a .30-06 Ruger m77 and a Remington 700 (SPS?) in Rem. 7mm Mag on the same day. The 7mm Mag had a lot more felt recoil and sharper recoil. .30-06 was more like a push. They were both very loud. Both were factory rounds, can't remember the bullet grain.

Bought 150gr Winchester 7mm Mag at Wally World for 20$.
 
7MM mag?

Im wondering why the 7mm mag is considered better than the .270 or .280?? They have almost identical muzzle velocities. The 7mm mag shoots a 160 grain at around 2950fps and the .270 or .280 with a 150 grain is the same. Wheres the difference? My thoughts are that the 7mm mag isnt all that its made out to be when a .270 or .280 can do the same thing.:confused: I have a few rifles in different cals. but my favorite is the 300 win mag. With the muzzle brake it kicks like a .243. Yes the muzzle blast is more but its worth it because it kicks like a sissy gun now.
 
Mike,

The 280 Rem is very close in ballistics to the 7MM Rem Mag. But if you go to the Federal website and look at ballistic charts, you will see that the 7MM Rem Mag has about 150fps advantage when comparing the same weight bullets between the 2 cartridges. It isn't much like you said. Actually the 280 Rem is one cartridge that should be a lot more popular than it is. It is really one of the best all around calibers out there. It will pretty well do it all.
 
The .280 never caught on well because the fact that the 7mm Rem Mag was already popular and Remington chambered the cartridge in the wrong rifle to start. While the 740 and 760’s are good rifles they should have brought it out in M700 bolt action first and I think you would have seen greater success. Don’t get me wrong the .280 has a very loyal following and it is much deserved.

The truth is with a .270, .280, 7mm Rem Mag, .308, & .30-06 really there isn't a hill of beans difference between all of these rifle cartridges and their terminal performance on game. You can compare SD and BC all day and tout that one is better than the other but truthfully when it comes down to killing big game they all have impressive records. Plus they all have the power to take game (elk sized) out to 500 yards with factory ammunition , but all of them really shine when you hand load each caliber to your rifle.

As far as sectional densities go, with equal weight bullets the .270 will out penetrate the 7mm and .308 calibers as Roy Reali stated in his earlier post with the SD calculator. Why? It is pretty simple the smaller the diameter of the bullet and the heavier it is the higher BC and SD it will have because you have to make it longer to get the weight. There are getting to be more and more .277 caliber bullets with better BC’s than the 7mm just look it up on the web if you don’t believe me.

What I stated holds true with every caliber that is why there are grains of bullets that are better for certain calibers. Just look at the reputation the 6.5X55 has if you don’t believe me, use the SD calculator that Roy gave us to test it. That is why I don't subscribe to the theory of a one caliber does it all rifle. Some people will say that the .30-06 is the most versatile with being able to load 110-220 grain bullets, but I’ve only found my rifle to shoot really well the 165-200 grain bullets.

What I’ve found in my trials in reloading is that my .270 really likes 130 grain bullets, my .280 likes 140’s, and my .30-06 likes 180 grain. Sure they shoot other grains well but these are the best performers out of each of these calibers for me. These bullets give me the best accuracy and I use them all on different game animals.

My .270 is my pronghorn and deer rifle and has been my main elk rifle in the past, and the .30-06 is what I use to hunt black bear and back up elk rifle. The .280 I own my brother in law has laid claim too after I let him borrow it, I doubt I'll ever get it back but that is ok as he is my main hunting partner and I have plenty other rifles to use. I've retired all my sub .30 calibers as elk rifles not because they don't work, I just have other rifles that need an animal to hunt. I have rifles in 8mm, .338, .358 and .375 calibers that have become my primary elk rifles.
 
It just seems to kill deer quicker and hits them harder with more ft/lbs of energy.
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This statement just makes me nuts! There are way too many variables involved to atribute killing them quicker or hitting harder to the small differences between an -06 and a 7 mm Mag.

My deer with an -06 are just as dead as my buddies with his 7. Sometimes they are bang-flops, sometimes not. Based on my personal experience - my -06 is deadlier because my deer hit the ground faster, in general. The fact that I take a little longer to line up the shot and am pickier on the aiming point couldn't have anything to do with it.;)

I don't like 7's just because of the way they sound, not anything to do with how they perform.
 
Please rank

Please rank the following in terms of power and range with 7mm in 160gr others as close to 160 as possible bullet:

308, 30.06, 7mm Rem Mag, 270, and 300 wthby.
 
Please rank the following in terms of power and range with 7mm in 160gr others as close to 160 as possible bullet:

308, 30.06, 7mm Rem Mag, 270, and 300 wthby.
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Well here it goes you could do all this by searching Federals web site. All ft-lbs of energy will be at 500 yards.

.270 Win 150 grain Nosler Partition 1238 ft-lbs

7mm Rem Mag 160 grain Nosler Partition 1479 ft-lbs

.308 Win 165 grain Barnes TSX 960 ft-lbs

.30-06 Spring 165 Nosler Partition 1210 ft-lbs

.300 WBY 180 grain Nosler Partition 1836 ft-lbs

I think you can figure out the rest on your own. Trajectories are not that far off either on all these rifles with .300 WBY being the flattest of all cartridges mentioned.


Something a little interesting for you, if you use the "High Energy" loads from Federal with the 180 grain Nosler Partition here is what you get.

.308 Win 1398 ft-lbs @ 500 yards

.30-06 Spring 1570 ft-lbs @ 500 yards
 
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davlandrum,

Don't let it drive you crazy.

I've killed deer with both, and the 7MM Rem Mag if I had to pick just one deer cartridge as a do all, it would be it. Nothing wrong with a 30-06. I've already said it was one of my favorites. So is the 270. It's hard to pick one cartridge as a do all deer rifle. There's just too many variables to say one is the best over another. I just think the 7MM Rem Mag is a better overall deer cartridge than the 30-06. It shoots the same weight bullet faster and hits with more energy. Yes you can reload the 30-06 to get better performance than some of the factory loads, but you can do the exact same for the 7MM Rem Mag. When you have factory loads that will do what some of the Rem or Federal loads do, it would be hard to beat the performance that some of these factory loads will give you.

These loads will beat the Federal 30-06 High Energy loads.

http://www.remington.com/products/a...allistics_results.aspx?data=PRSC7MMB*PRA7MMRB
 
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