stagpanther
New member
A friend recently asked me to take a look at a remington 700 all-weather rifle chambered in 7mm rem ultra mag that he was having scope/accuracy issues with and to test it and zero it for him. Having never shot this chambering (and him supplying the ammo) I of course jumped at the chance to help him out.
Although he told me he had a shop gunsmith sight the scope for him--I approached it just like I do all new scope mountings--and simply started with a through the bore sight at 25 yds and work my way out. 4 shots later I was hitting the target just a few inches off from POA at 200 yds--which is the distance he asked me to zero the scope at. Turns out the scope was initially zeroed much too high. I was also using remmie 175 gr core locks--which, my friend being a hunter and not an anal paper puncher (like me) is not exactly world-renowned for accuracy. Nonetheless, the first two 3 shot groups were right at MOA at 200 yds.
Although I didn't know just how bad the reputation of the cartridge as a barrel burner was at the time--I did what I always do and generously spaced my shots with cooling intervals--and considering that it was well below freezing I didn't think there was much risk in over-heating. The last shot hit almost exactly on POA so I know he was going to at least get minute of deer or moose with that cartridge--which is what he intends on using it for.
When I got home I did some more research--and did not realize it is fact one of the hottest commercial 7mm cartridges there is--it seemed to me to be very soft shooting compared to other cartridges that have similar appetites for copious amounts of powder. I guess that's why it's also cited as being an especially "inefficient" cartridge.
My question(s) is this: I'm wondering if my buddy is at risk of a "bullet vaporization" or conversely a laser-beam pass through at closer ranges--which I think is what will happen in the woods up here depending upon the bullet selection. I have no experience with this cartridge hunting--but the velocity numbers are very impressive--especially as you move down in bullet weight. Like I said--he intends on using this on deer and moose at relatively close (200 yds or less, and most likely less than 100 yds).
Although he told me he had a shop gunsmith sight the scope for him--I approached it just like I do all new scope mountings--and simply started with a through the bore sight at 25 yds and work my way out. 4 shots later I was hitting the target just a few inches off from POA at 200 yds--which is the distance he asked me to zero the scope at. Turns out the scope was initially zeroed much too high. I was also using remmie 175 gr core locks--which, my friend being a hunter and not an anal paper puncher (like me) is not exactly world-renowned for accuracy. Nonetheless, the first two 3 shot groups were right at MOA at 200 yds.
Although I didn't know just how bad the reputation of the cartridge as a barrel burner was at the time--I did what I always do and generously spaced my shots with cooling intervals--and considering that it was well below freezing I didn't think there was much risk in over-heating. The last shot hit almost exactly on POA so I know he was going to at least get minute of deer or moose with that cartridge--which is what he intends on using it for.
When I got home I did some more research--and did not realize it is fact one of the hottest commercial 7mm cartridges there is--it seemed to me to be very soft shooting compared to other cartridges that have similar appetites for copious amounts of powder. I guess that's why it's also cited as being an especially "inefficient" cartridge.
My question(s) is this: I'm wondering if my buddy is at risk of a "bullet vaporization" or conversely a laser-beam pass through at closer ranges--which I think is what will happen in the woods up here depending upon the bullet selection. I have no experience with this cartridge hunting--but the velocity numbers are very impressive--especially as you move down in bullet weight. Like I said--he intends on using this on deer and moose at relatively close (200 yds or less, and most likely less than 100 yds).
