7 Rem Mag ???

[careybirdwell]

too much gun for squirrels.

Depending on what you want to do with said squirrel

[Barney1971]

i shoot a 7 mag and have for years. never lost an animal, but did have to call dogs once, but it was my fault.. bad shot. too much excitement and i rushed the shot also estimated the buck at about 150 yards... it was closer to 250. i shoot a 168 gr berger going 2950 fps.. its always been a hammer.

[texasbbq]

Shot placement and bullet construction is to blame NOT the cartridge headstamp.

[DUKFVR]

Too much gun for some. They take it to range right before season & kicks the snot out of them. Then they flinch. Never had an issue with my 7 mag. It was a hammer. Had a guy on a deer lease go buy a 300 mag from Bailey's in Houston. We were talking when he took it out to show everyone. Was talking recoil etc. I asked him something about sighting it in. He said No way, kicks too much. Mrs Bailey had sighted it in & she was a little bitty ole woman at that time. There is why people cripple stuff. Scared of the gun before he bought it. We were hunting jackrabbit size deer outside of Doss Tx.

[Aggies96]

I've been using that gun exclusively for west Texas mules, aoudad, and even whitetail. I've never lost an animal but def not the best gun to use on smaller hill country deer. My first one was a Browning Medallion edition I could shoot nickels with at 150 yards with cheapo Core Lok bullets. It got stolen and I got a Remington 700 with stainless barrel and synthetic stock now. Much lighter and came with a pretty good factory butt pad. I've got to shoot Precision Hunter ammo through this one though. A dang good shooting gun though with the right ammo.

[Yak blue]

Only issue I’ve ever had with my 7mag is shooting ballistic tips. Had one punch thru the neck like a full metal jacket. The buck absorbed it and kept on standing then walking. Punched a second one into the neck and it dropped like a rock.
First entry hole was small and exit wasn’t much better. Never seen or heard anything like it. That ammo is now used on pigs…

Instead of writing off the gun, I switched back over to trusty soft points and haven’t had an issue since, and don’t think I’ve had to track one more than ten yards, either.

[xman59]

several reasons,
recoil,
muzzle blast,
poor marksmanship,
bullet jackets to thick,
and the mis conception that its as flat as a lazer beam,,,
and the number 1 cause,,,,
inability to judge distance!,,,,,

i saw all of these a few years back when i worked in a gun shop,,, and you can add too much scope which goes hand in hand with the idea it shoots like a lazer.... when they cant judge distance and crank the scope to 12x, 16 x or even more they think it is just hold on the center,,, because the target looks so close.....

[RifleBowPistol]

I shot a lot of deer with my multiple 7mm Rem. Mags., I only lost one. I hit one running one time, through the front shoulders, knocked the buck down, rolled it, in the direction the bullet was traveling. But the buck was chasing a doe, eventually got back up, pushing with it's back legs and bouncing on it's check, chasing the doe. Then eventually got it's front legs back under him and took off running. Then right through a fence. The property it ran to was owned by a ex federal judge, who had the place patrolled by armed guards who made it clear, if we ever went on the other side of the fence, they would shoot us. That day, I followed that buck right up to the fence, within minutes, the main old A hole guard showed up in his Jeep. I asked if I could leave my rifle on our side of the fence and go get the buck, he said no. I asked if he would go get the buck and drag it to the fence, he said no. Then he spent the rest of the day camped out on that fence line.

I know the buck was bleeding heavily and I hit it through the front shoulders, but exactly where through the front shoulders I don't know. That was the only deer I ever lost, that I shot with a 7mm Rem. Mag. I am sure that deer was dead, within 100 yards of the fence line. He was dumping a lot of blood, when he went through the fence. He made a deep pool of blood on both sides of the fence. I think he went under the fence on his belly.

90% of the deer I shot with my various 7mm Mag loads, only went about 20 yards, some went to the ground right were they were. I usually heart shot them. I don't know why, but the usual results were, the deer would get slammed to the ground, it would bounce right back up and run flat out for about 20 to 30 yards and roll, or do a face plant. The I would find the heart blown up, lungs liquified.

I know of one guy shooting a buck side profile, hit it through the throat, it ran off, was fine. I know, because another guy's wife who we took out there two or three weeks later shot the same buck. The deer seemed perfectly fine, till we recovered the buck in some thick white brush. We found a old wound healing on both sides of his throat.

Most deer I have seen shot with 7mm Rem. Mags. have a crater large enough through the rib cage, you can easily put a fist through, if not two fists. Those deer don't go very far. They are extremely easy to track, if you don't actually know where the deer is laying.

Actually, my mother's ex husband shot a mule deer three times with a 7mm Rem. Mag., he claimed. He claimed he shot it in the neck once, then twice in the chest, before it went down. But I never got to see the buck in person, to see the three holes, in the deer.

If there are guys claiming they shot deer with a 7mm Rem. Mag. and lost them. I would say, it would have to be poor shots, and or used some crappy ammo such as something loaded with Barnes bullets.

[WItoTX]

It's likely a combination of a lightweight rifle, heavy trigger and lots of flinching.

I 2nd this. Add to this, lack of range time. A 7mm is a lot of gun, and a big price tag, just to practice with, so I bet people forgo getting comfortable with theirs.

This is all just speculation. But when I am at the range, I find a lot of folks shooting small rounds that have a more palatable price per round.

[Leon County Slayer]

I hunt short shot land and the one deer I shot with a 7mag dropped in his tracks but I had a tough
time finding the entry and exit holes. Approx 60 yard shot and apparently punched through with no expansion.

Killed a big boar with said rifle at 120 yards. Shot in shoulder and it dropped and got back up. Hit it again in chest, packed up bag, grabbed coffee and it was getting back up. Third times a charm.

Not a big fan but not mad at it either.

[Mission408]

All this being said best whitetail factory ammo? Remington core lokt? Interested to try out Norma whitetail this year

[88 Bound]

All this being said best whitetail factory ammo? Remington core lokt? Interested to try out Norma whitetail this year

Some guns are particular on which ammo they shoot best. The 150 gr. Core lokts shoot well in mine.

[Eat’em Up]

It’s a popular caliber so you tend to see more feedback. That said the last 2 deer shot with mine were both the same shots on the same night with the same bullet. The buck dropped like a rock. The doe ran 50 yards with a fist size hole through both lungs. Probably has more to do with the animal than the gun.

[skeeterboud]

i've downed dozens and dozens w/a 7mmrm. only used 139 hornady spbt, and 140 accubonds, both factory and h/l's. 100% success. in my opinion, it's a devastating cartridge.

7 yrs ago i owned 4 7mmrm's. bdl, sendero, vanguard, and an adl i got in high school 30 yrs ago. they were all very very accurate, the old adl the most. i had a friend who doubled his salary and decided he was going to start hunting. got on a good lease, and asked me to sell him a rifle. he is a large, muscular man. 'bout 6-4" 280lbs. this adl could easily group 1/2-3/4" w/factory hornady 139 interlocks. at the range, he was shooting 12" groups at 100yds.. the other two of us each shot sub moa. we loaded a fired cartridge in it without him knowing. he literally turned his head, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger...

we then recommended a 243.. he didn't want one. he went on to hit a cull buck in the front hoof at his 100yd feeder due to the flinching. he then sold it to his best friend.. i would have easily bought it back

[deerwatcher51]

Shot placement….I dropped a Giraffe in its tracks with a 7 mag in Africa.