7mm mag guys

[Blacktail_]

Not necessarily a purely long range question but what do my fellow 7mm mag guys hunt with?

I have a tikka t3x with the usual 1-9.5” 24.3 inch barrel. Have hunted the last few years with the terminal ascent 155gr but just popped it into the ole stability calculator and I must have made mistake a few years back because it shows it has less than optimal stability in the usual conditions I hunt! Have some 160gr nosler accubonds that are more stable but have heard so so performance while using those hunting. Anyone have some recommendations with proven success in the field? My terminal ascents have done great for me killing 3 out of 3 animals but all shots were 200 yards or less. Doing some more long range style hunting this year and want to be more confident in my bullet stability.

TY!

 

[JasonWi]

140 ttsx 3100 fps
168 Berger VLDH 2995 fps

Both recipes using RL22, Fed 215 primers and ADG brass

Probably 10 kills between 230-408 yards. All one shot and down immediately or within a few steps.

 

[Ross]

154 gr Hornady sst for two decades….several bulls under 15 yds and furthest 575….

 

[streamerfish]

I used to hunt elk a fair amount with a 7 mag. Partitions were fantastic, any size. I more or less cut a elk in half with a remington core lokt, i think was in the 150-160gr range.

According to Berger your 1:9.5 is good up to their 175gr bullets. Hornady says to 162gr for ELDX as an example.
Most "legacy' bullets should be fine.

 

[Blacktail_]

140 ttsx 3100 fps
168 Berger VLDH 2995 fps

Both recipes using RL22, Fed 215 primers and ADG brass

Probably 10 kills between 230-408 yards. All one shot and down immediately or within a few steps.

You have a preference to either? What length of barrel/twist rate do you have?

 

[Blacktail_]

I used to hunt elk a fair amount with a 7 mag. Partitions were fantastic, any size. I more or less cut a elk in half with a remington core lokt, i think was in the 150-160gr range.

According to Berger your 1:9.5 is good up to their 175gr bullets. Hornady says to 162gr for ELDX as an example.
Most "legacy' bullets should be fine.

Haha laughed at the cut an elk in half part… and sounds good, not sure how I managed to think my barrel should be shooting those terminal ascents…

 

[Blacktail_]

Thank you!

154 gr Hornady sst for two decades….several bulls under 15 yds and furthest 575….

 

[Bigred323]

Hornady eld-x 162 grain.

Sheep at 465, obliterated its heart (pictured)

Mountain goat 300 yards, anchored with him the first shot and then put 2 more in him for insurance

Whitetail at 250, surprisingly zero blood trail on him and luckily just found him walking around

 

[JasonWi]

You have a preference to either? What length of barrel/twist rate do you have?

I really like both and would happily hunt with both out to 500 yards. We’ve shot antelope, deer, bighorn sheep and elk with both and the terminal performance has been excellent.

My barrel is a 24” benchmark 1:9 and was designed to shoot the 160 grain bullets but the 140 were sub moa as well.

The 168s were .92” for a 10 shot group @ 100 and 1.14” for a 4 shot @ 200. For a hunting rifle I’m extremely happy with that.

 

[Jordan Smith]

My priority is to maximize my killing effectiveness while preserving meat and avoiding lead/copper frags in the meat I feed my family, as much as possible. Consequently, my choices are:

180 ELD-M for long shots with intentional shot placement
140 TTSX/145 LRX for close shots and potentially steep shot angles and busted bone

I zero with the 180, and in most of my barrels the 140/145 POI is within 0.2 mrad, or so, which is sufficient for shooting at close range.