I got beat up today by a 7mm Mag

jackie schmidt

jackie schmidt

New member
I was at a retirement party a few weeks ago for a long time business associate, several of us were sitting at the table and the subject of Rifles came up.

A business associate said he had a really nice Remington 700 that would not shoot. 2”+ groups at 100 was the norm.

I made the mistake of opening my big mouth and before I knew it, I was talked in to seeing if I could find out the problem. The fact that the senior Vice President of our biggest customer also suggested I could fix it didn’t help:rolleyes:


The guy brought the rifle by my shop last week, along with 5 different boxes of Different factory ammo. Federal 150 with Gamekings, Hornady 139 interlock, Winchester 160 Accubond, Federal 165 Gameking, and Remington 150 Corelocs.

I checked the rifle out and everything looked ok. This is a ultra light 700 BDL with a skinny fluted barrel. The only thing I figured I could do is give it a good bedding job, which I did.

We went to the range this morning, and he was right, the thing shot really bad with 4 of the 5 brands. On the forth batch of ammo, the 165 Federal, it suddenly came to life. I shot a three shot group at about .550, resighted it, and then shot 4 more three shot groups that all went under an inch, one even about a mid “six”.

He is going to Africa in May, and this will be his Plains Rifle. That Federal 165 looks like it is the hot ticket.

It amazed me how bad the other loads shot. That skinny barrel just needed something it liked.

Anyway, Shooting a ultra light 7 mm Mag off the bench that many times isn’t that much fun. But I felt a good deal of satisfaction knowing I was able to work with it and get it to shooting about as good as one could hope for. I am also pleased that the most accurate ammo is the 165 Federal, which is loaded with a Sierra Gamekings.

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Jackie,

I recall maybe 50 or so years back, a guy came down to our range just back from Ceylon (that's how long ago it was). Seems his XYZ scope had fogged up and he missed his leopard.

His splinter fore end BRNO .375 Holland was now fitted with a 2½ power Leupold & off his elbows and a slightly padded block of wood resting the rifle, a bit of blanket between him & the concrete bench, he shot cloverleaf group after cloverleaf group without nosebleed or lacerated elbows.

Wow!
 
John Kielly said:
Jackie,

I recall maybe 50 or so years back, a guy came down to our range just back from Ceylon (that's how long ago it was). Seems his XYZ scope had fogged up and he missed his leopard.

His splinter fore end BRNO .375 Holland was now fitted with a 2½ power Leupold & off his elbows and a slightly padded block of wood resting the rifle, a bit of blanket between him & the concrete bench, he shot cloverleaf group after cloverleaf group without nosebleed or lacerated elbows.

Wow!
Click to expand...
He's a better man than I am!
 
I don't doubt

you did! That's a hefty bullet at 7mm Rem Mag velocity. My achilles heal in the rack is a browning safari in .308 Norma with a 180. I feel for you!!
 
.375 h&h

I have a.375 H&H that I built back in 94 to go to Africa. It's around 10 pounds, but it's in a MPI coil-check stock. It gives a straight back recoil. Pillar bedded with a Douglas XX barrel. It shoots .6moa at 100yards. It still only has around 100 rounds thru is due to an old shoulder injury. I should probably take it out and shoot it the next time my nephew visits.
 
Funny thing about some Guns. You know its gonna hurt before you shoot it, but for the love of guns and curiosity, you shoot it anyway. "Ouch"


Glen
 
Those pencil barrels with a big cartridge shake like an intern in Bill Clinton's office. ;)

Good stuff, Jackie. :) -Al
 
I will sometimes sight in a hunting rifle for my friends. I have neck issues and can't deal with much recoil so I use a Lead Sled with two 10 pound weights. The last one I did was the 7MM Mag. The recoil would move the scope quite aways from target center so I was always readjusting more than I was used to.

That is a hot cartridge!

Mort
 
Trail Boss

I was thinking of loading some reduced loads in my .375 H&H using Trail Boss powder and a cheap bullet for plinking and maybe shooting deer. Might be fun to show up some of these yahoos at the range. I would shoot a couple of the light loads and then let them shoot the "Magnum" using full loads. :D
 
you are a mean evil man...I like the way you think!

MilGunsmith said:
I was thinking of loading some reduced loads in my .375 H&H using Trail Boss powder and a cheap bullet for plinking and maybe shooting deer. Might be fun to show up some of these yahoos at the range. I would shoot a couple of the light loads and then let them shoot the "Magnum" using full loads. :D
Click to expand...
 
recoil

The older I get I like 223, 220 swift, 243s that size stuff. Ive got steel in my neck too. The biggest thing I shoot anymore is a 3006 with 150s and that's enough. Doug
 
I was once "the bigger the better" kind of guy...but haven't been that guy for as long as I can remember. That's really about two hours on a good day but those big boomers are a genuine trip.

Glad you found something that would shoot OK and I hope for your sake that it doesn't fail someday. You're the go to guy right now!!!
 
Yea Wilbur, I liked to shoot thru em lengthways 300 wyb. 300 win. Im over that now. Take a 308 and try to hit em behind the shoulder. Got more to eat to. Doug
 
Wilbur said:
I was once "the bigger the better" kind of guy...but haven't been that guy for as long as I can remember. That's really about two hours on a good day but those big boomers are a genuine trip.

Glad you found something that would shoot OK and I hope for your sake that it doesn't fail someday. You're the go to guy right now!!!
Click to expand...

Yeh Wilbur, I guess I should be thankful he didn’t have a 338 Ultra Mag and five boxes of ammo.

Funny thing, while we were all sitting around discussing that Rifle, it never dawned on me I was too darned old to be shooting something like that off the bench that many times. Next time I will suggest finding someone on the south side of 70.;)
 
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Shame on you John !!. Watching those old movies will never be the same! : )

Mort
 
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I also got beat up by a 7 mm Remmington Magnum

Just a few years ago, when I was a young man who knew everything, our gun club held Turkey shoots twice a year with all sorts of events. One of these was twelve contestants shooting three shots at a bulls eye target at 50 yards offhand with our deer rifles for the prize of a turkey. The ten ring was about 2 inches and the X ring was an about an inch. Using my trusty 22-250, I tied with a friend who was shooting a Saco 7 mm Remington Magnum. We both had a score of 30 with one in the X ring. That score would have won the turkey in most of our matches. We had to have a shoot off of another three shots at the same target. My magnum shooting friend tried to shake me up in a couple of ways. He suggested we set our targets at 100 yards and I agreed. He also tried to put pressure on me by asking me to shoot all of my three shots first. I was just cockey enough to agree. I planed to give him something good enough to put the pressure on him. Well I did just that. I fired three shots into the ten ring with two in the X ring. It was a feat that would be hard to beat with our hunting rifles from a bench. In my mind, I had set a mark that would not be equaled. Well he picked up that beautiful sharp kicking rifle and proceeded to put three holes in the X ring.

He deserved the turkey.
 
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