The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Difference in caliber-- Savage 110 in 7mm Mag or .30-06?

Art Eatman · December 4, 2008, 10:29 AM

If you're a good enough shooter as to skill, the '06 is as good to 500 yards as most anything, if deer hunting is the deal.

I meddled around some with a 7mmRemMag, and just never did like it as much as the '06. Some of it was the fit of the rifle, I guess, but as long as it was bang/flop at three or four hundred yards with the '06, why bother?

Back before laser rangefinders existed, the 7mmRemMag became popular for elk hunters in the Rockies for the longer range shots. Mostly popular among city hunters who weren't very good at estimating distance in wide-open country. Just enough flatter than an '06 to help. What's overlooked, of course, is that at 500 yards the wind is just about as important to the 7mm as to the '06. At 500 yards, a "nice breeze" can mean holding two feet of windage for a center hit.

December 4, 2008, 10:29 AM	#13
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	If you're a good enough shooter as to skill, the '06 is as good to 500 yards as most anything, if deer hunting is the deal. I meddled around some with a 7mmRemMag, and just never did like it as much as the '06. Some of it was the fit of the rifle, I guess, but as long as it was bang/flop at three or four hundred yards with the '06, why bother? Back before laser rangefinders existed, the 7mmRemMag became popular for elk hunters in the Rockies for the longer range shots. Mostly popular among city hunters who weren't very good at estimating distance in wide-open country. Just enough flatter than an '06 to help. What's overlooked, of course, is that at 500 yards the wind is just about as important to the 7mm as to the '06. At 500 yards, a "nice breeze" can mean holding two feet of windage for a center hit.