7mm Rem Mag: High Power Rifle Match

jwrowland77 · September 4, 2013, 07:28 AM

I have a 7mm RM and got to thinking. I have a hunting load that can group 5 shots no bigger than a dime, and figured I could do the same with a match load. I have a .308 to shoot in matches, but is there anything that says I can't use my 7mm RM for matches?

Pros would be: it shoots really well. Can shoot further with the same up MOA adjustment than the .308, since it'll have greater velocity. Shoots flatter than a .308. Components are easier to find for 7mm Rem Mag than .308. My rifle has 1:9 twist, so I could use at least a 168gr bullet.

Con would be: feeling like you're being kicked by a mule 60+ times in a given match.

Any other cons to using a 7mm RM?

Thanks for any and all replies.

Jimro · September 4, 2013, 10:41 AM

You could do it. I wouldn't. Just isn't economical to compared to shooting a 223 AR.

However, those old timers used to shoot 60 rounds of 30-06 from 1903 Springfields, so maybe I'm just a recoil wuss. Recoil wouldn't be so bad standing or sitting, not sure about prone.

Jimro

jwrowland77 · September 4, 2013, 11:30 AM

I actually think prone is the easiest as you're laying down and have more weight to put against the stock, but that's just me.

I need to get an AR. Lol. I've been meaning to get one.

saleen322 · September 4, 2013, 07:27 PM

I guess the questions I would ask myself include:
Will the magazine hold 5 rounds for the timed fire sections?
Is there a stripper clip guide in the rifle or are clips even made for magnums that would enable you to reload under time? While I can get the rifle machined, can I get clips?
Is the rifle set up for match sights or do I need to get it drilled and tapped?
.308s generally are very accurate and are hard to beat given you shoot a maximum of 600 yards. What am I gaining with a magnum?

jwrowland77 · September 4, 2013, 09:30 PM

I would think the gain from using a magnum would be flatter trajectory, only one load to have to worry about and being able to shoot 600 or 1000 and with having the same up MOA could make smaller adjustments and get a longer range, with the same amount of up adjustment than a .308 would need.

I wouldn't be able to do the times just yet. I'm strictly looking at doing the 3x600 prone comps at this time just getting into it.

saleen322 · September 5, 2013, 07:56 PM

I guess you could. If you are looking at 1000 yard prone matches, I would get a rifle set for it. They can be had reasonable if you look around. I found this 40-XB that is a factory rifle made for the wildcat 30-338 Win Mag. This caliber has won Perry a number of time including I think 1968 where the same rifle won the Leech Cup with iron sights and then the Wimbledon Cup with any sights, scope. It is set up with a rail and factory drilled and tapped for sights. In the end, you would likely have no more money in buying a used target rifle than converting one to shoot target. I got this for around $800 and could make money on it if I ever wanted to sell. YMMV

Bart B. · September 7, 2013, 01:01 PM

After a good friend won the Wimbledon Cup 1000 yard match at the 1970 Nationals, the 7mm Rem Mag became "the" cartridge to shoot long range matches with. Too bad it took 10 years for Sierra to make consistantly accurate lots of bullets as good jacket material was hard to come buy. Meanwhile, the .30-.338's and .300 Win Mags were taking home most all the marbles. Barrels lasted about 800 shots of best accuracy then went south in a hurry. New cases or proper full length sized ones shot the most accurate; same with the other belted cases used in such events.

If you want to shoot high power match rifle rapid fire matches (10 shots in 60 or 70 seconds) where you have to reload after firing a few shots, you'll need a detachable box magazine or stripper clips holding extra rounds and a clip guide in the receiver bridge to hold it while you charge the magazine with live ammo. Belted cases have never been used for NRA match rifles fired in standing, sitting and prone for this reason as far as I know.

Nowadays, the long, heavy 28 and smaller caliber match bullets are as good as the 30 caliber ones were. And these are the ones popular for most high power match rifle events.

For slow fire matches, you can easily shoot belted cases in some matches. While their flatter trajectory often seems a good idea, the increased recoil of such cases makes them unpopular for anything except prone matches. Most folks shooting the best scores will easily pick the more accurate rifle and cartridge over the one with the flattest trajectory and wind bucking ability; you can correct for wind but not for poor accuracy.

The smaller rimless bottleneck cartridges in 22, 24 and 26 caliber are popular these days as they're much easier to shoot accurately. The .308 Win. is the one that's allowed in the most types of high power competition.

Go to

http://competitions.nra.org/document...R/hpr-book.pdf

then read the rules for NRA High Power Competition to learn what rifles and cartridges are allowed as well as the different courses of fire.

jwrowland77 · September 7, 2013, 01:36 PM

I finally read through the rules yesterday at work.

. If I read them right, I'll have to compete in F-class open with the 7mm.

Bart B. · September 7, 2013, 05:07 PM

JW, you can also shoot a scoped 7 Rem Mag in high power 600 and 1000 yard any sight matches. They're fired slung up in prone without artificial support. Usually unlimited sighters then 20 shots for record.

You'll need to move the scope forward enough to ensure it doesn't smack your eyebrow from recoil.

LRRiflemanSNJ · September 12, 2013, 06:07 AM

JW, you can use the 7mm Remington Magnum as a target rifle. It is a premier 1,000 yard round, and it has been used frequently in that capacity, especially by the USSS at Quantico. It can be used as an "Any Rifle" in sling matches, but doesn't qualify under F T/R rules, you would have to shoot F Open.

The down side to shooting the 7mm Remington Magnum is barrel life. It has a typical accuracy barrel life of 1200 rounds, compared to a .30 with an accuracy life of 3000 rounds, or a .223 with an accuracy life of close to 5000 rounds.

trigger · September 14, 2013, 08:58 AM

CONS

Heavy reciol over time will cause your body to react to ther recoil when pulling the trigger when you dont want it to. For some people this is not an issue but for others it can make your most accurate rifle perform very badly in matches.

Cost per round slightly more.

PROS

Accurate.

Flat shooting

Sub sonic out to 1500 yards

. So for extreme range it a big boy. More so than a 300WM at 1300 yards. .308 1000 at yards

Shoot more and more often

Trigger

September 4, 2013, 07:28 AM	#1
jwrowland77 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2012 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 1,398	7mm Rem Mag: High Power Rifle Match I have a 7mm RM and got to thinking. I have a hunting load that can group 5 shots no bigger than a dime, and figured I could do the same with a match load. I have a .308 to shoot in matches, but is there anything that says I can't use my 7mm RM for matches? Pros would be: it shoots really well. Can shoot further with the same up MOA adjustment than the .308, since it'll have greater velocity. Shoots flatter than a .308. Components are easier to find for 7mm Rem Mag than .308. My rifle has 1:9 twist, so I could use at least a 168gr bullet. Con would be: feeling like you're being kicked by a mule 60+ times in a given match. Any other cons to using a 7mm RM? Thanks for any and all replies.

September 4, 2013, 10:41 AM	#2
Jimro Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2006 Posts: 7,097	You could do it. I wouldn't. Just isn't economical to compared to shooting a 223 AR. However, those old timers used to shoot 60 rounds of 30-06 from 1903 Springfields, so maybe I'm just a recoil wuss. Recoil wouldn't be so bad standing or sitting, not sure about prone. Jimro __________________ Machine guns are awesome until you have to carry one.

September 4, 2013, 11:30 AM	#3
jwrowland77 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2012 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 1,398	7mm Rem Mag: High Power Rifle Match I actually think prone is the easiest as you're laying down and have more weight to put against the stock, but that's just me. I need to get an AR. Lol. I've been meaning to get one.

September 4, 2013, 09:30 PM	#5
jwrowland77 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2012 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 1,398	7mm Rem Mag: High Power Rifle Match I would think the gain from using a magnum would be flatter trajectory, only one load to have to worry about and being able to shoot 600 or 1000 and with having the same up MOA could make smaller adjustments and get a longer range, with the same amount of up adjustment than a .308 would need. I wouldn't be able to do the times just yet. I'm strictly looking at doing the 3x600 prone comps at this time just getting into it. Last edited by jwrowland77; September 5, 2013 at 06:54 AM.

September 7, 2013, 01:01 PM	#7
Bart B. Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Posts: 8,927	After a good friend won the Wimbledon Cup 1000 yard match at the 1970 Nationals, the 7mm Rem Mag became "the" cartridge to shoot long range matches with. Too bad it took 10 years for Sierra to make consistantly accurate lots of bullets as good jacket material was hard to come buy. Meanwhile, the .30-.338's and .300 Win Mags were taking home most all the marbles. Barrels lasted about 800 shots of best accuracy then went south in a hurry. New cases or proper full length sized ones shot the most accurate; same with the other belted cases used in such events. If you want to shoot high power match rifle rapid fire matches (10 shots in 60 or 70 seconds) where you have to reload after firing a few shots, you'll need a detachable box magazine or stripper clips holding extra rounds and a clip guide in the receiver bridge to hold it while you charge the magazine with live ammo. Belted cases have never been used for NRA match rifles fired in standing, sitting and prone for this reason as far as I know. Nowadays, the long, heavy 28 and smaller caliber match bullets are as good as the 30 caliber ones were. And these are the ones popular for most high power match rifle events. For slow fire matches, you can easily shoot belted cases in some matches. While their flatter trajectory often seems a good idea, the increased recoil of such cases makes them unpopular for anything except prone matches. Most folks shooting the best scores will easily pick the more accurate rifle and cartridge over the one with the flattest trajectory and wind bucking ability; you can correct for wind but not for poor accuracy. The smaller rimless bottleneck cartridges in 22, 24 and 26 caliber are popular these days as they're much easier to shoot accurately. The .308 Win. is the one that's allowed in the most types of high power competition. Go to http://competitions.nra.org/document...R/hpr-book.pdf then read the rules for NRA High Power Competition to learn what rifles and cartridges are allowed as well as the different courses of fire. Last edited by Bart B.; September 7, 2013 at 01:36 PM.

September 4, 2013, 07:27 PM	#4
saleen322 Senior Member Join Date: March 8, 2010 Posts: 778	I guess the questions I would ask myself include: Will the magazine hold 5 rounds for the timed fire sections? Is there a stripper clip guide in the rifle or are clips even made for magnums that would enable you to reload under time? While I can get the rifle machined, can I get clips? Is the rifle set up for match sights or do I need to get it drilled and tapped? .308s generally are very accurate and are hard to beat given you shoot a maximum of 600 yards. What am I gaining with a magnum?

September 5, 2013, 07:56 PM	#6
saleen322 Senior Member Join Date: March 8, 2010 Posts: 778	I guess you could. If you are looking at 1000 yard prone matches, I would get a rifle set for it. They can be had reasonable if you look around. I found this 40-XB that is a factory rifle made for the wildcat 30-338 Win Mag. This caliber has won Perry a number of time including I think 1968 where the same rifle won the Leech Cup with iron sights and then the Wimbledon Cup with any sights, scope. It is set up with a rail and factory drilled and tapped for sights. In the end, you would likely have no more money in buying a used target rifle than converting one to shoot target. I got this for around $800 and could make money on it if I ever wanted to sell. YMMV

September 7, 2013, 01:36 PM	#8
jwrowland77 Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2012 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 1,398	7mm Rem Mag: High Power Rifle Match I finally read through the rules yesterday at work. . If I read them right, I'll have to compete in F-class open with the 7mm.

September 7, 2013, 05:07 PM	#9
Bart B. Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Posts: 8,927	JW, you can also shoot a scoped 7 Rem Mag in high power 600 and 1000 yard any sight matches. They're fired slung up in prone without artificial support. Usually unlimited sighters then 20 shots for record. You'll need to move the scope forward enough to ensure it doesn't smack your eyebrow from recoil.

September 12, 2013, 06:07 AM	#10
LRRiflemanSNJ Member Join Date: September 10, 2013 Location: Southern New Jersey Posts: 19	JW, you can use the 7mm Remington Magnum as a target rifle. It is a premier 1,000 yard round, and it has been used frequently in that capacity, especially by the USSS at Quantico. It can be used as an "Any Rifle" in sling matches, but doesn't qualify under F T/R rules, you would have to shoot F Open. The down side to shooting the 7mm Remington Magnum is barrel life. It has a typical accuracy barrel life of 1200 rounds, compared to a .30 with an accuracy life of 3000 rounds, or a .223 with an accuracy life of close to 5000 rounds. __________________ NRA Patron Life member NRA certified Range Safety Officer Master NRA High Power, Sharpshooter NRA Long Range, Marksman NRA Mid Range

September 14, 2013, 08:58 AM	#11
trigger Junior Member Join Date: March 21, 2013 Posts: 4	CONS Heavy reciol over time will cause your body to react to ther recoil when pulling the trigger when you dont want it to. For some people this is not an issue but for others it can make your most accurate rifle perform very badly in matches. Cost per round slightly more. PROS Accurate. Flat shooting Sub sonic out to 1500 yards. So for extreme range it a big boy. More so than a 300WM at 1300 yards. .308 1000 at yards Shoot more and more often Trigger