7mm Remington Magnum

The 7mm Remington Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced as a commercially available round in 1962, along with the new Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle. It is a member of the belted magnum family that is directly derived from the venerable .375 H&H Magnum. The original purpose of the belted magnum concept taken from the .300 H&H and .375 H&H, was to provide precise control of the head-space, since the sloping shoulders, while easing cartridge extraction, provided poor head-spacing. Improved cartridge extraction reliability is desirable while hunting dangerous game, which would be of concern when needing a fast follow up shot. The 7mm Rem is based on the commercial Winchester .264 Win Mag, .338 Win Mag, and .458 Win Mag, which were based on the same belted .300 H&H and .375 H&H cases, trimmed to nearly the same length as the .270 Wby Mag.

On its introduction, the 7mm Rem. Mag. substantially usurped the market share held by the .264 Winchester Magnum, which went into sharp decline in popularity and sales after 1962. Maximum pressure is set by SAAMI at 61,000 PSI. 52,000 CUP Remington has recently offered Managed Recoil ammunition for achieving reduced recoil when shooting and for generating less meat damage when hunting smaller game.

Design
The 7mm Remington Magnum offers ballistics better than the .30-06 Springfield with bullet weights of 175 grains and less, the most popular load being a 160 grain spitzer loaded to 3000 ft/s. This is due both to the higher muzzle velocity of the magnum compared to the Springfield and that .284 diameter bullets tend to have better ballistic coefficients than .308 diameter bullets of comparable mass. It is arguable that the 7 mm Remington Magnum offers marginally better ballistics with 175 grain bullets, the heaviest bullet commonly used in the caliber. The .30-06 Springfield can, however, be loaded with heavier bullets up to 200 and even 220 grains.

Use
Because of its flat shooting nature and the relatively tolerable recoil, the 7mm Remington Magnum is especially popular for Western plains use in the United States, as well as for use on plains game in Africa, where longer reach than commonly achieved with the .30-06 are most often needed. It has also been chambered in sniper rifles as the US Secret Service counter-sniper team has deployed this cartridge in urban areas, and its use out to 2,000 yards has been commonly demonstrated in competition.

Popular web gun author Chuck Hawks calls the 7mm Rem "one of the great all-around rifle cartridges."

Choice of bullet and barrel length
The choice of bullet made when reloading is critical, as the velocity of bullets at close ranges may result in a less tough bullet disintegrating without providing significant penetration on especially tough game. Thus one would do well to use a premium bullet of some sort, for instance a bonded bullet. The choice of barrel length is also critical, as a 26 or 27 in barrel is commonly needed to achieve the full velocity potential of the cartridge, and a 24 in barrel should be viewed as a practical minimum. This is because in shorter, i.e., sporter, barrels, of approximately 22 in, the cartridge ballistics deteriorate to much the same as those achieved in a .270 Winchester, while generating more recoil and muzzle blast than the .270.