As advised the 7mm WSM is one of the best of the best.Load that up with some Barnes tsx's and there is precious little that is safe.The 7mm beats out the 300 in the BC( ballistic coeficient) department if you want to take a poke at things a bit farther out.
Okay...... pretend this is one and only last gun you ever get to buy............ 7mm WSM ............put a zeiss scope on it (has adjustable focus reticle.... just in case you wear glasses... you want need them to shot)..............
Last piece of info......... this might help JPH eliminate his jamming too
BUY A BROWNING........ I may can even help you with a deal... maybe
This is just my opinion.......... I live where the trophy elk in this nation are killed..... THE NEW WORLD RECORD LAST YEAR..... The Spider Bull... over 500" and free roaming on public land......... I live where we live and die by our rifles and live and die by shots over 300 yards, 400, 500......... this is years of experience that I base my opinion on........ that is all
Wow that means a lot I live near a nuclear reactor, doesnt make me a nuclear engineer. In case you missed it the man was looking for a round that was available everywhere. 7mm mag hardly qualifies. The 7mm wsm is even less common with a smaller range of available cartridges. It maybe your rifle of choice, but it doesnt even come close as an all around gun. Lets see you have what 140gr 150gr and 160gr bullet sizes available, that sure covers a broad spectrum, that definately qualifies it as an all around gun.
A rifle looney of the first degree is a guy from Montana name John Barsness who has done some outstanding work with his research and comparisons of cartridges. Research his work...
First off, buy an accurate chronograph and you will see many of the magnums, including the short magnums, do not live up to their velocity claims and hype.
That leaves handloading as the only option to maximize performance. My 30-06 with a 24" Lilja barrel will shoot a 180 grain Nosler Partition at 2895 fps with acceptable pressure using 5.5-6 grains less powder that the 300 WSM shooting the same bullet at the same velocity. How is that an AMC car of the 1970s? Most 300 short mags, Winchester is faster than Remington in my experience, show pressure signs about 2950 fps and most factory loads I've clocked are around 2860 fps.
My 270 Winchester with a 24" Lilja barrel shoots 130 grain Nosler Partitions at 3200 fps, a 270 WSM needs 6 more grains of powder to duplicate that speed...And I can load the WSM up to 3265 fps but short magnums show pressure signs much easier and faster than standard cartridges. Gun manufacturers need to invent reasons to get people to need new rifles. Hell, they got me to build a 300 short mag but the chronograph did not lie, only the manufacturers and puppet gun writers lied...
Remember, professional snipers, both military and civilian, use .308s 85% of the time. Long range shooting, or killing is about accurately doping the wind and bullet placement.
I've got a good story about hunting with another man who killed a 8' mountain grizzly with my .270 in the Yukon using 160 grain Nosler Partitions while I was on a sheep hunt as we were on our way home from camp. I used a 130 grain partition that hunt but keep the 4-160s (handloads) in my shirt pocket for added protection in grizzly country. Bullets kill with penetration and tissue destruction and he got both with that combination in a pinch. I still prefer the 338 Win mag for Grizzlies when I've hunted them because they can be so dangerous.
A new gun for the safe? Buy the best rifle you can afford in a 270 or 30-06 (maybe a .280 if you handload) and buy the most expensive scope you can afford up to 12x. Zeiss was mentioned and is excellent, I used Swarovski pro-hunters and they too are excellent. Make sure you have trigger work done too that has it breaking crisply with no creep. If you handload, these new powders and short bullets like the nosler partitions in a 24" barrel can really make eye popping velocities out of standard cartridges...and you'll shoot it accurately too!
The most experienced world wide hunter I know, 30+ trips to Africa..."world slam" of sheep (9 species of rams), uses a custom built wood stocked 30-06 on a Sako action built in the late 1970s. He shoots mostly 165 grain Nosler Partitions at 2950 fps and sometimes 200 grain Nosler Partitions.
Once again, today's bullets are sooo good, you only need a standard cartridge.
One thing is for sure--- you'll drive yourself nuts in trying to compare all the ballistic ins and outs of the 30 06, 270 win, 270 wsm, & 7mm wsm.
All are obviously effective for most NA game (excluding the largest, say moose or large bears).
There is no doubt that the 270wsm is the sexiest in terms of velosity, shooting flat and holding its energy. The 7mm WSM will certainly put the wamma jamma on anything in the 300- 400 yd range, but then you go back to the lowly 30-06--- it does it all. Maybe not with the speed or power, and I would agree, that the 30-06 cannot compare with either WSM cartridge out past 300 yds, but what is likelyhood of a 300+ yd shot?-- I dunno. Common out west, no doubt and that brings me back to the dilemea of an "all around" cartridge.
I do wonder if these WSM's arer simply a fad, such that in 15 or 20 years, they will fall into obscurity ( for my boys sake). A big concern I have is that the 7mm WSM is not offered in the Rem 700, Weatherby Vanguard or Mark V, Sako, Tikka, or Ruger---- sorry to the Hiatt boys, I'm just not a Browning fan.
The recoil on my 30 06 is fine for hunting and the 7mm WSM is a tad bit more, so that is not a concern anymore. These failure to feed issues are mentioned on the internet, but do not seem to be a major ***** (easy to say until it happens to you when it matters).
I dunno, I got all summer to decide. However, with this help and input, I have narrowed the list down to 3 possibilities: 270 WSM; 7mm WSM; or 30-06.
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