# 7mm Rem Mag



## englishpointer (May 16, 2005)

I am having issues with expansion with my 7mm rem mag, have shot numerous deer and all at different yardage. Tried different about everything that is out there i think for rounds. Anyone else having this issue? 
7mm Rem Mag, Browning Abolt with Boss just in case someone would need this for what ever reason.


----------



## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

Define expansion. Case expansion, bullet expansion? What?


----------



## deathwind (Apr 17, 2005)

If your talking bullet exp.as in blowups=meat damage i found you have to stick to a real good prem.bullet.I had problems with some reg.type bullets but that all stopped when i went to Nos.Partitions.


----------



## Dave_w (May 25, 2005)

What's the velocity? If the round is travelling too fast, it's just going to blow through without doing too much damage. Or the round could be travelling too slow to properly expand. Velocity issues are a big problem in handgunning. It's a fine balance...too slow, and the round won't deliver enough kinetic energy to the target (in your case, a deer) to deliver a neutralizing blow. Too fast, and the round goes in and out before it has a chance to deform enough to cause real damage. Have you ever seen what a well-balanced 9mm hollowpoint will do? The entry wound is about the size of a dime. The exit wound is about the size of a man's fist, and about that deep.

My advice? Try the premium round first to see if a better bullet solves the issue. The other guy has more rifle and hunting experience than me. Next, look up some tests on different rounds available to you within your price range. Try and find one that covers your current round and use that. Select a faster round and a slower round, and try both.

And just curious, what ranges are you making your shots at?


----------



## englishpointer (May 16, 2005)

sorry didnt know my post got moved till now,

i have tried premium rounds and cheap rounds, Nosler and others/
Yardage is from 100 to 400 yards and same results in both , 
same size entrance and exit with holes in ribs , i will be trying to shoot further forward more of a shoulder shot i suppose to get more bone , didnt really want to do that for meat loss but i am tired of guessing .

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your ideas and thoughts on this.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

> If the round is travelling too fast, it's just going to blow through without doing too much damage.


Actually the opposite is true. High speed causes the bullet to upset. A 30 caliber 125 gr Ballistic Tip traveling at 3200 fps explodes like a varmint bullet.

Englishpointer your right you need to catch more shoulder to expand your bullet, or shoot a bullet that isn't as tough. Your Boss will cause you to loose 100 to 150 fps. Measure your barrel from the breach to the beginning of your Boss and that is your effective barrel length. I chronographed a friends 7mm Browning and he was disappointed to find he was shooting about the same as a factory 270.

Try a lighter bullet to get your speed up. A 139 grain should open in a jackrabbit. I would guess a 139 would have a much more explosive terminal performance. What weight are you shooting now?


----------



## englishpointer (May 16, 2005)

I have went the camit on this , went from the lightest to a heaviest i could find. with all the same results. Was told by one "trusted" hunter/store employee to go heavy and slow . TRIED IT and same "stuff" yet again. 
Mind you i am not loosing my prey just makes me upset that they run 50-100 yards and no blood trail so you start second guessing. No blood trail i mean that there is none for first 25-30 yards. Hard to track in badlands of western nd if you dont have any sign.


----------



## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Try a load useing the 150gr nosler BT in you 7 mag. At about 3050fpfs, this is what most will do if you test them, I think you will find that this bullet will give you the expansion that you are looking for. The 4-5 deer that I have shot with this bullet showed massive expansion and distruction.


----------



## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I would second the nomination of the BT, but in 120 gr configuration. You'll likely find holes big enough to put your fist through, on the off side. Good shooting, Burl


----------



## jd mn/nd (Apr 8, 2004)

Hey English pointer, Here is my two cents worth, I also shoot a 7mm rem mag. I only shoot a Federal Premium 165gr boat tail. From the federal ballistics charts I have studied it is the fastest, flatest, shooting bullet made in their factory for that caliber it also carries the most energy and speed possible at long distances. I have NEVER shot a deer more than once and they ALWAYS have dropped in their trackes and I have made several shots longer than the ones you have talked about. for instance four years ago I shot one at 3\10's of a mile not sure how many yards as my lazer range finder could not read at that distance. About 8 years ago I shot one on the full run at about 500 yards one shot down in its tracks!! Last year I shot a huge buck at 300 yards one shot dropped him were he stood. I mean this was the biggest deer I personally have ever shot it weighed 185lbs hanging on the butchers hook ready to be cut up, no hide no head, no legs, at that weight. It always amazes my buddies that I seem to be the only that NEVER has to track a deer. Maybe someday they will follow suit, it is like talking to rocks they never learn. I am sure if you try this particular round you be very pleased with it and if you hit them in the bread basket just behind the front shoulder it will put them down in thier tracks because that is exactly where I shoot them. Good luck I hope this helps out. Later J.D.


----------



## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

English pointer, just because the exit wound looks the same as the entry does not mean the bullet did not expand well. Alot of times after a bullet mushrooms it may spin around and go out backwards. Do you see lots of termanal damage when you field dress em? Hey they are not goin to drop in their tracks unless you take out a shoulder or spine/ neck, even if you use a .50 BMG.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Bore.224

Good point. We often get caught up in the hype about bullet failure. I don't buy into the shed jacket as bullet failure when the deer falls dead. Don't get me wrong, I very much like the new premium bullets. I didn't stop to think about this in depth until your post. When you shoot a deer with a bow, you get instant blood trail. However the hydrostatic shock of a high velocity bullet anything over 2000 fps) often collapses the blood vessels within five or six inches of the wound channel and you don't get a blood trail for the first ten to maybe even 100 yards. Also, there can be much internal damage that is not evident by looking at the hide on the off side. Skin is very elastic, and more often than not does not give good indication of true damage. This is why you often find a bullet just under the skin on the far side. Even with a 300 Magnum they do not show large holes of the back side. Also, I once had a buck run 150 yards after taking a bullet lengthwise including through the heart. Sometimes they just don't know they are dead.


----------



## Peakebrook (Mar 21, 2005)

As many have said, it is not just a blood trail that is important.

I think it is important to try to find a balance between good blood trail and the amount of hydrostatic shock the bullet transmits to the animal. The best blood trail occurs when you have two holes from a pass-through shot. Shock is the result of energy transfer from the bullet hitting the animal. This increases with velocity, bullet weight, bullet diameter, and rate of bullet expansion. The greater the hydrostatic shock, the less likely the animal is going to move after the shot. The problem that occurs if there is too much energy transfer, then the bullet does not have enough energy to exit the other side of the animal.

It is important to have enough of the bullet stay together to pass through the animal. The polimer tip bullets are great, unless they are impacting the animal at greater than 3000 fps. There have been numerous reports of these bullets disintegrating on impact. The "bonded" type bullets are reported to reduce this.

Try Federals premium bullet selection. I just used one of the Barnes Triple Shock on a deer (crop-damage permit) with pretty good results. :lol:


----------



## headhunter (Oct 10, 2002)

I use 160 grain Nosler Partitions in my 7. I haven't lost a deer so far. The only 2 I lost were because I missed the shots. Everything I've hit with the 160NP has been recovered. Usually darn close to where I hit them. I don't have a reason to change, but I may use 140 gr NP's If I ever want to switch....just for the heck of it.


----------



## Dave_w (May 25, 2005)

You sure about the high-velocity-high-damage correlation?

We frankly don't care what the bullet does, we care about what effect it has. A slower round will tear and pull at the flesh. That **** hurts. It just has to be fast and hard enough to punch through the shoulder blades and ribs.

Travelling faster, it leaves a cleaner and cleaner wound. Trust me on this one.

I'm beginning to think the other guy's right. This might not be an expansion problem at all, it could just be a Goddamn Terminator Deer problem. Are we even really sure the bullet isn't expanding?

Is this even a real problem? So long as they're not running three goddamn miles, and they're leaving enough of a trail...who cares? Unless, of course, we get into that whole humane-kill nonsense.

And if we're gonna get all super-humane left-wing Nader-voting pot-smoking hippy here, we wouldn't be killing deer, would we?


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Dave_w said:


> You sure about the high-velocity-high-damage correlation?


I am absolutely sure about it. That is why most writers recommend things like Barnes X bullets for the new high velocity magnums. That or they recommend bonded bullets. It is also why they say that bullets that work at 400 yards blow up at 100 yards. Many of the bullet manufactures will give you minimum velocities that their bullets will open at. The 165 gr Barnes Triple Shock will open down to 1700 or 1800 fps (don't remember off hand).


----------



## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

If you are conscerned about bullet performance at different velocities and ranges, perhaps you would consider the Swift- Scirrocco. They look good to me, although I have not tried it yet. Check out their web site. They show how the bullet is supposed to function at different velocities. The BC is excellent also. http://www.swiftbullets.com/sirocco_intro.html

It sure looks good to me. It will be my first stop on the bullet selection list when my .300 win mag arrives.

:sniper:


----------



## one shot (Nov 17, 2005)

english pointer

I started shooting a 7mm mag in 1986 ,started with fed. 175 psp,used this bullet for 5 or6 years, killed a lot of deer 20 maybe ,all fall with one shot ,most deer fall in there tracks,few(2) run 20 ft. max,meat damage was realy realy bad, most shot at less than 100 yds few out to 175,yds,switched to nosler partition 140 grain ,load my own 3200 fps,been shooting this bullet for 12 yrs.approx still drops them in their tracks ,this bullet seams to pass though no matter where it hits hardly any meat damage unless you bone then look out.shot deer from 20 ft. to 440 yds. this bullet works for me,for what it is worth, good hunting 
p.s
seen the heart shot completly out of a nice buck this year ,300 win mag with 180 gr. swift scirocco 150 yds. deer still run 50 yrds.

[/u] :sniper:


----------

