7mm rifles, whats your thoughts, favourites

[CBH Australia]

So , A gunshop in Adelaide (Australia) said that the 7mm-08 is popular with African shooters living there.
Is it a common round in Africa?
What about the others?
I've read on the 7x57, sounds like a classic.
Yesterday i read about the ,284Winchester another 7mm bore, and the 7mm-08 AI
People I've met with 7mm rifles are pretty happy with performance
It seems that for hunting the 7x57 is well liked. The 7mm-08 equals it and the 7mmRm is fine but there are other 7mm magnums too.
do these others show any real world performance for hunters?

 

[Wyatt Smith]

If I were to purchase a 7mm right now it would be a 280.

 

[CBH Australia]

If I were to purchase a 7mm right now it would be a 280.

Do you want to elaborate on the .280? just trying to create discussion and learn. I thought about a .260rem briefly but for the costs of going with a lesser known cartridge

 

[Wyatt Smith]

The 280 rem is 30-06 necked down to 7mm I have a 7x57 and love it but most are built on a long action, so you just as well have the 280. My Speer loading manual says it can push a 175 at 2650. The 284 is interesting giving 280 ballistics out of a short action.

 

[sestoppelman]

The .280 is a fine round, just the American version of the German 7x64, ballistic twins. I have both. 7x57 is a classic; have one of those as well. Tried the 7-08 once, didn't grab me.
We also have a .284 Win which is about equal to the .280, the only drawback being it was designed to chamber in short action rifles and its OAL is set at 2.8". We took one to Africa and my boy did very well with it on up to kudu, gnu, and oryx. For plains game any will do the job with the right bullet and keeping distances sensible.

 

[sestoppelman]

The 280 rem is 30-06 necked down to 7mm I have a 7x57 and love it but most are built on a long action, so you just as well have the 280. My Speer loading manual says it can push a 175 at 2650. The 284 is interesting giving 280 ballistics out of a short action.

Agree but for one minor detail. The .280 had its shoulder moved ahead of the 06 to keep dummies from shooting the .280 in the 06 or the .270 Win.
And while the .280 is said to not be interchangeable with the 7x64, well it all depends. I did just the other day chamber some 7x64 rounds in a .280 Rem rifle. They are nearly identical.

 

[sgt_zim]

2nd the notion on the 280 Rem. It can be pushed to almost 7mm RM velocities, and can also be dialed back to 7mm-08 and 275 Rigby velocities. For a reloader, I can't imagine a better cartridge in the 7mm family.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I recall the shoulder mod now that you mentioned it. Something about pushing a .284 bullet down a .277 hole was dangerous so they made it safer.

 

[sestoppelman]

The old sage Jack O'Connor once said that any real world difference between the .270, the .280 and the .284 Win was just fodder for discussion, the "hot stove league", and existed mostly between the ears of gun writers!
Paraphrasing of course.

 

[Standard Velocity]

280 AI may be one of the most balanced cartridges if you’re a reloader. Nipping at the heels of the 7mm Rem Mag with better case life, lower pressure and an additional round in the magazine. Properly headstamped brass is available for getting into countries that require it. Factory loaded ammo is available too.

 

[sestoppelman]

I hear it is a good round. My only experience with it was that a shooting buddy had one and his handloads didn't equal my handloads with a standard .280 Rem.

 

[Standard Velocity]

Depending on power choice you can better the standard 280. The biggest benefit to most AI’s is less case stretching. If you go for the same velocity as the parent cartridge you can do it at lower pressure which can be good in hot environments.

Just have to be sure cartridges feed well as AI-ing a cartridge reshapes it to roughly that of a 2x4 cutoff.

 

[Excessexpress]

The 7mm-08 is a ballistic twin to the 7x57, but neither will shoot animals as classy as a 275 Rigby will........

 

[Standard Velocity]

The 257 Rigby... 7x57 in a really nice suit.

 

[sestoppelman]

Depending on power choice you can better the standard 280. The biggest benefit to most AI’s is less case stretching. If you go for the same velocity as the parent cartridge you can do it at lower pressure which can be good in hot environments.

Just have to be sure cartridges feed well as AI-ing a cartridge reshapes it to roughly that of a 2x4 cutoff.

My shooting buddy tried and failed to beat my standard. Sometimes an individual barrel will produce better velocity than another. Mine was a Douglas barreled rifle on a Ruger 77 action. Don't recall what his was, haven't seen the guy in years. Under normal conditions, the AI should always be a bit faster if properly loaded, but there are abnormal situations...

 

[sestoppelman]

Oh yeah, the .275 Rigby. Forgot I have one of those too. A Ruger No.1A with 24" bbl. and express sights. Real shooter too.

 

[ldmay375]

I don't think there would be staggering differences in efffectiveness, between the similar case capacities shooting standard hunting bullets with similar construction and sectional density. That would include the 270's compared to the 7mm's with similar case capacities.
The larger cases have the potential for flatter trajectories. I have a couple of the 7mm's.

7x57 = pleasure to shoot
as is my wife's 7mm-08, very close to same velocity potentials

7mm WSM and 7mm Remington Mag = basically ballistically 2 peas in the same pod. The WSM being a short action. Higher velocities than the 7x57 and 7mm-08.

270 WSM = just picked this up. I plan to shoot 130 grain mono bullets. I do not expect to see much difference between it and a 270 Winchester. Other than being a short action.

For a short time, I had a 280 Remington. It was accurate but never warmed up to the particular rifle.

I like 7mm's but have not shot them in years except at the range occasionally.

I have not shot the Ultra Magnums nor the 28 Nosler class cartridges, but the others are not annoying to shoot.

So , A gunshop in Adelaide (Australia) said that the 7mm-08 is popular with African shooters living there.
Is it a common round in Africa?
What about the others?
I've read on the 7x57, sounds like a classic.
Yesterday i read about the ,284Winchester another 7mm bore, and the 7mm-08 AI
People I've met with 7mm rifles are pretty happy with performance
It seems that for hunting the 7x57 is well liked. The 7mm-08 equals it and the 7mmRm is fine but there are other 7mm magnums too.
do these others show any real world performance for hunters?

The old sage Jack O'Connor once said that any real world difference between the .270, the .280 and the .284 Win was just fodder for discussion, the "hot stove league", and existed mostly between the ears of gun writers!
Paraphrasing of course.

 

[stug]

I’ve had a few 7mm’S over the years. In order 7mm Rem Mag, 7/08, 7RUM, 7x57 and 7x65R
Still got the 7/08 and 7x65R. Like the balance of ballistic ability and lower recoil.
The 7mm mag is an awesome mountain cartridge.

 

[Mr. Zorg]

In the USA, 7X57mm and 8X57mm factory ammunition is loaded a great deal below those cartridges potential. I'm not a reloader, so things like that factor into some of my choices.

Fortunately, Norma in Sweden loads factory ammunition in 7X57mm, 7mm-08, 7X64mm, .280 Remington, and 7mm Remington Magnum. One particular bullet, the 156 grain Oryx, a mid-range 7mm caliber weight, is / has been loaded in those 5 so a reasonable comparison can be made looking at factory muzzle velocities with that same bullet, acknowledging hand loading can achieve results beyond factory loaded ammo.

7X57mm = 2640 feet/sec (805 meters/sec).

7mm-08 = 2725 feet/sec (831 meters/sec)

7X64mm = 2789 feet/sec (850 meters/sec)

.280 Remington = 2789 feet/sec (850 meters/sec)

7mm Remington Magnum = 2953 feet/sec (900 meters/sec)

Norma doesn't load .284 Winchester ammunition, but I found some HSM .284 Winchester ammunition loaded with the 160 grain Speer Grand Slam bullet for comparison. That factory load muzzle velocity is 2750 feet/sec.

Factory ammunition for .280 Remington AI is available from Nosler & Hornady. The Hornady load uses the 162 grain ELD-X bullet with a published muzzle velocity of 2850 feet/sec (869 meters/sec). Nosler uses a 160 grain Nosler Partition with a published muzzle velocity of 2850 feet/sec (869 meters/sec).

There are a lot more factory ammunition choices in the USA for 7mm-08 & .280 Remington than 7X57mm Mauser and 7X64mm Brenneke. I expect the opposite to generally be the case in Africa from reading here.

 

[Major Khan]

I am partial to the .275 Rigby and the 7 mm Remington magnum cartridges . However , this is largely because they were the most popular 7 mm bore calibres of my time .