7MM family

D

Dave Allen

New member
hello..i have been kicking around a 28 caliber & am a bit confused ?? at this point the mag's don't interest me..."however" the 7x57...7MM/08...280...spark my interest & i have no experiance with any of them... my question would be what's the difference between them ?? looking at the info i have gathered it seem's a toss up ?? my second question is in this family of caliber's would they be considered to "light" for elk ?? using a suitable bullet of course...thank's for any input...
 
I have used one 280 Rem and two 7x57's. Great cartridges. Not a whole lot of difference, slight velocity edge to the 280. Ammo easier to find for the 7mm-08 and 7x57. They all will work well on elk. Stick to 150 and up class bullet's. My favorite bullet in the 7x57 was the 154gr Hornady RN, it was poison. In the 280 I used the 139gr Hornady but then I had a 7mm mag at the same time. Were I to get another 280 today, I'd go with a good 150 to 160gr bullet. If I wanted to use a lighter bullet I'd drop back to one of my 6.5's.

I have a very strong preference for 6.5 and 7mm cartridges but don't shoot any magnums anymore.
 
7/08 is a short action round so it can be chambered in a lighter, more compact rifle. A rifle like the Remington Model 7 chambered in 7/08 is an absolutely deadly combo for deer sized game and won't kill you too bad on the other end.

I'll defer to the elk hunters on here as to it's killing power on the buglers.
 
I use 140grn NBT in my 7x57 on deer and antelope and it works great for both. It will also blow a HUGE hole in a coyote that was stalking the antelope that I was stalking! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
thank's for the input gent's...i think the 30 cal's are probably the way to go for elk..."however" i like to shoot & get to know my gun's...this is why i'm wondering about the 7MM's...a bit less recoil...mean's for me more shooting time & possably getting a "bit" less beat up ??? as you can tell i'm not a fan of hard recoiling rifle's...thank's...
 
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My wife shot this bull last year with a Savage Model 11 in 7mm-08 shooting 140 grain Nosler Partitions. Until last week he's the only elk I've seen dropped in its tracks.

I used the same rifle to take down a doe muley this year, and have absolutely no reservations against using it for elk. In my opinion 140 grains is enough for elk in any of the 7mm's when put in the hands of a competent hunter.

.338's with 225 grain bullets work too.

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I have 4 7mm's . Two 7mm-08 , one 7mm Rem Mag and one 280 Ack Imp. with the 280 Ack being my favorite. I use the 140 gr in the 7mm-08 and the 160 in the Ack and 7 mag. The 7mm's are hard to beat for all around use. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
The 7X57 Mauser, orginal chambering for the Mauser M1893. It has been around in military use until after WWII, in civilian use since it came out (113 yrs). If it wasn't a good cartridge it wouldn't have lasted as long as it has.
Read what Jack O'Conner had to say about it (one of his favorite cartridges). Biggest single problem is that with all the older rifles out the factroy loads have to be loaded to a pressure level that is safe in the old rifles, so to get the most from one you need to reload.

7-08 is a necked down 308, works in a slightly shorter action then the 7mm Mauser and has similar velocity levels.

280 I really don't know much about. It is about as close to a magnum as you can get without the name.
 
To answer your question about the difference between the 7x57, the 7mm-08, and the .280 Rem I checked out a couple of reloading guides and some ballistics tables for factory ammo.

In a nutshell, the 7x57 shoots slower than either the 7-08, or the 280. But it uses less powder so it's cheaper to reload for once you have the brass. It also will have the least recoil, but I think it would be hard to tell the difference in any of the 3 calibers.

The difference between the 7-08 and the 280 ballistically is slightly in favor of the 280, but the advantage of the 7-08 is the ease of finding factory ammo and brass, and also the available selection of loads you can find in factory ammo.

I think for your purposes any of these 3 will suit you, but I'd lean a little more to the 7-08 or .280 simply for their flatter shooting. They'll all work fine on elk, like I said before, when used by a competent hunter using a premium bullet like Nosler Paritions, Swift A-frames, Barnes X bullets or Triple Shocks, etc, that are designed for deep penetration and controlled expansion.
 
The only 7mm I have is a 7 mag, and for sure it will take anything in N. America.

If you are recoil sensitive, you can put a muzzle brake on it. It cuts recoil down to the .308 range, very mild.
 
I shoot a 7mm JDJ, 7mm-08, 7mm rem mag, 7mm STW, and a 7mm Allen mag, had a 280 liked the caliber but not the rifle so its gone. you would hard pressed to find a more versatile caliber, if you like things different, the 7mm Gibbs will give you the same performance as the 7 mag (almost) and its based on a 270 win case.
RR
 
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In a nutshell, the 7x57 shoots slower than either the 7-08, or the 280. But it uses less powder so it's cheaper to reload for once you have the brass. It also will have the least recoil, but I think it would be hard to tell the difference in any of the 3 calibers.


The only reason you see slower velocities listed for the 7x57 is because the manuals and factories only list ones that are under SAAMI specs. There are a lot of old 7x57's around that can't be loaded to max pressures, so velocities listed are slower than what's possible in a handloaded MODERN rifle. The fact is, the 7x57 has greater case capacity than the 7-08, and can be handloaded in newer firearms to higher velocities.----2MG
 
thank's everyone you have been a great help !! with many month's now until i could hunt big game it give's me much to consider...good luck...
 
Any of those will do the trick Dave. I love the 7mm's, have always shot a 7mm Mag out west. I swear by the Hornady 139's as they have proven awesome! I would say the 7-08 would be the best choice because of factory ammo being available in lots of places.
 
Quote:
Quote:


In a nutshell, the 7x57 shoots slower than either the 7-08, or the 280. But it uses less powder so it's cheaper to reload for once you have the brass. It also will have the least recoil, but I think it would be hard to tell the difference in any of the 3 calibers.


The only reason you see slower velocities listed for the 7x57 is because the manuals and factories only list ones that are under SAAMI specs. There are a lot of old 7x57's around that can't be loaded to max pressures, so velocities listed are slower than what's possible in a handloaded MODERN rifle. The fact is, the 7x57 has greater case capacity than the 7-08, and can be handloaded in newer firearms to higher velocities.----2MG



+1,

The 7x57 can do anything the 7-08 can do, and better.

Don
 
The 7-08 is very inherently accurate and can be housed in a short action. It is loaded to higher factory pressures than the 7x57, which holds about 3.4 more grains of water---2MG
 
The 7-08 is a 308 case. The 280 is 30-06 case and the 7 Mauser is in between.

7mm cartridges are so good that the arguement is over muzzle blast, recoil, short-long action, recoil, ease of finding etc and what you are going to use the rifle for.
 
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