Carried a 7mm Win Mag in the east for one year. It was first rate for long shots across a field or down a right off way. But also took it into the woods proper where shot where more like 30/40 yards. Loaded with 150 Ballistic Tips it was a bang flop rifle, put a lot of damage on close deer, but was okay if that was a just behind the shoulder type of shot. Trying to say, it will do okay up close if you chose to hunt it that way. Still hunt a 7 mag, but it is a 7mm WSM BLR , loaded with 160 gr Nosler Partitions, or the Speer 160 BTSP. Can't reach factory velocities with handloads. The current accurate load runs at a comfortable 2900ish FPS, just above a hot loaded 280 Rem, which actually is saying a lot.

 

NC Hunter - you have a beautiful rifle! Should be quite accurate. If you're having a gunsmith look it over, have him check the trigger. Most of my Remington 700's have been just fine, but one rifle made me worry, and I replaced that trigger with a Timney. Solved the problem. Remington rifles of that time period have a good reputation for quality. I think you're good to go.

It probably has a 24" barrel, which works great with the 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge. BTW, it's a very good cartridge for western hunting and one of my favorites. To me it recoils roughly the same as a 30-06, and is a rifle/cartridge combo I can handle well.

Handloads:

175 grain Nosler Partition, excellent bullet. Expands readily, the tip may even fragment, but that rear section punches on through. A single 175 Nosler brought down a nice 6x6 bull elk for me about 20 years ago. Bullet went in right behind the leg, and exited out the other side, pretty well destroying the top of the heart & lungs. Bull took a few steps and fell.

The powder I used then, H870, hasn't been available in years. However lately I've been working with IMR 8133 in the 7mm Remington Magnum and have been very impressed with the accuracy and velocity. Take a look at the reloading data available on Hodgdon's online manual (or their print version). You'll see that it produces nearly 2900 fps with a max load. Oh - and contrary to your friend's experience, the closer I get to maximum loads in this cartridge, the better it performs. Better velocity, better accuracy, lower SD and ES figures... All of it.

In 2020 I took my new-to-me 7mm Rem Mag, a Ruger Number One, to Wyoming and took mule deer and pronghorn antelope with it. My handload performed really well, I was getting about 3050 fps at the muzzle, and groups at 300 yards that were EASILY under 3" - some down to 1.5" at 300 yards. I hadn't planned on hunting with the Sierra SPBT Gameking but did so and it worked really well. I recovered the bullet from the mule deer, but not from the pronghorn. My load was 65 grains of Alliant Reloader 22, which I've used in the 7mm Rem Mag since about 2001 when I couldn't find H870 anymore. Now I can't find Reloader 22 anymore!

Since Reloader 22 has become difficult to obtain, I switched to that newer IMR 8133 which is a slow-burning powder. Interestingly, I can easily get the same 3,000+ fps velocities, excellent accuracy, and reduced bore fouling! Makes me happy.

Out of interest, I loaded some 150 grain Hornady ELD-X bullets with IMR 8133 and the Federal 215 magnum primer and recorded a scorching 3280 fps! That's from a 26" barrel, but wow! Faster than I expected. That was a max load according to the manual.

IMR 4955 also worked very well, and moved the 150 grain Hornady at a tad over 3100 fps.

And it hasn't seemed crucial which type of brass I use. I haven't used any of the real premium brass for the 7mm Rem Mag, just Winchester & Remington and some Federal. All worked well over the years. When I handload, I fire-form the brass to headspace off the shoulder rather than the belt. This seems to help with case life.

Here's a link to an article and a video I did a few months ago re the 7mm Remington Magnum and loading with a couple of the new IMR Enduron powders: High-Velocity 7mm Rem Mag Loads with IMR Enduron Powders – Ultimate Reloader

Regards, Guy

 

Oh, far north, in the Brooks Range of Alaska in 2017 hunting grizzly and wolf, I brought a 30-06 but my fellow hunter brought his trusty 7mm Remington Magnum, a Browning rifle he's relied upon for decades. I watched him take down a grizzly at about 80 yards with one shot! He used the 140 grain Barnes, I think it was the tipped version the TTSX. That bullet did a FINE job on the grizzly too...

Guy

 

I owned two M700 Classics, my 2nd favorite iteration of the venerable M700. One was in .35 Whelen and the other in 8x57. Very nice rifles, and yours is beautiful!!

 

Thanks Tn. It's in great condition.

Guy, I'm glad you saw my post and thanks for the comments. You actually replied to some questions I had posted about this rifle close to a decade ago when my friend first offered to sell it. I had every intention of buying it then but didn't have the funds right then and ended up buying some rifles that were higher up my list. Lucky for me my buddy held on to it and even luckier he sold it to me for the price he offered 10 years ago.

It is a 24 in barrel. I wouldn't consider myself overly sensitive to recoil...I'm 6'3" and 240 lbs. but I prefer no more bang than is needed. 7mag/30-06 level is the top range of what I'd prefer to hunt with and I doubt I'll ever need more. Funny thing I already watched that video on Youtube as I was pondering buying this rifle the last few weeks. I'll definitely watch again. Maybe PM you sometime and get some advice on planning a western hunt...

 

I'll definitely watch again. Maybe PM you sometime and get some advice on planning a western hunt...

Of course. I don't hunt a lot of different western states. So far: California (long ago), Washington, Alaska and Wyoming. I fish in more of the states.

Hope my 7mm Rem Mag info is of use to you.

Regards, Guy

 

If you haven't fired it yet put your head set on,cause they be LOUD

 

Congrats on a great rifle. My dad shoots 7mm on our elk hunts and I cannot think of a time he had to take a followup shot. Like all hunting, it's all about shot placement. 7mm is a great flat shooter. Perfect for everything you listed. Elk, mules, speed goats. Happy hunting! I love my Nikon scopes too.

 

Took the rifle apart and did some cleaning today. Couple of passes with some Hoppe's patches and the bore was bright and shiny, looks about brand new. I knew it hadn't been shot very much. I knew it was in good shape but man it looks good cleaned up. Bluing has to be 99% or better, wood is in good shape with some wear in expected places. Bolt feels as good cycling as any rifle I've had. Only issue is that the scope mount screws are all but stripped out. Seems sturdy enough so just left it there and put on my Nikon. I'm going to shoot it some and maybe even do some hunting with it next year and go from there. It will definitely be going to a gunsmith for bedding and he hopefully can get the scope mount off for me. According to barrel marks it was manufactured in March 1980.

 

I also have a 1980 BDL in 308 that I traded for recently. Quality is outstanding.
No trigger issues whatsoever. I prefer the stock on your rifle over my BDL.
The Dupont gloss has a super shine to it. I like an oiled finished stock myself.
Good luck on your new 700!

 

A popular "fix" for those nearly stripped scope mounting holes is to have a good gunsmith enlarge and re-thread them for one size larger screw. Works great and adds strength with the bigger screws.

 

I should have been more precise. The screw heads are stripped out...as far as I know the mounting holes should be ok. Guess I'll find out when I get it looked over but if there is trouble getting them out I'll definitely go the route you suggested.

I have to admit I'm pretty excited about this rifle. It balances and shoulders really well, way better than I was expecting.

 

I also recently bought one of those in 7mm Rem Mag. I floated the barrel, and lightened the trigger down to 2.5 lbs, it did not need bedding. It's a moa rifle. It's difficult to go wrong really, nice cartridge, nice rifle.