The 7mm Remington Magnum can be an outstanding choice if you: A. Hand load, and B. Happen to have a rifle with a consistently fast barrel. Otherwise it’s only marginally more powerful than a .270 Winchester while being more expensive to shoot and less magazine capacity. Factory ammo for the 7RM is generally loaded very far below the actual capability of the cartridge. The original specs when Les Bowman developed the cartridge was a 160 grain bullet at 3,150fps. You’re lucky to get 2,950 with 150 grain bullets in factory ammo these days, often getting far less In actuality. I understand that in the 1970s there came an understanding that some 7RM rifles were getting too much velocity, too much pressure, and the factory loads were tuned way down. The problem here there were also very slow barrels that now get velocity below that of a regular .270. Hardly anyone had chronographs so people developed strong opinions on the cartridge based on their personal or observed success or failure. I believe Speer detailed this problem in some factory rifles shooting up to 300 fps faster than advertised with a particular load while others shot down to 400 fps lower. A huge span of 700 fps. This is based on my own research. My own 7RM rifle, sample size of exactly one, exhibited some interesting results over the chronograph. Some factory ammo shot 100-150 fps below advertised while others shot 100-150 above advertised. This is the only rifle I have experienced anything like this with. This experience is what prompted me to do some research and find the aforementioned information. Considering the cost of factory ammo, I wouldn’t recommend the 7RM to anyone who isn’t interested in judicious hand loading, in which case if they are then I’d recommend it. True the .280AI will do most of the what the 7RM will do (maybe more if we’re talking factory ammo) and with less powder, but as usual the magnum will give us an advantage with the heaviest bullet weights. Normally I lean towards magnum length cartridges in caliber .30 and above as the extra length gives greater flexibility with heavier bullets while keeping up the velocities, but the 7mm weight class crosses into the realm of diminishing returns with cartridges like the RUM and STW. For what it’s worth I’m thinking about getting a .270 Weatherby myself.
