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Kia ora
Im looking at getting my first rifle soon and 7mm rem mag is one of a couple options I might go for and wanted to know what the availability of ammunition was as i don't want to get a gun where ammunition can be very scarce like we saw with 7mm08 in the last couple years.
go visit shops and look....its there but not a lot of choice...the .308 and .270 are usually much easier to find,and from what Ive seen lately still have good choice of options.
Greetings @matthewhall2912,
You may wish to think of your first rifle as a trainer rifle for other rifles later on. While it is great to think about a best rifle for whatever use you may want to use it for you may wish to select something that is easy to learn to shoot with plenty of ammo available. Also something that is easy to handload for with plentiful components. To me the 7mm Rem mag ticks few of these boxes. I would tend towards the .308 Win (sorry @Micky Duck) but I am probably biased. I see you are local so PM me if you want to drop by for a chat.
Regards Grandpamac.
PS I won't be trying to sell you any of my .308 rifles.
Aa an idea of availability, a quick look at the Guncity website shows 10 types of 7mmRM ammo apparently in stock, and 35 types of 308 ammo (and 13 types of 270).
Thats disappointing. I thought 7mm-08 was popular there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntfisheat
I understand the .308 and probably .223 are pretty common , same here in Australia. When they start to dry up the only thing left on the shelf might be an odd box of some obscure cartridge that went out of Vogue sometime with little demand for it.
Puts forward a strong case for keeping a .308 for everyday use even of you have some other chambering you like to hunt with.
no need to apologize to me.....I rather fond of the .308......if didnt own a .270 it was going to be 308 or 30/06 of that there was never a doubt .Quote:
Originally Posted by grandpamac
@Micky Duck
does the .270 kick hard at all as one of my mates are adamant i dont want one due to kick
I believe your proposed 7 rem mag will kick more than even a .270!!
What ever you get put a surppressor on it but being a first I wouldn't go as big as a rem mag.
What's your shooting experience as the rem mag is a hard hitting caliber at both ends.
I would go 7-08 as Belmont load a good cheap round in 7-08 as being your first rifle you will want to shoot it a fair bit and the price of rem mag ammo is not cheap
Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk
less than a 7mm mag does,that is for sure n certain....suppressors are the game changer...makes most non magnum cartridges very mild to shoot. couple that with rifle thats not silly lightweight and you good as gold.Quote:
Originally Posted by matthewhall2912
if you even slightly worried about recoil...dont muck around buy that ruger .243 james has for https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....7-243-a-80703/ will not regret it one little bit.perfect gun for 90% of hunting you will do in this county...you can buy something bigger down the track if you feel the need..but I doubt you would unless chasing thar at long range.0-300 yards you pretty safe with just about all our game animals...one thing is dead certain...a .243 projectile in the right place is MUCHMUCH MUCH better than bigger projectile in wrong place because you flinched,even a .50BMG isnt guaranteed to drop stag in tracks if you gut shoot it.
yea ive seen the difference of a suppressor on a 7mm-08 and it definitely changed the rifle. one of the people i hunt with uses a 223 but im not to much of a fan of the smaller calibres and the rest of the people i hunt with said that is should go no smaller than something like a creedmoor. and the only reason why i was asking about the .270 is a couple mates decribed it as being crazy huge recoil when you guys say its not the case.
your creedmore mates are "pansies"..... and your 243 is 6mm they using 6.5mm in a not overly potent case....you can shoot up to 105grns, they mostly be using 120ish...there is not much in it....sure they will be able to shoot further...on paper its better...real world,not that much.
go back 20-30 years and if recoil shy/slightly built /youth or women shooters and the recomendation was nearly always buy a .243 and the reasons still stack up... adding a suppressor just makes what was a great low recoiling cartridge even more so and quiet into the bargain....
ammunition should still be loads easier to find...and while you having a look for creedmore ammunition (good luck finding any) compare prices....
yes the mighty .270win HAD reputation for recoil...piss poor stock design no suppressors and some even came fitted with LOUDENERS!!!!! made it a true statement... when I started with one some 35 years ago I developed flinch as rifle had no recoil pad,heavy trigger and was using potent Norma 150grn loads...
fitted decent recoil pad,lightened trigger,dropped to 130grn loads and it became different rifle all together... I even went so far as to load some 110grn loads so had in effect turned it into a .243...to reduce recoil...... fitting a suppressor changes the game completely.
you can do same with .308...or 7mm/08 lighter loads and suppressor= lower recoil.
that .243 above is a good buy at a higher price...at price on it it is a steal...if you dont like the green coating,cover it with tape..I use silage tape,a wide insulation tape. solves lots of issues.
Good option would be to go into your local store and find out what ammo they have coming in the next shipment and what they can foresee they will be getting. Sounds like there is a lot of uncertainty in ammo availability for the next while.
I am in a similar position with my 7mm rem mag ,been using factory ammo mostly Sako with the 165gr but rare as hens teeth now,then got some Federal blue box which is bloody good ammo for point an shoot type hunting, but now that is hard to get as well.
Been looking hard at my ole rcbs reloading press sitting in the cupboard, thinking i should get into reloading again but that has its own issues with the current component shortage.
The local shops only have a few boxes of obscure ammo ive never heard of before!!!! . And not much different if i wanted to use my ole .243 or 308
Im a softie that likes 243 tooQuote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
mostly because with a suppressor you can make them as light as humanly possible and they are still pussycats
my dads the other end of the scale with a heavy mcmillian stock and bull barrel all still in 243
certainly makes for a stable rig
I went down the 7 Rem mag route and have stepped back to a 280rem for my further out stuff
7 RM was too much for the distances I hunt so was sold when I moved back north
It had tons of power but unless you need to shoot a good deal past 500m standard calibers are far better on the shoulder
for Magnums everything is bigger and more expensive starting with bullets
the suppressors are longer and heavier and are on a longer barrel to start with
they use more powder and the barrels last a lot less shots due to this
its just wheter or not you need to be lugging a magnum around as I got sick of it real quick
mine had a muzzle break on it to tame it down and it just about defened me in one ear when a mate shot it from behind me while tahr shooting
the other thing to consider is how many shots you are going to need in a year
lately im under a box a year, It only usually takes two shots per animal once your sighted in
one to put it down and one to finish it
I got chased by a stag with big antlers that Id knocked out so I really recommend that second finishing shot between the eyes
I’m not convinced a Magnum is the best rifle to buy as your “First” ideally you want something that fits you well, you can afford to shoot a bit at the range to get comfortable and competent with, I’ve seen plenty of new shooters getting beat up at the range with rifles that are beyond them, they develop flinches and poor techniques and most of all don’t have fun.
Better to shoot well with a smaller rifle than badly with a bigger one. There’s nothing in NZ you can’t shoot with a 243 & 100gn Bullets.
First question is what type of hunting will you be doing? Open tops, back of farm, bush, type of game?
With the shortages of ammo at the moment I’d look at 308/270 with a suppressor or 243, 7-08, 6.5 Creedmoor
And yes an unsuppressed 270 does have a decent recoil but it’s less than a magnum! You can always trade up to a bigger rifle later on, another point is invest in a good quality scope.
My first hunting rifle was a .270 and I owned it before suppressors were a thing. On the range I would notice the recoil after 10 rounds or so, never felt it actually shooting deer.
At the time I weighed about 65kgs so there wasn't much of me to absorb the recoil.
A suppressor would have made it more comfy to shoot, a muzzle brake would reduce recoil even more, not all ranges allow muzzle brakes though, not a problem if you have private land to shoot on.
That said... given the availability of ammo at the moment, .308 would be a good choice. It will kill anything in NZ.
learning with a 7RM is a good way to develop a flinch too
at the time I was shooting the caliber it was $3.50 per shot
I imagine it has gone up substantially since then