Just curious - Compare 7mm to 8mm

Hawkeye67

If you were to select a rifle to hunt grizzly, and your only choices were either the 7 mm Remington Mag. or an old, but in excellent condition, WWII German 8mm Mauser, which would you choose?

Thanks guys.

Hawkeye67

BigGameHunter42

ummm grizzly , if u have the money i would go and buy a 300 mag at the minimum but i would recomend a .338 just to be on the safe side .

however if you do not have the money i would suggest the 7mm .

both sound like great guns but i am not sure about dragging the 8mm into the woods because it sounds like a great gun .

redice

Well my uncle has used 7mm for the past 8 years and has gotten a blackbear every single year with it, however I believe he has been going with head shots for the most part.

Personally I would rather take the 8mm, just for the extra amount of bullet I am kind of a weight over speed guy theres a bit more bullet there.

duckhunter

8MM, BECAUSE I LIKE TO SHOOT THE OLD STUFF

I WOULD RATHER BE DUCK HUNTING.

Invicta

i would go with the 7mm because there is a larger variety of ammo available for it.

1KYDSTR

There's a question that I think will draw all manner of attention! I agree with BigGameHunter42 that I would likely try to step up the food chain (and try to avoid becomming a lower rung ON IT) by getting my hands on a .338 Win Mag or something else of its ilk as the big bruins are a REALLY tough lot. Lots of the big boys have no doubt been taken using 30-06 and even smaller rounds but I fear that you may be a bit undermatched with those!
If you have no choice but those 2 previously mentioned, I'll try to list what I feel the pros and cons would be for both, and then give you my opinion as to what I would go with.
The 7mm Rem. Mag is a bit of a race horse and as they say, "speed Kills". You are launching say perhaps 140 grain pills at a VERY impressive speed. There is a nice bullet selection in commercial loadings as the 7 Rem Mag has enjoyed a long and popular run amongst American Riflemen. Some of these bullets would include solids which would be a good choice to make good penetration on that kind of animal; gotta' get to the 'vitals' to make a successful shot! A bullet selection that light though? A matter of opinion! One other good point is that the 7mm Rem Mag is known to cycle through a bolt action reliably even at its highest pressures so if follow up shots are a concern, I think it presents a good choice.
The 8mm MAuser round, unless you are handloading for it is generally not loaded hot enough because of the manufacturers fear if them winding up being fired in older, weaker acitons. If you are handloading, you can really stoke up the 8mm but then they, in my experience, have a tendency to bind the action; something that is REALLY undesireable in a gun used for this purpose. No follow-up shot might equal no trip home! You can get nice heavy bullets for this round, but not easily in commercial ammo. A 220 grain, handloaded smokin' fast round would do the trick, but you don't have nearly as many bullets to choose from as with the 7mm.
In my opinion, the 7mm Rem. Mag. is going to be the best choice for you here! Reliability of cycle, bullet selection for both hand loads AND commercial loadings and the overall performance/speed of the 7mm makes it the logical choice. HAve fun and read on...bet you'll get a lot more input here!

"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)

temblor

Hawkeye -- If you handload the 8mm it's a moot point to me. If I were specifically going after big Grizzleys I wouldn't use light bullets in the 7mm mag. If you go to the heavy bullets with the 7mm it really starts to lose speed quickly due to the reduced bore diameter and isn't any faster than the 8mm if it's handloaded. I would go with a minimum of 175gr(or maybe a 195gr Barnes original) in a premium bullet type in the 7mm and probably a 200 gr in the 8mm. Probably a 200gr Barnes X or a Nosler Partition. -- If you don't handload or have a friend that does the 7mm is the better choice due to the availability of premium factory ammo with the good bullets ready to go. -- As far as rifle choice goes, I would say use the one you shoot the best and have the most confidence in -- There is one thing to consider about your rifle that I didn't see mentioned. I like the controlled round feed and positive claw extraction of the Mauser 98 for this type of hunting. It's no time to get a case stuck in the chamber. Even though I'm a big fan of the Remington 700 action I have a 338 Mag. built on a pre-64 claw extraction action for this type of stuff.I don't know what type of action your 7mm would have, but it's something to consider.-- I would personally take the larger bore diameter of the 8mm and heavier bullet weight that it would provide for this use(provided you use handloads with premium bullets) over the 7mm if you use the heavy bullets, but either will get the job done. The key will be bullet placement and bullet performance.-- Make sure you check each round of your ammo to see if it will feed thru your gun easily before you go to the field after one of these bears.You don't want to find out one won't feed when you need it..............Good Luck..........[8D] ---- PS = Just for the record I think you would be better off with a 338 or larger gun for this use.-- Just my two cents.....................................[^]

Hawkeye67

Thank you all very much. Lots of material to digest and rumminate over before I make the choice. I do like the sounds of the 338's application (It will give me good reason to talk the wife into letting me get another rifle.[:D]) Anyhow, thank you all, again, for the input.

Talk with you later.

Hawkeye67

1KYDSTR

Hey, I know, tell the little lady that the insurance premium is not paid and if you don't get the 338 you might wind up as bear poop and leave her with no money after you're gone! In all seriousness, I think you would be well served with the 338 as bullets are much larger and the terminal performance of them is designed with large game like the Griz in mind. You can be pretty darn sure that a 338 240 grainer was not really intended to whallop Bambis' mommy into the next world!
Another choice that I did not see mentioned was the 375 Holland & Holland. Now there is a performer that was designed with really large game in mind and unlike some big rounds like the 416 Rem Mag and 458 Winchester will not knock you around so badly! Originally designed for African hunting it was kept at reasonabl pressures so that extreemly high temperatures would not liven up the performance to the point of causing the brass to stick in the chamber. These bad boys push a REALLY big pill, and again, the bullets are generally designed for animals the size of moose and bear and for that matter, lions etc...This would be a GREAT choice and has become popular enough in the US to be considered a common chambering in places like ALaska.

"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)

fergusonmorse392

99.9% of hunters hunting grizzly bears must have a guide. Contact him/them and get their recommendations.

Artic wolf

I would have to say the 8mm mauser.. I have used my Yugo M48 for bear moose deer ect and it just feels right.. Plus The histoy keep you thinking while you hunt lol