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Short Magnum Question
mmurray
Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
One friend has a Remington Model 70 7mm short magnum, another friend has a Remington Model 700 270 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum)
4 questions:
1. What is the benefit of a "short magnum"? What is the purpose of the shorter fatter shell?
2. It is my understanding that a 270 shoots flatter than a 30.06, has bit less knock down power, but is widely used as a deer rifle. Does the 270 WSM make it more suitable for other types of big game, e.g., black bear, elk, big horn sheep, prong horn entelope?
3. My friend with the 7 mm short magnum tore the legs off and crushed the chest of a doe he shot this past fall. Is it too powerful for deer hunting and, if so, is there another type of load that would make it more appropriate for deer hunting? e.g., I have used bullets for a 38 special in a 357 magnum. It is a different load and cheaper.
4. Last question: I desperately need to buy my own deer hunting rifle instead of borrowing everyone elses yet I would also like to engage in competitive shooting. Is there a rifle out there that would be suitable for both purposes for a person with modest means?
Thanks for any responses and hope the day is going well. Mike
4 questions:
1. What is the benefit of a "short magnum"? What is the purpose of the shorter fatter shell?
2. It is my understanding that a 270 shoots flatter than a 30.06, has bit less knock down power, but is widely used as a deer rifle. Does the 270 WSM make it more suitable for other types of big game, e.g., black bear, elk, big horn sheep, prong horn entelope?
3. My friend with the 7 mm short magnum tore the legs off and crushed the chest of a doe he shot this past fall. Is it too powerful for deer hunting and, if so, is there another type of load that would make it more appropriate for deer hunting? e.g., I have used bullets for a 38 special in a 357 magnum. It is a different load and cheaper.
4. Last question: I desperately need to buy my own deer hunting rifle instead of borrowing everyone elses yet I would also like to engage in competitive shooting. Is there a rifle out there that would be suitable for both purposes for a person with modest means?
Thanks for any responses and hope the day is going well. Mike
Comments
I will answer your last question first as it is actually the most important.
Find yourself a good .308 or .30-06 and forget about the "magnums". If you want to shoot competitively, then you should not be looking at any of the magnums anyway, unless you are looking at shooting 1000 yard matchs and even then the 30-06 will do it.
The .308 or 30-06 will kill anything in North America and your ammo choices run the gauntlet. Everything from cheap military surplus to expensive "premium" factory loadings. Both are use extensively for competitive shooting as well.
As for rifle recommendations, for the money the Savages with the Accutrigger are hard to beat. Next I would say Tikka, then Remington (model 7 or 700).
I almost forgot: Welcome to the forums!
First, let me say welcome to the forums.
Second, the benefit of the short magnum is that it headspaces off the shoulder and not the belt. Which I believe adds to accuracy. However, true accuracy is accomplished by careful reloading. In which case either a belted magnum or non-belted, will do just as well because each round is tailored to the rifle it fires from.
Third, choice of shot placement is critical when shooting deer. A magnum is more likely to go through both shoulders if shot there and ruin half the meat. That doesn't mean that on a small deer a .308 or 30-06 won't do that either. It can. The latter two will certainly ruin the impacted shoulder just like any non-magnum deer rifle will. Shot placement is critical. Shoot behind the shoulders and you will ruin less meat.
Fourth, as Handgun noted, getting a magnum to start participating in competition is not a good idea. You probably don't reload yet, so I would suggest going with the rounds that have the most, and affordable, match grade ammunition made for them. As you progress you might start thinking about a different caliber choice. The order in which I suggest you look is the .223 Rem.(or 5.56), the .308 Win (7.62x51 Nato), and the 30-06(7.62x63 Nato). The military versions of these are not fully interchangeable with the civilian versions for various reasons. Usually the Match ammunition is set more to conform to civilian standards though so you can interchange it. Make sure when purchasing that you research that so that you don't get ammunition that can ruin your rifle.
I'd like to add my welcome also!
One friend has a Remington Model 70 7mm short magnum
Do you mean a Winchester M70 or is it a Remington M700? It's not critical but it keeps the information correct.
"1. What is the benefit of a "short magnum"? What is the purpose of the shorter fatter shell?"
This concept stems from the success of the 6mmPPC cartridge and the 6mmBR cartridge which are short and fat. These cartridges demonstrate extreme accuracy so the rest of the ballistics world thought that it might be a good idea for other cartridges as well. The history of the short fat magnum cartridges goes back quite a ways before what Winchester and Remington came up with as a byproduct of Rick Jamison's work. A case can be made for the work of a Canadian gunsmith who developed the Imperial Magnum line of cartridges.
The benefit is in the way the powder column is ignited and burns by comparison to the longer, same capacity cartridges. The shorter fatter cartridges exhibit more efficiency in the way that the powder burns.
"2. It is my understanding that a 270 shoots flatter than a 30.06, has bit less knock down power, but is widely used as a deer rifle. Does the 270 WSM make it more suitable for other types of big game, e.g., black bear, elk, big horn sheep, prong horn entelope?"
I wouldn't give you a nickel's difference between the .270 and the 30-06 since either one is fully capable of harvesting any game available in the U.S. That makes the .270 WSM and the .300 WSM as well as the Remington version just as usable.
"3. My friend with the 7 mm short magnum tore the legs off and crushed the chest of a doe he shot this past fall. Is it too powerful for deer hunting and, if so, is there another type of load that would make it more appropriate for deer hunting? e.g., I have used bullets for a 38 special in a 357 magnum. It is a different load and cheaper."
Please don't take offense but unless you witnessed this personally, I'd have to say your friend was telling campfire tales after imbibing. The concept might suffer from some exaggeration...
"4. Last question: I desperately need to buy my own deer hunting rifle instead of borrowing everyone elses yet I would also like to engage in competitive shooting. Is there a rifle out there that would be suitable for both purposes for a person with modest means?"
This will depend on what type of competition that you intend to try. If you just want to try to compete at the local level for fun then you can buy any decently made rifle that the others have suggested. Be aware that if you think you can compete at the upper levels with a standard hunting rifle, you are are in for some disappointment. Competition rifles and hunting rifles are two different animals and competition rifles get specialized and expensive pretty quick. But that's not to say that you can't have fun shooting at the local level in some of your club competitions.
The last thing I'd like to point out is that you can avoid the WSMs and the RSAUMs and get a standardized 'short magnum' cartridge from Hornady.
http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=761
These cases have the standard rim and head size of 0.532" instead of the 0.550"/555" head size of the WSM/RSAUM. They feed a little easier.
Enjoy the process of the search for a new rifle!
Best.