Is the 7mm Ultra Mag dying off?

[Deerhntr71]

Have been thinking of getting a 7mm RUM, but ammo is not readily available. Even looks hard to find reloading equipment.
Is this round dying off? Should a person stay away from this caliber?

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

I would stay away from it. I don't think it ever caught on. It is so seriously overbore that my guess would be barrel life is super short, and you are burning through powder for modest gains o er the other 7 mags.

If you were looking at it for flat shooting Maximum Point Blank Range rifle, I would recommend running a light hard bullet out of fast 30 (like a 300 Win or 300 RUM with a Barnes 150 TTSX).

If you want really long range, the old boring 7 Remmy does well with the super high BC Bergers out to 900 and beyond.

If you want to go even further check out the big 338s and a LR high BC bullet.

 

[dzlfarmboy]

I agree with BB. Plus those 7rums kick like a SOB in a light weight rifle. I'm pretty happy with my 7mm rem mag shooting the 180gr bergers for long rang shooting

 

[Musket Man]

I think it never caught on well because it cant really do anything the old 7mm rem mag cant and there is alot more factory ammo available for the old 7 mag, plus there are alot more guns available chambered for the old 7 mag.

 

[bdan68]

I'd go 300 WSM or 300 RUM, depending on how much recoil you can tolerate. Of course there's nothing wrong with the old 7mm Rem Mag as others have suggested.

 

[lostriverproductions]

I don't think that round is going away. Yes less factory stuff will become less available but you will be able to get reloading stuff for a long time. There not going to stop making 7mm bullets or powder. 100 pc's of brass will last you a long time as well. As for being over boar I guess you could say so, but for how long the barrel will last depends on how you take care of it. It won't be a varmint gun so you just have to keep the barrel cool. You can toast any barrel by over heating it. You should get an easy 1,000 out of it. How many can say they have shot that many rounds? It really depends on what you are wanting to do with it. It will really shine with heavier bullets. The RUM will push any bullet about 250-275 fps faster then the Rem Mag. So that means less drop, less drift, and more energy down range.

 

[Elkoholic307]

The 7 RUM burns waaay too much powder. If you do buy one make sure you order a barrel soon as I would be really surprised if it made it to 1,000 rounds.

 

[Deerhntr71]

So if I already have a 7mm Rem Mag and a 300 Win Mag, I probably not gaining anything with a 7mm Rum? Maybe I would gain more with a 300 Rum?

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

So if I already have a 7mm Rem Mag and a 300 Win Mag, I probably not gaining anything with a 7mm Rum? Maybe I would gain more with a 300 Rum?

Sure you are gaining something ... another rifle! I have calibers that essentially duplicate each other, and I still like them.

If you want to add a caliber that doesn't duplicate what you have (actually what you have aren't far apart, performance-wise), I would suggest moving up to the 338s or 35s. Or ... add a varmint caliber.

 

[BobT]

I think it never caught on well because it cant really do anything the old 7mm rem mag cant and there is alot more factory ammo available for the old 7 mag, plus there are alot more guns available chambered for the old 7 mag.

Except shoot the same bullets in factory loaded ammo 2-300 fps faster with something on the order of 10" less drop at 500 yards. I happen to like the 7 RUM, yes it burns a lot of powder, yes there is some recoil, yes it's loud and barrel life can be shorter than some other rounds. I don't think it's going away any time soon. On the other hand, I really think the average hunter would be better served with the plain vanilla 7mm Remington Magnum especially if shooting factory ammo.

You didn't say what you want to shoot with it or how far you want to shoot, for deer hunting out 300 yards I wouldn't pick the Ultra but either a 7x57 or .284 Winchester. The .284 can go a bit farther than that in skilled hands. For the ultimate ballistic advantage in a factory loaded 7mm the 7 Ultra wins hands down, for an advanced hand loader the margin is even bigger.

Just my $0.02

Bob

 

[packmule]

Really wasn't a place for it since the STW was already widely available.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Never been a fan of the Ultras. My son has a .300 Ultra and I really don't think it will do much more than my .300 Wby. It gets about 100fps more for 10 grains more powder. Suspect the 7mm Ultra is about the same when you start handloading them. For deer and smaller, hard to beat my old 25-06. For elk, I'll stick to my .30s.

 

[SansSouci]

For the life of me, I can't figure out what advantage super magnums have over standard cartridges. Regardless of cartridge, all animals will die sans heart and/or lungs. What destroys them is immaterial. That they are destroyed is.

A .280 Rem will kill big game just as dead as a super magnum. Ditto for the .308 Win.

I do own a 7MM Rem Mag because when I took up elk hunting it was the cartridge to have to kill elk. I learned too late that a .280 Rem will kill elk just as dead. And a .280 Rem will shoot a lot farther than most hunters can accurately shoot.

Just my 2 cents which ain't worth $37 and change.

 

[Musket Man]

The 7mm u-mag may be a little faster then the 7mm rem mag but what does that really gain the average hunter? Historically many good calibers never really took hold simply because they were to close to other already well established calibers. Calibers like the 30 and 32 Remington. They were every bit as good as the 30-30 and 32 Win special they were designed to compete with but the Winchesters were already established and the Remingtons never got very far. I have a 32 rem and I like it alot but go buy bullets and they will cost 4 times what 30-30s cost.

 

[Kentucky hunter]

I have a 300 Rum it shoots pretty flat the 7mm Rum will shoot flatter it's all in what U want if I had not got the 300 before the 7mm came out I would probly have the 7mm if I was looking for another cal an wasnt worried bout recoil it would be 7mm Rum 338 Rum or 375 Rum

 

[Varmint]

Really wasn't a place for it since the STW was already widely available.

First of all I want to say hi to everyone.
Agree with you packmule. I believe the 7 rum is fading out, Remington discontinuing it must say something. The 7mm Rem is just hard to beat, you may be able to get another 100, 200 fps more from a RUM or a STW ( which is cool ), but for probably 99.9 % of hunters will never know the difference. Just another overbore ultra mag phase victim.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Let me say to start with that I have been reloading for over 50 years and have built plenty of wildcat guns. In todays world I think the term "overbore" is pretty much out of date. When I first started reloading there were far fewer choices in powders available and lots of the powders were military surplus back then. Today we have so many choices in powders with different burning rates that you can pick a powder that will suit almost any caliber and perform excellently and still give good barrel life. Overbore used to mean (at least to me) that you filled a piece of brass full of powder and fired it there was still unburned powder left in the barrel or when you used a fast burning powder, the barrel got so hot that it's longevity was compromised. Today it is pretty easy to find a powder that will burn efficiently in any sized caliber.

Bottom line on a calibers popularity and efficiency is to find the right powder that performs the way you want it to....no matter what others are using. Every rifle/caliber combination is different and all are not created equal. Thats why I reload, I like to find what my particular rifle shoots best and performs to my expectations.

I gave my opinion on this posts original question in post 12, but just couldn't resist when the "overbore" question was brought up.

 

[mcseal2]

The RUM takes to much powder and adds to much recoil to offset the performance it offers over the regular 7 RM for me. I think lots of other hunters feel the same way. Also Nosler's reloading manual even talks about the barrel life being bad, I think it was around 400rds if I remember correctly. I don't have the book here, might be off on that.