The classic magnums - will they see a renaissance?

[glennw89]

I'm recovering from surgery and thus spending a lot more time browsing the information superhighway to keep sane.

It's interesting to see how many 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag rifles are on the used market. Some combination of the aging hunters for whom those cartridges were the "go to" and hunters trending more to smaller cartridges (witness the 223 threat here recently) I suspect.

It will be interesting to see if this is simply a trend and the pendulum swings back to the classic magnums over time. Or if laser rangefinders, dialled turrets, better bullets, etc. have permanently knocked these classic magnums down the pecking order of chosen cartridges in favour of more "friendly" options from a weight, recoil, and muzzle blast perspective.

Silver lining is that those who want to shoot the magnum boomers will have plenty of used options and available ammunition!

 

[TN2shot07]

Im sure some of it is the smaller caliber craze but I think those will always have a place and the bullets we have now make them even better.

I don’t think 300 win is in any danger. The 300 prc does launch the heavy, high bc bullets but they limited rifle options with the full magnum length action.

It’ll be more interesting on the 7 rem mag to see what the 7 prc does once everyone has access to RL26 and can load it to its intended speed. If I was shopping for a 7mm right now it would be a 280 Ackley or a prc. Federal may even threaten it with the 7BC, who knows!

 

[kodiakisland]

I doubt it. Just don't see any resurgence in belted cases. Not that they will ever go away, but I doubt we will ever see a new factory belted magnum.
I'd still buy a 257WBY, 300H&H, and 375H&H, but feel I'm in the minority.

 

[TN2shot07]

I'd still buy a 257WBY, 300H&H, and 375H&H, but feel I'm in the minority.

Yes, please…. A pre-64 would be great but beggars can’t be choosers!

 

[kodiakisland]

Yes, please…. A pre-64 would be great but beggars can’t be choosers!

A Kimber Super America 8400 in 300H&H would be a factory rifle I'd buy, but they'd probably sell a total of three if they made them.

 

[MtsPSU]

Yes, please…. A pre-64 would be great but beggars can’t be choosers!

I have that very rifle in my safe. It was my grandfather’s go to gun.

 

[Bullshot]

I have two 7mm mags and will never sell them. Great cartridge, and probably what I’ll tote for my next mule deer hunt.

 

[PNWtrekker]

300 Win Mag is 100% obsolete! Won't kill and elk. As I public service I will collect up all those obsolete rounds and dispose of them ; )

Joking aside, my dad saw the rise of the 30.06 and family (.270, 25.06, etc.) and the heyday of the classic mags (300 WM, 7mm RM, etc.). I saw the rise (and in some cases fall) ultra-mag, short-mag, and the current batch. My dad said something years ago when I was considering a short mag that made a lot of sense. Gunmakers and ammo makers push new cartridges. Otherwise, we'd all still be using grandpas (or great grandpa's) 30.06 and the 100s of rounds he hoarded over this decades of hunting. Not saying new rifles and new cartridges aren't better. Many are. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a crop of latest and greatest in my gun safe because I read something online or was just curious.

 

[Forkyfinder]

 

[44hunter45]

Um - No

 

[jeff_gibbons]

No. Technology and collected knowledge seldom regress.

If I was to guess - I’d say guys will use the smallest and technically optimized combinations available which may align with the military’s selections as former soldiers like what they know/had experience with.

 

[johnnybow]

After researching a good all around long range hunting cartridge, I settled on a 7mag tikka. It seems to do it all.

 

[Deleted member 16864]

No, I don’t think there’s much chance of the old belted magnums being popular again. I love using the old stuff, but hunting is a spiritual process for me. Western hunting has become a competition of who is going to kill the last fork-horn mule deer with the most advanced military equipment at as far a distance as possible.

 

[mtmuley]

No, I don’t think there’s much change of the old belted magnums being popular again. I love using the old stuff, but hunting is a spiritual process for me. Western hunting has become a competition of who is going to kill the last fork-horn mule deer with the most advanced military equipment at as far a distance as possible.

With the smallest cartridge possible. mtmuley

 

[44hunter45]

With the smallest cartridge possible. mtmuley

Do they make a 17 RUM?

 

[longbow51]

I don't think 300WM will ever go away, more likely some of the PRC cartridges will fail, just as the short magnum craze faded.

H&H, another matter. .375 will be around for a long time due to the Africa buffs. .300 is a different matter. I finally have enough brass to last me and the one I'm passing it on to for our lifetimes, but eventually I think that will go away.

Let's face it, it's rare to see a rifle with a nice walnut stock, much less a classic caliber.

 

[Hammsolo]

A belt is to a case, as a carburetor is to an engine?

 

[nomadicbohunk]

No, I don’t think there’s much chance of the old belted magnums being popular again. I love using the old stuff, but hunting is a spiritual process for me. Western hunting has become a competition of who is going to kill the last fork-horn mule deer with the most advanced military equipment at as far a distance as possible.

I actually laughed. 41 here. So I flew home to the ranch a couple years ago to try and shoot a velvet whitetail in archery. I live near the east coast for now. My dad wasn't hunting at all because he drew a sheep tag. Plus I can't get tacos out in the east, so yeah. Win Win. My sister in law made me a chart to keep track of how many tacos and pupusas I ate. I got up to 100.

I hunted archery. I passed on a lot of deer, so it was fun. I went to the bar one night to see some buddies and get some food. I ran into some folks from PA who were there hunting public and asked me what bow I shot and distance, and etc. I was kind of blown away. They were very concerned and bragging about shooting 80 yards. I was like, "Well, I'm taking a longbow out half the time, but I did buy a used nocam a couple years ago that I'm good out to 35 with! I'm using the pink fletched arrows I bought when I lived in Iowa during my masters!" It was kind of hilarious. I was not what they expected.

Ok. So, my cheap landowner's tag (through my dad...I couldn't believe it), was good for all seasons. So a week before rifle season my wife basically told me to buy a damned plane ticket home as I'm grumpy about how bad the hunting is where we live because of her family stuff. So I did and rifle hunted too.

I never got a good shot at the big deer I was after. My buddy shot it a mile away last fall, so I'm OK about it. It was huge when he got it. I flew out for rifle with a 257 win mag. I wanted to pop a deer at 400. I shot a doe and a neat looking coyote at 10 yards. The biologist when I checked it in told me the doe I shot was a yearling. I actually was kind of a dick to him and was like check it again. It was 5.5 years old. Dumbass. There's a reason I don't work in my home state and I have a phd in ecology.

 

[44hunter45]

I actually laughed. 41 here. So I flew home to the ranch a couple years ago to try and shoot a velvet whitetail in archery. I live near the east coast for now. My dad wasn't hunting at all because he drew a sheep tag. Plus I can't get tacos out in the east, so yeah. Win Win. My sister in law made me a chart to keep track of how many tacos and pupusas I ate. I got up to 100.

I hunted archery. I passed on a lot of deer, so it was fun. I went to the bar one night to see some buddies and get some food. I ran into some folks from PA who were there hunting public and asked me what bow I shot and distance, and etc. I was kind of blown away. They were very concerned and bragging about shooting 80 yards. I was like, "Well, I'm taking a longbow out half the time, but I did buy a used nocam a couple years ago that I'm good out to 35 with! I'm using the pink fletched arrows I bought when I lived in Iowa during my masters!" It was kind of hilarious. I was not what they expected.

Ok. So, my cheap landowner's tag (through my dad...I couldn't believe it), was good for all seasons. So a week before rifle season my wife basically told me to buy a damned plane ticket home as I'm grumpy about how bad the hunting is where we live because of her family stuff. So I did and rifle hunted too.

I never got a good shot at the big deer I was after. My buddy shot it a mile away last fall, so I'm OK about it. It was huge when he got it. I flew out for rifle with a 257 win mag. I wanted to pop a deer at 400. I shot a doe and a neat looking coyote at 10 yards. The biologist when I checked it in told me the doe I shot was a yearling. I actually was kind of a dick to him and was like check it again. It was 5.5 years old. Dumbass. There's a reason I don't work in my home state and I have a phd in ecology.

A PhD and a 257 Win Mag. Rare things indeed.

Welcome to Hunttalk.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

I think there are two subsets of hunter/shooters. One is into the latest and greatest groupthink (i.e. rise of the Creedmoors, PRC, and whatever new thing they're shooting now). The other is happy to shoot traditional cartridges, including the belted magnums. If you go by what you read on internet forums, I'm sure the new stuff seems to be winning, but there are a lot of hunters who don't read the forums. I can't imagine the 7mm Rem Mag or the 300 Win Mag going anywhere soon.

My "arsenal" has 4 rifles, which kind of embarrasses me that I have that many. The most modern of the 4 cartridges was developed in 1962, and that 7mm Rem Mag can do everything I need. The other four were developed in 1944, 1892, and 1862. Perhaps rifles developed 60+ years ago are like carburetors, and the belted magnums are the four-barrels.

QQ