Remington Model 7 SS Magnum - Rifleman

Guns Magazine, Sept, 2002 by Dave Anderson

The Remington Model 7 has been a popular influential rifle. It is light, compact, fast-handling, and accurate. Chambered for the popular short cartridges .243, .308 Win., .260 and 7mm-08 Rem., it provides a good balance of power and flat trajectory with moderate recoil. Since its introduction, it has been widely copied by other manufacturers. And to a considerable extent, these compact bolt-action carbines fill the role once held by lever-action .30-30 carbines.

More Power In The Same Package

Remington has now adapted the Model 7 to accept its new cartridges, the 7mm and .300 Short Action Ultra Magnums (SAUM).The objective is to retain the good handling features of the standard Model 7 while meeting the needs of those who want more power and flatter trajectory.

Three models are available. The LS Magnum has a laminated wood stock and blued carbon steel barrel and action. The SS Magnum comes with a synthetic stock and stainless steel barrel and action. Available only from the Custom Shop, the Model 7 Alaskan Wilderness Rifle (AWR) comes with a Teflon-coated stainless steel action and a barrel glass-bedded in a composite stock. All have 22 inch barrels (standard model 7s have 20 inch barrels).

The sample loaned to me was an SS Magnum in 7mm SAUM. Weight of this model, empty and without scope, is 7 1/8 pounds. The LS model, which comes with iron sights, is a couple ounces heavier. The AWR model, with its lighter stock, weighs just 6 1/8 pounds. Some previous consignee considerately left a set of Leupold bases fitted, so I used Leupold rings to hold a Leupold 2.5-8x Vari-X III scope.

Trigger pull was very good, a little heavy, but clean and crisp. Bolt operation was slick and fast. The good stock design and soft recoil pad, along with an all-up weight of around 8 pounds, kept recoil tolerable. The test gun proved accurate, with six 3-shot groups averaging just over 1.25 inches.

Shooters have speculated why Remington felt it necessary to introduce its own short magnums, rather than just adopting the Winchester series. Wanting their own name on the headstamp is reason enough, but in addition it appears that the Winchester short magnums are a bit too large for the compact Model 7 action. Winchester's short Model 70 action is slightly longer than its Remington counterpart. And with its flat-bot tomed action, the M70's magazine box is slightly wider. Winchester quite naturally designed the WSM series to fit its own actions.

Three Is What You Get

The Remington SAUM cartridges likewise seem to be made as large as possible and still function in the compact Model 7 action. Cartridges have to be placed in the loading port with care so they can be pressed down into the magazine. Magazine capacity is three rounds. Factory literature for the AWR Model 7 says capacity is three plus one in the chamber.

With my sample SS Magnum I found it impossible to load three rounds in the magazine and close the bolt over the loaded rounds. No matter how hard I pressed down on the rounds in the magazine the bolt would not close without picking up the top round. This meant that the test rifle had a total effective capacity of three rounds - either all loaded in the magazine, or two in the magazine plus one in the chamber. Cartridge feeding from the magazine was reliable and smooth.

Short 7mm Cartridges

The 7mm-08 is a popular and effective cartridge choice in the standard Model 7. Shooters wanting a bit more power have rechambered Model 7s to the excellent, though obsolescent, .284 Win, cartridge.

The 7mm SAUM adds still more power, along with the advantage of being available off the rack. Currently, Remington offers three 7mm SAUM loads. They include a 160 grain Nosier Partition bullet at 2,960; the 140 grain PSP Core-Lokt Ultra at 3,175; and the 150 grain PSP Core-Lokt at 3,110, all velocities from 24 inch barrels.

Test ammunition used was loaded with the excellent 160 grain Nosier Partition bullet. Chronographing 20 rounds over the screens of a Millennium CED chronograph gave an average velocity of 2,830 fps, with an extreme spread of 77 fps and standard deviation of 2l fps.

To protect the skyscreens from muzzle blast they were placed about 20 feet from the muzzle.

Correcting for this, muzzle velocity average would be about 2,840 fps. This is below the factory rating of 2,960 fps. However, remember that the factory figure is taken from a 24 inch barrel.

The 7mm SAUM case has nearly 9 percent more capacity than the similar .284 Win, and .280 Rem. cases. I suspect that when loaded to similar pressures, the 7mm SAUM should give velocities in 22 inch barrels comparable to those that can be achieved with the .280/.284 in 24 inch barrels.

If that sounds like damning with faint praise, it's not. In 7mm caliber, a 160 grain bullet at 2,900, a 150 at 3,000 or 140 at 3,100 are all proven performers. With the Model 7 in 7mm SAUM that performance is available in a compact, handy rifle that's ideal for mountain hunting or for hunting in heavy cover. Many hunters feel that the standard Model 7 is a superb whitetail deer rifle. Westerners hunting the high country for elk, mule deer and sheep, or pushing through heavy cover after moose, may soon hold the Model 7 Magnums in 7mm and .300 SAUM in the same high esteem.