I own a Ruger 7mm Magnum. I have a box of Winchester Supremes. 160 grain. I'm going bear hunting in 2 weeks. Are they heavy enough, or should I buy a box of 180s (or heavier)? I drew a Coues tag - are the 160's too much for Coues? I guess - I'm cheap, and lazy. Is there one cartridge that would be an acceptable compromise for both, so I can just sight in the rifle once??
Not sure since I don't own one, but I believe 175 gr is the heaviest you can get for a 7mm without reloading it yourself. I would go with the heavier bullet for bear and lighter for coues. For instance I use 130 gr for deer & 150 gr for elk when using my .270win. Your lighter rounds have a flatter trajectory, the heavier rds pack more wallop. Don't be cheap, it won't hurt you to have 2 boxes of bullets....
Marshall, I own a Ruger 7MM mag and I ONLY shoot Winchester Fail Safe bullets. I dropped a mature 6x6 bull elk with 140 grains with one shot. I am also going bear hunting on August 11th. I will be trying to take a bear with my bow, but the 7mm will be by my side just in case I don't get the opportunity with the bow. I will use the same 140 grain bullets that I used with my elk. I trust it will do the job. The key to all situations, though, is shot placement. If the shot is good, you have nothing to worry about. Now for coues, I would not use 160's. I shot a my first coues at 125 yards with 160's. The bullets traveled so fast that they did not expand and went right through the deer. After the first shot, the deer never even flinched. After the second shot, he just started walking down into a draw. I had thought I missed both times, but went over to check just in case. He was dead in the draw. Upon dressing him out, we found two holes about 2 inches apart. Bullets went clean through. A coues deer is just not dense enough for the bullets to expand. So to answer your questions, the 160's are fine for bears. No need to get the 180's. For a good bullet for both, I would shoot the 140's.
Marshall, Check out these two links from Wnichester's website: Here are the 140 grain ballistics: http://www.winchester.com/products/...bol=S7MAGXB&cart=N21tIFJlbSBNYWdudW0=&type=33 Here are the 160 grain ballistics: http://www.winchester.com/products/...mbol=S7MAGX&cart=N21tIFJlbSBNYWdudW0=&type=33 They look to be pretty close.
Asking a question like which is the better rifle and/or bullets choices for deer, bear, elk, etc is akin to asking a question about religion or politics You'll probably get a dozen different answers from a dozen different people :? If you feel comfortable with the 160 grains and shoot them well then use them. I have killed coues with my 7Mag 160 grain bullets and have killed bear with a 25.06/308/270/243.
The 7mm Rem Mag was designed by some hunters to kill elk at long range. It used the 160 grain bullet. The Nosler Partition is probably the best all around bullet. It will expand enough even on smaller game to get the job done, but will handle big critters like elk. I find it too expensive to practice with the Noslers and load a conventional bullet for practice and the premium bullet to hunt with. The flattest load I shoot is the 145 grain Speer bullet with IMR 7828. The conventional bullet is made for the 7mm mauser and expands violently and is fun to practice with. Especially if you shoot prarie dogs. The 145 grain Grand Slam bullet works well on deer and even on elk. Mark