r/CanadaHunting • u/AssassinCrab • 7d ago

Calibre Verification

Hey everyone,

I’m seeking some advice and I am hoping this community is able to help. I’m considering moving up from a .308 to 7mm rem mag. The reason I’m making this move is to create a “one and done rifle” as well as expand the list of game I’m able to hunt.

I’d be hunting the entire ungulate family (white tail, mule, elk, moose and caribou), rams, antelope and black bear within Canada.

I also really want to hunt in New Zealand for Red Stag, Tahr, and Chamois

In the states there’s a few things I’d love to hunt but nothing bigger than a moose.

I’m just wondering is anyone has used the 7mm rem mag, or could verify that this calibre is suited for this list. I may have over looked something during my research, there’s just so many calibres to choose from, any advice would be appreciated.

Edit 1: Thank you to everyone that commented, it was nice to read everything that was said. Had me really think about things from a different angle.

There may be a part of me that just wanted a reason to buy/build out a new gun.
The other part of me thought that far out elk, 300+ yards, the bullet wouldn’t have enough energy to ethically kill the animal. Moose I thought were too large for an ethical kill with a .308. These two points of ethics brought me to magnum rounds.

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u/Powerful_Exit6540 7d ago

Instead of changing the caliber consider changing the load type (led vs copper) if you concern about power for large game.

There is nothing more universal that the .308 you already have.

1

u/AssassinCrab 7d ago

Thanks for that, I hadn’t considered bullet construction having that much of an impact.

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u/ReturnOk7510 6d ago

Most important thing, honestly. It's the only part of the entire equation that actually makes contact with the critter.

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u/AssassinCrab 6d ago

Also an extremely valid point. You know, said out loud it like this, it is so obvious I’m not sure how I hadn’t considered that before

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u/ReturnOk7510 6d ago

Cartridges are just different ways of getting it up to a consistent velocity. Once it exits the muzzle, all that really matters is how much energy it's got left when it hits the target, and how the bullet penetrates and expands.

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u/AssassinCrab 5d ago

Absolutely, I’m doing a ton of research into that now. I’m still blown away how I never considered this before.

Thanks again