What 7mm Mag ammo do you prefer?

[The Gamemaster]

I had a Savage Model 116 - weather warrior that had a stainless steel barrel / action and magnaported barrel.

I shot many deer with 140 gr Hornady Factory loads - Federal ammo.

The rifle was sighted in 1 inch high at 100 yards and it reached out to 300 yards with no problems.

No hold over was required and it maintained zero in all sorts of weather.

Every deer that I shot at I got and it never let me down.

Now I mainly hunt in Pennsylvania - in the hardwood forests where shots range from as little as 50 feet to 300 yards on power lines and gas lines.  Penetration ment more to me than how much the bullet weighed or how it performed at 500 yards.

I never felt the need for anything more than 150 gr due to the fact that it's bullet sectional density was much better than a 30 caliber bullet of the same weight and design.

More weight will translate to more down range stopping power, but the added kick and muzzle blast just wasn't worth it.

How dead do you want to kill this animal?

Dead is dead in my book!

Shot placement is more important to me than how much down range energy a bullet retains.

Buy several different brands of ammo and test them out at a shooting range and determine what works best for you.

[Heavy C]

I agree that dead is dead.  However if you look at the original post it posed the question of what ammo/bullet would be best in the 7mm and that the intended purpose was for Audad sheep hunting.  and Audad ram is a really tough animal and at minimum you can expect a shot of 350 yards.  Average is closer to 500 at least where I intended to hunt.  The fact that it was used on a mule deer last Saturday was just coincidence. 

I also agree that shot placement is critical, but in some instances down range performance is also a factor.  Recoil and muzzle blast are a non-issue.

[timeoff]

Sorry so late on responding. I have a Rem 700 from the 80's. I played around with 139 hornady for a while with erratic results as well as some 145 Speer. Finally did some research and realized the rifling was designed for a heavier bullet. Started reloading 160gr Nosler Partition with fantastic results. I believe Federal makes this load, but in any case i would lean towards the heavier bullets based upon the rate of twist.