jonrob –
I’ve been using a 7mm RM on everything from prairie dogs to elk since 1982. (Well, not everything, just p-dogs, coyotes, antelope, mule deer and elk). For most of those years I used a 160g Grand Slam and it took me 20 years to recover one. During that time I never had to chase or even track an animal I’d shot as they either went straight down (often), took only a few steps (equally often) or made it more than a few yards (very rarely). The longest “tracking” job I’ve had was about 40 yards and that was a one-time thing – the next longest was maybe 10-15 yards or so.
Match the bullet to the velocity range and you won’t have any problems. I personally don’t care for cup-and-core bullets at impact speeds over about 2600fps, which means I no longer use them in any of my bolt guns, even the .308 Win – the problem is you never know when you will end up with a close-in shot. Two years ago I was ready to squeeze the trigger on a cow elk at 500 yards in open grass hills when another hunter started banging away and the herd turned my direction. The elk got under the near horizon formed by the hill I was on and my next opportunity was at 25 feet.
That same year I was shooting 140g North Forks a little over 3200fps in my 7mm RM and took a buck mule deer at a range between 80 and 125 yards (would have to look it up to get more exact). The buck turned just as the trigger broke and a quartering-away shot became a hit low in the right ham. I figured a large portion of the ham would be destroyed but that wasn’t the case. We recovered that bullet from up against the sternum.
Put me down as a firm believer in the benefits of using bullets that expand reliably while providing controlled - but limited - expansion with high weight retention. For that reason I prefer North Forks, Trophy Bonded and A-Frames over Partitions; TTSX and MRX over most other types, and bonded core bullets like AccuBond and InterBond over Ballistic Tips and similar.
