Best 7mm Rem Mag Ammo: Versatility and Terminal Ballistics in Every Cartridge

In the age of caliber advancements, the 7mm Remington Magnum (or 7mm Rem Mag for short) was developed to compete with Roy Weatherby’s proprietary rifles of the 1960’s. The fact that it’s still a shooter’s favorite for hunting and long-range shooting is a testament to how great the 7mm Rem Mag really is.

This flat shooting cartridge has a tolerable recoil compared to other magnum calibers, so it’s a round that is incredibly balanced for the power it offers. However, it’s just as important to choose the right ammunition for your caliber as it is to choose the right rifle. You can pick up the best 7mm Rem Mag ammo, Hornady Superformance 162-Grain SST, or keep reading about all of my favorite cartridges.

7mm Ammo Recommendations

• Best Overall: Hornady Superformance 162-Grain SST
• Best for Medium and Big Game Hunting: Federal Vital-Shok 160-Grain Trophy-Bonded
• Best Long-Range Hunting Bullet: Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range 168-Grain
• Best for Target Practice: PRVI Partizan 140-Grain PSP
• Best Value: Sellier & Bellot 173-Grain SPCE

Best Overall: Hornady Superformance 162-Grain SST

Specs

• Casing: Brass
• Bullet Type: Super Shock Tip (SST)
• Bullet Weight: Brass
• Muzzle Velocity: 3,030 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 3,302 ft-lbs

Pros

• Availability
• Affordability
• Accuracy
• Terminal performance
• Range
• Excellent for target practice

Cons

• There’s better big-game hunting ammo on our list.

Why We Chose It

Hornady Superformance 162-Grain SST is the best 7mm Rem Mag ammo overall because it’s cost-efficient and effective deer-hunting ammunition. Anytime I’m looking for hunting ammo at the start of a season, I’m looking for something that has great terminal ballistics and bucks the wind well. Of course, I also want something reloadable that I can use on the range to sight in my scope.

Fortunately, Hornady Superformance SST checks all the boxes and I trust it in my 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, and 30-06. Not only does Hornady produce high-quality rounds, but the company also designs the rounds to overcome common obstacles like wind drift and expansion failure.

Superformance SST is perfect for American Whitetail, mule deer, antelope, and other medium-sized game animals. Of course, I know plenty of hunters that use it for big game animals, too.

Not only is it great for a wide variety of hunting in the U.S. and Canada, but it also has a high ballistic coefficient, which helps with long-range shots.

Hornady’s patented InterLock technology keeps the jacket and core together so you have better weight retention and controlled expansion. I used Superformance all last year and never had an issue with it, so it’s definitely one of the best on the market.

Honorable Mention

Nosler Accubond 150-Grain tends to perform slightly better on big game animals than Superformance, but they also come with a higher price tag and are harder to find in stock.

However, the bonding process adheres the jacket to the core similarly to the Superformance, and the ballistic tip is a bit denser than Superformance, so it penetrates thick hides just a bit better.

Best for Medium and Big Game Hunting: Federal Vital-Shok 160-Grain Trophy Bonded

Specs

• Casing: Nickel-plated Brass
• Bullet Type: JSP (Jacketed Soft Point)
• Bullet Weight: 160-Grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 2,900 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 2,988 ft-lbs

Pros

• Excellent weight retention
• High muzzle velocity
• Superb terminal performance
• Availability
• Versatility

Cons

• Pricier than other hunting bullet options

Why We Chose It

Federal Premium Vital-Shok 160-Grain Trophy-Bonded is my favorite 7mm Mag hunting bullet because it’s affordable, reliable, and effective. While it is a bit pricier than other factory loads, you can’t beat this deer and elk hunting cartridge's terminal performance, range, and functionality.

Federal has given us a lot of excellent rounds over the years, but this one is similar to Nosler Partition. Furthermore, it’s easier to find and a bit cheaper. Fortunately, Federal didn’t sacrifice price for effectiveness. These projectiles aren’t just jacketed soft points; they also have a boat tail design that increases the ballistic coefficient and gives us an edge on shot placement at long distances.

The bonding process increases weight retention and ensures the jacket and core don’t separate during expansion. This gives us deeper wound channels and increases the lethality of the bullet, making them perfect for big game hunting.

The 160-grain bullet has a high muzzle velocity and a lot of energy, so it’s unlikely you’ll have to trail even a bull elk very far if your shot placement is on point. The polymer tip forces expansion, but the high-quality copper jacket and the bullet’s shape ensure it will penetrate and not expand too quickly.

Honorable Mention

Barnes VOR-TX 160-Grain TSX is another excellent option for deer and elk hunting. The Triple-Shock X tip controls expansion and retains its weight on impact dealing lethal damage. Also, the boat tail helps stabilize the bullet as it travels to its target.

Tracking down Barnes bullets is a little more challenging than Federal Premium, but TSX bullets are also lead-free, making them perfect for readers who prefer copper bullets.

Best Long-Range Hunting Bullet: Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range 168-Grain

Specs

• Casing: Nickel-plated Brass
• Bullet Type: Bonded Polymer Tip 
• Bullet Weight: 168-grains
• Muzzle Velocity: 2,900 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 3,137 ft-lbs

Pros

• Great for big game at long ranges
• Boat tail design for flatter trajectory
• Increased ballistic coefficient
• Excellent terminal ballistics
• High-quality cases for reloading

Cons

• Availability

Why We Chose It

Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range 168-Grain bullets include everything we want in long-range big game cartridges. Winchester used Nosler Accubond Long Range (ABLR) projectiles in these cartridges to ensure expansion at lower velocities and longer distances.

They also have a boat-tail design to improve the flight path and an extended ogive shape to increase the ballistic coefficient and decrease drag. The company really went above and beyond with this big game bullet to help long-range shooters overcome all the obstacles.

Winchester’s Expedition Big Game Long Range bullets also perform well when they meet the target (i.e. your trophy elk). The bullets have a polymer tip and bonded lead-alloy core to ensure you’re getting maximum expansion and penetration.

Overall, this long-range hunting bullet is a great find. The only drawback is that it’s a bit challenging to find. So if you see a box or two, grab them up.

Honorable Mention

Federal Berger Hybrid 168-Grain bullets are another viable option for hunting medium and large game at longer distances. This option is a bit easier to find than Berger VLDs and also is also designed to go further.

The bullet combines the best of Berger VLD’s secant ogive tip with tangent features to increase the ballistic coefficient without sacrificing terminal ballistics. Overall, it’s a great option for those needing accuracy and efficiency at longer distances.

Best for Target Practice: PRVI Partizan 140-Grain PSP

Specs

• Casing: Brass
• Bullet Type: Pointed Soft Point (PSP)
• Bullet Weight: 140-Grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 3,110 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 2,987 ft-lbs

Pros

• Affordable
• Available
• Clean-burning
• PSP for hunting
• High ballistic coefficient

Cons

• Better options for hunting bullets

Why We Chose It

PRVI Partizan 140-Grain PSP is my go-to round for target practice because it’s affordable and accurate. Of course, I can also take these pointed-soft point bullets hunting, so they’re a great and versatile cartridge all around.

While PRVI Partizan doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a Nosler Partition, Federal Vital-Shok, or Hornady Superformance, they’re still great for hunting. But they’re also affordable enough for range day and fast enough to hit a target at long-range distances.

PRVI Partizan is a Serbian ammunition company, but they’re easy to find and inexpensive. Although there are more efficient bullets for medium and big game hunting, you shouldn’t have any problems dropping game animals like mule deer and whitetail deer quickly and ethically.

PRVI Partizan brass cases are also great for hand loads if you enjoy producing your own target or hunting ammo.

Honorable Mention

Remington 150-Grain Core-Lokt PSP is another great option that I love practicing with, even though it’s also great for hunting medium-sized game. Remington Core-Lokt ammunition has been around for decades, and it’s designed to keep the jacket and core together on impact.

Core-Lokt is more challenging to find these days, but it’s great ammo for a good price. So, if you see a box or two, grab them.

Best in Value: Sellier & Bellot 173-Grain SPCE

Specs

• Casing: Brass
• Bullet Type: Semi-jacketed Soft Point Cut-Through Edge (SPCE)
• Bullet Weight: 173-Grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 2,782 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 2,973 ft-lbs

Pros

• Affordable
• Available
• Great for target practice
• Works well for medium-sized game animals

Cons

• Not a great elk-hunting bullet

Why We Chose It

Sellier & Bellot 173-Grain SPCE is a great cartridge for target practice and medium-sized game animals. This hunting ammunition is much cheaper than the others on our list and can effectively take down creatures like antelope, mule deer, and American whitetail deer. Furthermore, it’s a soft point bullet that’s partially jacketed and designed for penetration and expansion.

This cartridge has a higher grain weight than the others on our list, which means it’s a bit slower, leaving the barrel at 2,782 fps, but it’s still great for long-range hunting and performs well with smaller game, as opposed to other options on our list.

While I don’t recommend this bullet for hunting big game animals, it’s a cost-effective option for the range and smaller game. Of course, you can also reload it and stockpile it.

Parting Shots

The 7mm Remington Magnum revolutionized hard-hitting calibers with a flat trajectory and less recoil than a 300 Win Mag. Of course, choosing the right bullet for your needs is essential to your success. That’s why I’ve listed the best 7mm RM ammo above. It won’t let you down, and you can even find the majority of it in stock!

If you want to see our entire inventory of 7mm Rem Mag ammo, click HERE. Otherwise, keep reading our Buyer’s Guide.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Ammo for 7mm Rem Mag

As you can see, not all ammunition is created equally. If you aren’t sure how to pick the best 7mm RM ammo, keep reading the following sections.

How to Choose Ammo For 7mm Rem Mag

Regardless if you’re preparing your trusty Remington Model 700, Tikka T3, or Savage 110 bolt action rifle for hunting season or target practice, there are a lot of factors to consider before grabbing a box of factory ammo for your 7mm Rem Mag.

Norma, Sierra, Winchester, Hornady, Federal, and many others jumped on the 7mm Rem Mag wagon years ago and continue to release new bullet designs to shoot further and take down game faster.

Taking a few minutes to explore grain weights and designs can be the difference between stocking the freezer or coming home empty-handed. Let’s talk about how to choose the right bullets for your needs.

Best Bullet Weight for 7mm Rem Mag Elk Hunting

One of the core benefits of the 7mm Rem Mag is that it is powerful with slightly less recoil than similar calibers. However, your bullet and the bullet weight also factor into this. For example, a lighter bullet has a higher muzzle velocity. Therefore, you’ll experience more felt recoil with lower grain weight bullets than the higher ones.

Bullet weight also affects energy transfer and distance. So, selecting a balanced grain weight is essential to the effectiveness of your cartridge. Furthermore, a bullet too heavy can result in excess meat damage, whereas a lighter bullet can result in an inefficient shot.

Heavier grain weight bullets have more energy to transfer and, therefore, are better for elk because it takes more to knock down big game. Choosing a 160-grain bullet, or higher, with a high ballistic coefficient and controlled expansion won’t leave you tracking blood trails through thick brush for long.

The Best Bullet Weight for 7mm Rem Mag Deer Hunting

Selecting the best bullet weight for deer hunting is a bit easier than for elk because the 7mm RM, by nature, gives us enough energy to take down medium-sized game. You can use higher bullet weights, like 178 grains for deer, or lower ones, like 160 grains.

However, the factor you’ll want to consider is distance. The 7mm Remington Magnum has a range of about 750 yards, but this is a bit impractical for deer hunting. I typically stick with lighter grain weights for deer because I want as little meat waste as possible.

Most hunters use a 160-grain bullet weight for deer hunting because it’s heavy enough to transfer enough energy to take down medium-sized game, but it’s also light enough to keep a flatter trajectory at long-range distances.

The Best Bullet Weight for 7mm Rem Mag Bear Hunting

The 7mm Rem Mag, along with a few other calibers, are perfect for bear hunting, too. However, different bears have different needs, and understanding how the grain weight affects terminal ballistics is crucial to selecting the best ammunition.

I live in Appalachia, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever encounter a wild brown bear. Therefore, I stick with 160-grain bullets because they’re perfect for smaller black bears. I don’t need an excessive amount of energy to take them down, and 160-grain weight bullets are efficient for them.

However, my friends in the Rockies, Olympics, Alaska, and some parts of Canada, may get the opportunity to go bullet to claw with a brown bear. For those hunters, I’d recommend heavier bullets for more energy transfer and stopping power. After all, you don’t want an underpowered cartridge when facing an overpowered mammal.

The Best 7mm Rem Mag Bullet Designs for Training

There are many shooters that love the 7mm Rem Mag solely because it uses lighter bullets but can still hit targets that are further away. The caliber is perfect for training and target practice because it won’t punish your shoulder like others in its category (like the .300 WSM and .300 Win Mag with heavier bullets and .375 H&H parent cartridge), but it’s still effective.

Finding any 7mm RM ammunition can be a bit tedious due to supply and demand issues. Fortunately, you don’t need to be too picky about your training ammunition. However, if you want to hit a target, you should look for bullets with boat tails, which help to stabilize the flight path.

If you don’t want to hunt with these bullets, just about anything will do. Mostly because you aren’t trying to drop a target with controlled expansion and fancy ballistic tips, you’re just trying to hit it. Of course, if you’re into reloading your practice ammunition, high-quality cases and Boxer primers are critical to the buying process.

The Best 7mm Rem Mag Bullet Designs for Hunting

Selecting hunting bullets is where things get slightly more complicated. For example, you can easily find boxes of 7mm Rem Mag Winchester Deer Season XPs. But they expand too quickly for elk and would obliterate small game animals beyond recognition.

If you’re hunting big game animals, you need something that controls expansion (think Nosler Partition cartridges), and if you’re hunting antelope or deer, you need something that expands a little faster but not too quickly.

Fortunately, choosing factory ammo becomes much easier when you get familiar with the different lines, as well. For example, Sierra offers GameKing ammunition, Barnes offers TTSX, which is polymer tipped for expansion, and Precision Match for inanimate objects. Of course, if you see “Precision Hunter” or “Ballistic Tip,” you already know it’s good for hunting.

Choosing 7mm Rem Mag Ammo for Distance

The last thing you’ll want to consider before ordering a box of 7mm Rem Mag ammo is how the design affects the bullet’s flight path.

Fortunately, companies like Barnes and Hornady have made it easy to spot bullets designed specifically for distance. Barnes has its VLD (Very Long Distance) line, and Hornady has ELD (Extremely Low Drag) bullets.

When you see those designations, it’s safe to say they’re enhanced for long-range. After that, you can narrow it down to hunting or target use. An example of this is Hornady ELD-X versus ELD Match. ELD-X is better for hunting, while ELD Match is better for target practice.

FAQs

Can I use 7mm Rem Mag ammo in a 7mm Mauser?

No. The 7mm Rem Mag case is larger than the 7mm Mauser, among many other notable differences.

How do I know which ammo shoots better in my rifle?

Unfortunately, there are many 7mm Rem Mag rifles like Tikka, Savage, Remington, etc. Your best bet is to buy ammo in small quantities and test it before buying it in bulk or going hunting with it.

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I hope you found this guide helpful and you’re ready to order your next favorite box of 7mm Rem Mag ammo. Click HERE to go back to the top, and good luck this hunting season!