Looking for some advice on a 7mm mag as a first center fire rifle for my 13 1/2 yo son. He is a big boy (tall and 160 lbs). He has shot my .338 wm a few times. He will shoot my Ruger SBH .44 mag and my 1911 without even blinking. Anyway, he has been around guns and shooting all his life. He is wanting a bolt action cf rifle of his own. I told him ok if he saves up his own money and buys it himself. I suggested a .223 since the rounds will be cheap, but he wants something bigger. He found a Savage 7mm mag with a Simmons 3-9 scope used at Gander Mountain for $206. You can not tell this gun is used. I let him buy it, so this advice is going to be after the fact. I have no experience with a 7mm mag. He will mostly be punching holes in paper or knocking over metal plates. We will buy dies and reload. I guess what I am asking is : Is this too much gun for him? He is very happy right now, but I am hoping he is not dissapointed at the range. What does the recoil compare to? ...close to a .338 wm? How popular is this cartridge? Is it a good target round? He also wants to deer hunt with it next year.

thanks,

...jjj

Good deer or elk rifle, Recoil is more than an 06, but managable. You can load it down to shoot targets which makes it less painful after a long day at the range. You can load it down to 7mm-08 or 280 remington velocity's and it is a very comfortable range gun.

My life long friend has one of the older Savage's in 7MM mag and his is very accurate. He has killed a lot of deer and several elk with it. I've found most of the older Savages's benifit from some trigger work or replacing the trigger with an aftermarket trigger.

I have several of the Simmons scopes and have found they are a good scope for the money. It doesn't sound like he has any problems with recoil.

You already bought it, so let's help you out. Certainly it'll be fine for deer, and a pleasant stroll in the park after a session with the .338 Win mag.

I'd suggest letting him practice with some reloads with say, 120gr. bullets. No need to go heavy; stick with the lighter powder charges, as long as they are accurate. No reason to beat yourself up from the bench. Get a box or two of Ballistic Tips; they are accurate. Sierras too, in my experience. Doesn't matter what style of bullet when you are shooting dirt.

Sight in before deer season with general-purpose over the counter loads, or step up your reloading for bullets in the 140 - 160gr. range, and you're good to go.

Shot my first two deer with father-in-law's .280 Rem with 145gr. Speer bullets.

The 7mm rounds work great; just don't use the lightweight, fragile bullets on things you plan on eating!

Probably not the best purely 'target' round in the world but you have it and it'll certainly be a good start for a hunting gun. Just resist the temptation to shoot a lot of full-throttle loads starting out. Flinching is a tough habit to break, once it gets started.

Good luck!

Remington makes some reduced recioil ammo, too, if you need factory loads.
You've gotten some good advice.
Use a bullet in the 140 grain range for deer, and don't worry about getting every last foot per second out of your loads.

Just a word of caution that may save you some frustration.
Because the lug nut that attaches the barrel to the action makes headspacing simple and precise, Savage has a reputation as one of the most accurate out-of-the-box rifles made.The screw that holds the stock to the action can be source of trouble; but the condition is easily fixed. The hole for the scred is threaded (through) the bottom of the action.
This is not a sfety issue. However, if it is over-tightened, compressing the wood, the screw can actually protrude into the action and bind the bolt itself. Tightening it less to prevent that from happening can cause inconsistant stock pressure and affect accuracy. I've worked on one so affected and heard of others. Shortenting the screw slightly, (I also glass-bedded the action while I was at it) solved the problem, resulting in a real shooter. Being aware of above in the gun under consideration, could affect purchase price in your favor.
7 Mag is a good choice for a kid who can handle the increased recoil. Suggest you start him on reduced loads if you hadload, or standard commercial loadings of 140 grs or less, and limit range sessions the first several times, to prevent flinching. Some Simmons scopes tend to have a a relatively short eye relief when on higher power. Make sure the scope has sufficient eye relief for him to avoid "Mag Eye"... which can also cause flinching. Good luck.

I'm guessing that your 338 has a decent recoil pad and some weight to it. The stock Savages don't have either of those things to help manage recoil. My brother's 30-06 Savage 110 was extremely uncomfortable for me to shoot, and I'm 6'1" and 210 pounds. Without a heavy coat on, 5 shots would leave my shoulder pretty sore, and I had enough. We replaced the butt pad with a Pachmayr Decelerator, and it made a huge difference. My suggestion would be to put a good recoil pad on it and work your way up with handloads. By the way, the Pachmayr pads for the recent 110 wood stocks don't come close to fitting. The model for the pre-?? fits, but the screw holes do not line up, so new ones must be drilled. If I had to do it again, I would just have a smith fit one. A new scope should be on your list, too, unless all of the deer he'll shoot will be out in broad daylight. The bundled scopes are no good for lowlight conditions.

amndouglas

I'm assuming you're using for deer primarily and I'd say the 7mm mag is much better than the .223 as my opinion it's too small for a deer round. But it won't do him any good if he doesn't shoot it well. I'd say have him sight it in with normal rounds and if it's a little too much for him, as some others said, you can either get a quality recoil pad or use reduced recoil rounds until he grows into it more.

I'm with amndouglas on a different recoil pad. I shoot a Ruger 7 mag and love it. A friend, after shooting it decided he'd buy a package deal Savage in 30-06 because he thought it would feel even lighter in the shoulder. While the gun is precise he is confident it kicks harder than my 7 mag. He invested in a Simms vibration labs slip on recoil pad for the range and he's a much happier shooter.

Well I would think that a 7 mag is a little much for most 13 year olds to handle. However it's a good cartridge that he can grow into, and with a good quality recoil pad it shouldn't be too bad. You just wanna make sure he doesn't develop a flinch. I might suggest some dry fire practice to go along with your range practice. If he'll concentrate hard enough on the shot and the squeeze, the recoil won't be nearly as noticeable.

Imo there is no better rifle suited for any type of deer and elk. Very versatile.

Very good all around choice. I second the sims pad. Make it almost a downright joy to shoot.I myself would say practice with the 120 gr hp bullets also, and I would try the 120 gr barnes. Plenty of bullet even for the biggest deer. He should end up pretty satisfied in the long run.

Depending on his thoughts about the recoil of your 338, then either the 7mm Mag could be milder or a dream. Did he get the 110 or the 116 model? I do not care for the 110 as the stocks shape causes recoil to be brutal. The 116 is much better. As for the screw intruding on the action, a buddy of mine just swapped out a wood stock for a synthetic and his problem was solved. Savage triggers arent all that expensive to tune or replace.

Tell him he did very well. Good luck.

I figure that boy of yours will do just fine with the 7mm mag and won't even ask you for a recoil pad either. His practice with the 140 grainers won't bother him much at the bench but he should still use the sandbag for starting out or a PAST RECOIL PAD, which will make the rifle seem like shooting a 30-30. The 7mm mag is a dream gun to take on a hunt for mule deer or elk. The wife uses the 160 grain bullets on our hunts for mule deer or elk! :D

Your got all the advice you need. I'd add that the 120 gr bullets over 53.0 grains of Win 760 @ 2900 fps will recoil less than my boy's 7mm-08 with 140 gr bullets @ 2950 fps according to the recoil calculator on this site. Make sure he's not acting like it's no big deal on the recoil, just to please Dad. Less recoil never hurts, No pun intended. Especially when you want him to shoot alot.

I would have bought a lesser caliber for a first CF rifle.

That said:

If you reload, 130 grain Speer bullets sitting atop 63 grains of IMR4831 make for a fine shooting load that will kick alot less than full charge 160 or 175 grainers.

Looking for some advice on a 7mm mag as a first center fire rifle for my 13 1/2 yo son. He is a big boy (tall and 160 lbs). He has shot my .338 wm a few times. He will shoot my Ruger SBH .44 mag and my 1911 without even blinking. Anyway, he has been around guns and shooting all his life. He is wanting a bolt action cf rifle of his own. I told him ok if he saves up his own money and buys it himself. I suggested a .223 since the rounds will be cheap, but he wants something bigger. He found a Savage 7mm mag with a Simmons 3-9 scope used at Gander Mountain for $206. You can not tell this gun is used. I let him buy it, so this advice is going to be after the fact. I have no experience with a 7mm mag. He will mostly be punching holes in paper or knocking over metal plates. We will buy dies and reload. I guess what I am asking is : Is this too much gun for him? He is very happy right now, but I am hoping he is not dissapointed at the range. What does the recoil compare to? ...close to a .338 wm? How popular is this cartridge? Is it a good target round? He also wants to deer hunt with it next year.

thanks,

...jjj
I work at a range and have grown weary of all these "superhuman" youngsters that seem to be floating around, I question the authenticity of this thread, seems to me like you are asking for yourself, maybe you are 13? At any rate, I would never hand a child a gun such as the 7mm Mag, I would be more comfortable with letting him shoot a 7mm-08 or .270, I don't care if he can "handle" the .338, I know several young girls who can "handle" a .458 Win Mag, it bares no resemblence to how well they can shoot it, "handling" the gun is the easy part, being accurate enough to havest game with the gun, is the hard part, anyhow, I call BS on this thread, and if anyone else has a 12 year they want tp scar for life by buying them too much gun, go right ahead.

You have to watch the powder charges to drop the recoil. The above suggested 130 grain bullet with a 63 grain load will generate 24 ft. lbs of recoil, and is still puttin goout a muzzle velocity of around 3,150 FPS I would say.
A 160 gr bullet at 2915 FPS, less than 100 FPS off speer's max velocity only generates 25 ft. lbs of energy, or only 1 more ft. lb of recoil. You might as well shoot the max load.
Switching to H4895, you can use a 50 grain load with a 130 grain bullet, which will generate a velocity of just under 3,000 FPS, but your recoil falls off to 18 ft. lbs., which is 25% less recoil with less than only about a 150 FPS drop in velocity over the load using 63 grains. At just under 3,000 FPS there are no concerns over enough energy to generate killing shots. Although it seems that the number of grains of powder wouldn't matter in the recoil part of the equasion, it does. One would think velocity is all that would matter. When trying to load for recoil considerations, go with a powder that uses less grains to generate a velocity range you want. Dropping from 63 grains down to 53 or 50, makes that felt recoil plummet. Then of course you work on accuracy concerns when working up a load.
To I would work in target shooting and light game loads, all the while saving a lot of powder and pain he doesn't need at this stage of the game. Once he's comfortable with the rifle, should you be after elk at long ranges, then turn up some velocity should you feel the need.

I wouldn't call it B.S. at this stage. Maybe it is a young guy talking his Dad into it, maybe not. They claim the gun has been bought. But IF you hand load, you can do a ton of things with recoil while a kid grows into it. True it wouldn't be MY first choice for MY kid, but we were going after caribou, not, say for example, elk.
If you want to talk versatility, hand load. You can put the 130 grain bullet over 47 grains of 4895 and hit over 2,700 FPS, and it recoils at 14 ft. lbs. My boy's 140 gr accubond in his 7mm-08 with 43 grains of Reloader 15, with the same weight rifle figured in, generates 17 ft. lbs of recoil, or almost 22% more recoil than that loaded down 7mm "mag". If they hand load, it CAN make perfect sense. If that 7mm mag is a little heavier than the same models in 7-08 fo example, probably from having a longer barrel etc, then the recoil would even be less with the 7 mag. If they thought elk hunting was in the future, and money was an object, as it sounds, than this would not be a poor decision at all. The only thing I found interesting is with a .338 in the background, I would think there's be a little more knowledge of the 7mm mag cartridge. However, I'm not going to jump to conclusions on it. As I said in my original post, watch it that the kid isn't complaining just to please Dad. My 2 cents.

Well I came up with a .30-06 at that age. I recently got a 7mm WSM (which is ballistically a twin to the Rem mag) and to my surprise, it kicks less than my two .30-06s. So I think he'll be fine.

Your son made a good choice as he will never really need another calibre unless he wants one.
I have loaded 139 gr. hornady for deer and the 162 gr. for elk and they have been fine.
Lots of practise and your son will have no problems.

My you keep the Son in your eyes!

JimmyJackJones.....The bigger issue on your buying the boy a centerfire rifle in a 7mm mag, is the fact he is going to be reloading that rifle. So it is very easy to "Tone Down" those loads to where he can practice at the bench (better yet from hunting positions) and not be bother after 30 or 40 rounds per session from recoil.

I would also get the lady of the house, to sew in a PAST RECOIL PAD into a shooting vest for the boy. It will really tame that 7mm mag down to where he may want to swap you out of your .338 Mag for lack of felt recoil in the 7mm mag.
Good Luck & Good Shooting! ;)