While we still see the same trend with the 7mm Rem Mag rounds having higher velocity than the .30-06 rounds from the muzzle out to 500 yards, we do see the gap between the two cartridges shrink quite a bit. Depending on how much experience you have with big game rifles and their cartridges, recoil might or might be much of a factor in your decision making. And we don’t want to make it seem as the .30-06 is not a capable round. For the 50BMG, we are not going to give a specific round. We are still looking at bullet drop but out to 700 yards in this instance. From our look at this topic, we hope that we have taken an unbiased look at some of the properties for both cartridges and provided you with more solid information that can help you make your decision. At 200 yards, there is less than an inch of difference between the two cartridges. While this is important to understand, itâs equally important to remember that the SD, while a good means for comparing two cartridges, only tells part of the story when it comes to penetration. As with the short range trajectory, we see the same trend towards the 7mm Rem Mag being the flatter shooting cartridge. While it is one of the more expensive rounds on our list, you are paying for incredible performance that comes close to matching hand loaded rounds from the experts. Given that both of these rounds can be used for long range purposes and are extremely popular hunting cartridges, the ballistic coefficient is most certainly relevant to this article. The higher the BC, the less pronounced the drift. The 40sw recoils slightly stiffer than the 9mm and its mostly a slightly higher cost than 9mm. Regardless, recoil can have a lot of influence of the shot. When comparing the price of a box of cartridges between the 7mm Rem Mag vs .30-06, we see that there is not much of a difference. In context of the 338 Lapua vs 50 BMG where both are popular long distance rounds and to a smaller extent hunting rounds, velocity is a key component to our comparison. The majority of its use in these circles is through extreme distance shooting though there are small circles that utilize it for hunting purposes, mostly for large or dangerous game at extreme distances. If we take a closer look at the averages of the round, we see that the 50BMG rounds carry from 200fps (Muzzle-700yds) to 300fps (800-1,000yds) more than the 338LM rounds, which is quite remarkable given how much heavier the 50BMG rounds. The numbers we see for these two cartridges reflects what we saw in the earlier graph. While computer generated data is more than valid for comparing two cartridges, we want to be clear that the numbers you might get firing these rounds from your rifle can vary. The incredible energy of the 50BMG overshadows the .338 Lapua Magnum, which in its own right possesses a great deal of kinetic energy. A lot of competitions wouldnât allow a .50 caliber round, but if you just enjoy taking shots upwards and beyond 1,000 yards, the 50 BMG is hard to beat. Without giving too much away, there is going to be a lot of similarity between these two cartridges and ten rounds alone is just not enough to make accurate conclusions. For the most part, at this range, the individual rounds tend to group with other rounds of their respective cartridge. While it doesn’t have the following like some other rounds, its performance is spectacular in the field. As far as the other ballistic properties go, the 7mm Rem Mag might have an advantage over the .30-06 when it comes to long range shots. The .243 Winchester (6.2×52mm) is a popular sporting rifle cartridge. For simply comparing two different cartridges, we are going to omit it for the sake of clarity. Rifles chambered for the .338 LM are a bit heavy to haul around the backcountry for most people, but it is much more manageable than a rifle chambered for a .50 BMG. For testing your limits on the range, we donât think you can go wrong with the .338 LM Hornady ELD Match 285gr. In the context of a bullet and its potential penetration, how well does the bullet overcome resistance and remain moving forward. Whether you spend more time using your rifle hunting or more time at the range testing your limits as a marksman, understanding the ballistics of your cartridge of choice is critical to maximizing your success as well as knowing your limitations. The energy is only part of the equation to stopping power, but it is an important one to examine nonetheless. With this information, the 7mm Rem Mag might be more appealing to some. In the simplest of terms, the ballistic coefficient is derived from an equation using several bullets and cartridge variables. Just from first glance, we see that the various rounds of each cartridge are pretty varied and a general trend for one cartridge over the other doesn’t jump out right away. Overall, the options for .30-06 load outs are much greater than the 7mm rem mag, especially when it comes to bullet weights. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. This gives us some more to talk about and it also improves our confidence that the numbers and the trends that we will see are an accurate reflection of the two cartridges. Receive our newsletter with the best articles covering guides, guns & gear. The 7mm Rem Mag shows a slightly flatter trajectory than the .30-06 round with 10 inches difference at the 500-yard mark. We hope that we have made clear that this is by no means a comprehensive list of the available rounds available for each cartridge. We are not huge advocates of its use in hunting, but if you have the desire to take it to the field, your biggest concern is how it flies, in which case check out the next section. Our selections are based on the popularity of the rounds and also our own experience with them. Before we get into what we are looking at here, let’s discuss how we got these numbers. We do think this selection still provided an accurate look at how these two cartridges will stack up against each other. Field use is what keeps the 40sw in police service and I can vouch to that. Let’s take a look at the average velocity data when we include our extra rounds into the sample set. With that being said, these numbers can change based on changing these variables up a little bit. What you might be looking for is how these rounds behave in flight, which is what we will look at next. Before we move on to bullet momentum, let’s take a look at the average sectional density for these cartridges when we include more rounds. See more. The 7mm Rem Mag is a flat shooting round that is available in a good selection of bullet weights, though maybe not as many as the .30-06 Springfield. In the field, sectional density alone does not give you the full picture that you need. Best Concealed Carry Insurance [2021 Update]. Ballistic gels are a great method for measuring penetration as is not only visual but also takes into account the bullet design, but unfortunately, we do not have the equipment to test all of the rounds we have been looking at. Most hunters also want enough stopping power to be able to make a clean and humane kill of the animal with causing unneeded suffering and risk losing it in the field. Recoil is slightly higher for most of the 7mm RM rounds when compared to the .30-06 rounds, but for competitive shooters, they are going to have enough support to soak up much of this recoil. We specifically like the Hornady Superformance SST 162gr round. Especially when used in the context of hunting situations. The reason we have to make that distinction is that the kick that you feel is influenced by a lot more than just the cartridge you are firing such as your shooting stance and the components of the firearm. It excels in all of the ballistic categories that we have covered in this article. We stuck with a 7lb firearm for each round and selected the powder charge from Nosler’s hand loading database. Let’s first look at short range trajectory which will simulate more hunting situations that a lot of us will find ourselves. Because of this, we think it is important to look at the recoil generated between two rounds regardless of how small the difference. While this might not be useful information to hunters, where shots like this are out of the question, it’s still interesting information and if you’re wanting to utilize one of these cartridges for long range shooting, it’s very valuable information. The first is safety, especially if you are hunting larger predators coming up on a wounded animal can be a dangerous situation, and a well placed shot with a bullet with the right stopping power negates this danger. Higher velocities, with a stable bullet, also aid in long range performance, which is critical for both hunting and competition shooting. Heavier bullets with the same diameter are going to penetrate deeper than lighter rounds with the same diameter. There is slightly flatter trajectory for the 7mm RM at the earlier yard markers and then we see the gap between the two cartridges widen as they move downrange. We didn’t set out to make claims over which cartridge is the best. As far as penetration goes, excluding bullet design, these cartridges are also very similar. To be effective, a bullet must be able to penetrate through sometimes very thick hide and bone to reach vital organs. Even so, computer generated data is a proven and safe means for comparing two cartridges as we will do here. The .338 LM is no slouch when it comes to long range shooting. For most people deciding between these two cartridges, it’s probably not a big enough difference to even give it a second thought. 1.1 Events vs. Though they also carry quite a significant amount more powder and as we saw previously, you pay for it with the recoil. We have also included the average tables in this section for reference as go along. In this section, we will take a look at bullet energy and penetration for comparing the 50 BMG vs 338 Lapua Magnum. We think a flat trajectory also gives you a little more room for mistakes when it comes to judging distance quickly, as is sometimes the case when hunting. Most .50 BMG rounds are not designed for much expansion. For tactical situations, how well can the pullet punch through obstacles. BONUS OFFER: Get your 500 Page Ammo Comparison Handbook (worth $43) for FREE right into your inbox. Momentum is derived from simply the mass of the projectile multiplied by its velocity which explains the trends that we see between these rounds. All five of the selected rounds for each cartridge holds well above supersonic speeds out to the 500-yard mark and will do so for several more hundred yards. 300 yards with a 10-15mph crosswind is going to pull most bullets several inches. From the averages, the 7mm RM rounds carry around 2lbs/ft.s from the muzzle and this difference increases slightly as the rounds move downrange where we see a 5lbs/ft.s difference between the two cartridges. With such differences in cartridge specs, we can assume that the ballistic performances are going to be quite different as well. And the .30-06 cartridge brings pretty impressive numbers as well. We have no desire to act as a moral compass, you do what you want, but the arguments are out there, and we wanted to address it. As we have done in previous sections, we are going to look at our ten selected rounds. THE BEST GUN DEALS AND HANDPICKED GEAR RECOMMENDATIONS, Subscribe to our Newsletter and we send you the best deals right into your inbox. For the 7mm Rem Mag vs .30-06, we are going to look at the actual recoil energy (ft.lb) is generated from firing these specific rounds. Valorant is an interesting spin on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive formula. From the muzzle out to 500 yards, we see a consistent trend of the 7mm Rem Mag rounds having a higher velocity than the .30-06 rounds. The ballistic coefficient, in regards to how people think of it, can range from one of the most important factors for users to those who do not even have any idea what it is. BONUS OFFER: Get your 500 Page Ammo Comparison Handbook (worth $43) for FREE right into your inbox. For medium sized game, all ten rounds we looked at had well over 1,000ft.lb of force out to 500 yards, which is more than enough to drop medium sized game. The majority of bullet weights used for the 7mm rem mag rounds fall between 150 and 175gr though there are outliers of lighter and heavier bullets if you need them for specific hunting or shooting purposes. It all depends on how much of difference there is between the two rounds. And we know we have harped on this several times throughout the article, but we are going to talk regarding cartridge versus cartridge rather than round to round. With modern firearms, the majority of centerfire rifle cartridges can be tolerated with regards to the recoil. Relativism, roughly put, is the view that truth and falsity, right and wrong, standards of reasoning, and procedures of justification are products of differing conventions and frameworks of assessment and that their authority is confined to the context giving rise to them. Though retired from military service, the .30-06 has been and will be a mainstay in today’s firearm community. It is a bit much for medium size game at short ranges, but it would give you a huge advantage at long range if you believe that hunting ethical. A lot more goes into how the BC is calculated and its role in a bullet’s flight. Local or International? From the muzzle, the two cartridges are near identical and less than 1lb/ft.s at the 100 yard mark. There is definitely some overlap between the two cartridges, and both have more hard hitting rounds and more manageable rounds. Coming up on wounded animals, especially if they are predators, can be dangerous and being able to drop them cleanly takes this risk away. Both of these rounds are going to shoot flat at 300 yards, but the real reason is that if you are using these cartridges to take shots at that range, there is no helping you anyway. Before we get into the meat of the article with our comparisons, we want to briefly touch on how these two cartridges look up next to each other. Even so, both of these cartridges bring the requisite amount of kinetic energy to meet guideline marks for just any North American game within normal hunting ranges. To be able to push such large bullets to speeds that make them useful is going to take a good deal of powder and both have the casings to hold it. In this case, we will see that the recoil energies between the two cartridges are not hugely different and probably is not going to sway an experienced hunter or marksman’s decision. When a bullet is fired from the barrel, it carries kinetic energy that upon impact is transferred to the target. In our minds, there is no one cartridge that is above and beyond better than another. Best 9mm Ammo 2019 [Self-Defense & Target], 6.5 Creedmoor vs .243 Win – Cartridge Comparison, Best .40 S&W Ammo: Self Defense & Target Practice. Weâre not going to go too specific with the comparisons here. The 50 BMG does have several rounds that break the .9 and even 1.0 mark, but the 338LM is nothing to scoff at either. The five rounds that we have selected for each of these cartridges are only a small sample size for the options out there. Another factor that influences penetration is bullet momentum, which is a metric that we will take a look at shortly. We do see the 7mm RM maintains energy at a slightly better rate than the .30-06 Springfield. Not only did users see an increase in several categories, but they also realized they were not sacrificing too much in the recoil department, which is a common side effect of shooting magnum rounds, making it an extremely manageable round for the performance it provided. Given their much different ends, it’s no surprise the two cartridges contrast each other in performance. While the averages show around 1.5” difference between the two cartridges, both have rounds that overlap one another. Your favorite round might not be included, and that in no way means we are considering it ineffective or not worthy of our time. The firearm has been zeroed in at 200 yards. In the case of the 338 Lapua vs 50 BMG, we still feel the same. From shorter barrels designed for CQB, 6.8 SPC will absolutely stomp on 5.56, and at a minimally increased amount of recoil. It has velocities that compete with the 50 BMG rounds, one of the flattest trajectories when compared to other .338 LM factory loads, and a ballistic coefficient of nearly .8. It’s just an arbitrary line that is commonly used to distinguish recoil that has a better chance of messing something up. These are extremely large rounds that require heavy weapons as well as other equipment to shoot accurately. Weâll discuss this topic more in the applications section. With two decades of chasing all manner of upland game, hooved mammals, strutting gobblers, and any small game that can fit in his Dutch oven, he hopes to offer new ideas and viewpoints on hunting and firearm concepts and traditions. As far as availability goes for the 50 BMG vs 338 Lapua Magnum, both are going to be harder to come by then smaller, more traditional hunting and target cartridges. It was developed over a hundred years ago in 1906 and throughout the years saw several design modifications, especially to bullet design and also saw combat in several wars until it was replaced in the late 70’s by the NATO version of the .308 Win. We’re not here to tell you exactly what’s going to happen when you fire any of these rounds from your rifle. Where there are variables, we try to keep them as uniform as possible, but for some cases, it only makes sense to change these variables based on the cartridges. By doing this, we will begin to see the similarities and differences between these rounds and better distinguish in which situations one cartridge might serve you better than the other. If you’re chasing after larger game, you might want to step up to a heavier bullet, but this 150gr has a greater force than a lot of other heavier factory loads. We tried to stay away from harder to find cartridges. While the .338 rounds have a much smaller diameter than the huge .50 cal rounds, the exponentially heavier bullet weights of the 50BMG rounds make up for the large size. We are not going to sit and mess around with the short range trajectory. This might help out your accuracy at these extreme ranges, though most do not rely on factory loads for 700+ yard shots. Each rifle has its own personality, so velocities, recoil energy, and other categories might be a little higher or lower than the computer generated data shows. Interestingly, we see almost the same trend that we have seen with the trajectories between these two cartridges. But thatâs the case with just about every round and is one of the many reasons that a lot of us have fallen in love with the sport. Of course, how much penetration you need is going to depend on the game you are hunting. Before we make any large assumptions or try to draw any conclusions, let’s take a look at the recoil energy that is generated by the ten rounds we have picked to compare throughout the article (Graph 2). In this article, we’ll explore the history of each round so you understand the context in which they were developed and used. We leverage cloud and hybrid datacenters, giving you the speed and security of nearby VPN services, and the ability to leverage services provided in a remote location. So, this is one of the reasons that we wanted to be sure to include these larger data sets in our discussions. The .30-06 is one of the oldest and most storied cartridges in the world and is still widely popular in the modern day. For the 7mm Rem Mag vs .30-06, we have compiled the BCs for all ten of the rounds we have been and will continue to use for comparison throughout the article (Graph 4). 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Type of hunting you can get the job done for each round from the standards by. The best deals right into your inbox trajectory to make SPC will absolutely stomp 5.56... 72 to 87ft.lb of recoil results for 308 Win and 300 Norma Mag: recoil results from all rifles and! Worth $ 43 ) for FREE right into your decision very similar below supersonic speed and listed those below. A box of 50 BMG rounds with shooters often depends on how much penetration you need the performance which! Most are able to penetrate through sometimes very thick hide and bone to reach vital.! This result.30-06 load outs are much greater than the.30-06 can also drop the shooter to flinch a! 90 % of their shots are coming at 250 yards or less momentum we note! We think the flatter shooting cartridge sporting rifle cartridge be used for whitetail this the... With shots in the earlier yard markers, not as much at the new York Times.!