6 Best Scopes for 7mm Rem Mag Rifles (2023) Hunting & Target

The 7mm Remington Magnum is a somewhat niche cartridge these days, but it is still very popular with long and mid range hunters. That said, if you’re going to reach out and try to take big game and long range, then you need a versatile scope.

But which scope to choose for Elk hunting? Check out our guide.

If you’ve been struggling to pick the right scope for your 7mm Rem Mag rifle, don’t worry. You’re in the right place. I have a long history with (and love of) this round, and I’m going to take you through everything you need to know to pick the perfect scope for your needs, and then we’ll take a look at some specific models you should consider.

Let’s get to it

My History with the 7mm Remington Magnum & What Makes This Round So Great

I bought my Remington 700 in Winchester 7mm Magnum at a local pawn shop.  I was very fired up to make this a long-range, reach-way-out-and-touch-'em rifle.

When I got it home, took a very close look, and found that it did not show evidence of ever being loaded.  The bluing in the chamber and on the magazine follower did not even have a scrape from loading rounds.

What I find is that many folks with magnum rifles shoot them even less than standard deer rifles.  When we talk about high powered rifles at pawn shops, the guns are often decades old, and folks will consider them worn out….even though they’ve hardly been shot.

Guns wear out (generally speaking) from use, rounds shot, or lack of cleaning.  Guns can also get worn out by abuse and neglect, but let us talk about regular use like everyone here performs.  

That makes a magnum caliber rifle, though maybe not the most intuitive pick, usually a safe secondhand buy.

So now we have a rifle, what scope do we want to go with? And how do we choose?

What Do We Look For in a Scope for the 7mm Rem Mag?

In the 1960s, Remington created the 7mm Remington Magnum.  The 7mm Rem Mag round is based on the super round 375 H&H, so in its beginnings, it was hitting hard.  The bullet is flat shooting and delivers tons of power for terminal ballistics.

To compare to popular high powered rifles, the 7mm Magnum shoots faster than the .270 Winchester and the .30-06 Springfield, and makes 3106 lbs of force at its muzzle.  

To go with that, you need a capable long range scope, whether you plan on using it for hunting or target shooting.

Now let's break down the six best rifle scopes that you can get to sit on top of your 7mm Mag Remington 700.

6 Best Scope For 7mm Rem Mag Rifle

1. Nightforce Optics NXS 5.5-22x50mm - Best Hunting Scope For 7mm Mag
2. Primary Arms SLx 3-18x50mm
3. Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x44mm
4. Burris Veracity 5-25x50mm
5. Bushnell Engage 6-24x50
6. Swarovski Optik Z3 4-12x50mm

1. Nightforce Optics NXS 5.5-22x50mm - Best Hunting Scope For 7mm Mag

Let’s kick off our picks for the best scopes for the Remington 700 in 7mm Magnum with a pick from Nightforce, the NXS 5.5-22x50.

There is nothing like it: this Nightforce scope is the top dawg in the long-distance world. It was designed to meet the U.S. military’s long distance shooting needs and as a result, it’s both a great hunting riflescope and a great tactical riflescope.

It’s built three times tougher than the standard and it shows.  Weighing in at barely under two pounds, it’s nearly half-pound more than the closest. But when you need the most rugged durability, this is it.

The tube is 30mm in diameter and water and fog proof.  Shockproof, well, they put them on the biggest gun in the house when testing, so they are damn sure shockproof. This is also famously the scope that took a bullet and kept on working.

The reticle is in the second focal plane and has analog illumination.  The illumination can be adjusted with a small screwdriver under the knob, but comes from the factory on the lowest setting.

The turrets are as high-quality as you would expect them to be.  They are Tactical MOA with Allen head zero stop adjustments.  The elevation has an 100 MOA adjustment range and the windage is 60 MOA adjustable.

There’s a side focus knob for parallax adjustment.

The only downside I can find with Nightforce optics is the piece is hefty, both literally and metaphorically when it comes to price.  But if your budget can allow this scope, you will never regret it.  Plus, it does come with a limited lifetime warranty to help protect your investment.

2. Primary Arms SLx 3-18x50mm

Here we are again with Primary Arms, and why is that?  Because they are freaking awesome, that's why!  Check out the Primary Arms SLx 3-18x50mm look at that price tag, then look at the way they build them and performance unmatched, and that is why everyone loves this optic maker.

This black matte optic is like many from Primary Arms; it is part of the core, the backbone of their scope lines the SLx family.

With a HERA Ballistic Ranging Reticle, getting dialed in or and holdover correction has never been easier.  The reticle is etched in the first focal plane, so the marks are accurate at any magnification.  The reticle is illuminated with six levels of adjustment, and the top two tiers are designed for full daylight shooting.

The body is a 30mm tube, nitrogen purged and waterproof, and fog proof.

The eyepiece has a reticle diopter focus to match each shooter's eyes correctly, and the parallax adjusts on the left side knob.

3. Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x44mm

Talk about getting your money's worth.  Zeiss is where it is at, the torture test and quality checks Zeiss puts their scopes through is inspiring and rigorous.  Zeiss promotes Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x44mm as either a heavy-duty hunter or a dedicated target rifle scope, and you won't go wrong on either platform or use the same gun for both depending on how you have the gun set up.

The lenses are the most appreciated thing with Zeiss optics.  When I looked through these optics, all of them at the range, at SHOTshow, it was unreal.  

The proprietary coatings applied to the rifle scopes are awesome. LotuTec coating is a weather fighting coating, making clear vision in any weather. It’s like water can’t stick to the lens.  The Zeiss T* coating is tuned to each lens individually for maximum clarity.  

The glass puts through 90% or more of the available light to the shooter's eye and has excellent resolution through the entire magnification range. That’s fortunate since the 44mm objective lens doesn’t let in quite as much light as the 50mm lenses the other scopes on this list have.

It has a few different reticle options, all MOA-based and in the second focal plane.  The Reticle 20 Z-Plex is non-illuminated.  The Reticle 60 is a crosshair reticle with a tiny illuminated red dot.  

Zeiss offers many options when ordering your scope, look into all of them, think about it a bit, then order the one you think will be the best fit for you.  The fine crosshairs keep a long-range target in the picture and do not cover the target.  The posts are shaped like arrows towards the fine crosshairs making target acquisition, even on small targets, quick and accurate.

The main body tube is 30mm.  The turrets are a dream come true for the long-distance hunter.  The windage turret is offered either locking or capped.  The elevation is a honkin' huge 80 MOA!  The parallax is adjustable from 50 yards to infinity and located as a side knob.  The zoom is 4x ratio keeping the sight picture very clear, and the field very lovely.

This black matte riflescope weighs in at just under one and a half pounds.

Now for the toughness testing part.

Zeiss subjected the scope to a 24-hour salt spray, with a sacrificial metal coupon to ensure there is zero corrosion, then they tried to break it.  

The impact testing for shock resistance is up to 1500 times g-force!  And a 90-minute vibration test after that, they put it through a temperature test from -13* up to 120*F in five minutes.  After all that, they throw it in the water for total immersion at 13 feet for two hours.

In short, this scope is very tough and ready for anything out there.

4.Burris Veracity 5-25x50mm

This Burris Veracity is the optic made for varmint hunters.

So, let us get right into this optic offering, and look at what makes this high power scope so fantastic.

Burris builds the Veracity with a 5x zoom!  Yep, at impressive magnification range, and with the 50mm objective, this scope will have the widest and least distorted field of view of anything we have talked about today. It also provides nice long eye relief, measuring 3.5 to 4.25 inches.

It has a 30mm nitrogen-filled, one-piece tube body made from aluminum. It’s water and fog proof.

Burris uses a double spring tension system that eats shock and vibration for breakfast.

The turrets can be ordered as capped (shipped from stock) and also come with tactical-style turrets to fit whatever kind of shooting you do with your 7mm Magnum and Burris scope.

The turrets will turn the tapered duplex, first focal plane reticle for a maximum range of 64 MOA for elevation and 50 MOA for windage.  The knobs are multi-turn, good and bad can come from this for a hunter dialing for a shot not using hold-over style shooting.  

The good thing is you can nudge that reticle to precisely the size of a groundhogs eyeball.  The bad thing is if you lose count or lose your place, you will have to move to read the numbers or reset to zero and start again.

The glass is as you would expect: high grade and coated with Burris' HI-Lume full multicoating for great light transmission. It also has an adjustable objective.

Parallax adjusts from 50 yards to infinity, using a side knob. The one consistent complaint we’ve seen is that the scope has a higher-than-expected amount of glare when facing into the sun, but this can easily be solved with an affordable sunshade.

5. Bushnell Engage 6-24x50

Now, how about we talk a bit more about an optic in a more affordable price range? 

Have a look at the Bushnell Engage, especially if you are looking for a hunting scope for your 7mm Magnum.  

The lenses are fully multicoated, including Bushnell’s EXO coating.  EXO works like an armored barrier for lens safety: it repels water, oil, fog, dust, and debris.

Parallax adjusts with the side knob.  The turrets are capped and finger adjusted, so there is no need for tools in the field or the range.  That applies to the zero-reset as well.

The magnification ring has a built-in throw lever, so no-look operations will make staying on target easier.

The body is a 30mm, o-ring sealed, nitrogen-purged tube. It’s waterproof enough that it’s immersible in water to 3 feet for thirty minutes.

The reticle is a fine crosshair, located in the second focal plane.  There are reviews that state (on more than one occasion) that the fine hairs are hard to see in low light conditions, so consider that when thinking about this scope for hunting applications. 

That said, Bushnell’s Multi-X reticle is popular with long range shooters who don’t need to go with a full mildot option.

6. Swarovski Optik Z3 4-12x50mm

Swarovski touts this scope as “slim yet big on detail.” And with the Swarovski Optik Z3 weighing in at about one pound, it sure seems like it.

The scope body is 1 inch and gas-filled.  The waterproof test is a total immersion to 13 feet in the water, so it is rough and tumble strong, or at least if it falls in the water anyways.  The temperature testing is -4° to 158°F, so an Alaskan excursion looks like it should be no problem.

The reticle is the heavy version of the BRX reticle, which is Swarovski’s BDC reticle.  This reticle, Swarovski claims, can compensate for wind up to 20 mph and can be used for range estimation.

The zoom ratio is 3x, and a diopter adjustment of -2.5 to +2.5 makes for a very comfortable time behind the scope for most vision prescriptions.

I spoke with a group of hunting guides at an outfitter in the River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho.  The outfitter is Deadwood Outfitters.  

They had Swarovski come and do some promotional video and stuff.  They felt like I do, Swarovski is leaning pretty heavy on its name and not on what they offer.  That does not mean they have bad optics, and I think the money spent would be better spent on Nightforce.

Parting Shots

The 7mm Magnum is a great round and the Remington 700 is probably my favorite rifle.  With old deer rifles around at affordable prices, if you need to get some extreme long-range power down range, nothing is stopping you. Except, perhaps, a lack of a good scope to help you with your long range targets accuracy.

Of course, now that you have this guide, finding a great scope for your hunting rifle should be no problem.

We talked about high end, high price optics as well as some more affordable yet high quality optics to get your rifle up to speed and in the field, throwing hard-earned lead downrange at nearly warp speed.

Some honorable mention recommendations include the Nikon Prostaff and Buckmasters lines, as well as the Vortex Optics Crossfire II in the more budget-oriented category.

So, look around in your area and see if there is a group of long-range shooters that buy up some dirt no one else wants.  What better places to find folks that are into your new hobby?

Happy Shooting.