7×61mm Sharpe & Hart
The 7x61mm Sharpe & Hart Magnum belted cartridge (7mm S&H Super) was developed by Philip B. Sharpe and Richard (Dick) Hart in the 1950s and based on the .300 H&H Magnum case. In 1953 Sharpe travelled to Scandinavia and the outcome of this trip was that Schultz & Larsen of Denmark chambered the cartridge in their bolt action rifles. One example being the model 54J, which featured rear locking lugs and a fully enclosed bolt face. while Norma started to manufacture commercial ammunition according to the designers specifications. But today the cartridge requires hand-loading. However hand-loaders have a variety of bullets to choose from, and Hornady lists load data for the cartridge. Brass is still available, or can be fire-formed from 7mm Remington Magnum cases.
7x61 Sharpe & Hart Magnum | ||||||||||||||||
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Type | Rifle | |||||||||||||||
Place of origin | Oakland,California U.S.A. | |||||||||||||||
Production history | ||||||||||||||||
Designer | Philip Sharpe and Richard Hart | |||||||||||||||
Designed | 50s | |||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | Norma | |||||||||||||||
Specifications | ||||||||||||||||
Case type | rimless, belted | |||||||||||||||
Bullet diameter | .284 in (7.2 mm) | |||||||||||||||
Rim diameter | .532 in (13.5 mm) | |||||||||||||||
Rim thickness | .040 in (1.0 mm) | |||||||||||||||
Case length | 2.394 in (60.8 mm) | |||||||||||||||
Overall length | 3.27 in (83 mm) | |||||||||||||||
Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||||||
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Source(s): Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading |
Usage & Ballistics
While the 7x61 S&H Magnum is a good cartridge, it was overshadowed in the United States by the pre-existing 7 mm Weatherby Magnum. Never a popular cartridge in the U.S., when the 7 mm Remington Magnum cartridge was introduced it spelled the demise of the 7x61 S&H.
100 yd | 200 yd | 300 yd | |
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Trajectory | 2.6 | 1.9 | -4.1 |