no not a bicentennial issue. I purchased mine to tick my ex wife off, to be very honest with you. Mine was purchased 1986. I had an elk hunt booked out west. And I wanted a new rifle but the wife and I could not agree on me, investing in such a purchase. Long story short.. she made me mad about wasteful spending so I went out and showed her what wasteful spending really was.
After that I deer hunted Wisconsin in the south over huge corn fields. I had a Tasco World Class 3-9x40mm scope on it (still do). It was sighted in for 300 yards for the elk hunt. And I actually popped a deer at over 500 yards with it. Much to the amazement of my buddies.
That 7mm mag is a real flat shooting rifle. And hits like a truck. It really knocks them flat. My buddy that went out west with me purchased a Remington 700 BDL and he got his in a 280 Remington. Man is that a hard hitting caliber. We were coyote hunting one winter afternoon and he was doing some very impressive shooting with that caliber.
