7 saum barrel length?

[Bob lee]

Gonna build a "middle weight" type hunting rig. stiller predator long action. krieger barrel. manners T2 or russo A5. i am having trouble deciding on barrel length vs ease of carrying this while hunting. i have searched but not found a lot of data. what do you think i can get out of the 180's whith a 26 inch barrel? would a 28" get me much more? what is your oponion on minimum barrel length to get the 180 going over 2900 fps?

Also somewhat open to contour , kinda leaning to a 5.5 or 6 .

 

[grit]

Hey Bob,

I don't run the SAUM. But, I'll offer my input. I run the 7-300 WSM in long actions. It combines the best features of the SAUM and the WSM. 'Bout half way between the two. I run 27" barrels and 180s at 3000 fps.

If you want to hit 2900 in the SAUM I'd think you'll need the 28.

I love the 5 and 6 contours for mid weight rigs! Love the T2. My favorite is the GAT. The Russo may be a bit heavy.

I've been thinking of a mountain rifle in the SAUM on a short action, mabey a 25" #5 in a MCS-t. It'd be a hell of a handy package.

 

[JARHEAD1371]

I have a 28" barrel on my 7 SAUM and I love it!! It's very accurate and, according to Exbal, I'm pushing the 180 Berger Hybrids at 3045 fps. I'm not sure I believe that, but it matches my drops out past 800 yds. In reality you wouldn't loose that much velocity by going with a 26" barrel, maybe around 50 fps. Good choice on the long action, I would have built mine on the Surgeon long action but they hadn't made them yet. Good luck.

 

[Bob lee]

Thanks for the insight , I know the russo will be a little heavier but I love a nice piece of wood on a hunting rig . Might see if he can do an exact clone of the T2 instead of the a5. I would like to do a 25 nch barrel too but I feel I'm cheating myself at that length . Probably gonna splits the defference and go 27" unless I get some advice otherwise .

 

[grit]

Great thing about laminates is they're easy to modify. I have a couple of the A5's on my website. Niether of them are as they came from Joel. It's be simple to turn the A5 into an A2. I seem to recall he had one earlier. You can certainly lighten them too.

I like the 27" length. Brux come standard with 27" finish length. I see little reason to change. I stepped over the SAUM years ago. I haven't had a customer want one yet either. Maybe 'cause I sell the 7-300WSM. Recently, I have been taking a second look. Hell of an efficient cartridge.

 

[DZelenka]

I just built a hunting rifle in 7mm SAUM with a 26" #5 Kreiger. Depending on the primer, I get 2950 - 2975 fps using Retumbo and a 180 gr Hybrid.

 

[Bob lee]

Zelenka , are those loads compressed ? Which brass are you using ? Again thanks to all posters for the info , ill have to talk to Joel when its time to order the stock .

 

[DZelenka]

Zelenka , are those loads compressed ? Which brass are you using ? Again thanks to all posters for the info , ill have to talk to Joel when its time to order the stock .

Using Nosler Brass. I have been up to 66.0 gr of Retumbo with the 180 VLD and Fed 210 primers for 2950 fps. 180 Hybrids over 65.7 gr Retumbo with a WLR primer will give 2975 fps. OAL with the Hybrids is 3.065" (.015" off lands) and with the VLDs it is 3.045" (.020" into lands). That much Retumbo is slightly compressed but doesn't show bad pressure signs.

Thus far, RL25 and H1000 haven't shown as much velocity before reaching pressure signs.

Dan

 

[grit]

I run Norma brass. 67-68 grains H1000 in the 7-300 WSM. Pretty sure Norma is making SAUM brass now.

65+ in the SAUM, wow.

 

[Bob lee]

I plan to try both nosler and normal brass , thanks for the load data .