7 SAUM bullet for 1:8 22" proof barrel

[BuckeyeRifleman]

Another one to consider is the 150 Badlands SBD-II, it has a stellar bc for a mono, however inside 500 yards it won't really matter much. @BuckeyeRifleman was loading them at 2949 fps using H4350 from a 22" SAUM with SAAMI throat. May or may not be for you, but nothing wrong with having more options.

Indeed.

I used this 143gr Hammers loaded with 60.0 gr of H4350 at 3090 FPS this last hunting season in my 22" SAUM. Accuracy was excellent, but BC was to be desired. Utilizing my Labradar I calculated a G7 of .200, this was far below advertised and verified out to 1000 yards. I also had a non recovery of a Bull Elk at 500 yards. Initial shot tumbled him, but despite searching for him all day no blood was ever found. That scope was later sent back to vortex and found to have issues in the erector with windage, so the shot may have not been as true as it felt when it broke unfortunately, so I don't necessarily blame the bullet.

I have since switched to the 150 gr Bulldozer II's and have been extremely pleased. Accuracy has been just as good as Hammers, but the BC is much improved. .275 G7 verified with both the labradar and shots out to 1000y. This still isn't as good as they advertise, but it's a vast improvement over Hammers.

As for terminal performance, I haven't had a chance to test them, but we'll find out this fall in Wyoming. So far I've heard good things.

When debating whether to go with a higher BC bullet, remember it's not so important in elevation/energy, rather windage, which is a much harder variable to predict at distance.

OP, I also had very meh accuracy with ABLR's. I'd highly recommend taking a look at what badlands precision has to offer.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Indeed.

I used this 143gr Hammers loaded with 60.0 gr of H4350 at 3090 FPS this last hunting season in my 22" SAUM. Accuracy was excellent, but BC was to be desired. Utilizing my Labradar I calculated a G7 of .200, this was far below advertised and verified out to 1000 yards. I also had a non recovery of a Bull Elk at 500 yards. Initial shot tumbled him, but despite searching for him all day no blood was ever found. That scope was later sent back to vortex and found to have issues in the erector with windage, so the shot may have not been as true as it felt when it broke unfortunately, so I don't necessarily blame the bullet.

I have since switched to the 150 gr Bulldozer II's and have been extremely pleased. Accuracy has been just as good as Hammers, but the BC is much improved. .275 G7 verified with both the labradar and shots out to 1000y. This still isn't as good as they advertise, but it's a vast improvement over Hammers.

As for terminal performance, I haven't had a chance to test them, but we'll find out this fall in Wyoming. So far I've heard good things.

When debating whether to go with a higher BC bullet, remember it's not so important in elevation/energy, rather windage, which is a much harder variable to predict at distance.

OP, I also had very meh accuracy with ABLR's. I'd highly recommend taking a look at what badlands precision has to offer.

I am very sorry to hear about your bull. That is not news that we like to hear, ever.

Your .200 g7 is unique to your rifle. I have run the 143g Hammer Hunter in quite a few rifles and our advertised .230 g7 is pretty spot on in most rifles. I have seen it better in some but not worse. We have seen some rifles that seem to screw bullets up. This usually the result of a tight bore engraving farther out onto the ogive than usual. Our tangent ogive is more susceptible to this than a secant ogive. It would explain why your rifle also has a detrimental effect on the bc of the Bulldozer.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

I am very sorry to hear about your bull. That is not news that we like to hear, ever.

Your .200 g7 is unique to your rifle. I have run the 143g Hammer Hunter in quite a few rifles and our advertised .230 g7 is pretty spot on in most rifles. I have seen it better in some but not worse. We have seen some rifles that seem to screw bullets up. This usually the result of a tight bore engraving farther out onto the ogive than usual. Our tangent ogive is more susceptible to this than a secant ogive. It would explain why your rifle also has a detrimental effect on the bc of the Bulldozer.

Yup, given that the badlands is also well below advertised I don't doubt it's the rifle. As always you have to see what your rifle/bullet does in the real world before hunting with it.

As for the Bull it was certainly heartbreaking, but I was later able to harvest a cow from much closer in (100 yards) and was very pleased the terminal performance of the Hammers. Knowing now that the scope had an issue with windage, I'll bet the shot was further back on the bull than what it should've been. Unfortunate, but that's hunting I guess.

 

[Ftothfadd]

I am very sorry to hear about your bull. That is not news that we like to hear, ever.

Your .200 g7 is unique to your rifle. I have run the 143g Hammer Hunter in quite a few rifles and our advertised .230 g7 is pretty spot on in most rifles. I have seen it better in some but not worse. We have seen some rifles that seem to screw bullets up. This usually the result of a tight bore engraving farther out onto the ogive than usual. Our tangent ogive is more susceptible to this than a secant ogive. It would explain why your rifle also has a detrimental effect on the bc of the Bulldozer.

Thank you for the opinions so far. I am leaning towards heavier bullets for the greater sectional density, even for monos (for non-monos I prefer increased SD for better penetration, for monos I also prefer it due to it being a proxy for bc.) Steve do you have any input on using the 168 grain hammer in a 7 SAUM? Any load recommendations?

 

[Vol1975]

Dear Members,

I have recently taken delivery of a 7 SAUM rifle built on a tenacity long action and 22" 1:8 proof barrel. I thought I wanted to shoot 175 grain ABLR from it but it shot just meh (~1.25"). I am torn now what other bullets should I try. I could do 180 bergers but I am leery of non bonded bullets. So I am leaning toward 165 ABs. Or maybe 168 LRXs. I do not know. What would you do assuming you could find the bullet ;-).
Thank you for your wisdom!

What is your free bore on you rifle. Is it a custom reamer of sammi. will dictate some things on bullet selection.

with that if you had a good amount of freebore- basically around 200 th then the 175 eldx or 160 gr accubond are good choice killers. I have shot truck loads of white tails with the accubonds and a dang fair amount with the 175 eldx. Both work good. To me the eldx is a tipped interlock that a has been a proven killer for a while.

the 180 Berger's are really nice for deer but I'm not sure on elk. Never shot a elk with one but I'd imiagine if you use on elk just pick those shots rib to rib and you will be fine. I only say that because ive shot some whitetails in the shoulder at a closer range 130-150 yards and it didn't get a lot of penetration. Killed the deer like lightening but would cause me some concern on shooting a elk in the same place. My 2 cents.

im In the process of rebarreling my second saum and my reamer spec was with 205 ths free bore and it worked really good for the above bullets. I use these bullets for deer and they are great killers.
elk though I get bigger bullets

 

[Ftothfadd]

Custom reamer with 195 freebore. Thank you for all the advice!