7mm build

[D R T]

Thinking of building a 7mm to use the Berger 180's or 195 EOL's. Going to primarily use for S Texas long sendero shooting but also will be packing it out west. Thinking of using a Proof 26" 8 twist to stabilize the heavy bullets. Not tied to a specific caliber. Looking at a Bighorn TL3 long action to be able to have the option to switch calibers at a later date if wanted.

Thoughts on cartridges?

 

[J E Custom]

The minimum cartridge size in my opinion would be the 280 AI and go up from there for the heavy 7mm bullets. The middle of the road choice would be a 7mm STW On the big end the 7 RUM would be my top choice. There are other choices but you would have to decide which one based on your needs/wants.

Just My opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[WildRose]

The STW is perfect for your application and not surprisingly my favorite of all rifle calibers.

The 28 Nosler gets very close in performance but will never quite match it and certainly lacks the "cool factor" of the STW.

The Rum will certainly out perform both but at a pretty terrible cost in recoil, muzzle blast, cost and for very little gain.

Other good options would be the 7 LRM and 7mm-375Ruger. The latter doesn't have the ridiculously long neck of the LRM and gains enough case capacity to pretty well mirror the STW.

 

[lancetkenyon]

I think if you stay in the 180-184 range, .280AI, .280 Sherman, 7SAUM, 7SS or 7RM are mighty hard to beat.

If you step up to the 195-197 range, 28 Nosler or 7STW would be my choice. Maybe 7-300, 7LRM, 7RUM, but you are going to gain a little with spending a lot. If it is a hunting only rifle....go big.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

Thinking of building a 7mm to use the Berger 180's or 195 EOL's. Going to primarily use for S Texas long sendero shooting but also will be packing it out west. Thinking of using a Proof 26" 8 twist to stabilize the heavy bullets. Not tied to a specific caliber. Looking at a Bighorn TL3 long action to be able to have the option to switch calibers at a later date if wanted.

Thoughts on cartridges?

I put a 7-300 WSM prefit Remage barrel on my rifle this year, it's by far the most ridiculously accurate rifle I've ever shot..

I'm getting 1/2" groups at 200 yards with 180 ELD-m's @3000 FPS, just shot a Muley buck at 430 yards with that bullet and it put him in the dirt hard.

I just worked up a load with RL26 and 195's @2925, haven't been able to test it at range yet but I'm excited about the velocity.

I went 7-300 wsm because 270 winchester brass is super easy to find, and all I have to do is run it through a .284 expander mandrel and shoot.

If you're not scared of Hornady brass the 7 WSM would be my recommendation.
Since you're doing things right with your build I would really stay away from belted magnums.
I've had case sizing issues in the past with a 7mm rem mag, and accuracy wasn't near what I'm getting from the WSM case.

Good luck with whatever you choose, 7 mm's with heavies are awesome.
Great long range performance, and easy recoiling in a lighter setup.

 

[WildRose]

I put a 7-300 WSM prefit Remage barrel on my rifle this year, it's by far the most ridiculously accurate rifle I've ever shot..

I'm getting 1/2" groups at 200 yards with 180 ELD-m's @3000 FPS, just shot a Muley buck at 430 yards with that bullet and it put him in the dirt hard.

I just worked up a load with RL26 and 195's @2925, haven't been able to test it at range yet but I'm excited about the velocity.

I went 7-300 wsm because 270 winchester brass is super easy to find, and all I have to do is run it through a .284 expander mandrel and shoot.

If you're not scared of Hornady brass the 7 WSM would be my recommendation.
Since you're doing things right with your build I would really stay away from belted magnums.
I've had case sizing issues in the past with a 7mm rem mag, and accuracy wasn't near what I'm getting from the WSM case.

Good luck with whatever you choose, 7 mm's with heavies are awesome.
Great long range performance, and easy recoiling in a lighter setup.

That's not the case, it's the barrel and years of experience you built up between starting with the 7RM and getting the WSM.

I've seen numerous 7RM's shoot in the .2's and .3's and that was long before the high BC bullets we have tody. They were just shooting the 140-160 class bullets like partitions, accubonds, and Hornady Interbonds.

 

[WildRose]

One more. After more than four decades shooting them I'd say the 7's are all at their best if you stick to the 150-170gr classes of bullets. Heavier than that and you're just giving up so much velocity that the flat shooting part of the equation goes out pretty quickly.

The only exception to this rule above is if you're seriously building the gun for 800-1200yds or farther work at which time the higher BC becomes much more of a priority and velocity pretty well comes in about third to wind resistance and reduced drop.

 

[nmbarta]

I went with the 7x300 and am getting 3150 with 175's and a 28" pipe

 

[Deleted member 103481]

I would also check out the Curtis Custom Axiom, you can swap shouldered barrels on them as well.

 

[WildRose]

I would also check out the Curtis Custom Axiom, you can swap shouldered barrels on them as well.

Pin your recoil lug and add a timing mark and you should be able to do the same with a 700 action.

Theoretically, with a properly fit and headspaced barrel it really shouldn't be overly difficult to set up virtually any modern bolt action as a switch barrel rig by adding timing marks to a shouldered barrel.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Pin your recoil lug and add a timing mark and you should be able to do the same with a 700 action.

Theoretically, with a properly fit and headspaced barrel it really shouldn't be overly difficult to set up virtually any modern bolt action as a switch barrel rig by adding timing marks to a shouldered barrel.

Right, but I thought OP wanted a custom action. Plus, you can easily get prefit shouldered barrels for the axioms and bighorns if you would rather go that route

 

[WildRose]

Right, but I thought OP wanted a custom action. Plus, you can easily get prefit shouldered barrels for the axioms and bighorns if you would rather go that route

He pointed out he was looking at the Bighorn, I'm just pointing out there are other very good, less expensive options to get to the same place.

It isn't that difficult to make a prefit properly headspaced barrel with a shoulder.

Like all of our threads here there will also be others reading it looking for ideas for future builds as well.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

He pointed out he was looking at the Bighorn, I'm just pointing out there are other very good, less expensive options to get to the same place.

It isn't that difficult to make a prefit properly headspaced barrel with a shoulder.

Like all of our threads here there will also be others reading it looking for ideas for future builds as well.

Yeah true. The only places I ever saw prefit shouldered 700 barrels highly suggest/require proper head spacing to be done by a smith or someone with extensive experience. Which seems to negate the usefulness of a prefit barrel.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Since you're doing things right with your build I would really stay away from belted magnums.
I've had case sizing issues in the past with a 7mm rem mag, and accuracy wasn't near what I'm getting from the WSM case.

These comments always crack me up. My 7RM is amazing. Shoots in the .1-.2s all the time. I have 8-10 reloads on my brass, with no special brass work other than FL sizing whole bumping the shoulder back .002", same as any other non-belted case. I shoot the 180 Hybrids @ 2996fps and that is not a hot load in my rifle.