7mm WSM ELR?

[M67]

7mm WSM
- Berger 180 VLD
- 63 or 64gr Norma N15 (MRP equivalent)
- Federal 215 M
- Winchester/Norma brass, sorted, turned, annealed every firing
- cant remember COL here and now, but longish
- 900m/s @ 20°C/ 680mm barrel
Will be used for Red Deer and Roe deer at extended range, where i do not care carrying the "Big Boomer"

338LM
- Berger 300gr OTM
- 87/ 88gr VV N570
- Federal 215 M
- Lapua Brass, , sorted, and annealed every firing
- COL 100mm ( i think)
- 830m/s @ 20°C/ 760mm barrel
This treatment has been shown to be on the hefty side for Roe deer @ <300m, matchwinning accuracy

6.5x55 longrange and "felt"-competition load (typically called "atomic loads")
- Lapua 139gr Scenar
- 54.5gr VV N570
- Federal 215
- Lapua Brass, no sorting or anything
- 880-900m/s @ 20°C /700mm barrel
matchwinning load, this is my "volume" rifle, 50% of what i shoot is this rifle. It is switched back and forth between ironsighted target rifle and tactical looking LR-rifle

6.5x55 200m target and general practice load (typically called "anemic" loads)
- Lapua 139gr Scenar
- 40gr VV N550
- Federal 215
- Lapua Brass, no sorting or anything
- 770-780m/s @ 20°C /700mm barrel

308Win
- Lapua 155gr Scenar, or Berger 155gr VLD Hunting
- 50gr VV N550
- CCI 450- Lapua "Palma" Brass, no sorting or anything
- 780-790m/s @ 20°C /400mm barrel
Roe deer killing stuff, but works nicely on targets to beyond 1000m in good conditions, SCenar and Berger bullets has same impact at all ranges

K

 

[M67]

A couple of pictures from my reloading bench.

7mm WSM cases drying after annealing - note colour difference between Norma and Winchester

7mm WSM cartridge

K

 

[M67]

Had a blast on saturday, shooting the 7mm in the morning in fair weather, putting lead on steel @970m on the 2. shot (16" gong), and grouping nicely from thereon.

After some work on the range we shot a few groups on paper, @some 560m, me using the 6.5x55 Sauer 200STR - but a couple of poor shots opened my 10shot group to 205mm, 8". I had forgotten the bipod in the car, so i shot off a treestump, half sitting behind it, not too bad i say - wing was picking up too.

Walked up on the "1200m" hill, and shot some on the same 16" steel from 1025 and 1230m - but now i had brought out the big "Hammer", i do not like to shoot a lot with the barrel burning 7mm, so 338LM it is.
1.7-2.5 mrad of wind we had, from about 8 o'clock, and at 1025 the gong was without a chance. The 6.5s kept missing a lot, but the 338, and a little discerning wind-picking - i cant remember missing even once...
@ 1230m the story was altogether different, and i believe we shoot into another wind swirl, as watch the near trees didnt work at all - i put 5 about 7 out of 15 on steel, all but one shot just barely missing.
Shot 1. missed grossly, by about a meter, since i thought we would have the same wind as on 1k, but i was actually down to about 1.5mrad for the longer shot...

Now i worked alittle with myself but brought not the 7mm to the 1540m firing point, but the 338. The reason was it was now raining heavily, and i wantet something tha would show hits clearly on the mountainside, and also i am still not "sure" of the 7mm at this range. The 338 has proven itself beyond 2km, and the dope is in my book.

Reason for poor spotting

I fired a few shots but none connected, nor was spotted, dialling 3.0 for wind, which was now rather fierce on the treetops.
But visibility vaned and i packed it in - only to see a lightup in the weather, so i made ready again. Much less wind now so i dialled 1.5 and sent a bullet up on the hill.

"1.5mils right" called from behind, two spotters with big Swaro scopes really help, since i saw nothing

next shot was a few inches high, so i went 2 clicks down - and of course hit low... But then there was cheering from the spotters, and i saw the plate swing. About 10kgs of steel, so the 338 still packs a punch @ 1540m. We were almost done cheering by the time the distant ring came back - "seven seconds away".

Next time 7mm.

K

 

[captacademy]

Great Shooting! How long is your COAL in your 7 WSM?

 

[M67]

I believe i have been using 80.3mm

K

 

[Skyking]

Taken mine out all the time past 1000 yards. Here we are at 2000 yards.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5G13N3Yd3w&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Gap 7wsm at 2000 yards - YouTube[/ame][url="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?

 

[captacademy]

Great video Skyking! What load were you shooting in your 7WSM

 

[M67]

Nice Skyking! Good video and even better shooting - impressive.

A few guys met in the weekend, for an improvised "ELR-shoot". We have access to a deserted piece of land consisting mainly of rock, with large and small boulders abundant.
2' by 2' steel was placed at 1000 and 1340m - 1094 and 1466 yards.

We were shooting over a 300m range, that also has steel targets to about 700m

I used my 338LM mostly, both for it has a match size barrel, and because i dont like to shoot the tiny 7mm barrel as much. It is a known barrel burner and i want it to hunt with.

29 shots was fired from the 7WSM. In 15-25mph of varying crosswind to tailwind, rainshowers and haze, i was very impressed with the performance of the little thing - we were two guys shooting 7WSMs and even at 1405m (1537yd) we were both more or less consistent on a rock about 1m wide /0.5 tall (3 by two feet). 3shot groups would be 30-40cm, about a foot, as viewed throught the big Swarovski spotter. I wonder what we could have done in light wind..
Close attention to the wind was paramount, and even more so because we all used silecers, and could only shoot a few rounds each string.

The plate at 1340m was hit almost 100% in some attempts by the other 7mm shooter, myself was tricked by the wind sometimes. At 1km both rifles and shooters were "absolutely" deadly both on the plate, and on a 8" rock lying on a large boulder.
The rock would not fall down, so i followed up with the 338LM, but even 5 hits in a row would not topple it.

Hansen 7mm WSM,

I was thorougly impressed with both rifles anyway. Even with some problems spotting through haze, and with scoops vibrating in the wind, I and several shooters hit 2moa size boulders well beyond 2000 yards (1850 and 1972m) some shots were lost, but given the small hit signature, i believe they were simply not seen by the spotters.

"LongRange" with "Yrcan"'s big 338LM

Basically, the 7mm's impressed, but beiing small hunting rifles, they could not compete with the 338s. My 338 is a 9kg Barnard PL, and repeatedly hitting the center of the 1000 plate eventually made a fist sized ragged hole in it...
Lobbing to 1850m, a 1' by 1' group formed on the distant rock - this was while the wind was from the rear - later the wind shifted and 3mils of windage was needed to steer bot 180gr VLD and 300gr OTMs into the 1000m gong. Still accuracy was good.

My position, the Barnard, a Swaro spotter, needed in the thick haze that sometimes formed, and the fellow that organised the whole thing.

A learning was the elevation drift. On some targets and winds, we would see large elevation errors and spreads. One shooter had a Magnetospeed chronograph attached, and measuered every shot. Even so, he would hit 0.3-0.5 mil low compared to what is usually hard data. Most shooters hit low on these targets, and wihout the chrono, we would have blamed inconsistent loads or something, when it was the wind playing havoc.

"Yrcan", letting loose at 2km

Heading home

K