Bad news on long-awaited 7RUM Shaw barrel.

[Max Heat]

I got in on a group buy of 7mm shaw barrels (for savage action) from the gun shack back in march. And today I finally got the news that I WASN'T waiting for. After hearing about production issues/delays for several months, I finally received an email from GS. But it was not to inform me that my barrel had finally been shipped out. I was told that it was not going to happen. They said Shaw stated that they will NOT do a RUM chamber in a standard shank barrel. Talk about shot down in flames. After all of the time I spent waiting, I'm now right back to square 1. How come it WAS listed as an chamber option back in march when I made the order? I don't understand. But at least now it frees me up to go with something longer than 26". I think I want to go 30. I doubt if I can match the $158 deal that I would have had for the stainless heavy barrel , but does anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a (30") 7RUM chambered heavy stainless savage standard shank barrel for a reasonable price? Or would I be better off just having my current 7RM barrel upgraded to RUM chambering by a local smith?

 

[nddodd]

Try Mcgowen barrels I've had a few of them and they all shot lights out. It's been a few years since I've dealt with them but they used to have a 4-6 week delivery from the time you order and you have your barrel. Id expect to at least spend twice what you were getting the previous barrel for I think I give around $250 for the last barrel I got from them and I'm sure they've just gotten higher. Seems to be the going trend nowadays.

Hope this helped,
Nathan

 

[MachV]

No RUMs????? I wounder if they are still gonna do the WSMs then? Got a 7 and 30 on order.
I can understand Shaw not doing the RUM or WSM because Savage doesnt do it but like you said they should not have had it on the list! For $174 there is no room for liability issues?
If your smith will rechamber your factory barrel it will likely be as good as a Shaw?
Sinarms may be able to help you out or one of the other barrel makers may build you one, it gonna cost you more but likely worth it.

 

[clambdin]

I ran into the same thing with shaw several years ago, I bought a brux glad I did !

 

[J E Custom]

I got in on a group buy of 7mm shaw barrels (for savage action) from the gun shack back in march. And today I finally got the news that I WASN'T waiting for. After hearing about production issues/delays for several months, I finally received an email from GS. But it was not to inform me that my barrel had finally been shipped out. I was told that it was not going to happen. They said Shaw stated that they will NOT do a RUM chamber in a standard shank barrel. Talk about shot down in flames. After all of the time I spent waiting, I'm now right back to square 1. How come it WAS listed as an chamber option back in march when I made the order? I don't understand. But at least now it frees me up to go with something longer than 26". I think I want to go 30. I doubt if I can match the $158 deal that I would have had for the stainless heavy barrel , but does anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a (30") 7RUM chambered heavy stainless savage standard shank barrel for a reasonable price? Or would I be better off just having my current 7RM barrel upgraded to RUM chambering by a local smith?

There is another thread on small shank vs large shank Savages that may explain why they dropped
the RUMs on the small shank barrels.

I dont build any thing that large on small shank/tenon rifles because of chamber wall thickness.

I know it is done but I don't because of potential extraction problems with hot loads. In fact, when possible I like to make the barrel shank match the OD of the reciever and do away with the barrel
nut all together so that chamber wall is at it's thickest.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Max Heat]

I've had a hard time NOT thinking about this since my long wait just came to a dead end yesterday. I might be one of those individuals who tends to over-think things. But at this point, I AM fed up with waiting for something to shoot the 7RUM rounds that I now have bought everything needed to reload. So I want to take action ASAP, but I want to make the decision that I will be the most happy with, down the road. I want something that will put the most "heat" possible (that's why I want to go long, @ 30 or 31") on what it spits out of the muzzle. I also do crave accuracy, but financially speaking, I don't have the resources to simply go all-out. And considering the relatively short life that the barrel is going to have, with the amount of heat that it will be subjected to with every shot, there is a point of diminishing returns on the dollars spent on it. I see 3 options: 1. Re-chamber the original 7RM sporter contour barrel to 7RUM. The pros would be: Minimum cost; fresh throat - being that the RUM case is .35" longer. Cons would be: Stuck at 26"- won't produce the velocity that I never seem to be able to get enough of; stuck at sporter contour, when I want at least varmint contour or better; stuck with non-stainless (stainable?) steel - meaning even shorter life; and, is it really safe to go RUM (at max loads) on a savage standard shank action? 2. Re-barrel the savage action to 7RUM. Pros would be: Can go longer and fatter than option 1 would allow. And also stainless. Since Hart is only 10 miles up river (on the other side) from me, I do have the urge to go up and see what he could do for me (and if it would be at a cost that I can manage). At least there would be no shipping fees involved (I presume that he would charge me state sales tax though). But this option still leaves the "con" of a RUM chamber in a standard shank action, IF that really is an issue. I WOULD appreciate some feedback on this. Is it a go, or should it be considered a no-go? I'm going to be honest about it and say that there is now a "scare" in me regarding this, since shaw won't do it, and apparently savage doesn't/won't do it either. 3. Spend the bux and get a whole new rifle in 7RUM, obviously sporting a large-shank action, and as long & fat of a stainless barrel as I could want. But that leaves the question of, savage or remington? Or something else maybe? I need to make a decision on what to do. Which is the way that I should roll on this?

 

[calib]

dont expect to get anything fast from mcgowan i have been waiting 18 weeks for a 300 mag barrel

 

[Max Heat]

I spent so much time having the reply window open in my last post, that I didn't see the previous post by JE until after I posted. It is now beyond just a scare. It looks like I'm going to have to take options 1 AND 2 OFF the table at this point. NOW where do I go, with what I am seeking? I am now in acceptance of spending more money, in the name of safety. EDIT: I haven't seen the thread regarding savage shank sizing yet, but I WILL look for it. I assume extraction problems resulting from hot shots are due to the thin chamber walls expanding from the pressure spike, and then rebounding back to original size, squeezing down tight on the now-expanded brass cases. Maybe it's not a safety issue, but I'm looking for minimum expansion of my brass, regardless. With today's technology, steel can be made tougher than you can imagine. BUT, any steel formulation will eventually fatigue and fail, given enough "torture" cycles of forced expansion/contraction. Hopefully the barrel will be burnt out and replaced before that happens. But I'm not much of a gambler, when such extreme forces are in play, so close to your face! So my question now becomes, what are my options, in terms of a new rifle, with an accurate, 30" heavy contour stainless barrel (weight is NOT an issue - the heavier the better, as far as I'M concerned), WITHOUT incurring the expenses involved in a custom rifle? P.S. - I apologize for the way my paragraph formatting is all running together when my post's get posted. It seems that the CR/LF's (carriage return/line feeds) between the paragraphs that I am typing are being dropped/ignored.

 

[FEENIX]

In fact, when possible I like to make the barrel shank match the OD of the reciever and do away with the barrel nut all together so that chamber wall is at it's thickest.
J E CUSTOM

That's exactly what my gunsmith did on my .270 AI build because I had a 1.250" instead of 1.06" (?) ... and it looks good.

 

[bigngreen]

If your going to stick with a 7RUM, small bullets at blazing speed your likely going to want to be able to swap barrels easily and get a prefit barrel. For the money and the long haul just have your action opened up to a large shank, very easy and not to expensive to have done then you can roll on any barrel you want!

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Call Pac-Nor barrels. They make excellent barrels and will work with you to get what you want at a fair price.

 

[Max Heat]

I've been on pac-nor's site at least once before, and I think I will look into them some more. They DO go long, if I recall correctly. But I really like the suggestion about having the SLA action opened up to fit a large-shank barrel. I didn't realize that it was possible, because I was under the impression that large-shank SLA actions had a larger outside diameter than the standard-shank SLA's. So there is no difference between them, externally? Great! That is the way I will roll then, because I forgot to mention, and basically forgot to even think about, the fact that I have already spent 200 on a stock that fits an SLA action, so getting a whole new rifle really isn't a viable option afterall.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

If you had not gotten everything to load it already I'd say to go to the 7stw. It's just about as fast (I've had both) and it takes a lot longer to burn up the barrel on the stw. If I'm not mistaken the 7stw will go in a small shank Savage.
I got 600 shots on the 7rum before the barrel was loosing accuracy; my 7stw was at 1500 rounds when I traded it and it was showing erosion but still shot well. Keep that rum cool and it'll last a good bit longer.
Dang, I still have 7rum dies, I may just have to shoot out my lh m700 in 30rum and re-barrel......

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I agree the 7mm STW is the best option. It is about as big as you can go in 7mm and retain good barrel life. There gets to be a point of diminishing returns. I have built and shot both quite a bit on my range and there is not a lot of difference. You will see on average about 100 fps. For that your barrel life will be cut in half. If it is just a hunting rifle with limited use that could last you many years. But if you target shoot a good bit the 7mm RUM will not last very long. I Have six 7mm STW's and two 7mm RUM's and know both pretty well. I have a 7mm RUM 31" heavy barrel Pac-Nor that shoots amazing with heavy, high BC bullets but I limit the use of it for long shots at deer and antelope. The first one I did lost accuracy to throat errosion in 450 rounds however it was a range queen I had available for guys to test on the range back in the late 90's and it may have been abused with to many rapid shots.