Has anyone made 7 WSSM for competition?

I believe a few years ago there was a 7mm x 47mm Lapua that was essentially that (6.5x47L necked up). I'm sure that it was covered somewhere on Accurate Shooter, pretty similar to 7-08 AI, just nice and stubby.

 

Dirk Diggler? That’s probably a great case capacity for 150 class bullets. I did an experiment to see how easy it would be to form a case, that I felt would be another route. I took 30-06 brass and trimmed the neck .125, then ran into an 8x57 Mauser die for sidewall to shoulder position. Then I ran into a 7x57 die to make a consistent neck, but maintain the shoulder length of the 8 Mauser. I then ran into a 6.5x47L die to size neck down and push to a 30 degree shoulder. It all ended up about same length as a 6.5x284, but skinnier and longer neck. Roughly a .340” long neck. Capacity between 6.5x55 and 6.5x284.

 

@skiutah02 Yes, WSSM brass from Winchester leaves a lot to be desired, but when necking up, there's a lot of material that can be streched/cut away and it's "cheap" of you don't count your time invested. Buy 3x what you need and sort/process until you have something to work with. At least it lasts quite a while once processed.

 

You got it!

 

I already have a 7mm-08AI, 284 Win, (2)280 Rem, 7mm Rem Mag. Although all are hunting rifles. The AI did little over standard 7mm-08. But cool conversation starter.
Was thinking outside the box.

Forming if done right is no biggie. And i really don't know about stretching 223 out to 284.
I'd rather form down & neck turn or inside ream.

 

I recall Boyd Heaton shooting one back in 2004 at a G-Hog match in PA. I think he did pretty good with it, don't know how long he continued with it. He called it a 6.5 Heaton.

 

It's true that you need to sort through them -just like any other brass.
And I would advise you to forget reloading of factory made ammo cases. They are NOT Win reloading brass, but disposable stuff (the worst).

When I began in WSSM, I bought several thousand because it was cheap, to be sure I'd always have enough, and because I suspected it would hold it's value.
I picked through some to find the first ~120 having same thickness and zero thickness variance. After preps and fire forming, I picked out ~80 matching in H20 capacity & ran with 50 for the endeavor. Will never need for more.

So when I seen the litigation rolling in, and seeing how the brass lasts with any solid plan, I jumped on a few thousand more.
Still have plenty but sold off enough to pay for the project and 2 others, in their entirety, purely by profit.
My 26WSSM Imp matches 260AI in capacity (by design). Next to 223Rem:

 

My 6.5 WSSM Ackley has a case capacity of ~57.1 gr. H2O with the Federal brass. I built it to shoot the 155 gr. Cauterucio but unfortunately Bob passed away and I ran out of bullets. I could push them in the low to mid-2900s before pressuring out but they shot the best ~2845 with 48.8 gr. H4831SC.

A 7 mm in that case sounds fun to try. McFred getting 2850 with 180 Hybrids in that stubby little cartridge is pretty impressive.

 

I can attest to pretty much everything mikecr says about the 6.5 WSSM except for one thing. I have the dreaded bolt thrust issue. I had a BBL chambered up by Clay Spencer for my 1K comp light gun....something a little milder than the 300 WBY for the tadpoles to shoot. Doesn't matter if I run 43 H4831 or 48......bolt lift is the same. I "only" have 1800 rounds on 150 pieces of brass @ 2980, but, after 12 firings they are AS NEW!!! I started annealing them after about 7 firings (when I bought my first Benchsorce).

LOVE it!!
Hate the bolt thrust!!

Tod