7mm-300WM. Barrel Twist

[kyotekiller25]

I built my 7-300 Win Mag 8 years ago. Safe to say there were no 180g ELDMs, 195 bergers, 197 sierras etc...All you basically had was the 162 amax, and 168/180 berger vlds. Anyways, I built mine off an old stainless bdl 300 win mag. Got a 28" Bartlein 9 twist rem varmint, 4 port brake, McMillan A5, 1.5# trigger, oversize bolt knob, Leupold MK4 20 MOA base/rings, Leupold MK4 8.5-25x. Started out using the 162 AMAX for the first 5 years with 75g H1000 for 3250fps. Shot amazing, like 1/3 MOA and 1/2 MOA at 1K. Killed a couple spike Bulls out to 800 yards with it. Then came along the 180g ELDMs and with that BC I had to at least try them. So I did a quick ladder with H1000 and 72.5 was my node at 3100fps. No issues with stability. It also shoots 1/2 MOA out to 1K and 6-8" at 1200 prone/rear bag. Killed a few bucks and spike Bulls out to 800 with it also, all bang flops. Those 180g ELDMs are something to see at 3100fps. They hit HARD, and buck the wind like you wouldn't believe, it's almost like cheating lol. Sure I give up a little BC with the 9 twist, but I have .750 plugged in strelok and it flies true to 1400 yards. I've won a long range match out to 1100 with it. It just flat out hammers. Rifle weighs 16# and doesn't even move when you shoot it. It's my favorite rifle by far. It has around 450 rounds through it now. I've never had any issues with not stabilizing from the 9 twist out to 1400 yards, nor being at 500ft ASL and 10 degrees where I live and shoot. With all that said, you would be totally fine with an 8 twist at the speeds the 7-300 delivers. 7.5 twist I feel is a little much for it honestly, but that's just my opinion. Worth what you paid for it. When this barrel shoots out, will be getting the same 28" Bartlein rem varmint, but will be going with the 8 twist since it's dedicated towards the 180g ELDMs now. I'm still shooting my first 50 cases of necked down Nosler 300 win mag brass also. Has 9 firings on it and pockets are still tight. No annealing at all. I use a Redding FL bushing die with correct bushing and set up for .002" bump. Just using a cheap basic RCBS 7 Rem Mag seater die also.

Here she be overlooking my favorite black bear canyon...