Loading for 7mm rsaum

[Nickweis]

I'm going to build a competition rifle chambered in 7mm rsaum. I'm looking for some load data on it, I'm not to concerned with velocity just accuracy and high BC. I plan on using a 24 inch barrel also. thanks in advance.

 

[Dans40X]

7mm RSAUM chambering-
A 24" Bbl will be a waste of time & materials.

Accuracy wise-the shooter/trigger actuator becomes the weak link in the equation.
BC wise-boils down to the projectile & velocity.

Purchase a reloading manual &/or google 7RSAUM on powder manufacturers sites for powders to load/experiment with.

 

[mac86951]

First question, why 24"? Accuracy and BC

7mm RSAUM chambering-
A 24" Bbl will be a waste of time & materials.

Accuracy wise-the shooter/trigger actuator becomes the weak link in the equation.
BC wise-boils down to the projectile & velocity.

Purchase a reloading manual &/or google 7RSAUM on powder manufacturers sites for powders to load/experiment with.

Agreed, though can be made accurate. Longer barrel to get more velocity would be recommended for long range competition.

 

[DennisH]

First question, why 24"? Accuracy and BC


Agreed, though can be made accurate. Longer barrel to get more velocity would be recommended for long range competition.

Yes, 28" at least, maybe 30" for anything over 600 yards. You will be happy you did. If not, you can always trim the barrel shorter, but I would only do it for hunting purposes.

Dennis

 

[barefooter56]

I'm going to build a competition rifle chambered in 7mm rsaum. I'm looking for some load data on it, I'm not to concerned with velocity just accuracy and high BC. I plan on using a 24 inch barrel also. thanks in advance.

Nickweis,
What type of competition? Precision Rifle ? F-CLASS?

 

[Nickweis]

Nickweis,
What type of competition? Precision Rifle ? F-CLASS?

I will be dabbling in both PRS and a little F-class.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

I agree that you want a longer tube. At least 26, but 28" would be better. 7mm RSAUM is pretty overbore and needs room to work. You can make it happen in a 24" barrel, but a straight .284 Shehane will give very close velocities (within 100fps) and much better barrel life, if you want to run 24" and not push the gun that hard. Using 5-7gr less powder and getting only 50-100fps less is a big win-win in my book...

In any case, 180 Bergers are THE bullet, hands-down. Load them to max mag length and get your barrel throated just a little shorter, so you can load them out as the throat burns out (which is gonna happen fairly quickly with 7-RSAUM).

Best velocity will come with a compressed load of something slow, like RL25, H1000, or maybe even Retumbo. Mag length will affect powder selection, because if you need to load those long 180's to something near the SAAMI OAL spec, you aren't going to have much case capacity to work with. If you can load them way out (say, using a Savage, or a long-action), then you will be able to use those slow powders. 60-62gr is about where you'll end up, if it fits... start lower, of course.

I like RL17 for the Short Mags with heavy bullets. It's much easier to get than the Hodgdon powders. If you can get a steady supply of H4350, that's on the faster burn rate (slower velocity) side, and will work fairly well without large charges. I would start no higher than 50gr for either powder. H4831sc is in the middle and possibly a good all-around choice, again - if you can get it. I'd start around 55gr with that - max is over 60 for most guns.

I know those load recipes are vague, but short mag pressures vary dramatically based on seating depth. A 7mm-RSAUM with 180gr Berger loaded to fit a factory Remington mag is practically a different cartridge than one loaded out. I got over 250fps more from 300WSM than 300RSAUM, with the same length barrel... because the WSM was a Savage that let me seat heavy bullets way out there. The RSAUM was an R700 that made me feel like I was pushing 200gr+ bullets right up against the flash hole.

 

[barefooter56]

I will be dabbling in both PRS and a little F-class.

Nickweis,
Two very different shooting disciplines. One you will be shooting in many different positions and scenarios . The other pretty much fixed as far as position and scenarios. You could do both with the 24 inch barrel . If you did I would suggest using the F-class load in both so you don't have to have two different range cards. You can run two accuracy separate loads if you wish if the PRS competitions don't go out to 1000 yards if you wish to take a little pressure off the rifle. The PRS competitions make magazine length ammunition a must at times so if your 7mm SAUM is built on a standard short/medium action the 7mm 168 grain CLASSIC HUNTER may be the way to go there and use the 180 target hybrid at F-Class matches . The Classic Hunter bullets are a hybrid bullet that incorporates both the secant(VLD) and tangent ( standard ) ojives into a SAMMI length nose design that allows the bullet to be seated to standard magazine length and makes it very tolerant of jump. In most cases with this bullet all you have to find is your velocity accuracy node. You lose nothing in accuracy and distance either. Maybe a good compromise would be to split the difference and go with a 26 inch barrel also.
Take care,

 

[Grimstod]

7rsaum is to overbore. And that barrel will be to short too for fclass. Consider a 6.5x47 for PRS. Then have another rifle in something like a 284 winchester. The two sports are so diferent you really do need two doferent rifles.


Mag feeding is a must. For PRS
Fclass single feed is best.

Prs needs a shorter barrel. 26"
Fclass your will want a 30-32""

Prs you will need a mild recoiling gun. Muzzlebrales help.
Fclass in my classesdo not allow muzlle brakes.

 

[rifleman700]

RL26 will give you good velocity in a shorter barrel.

 

[Zero333]

I think this is very doable with the new 162gr Hornady ELD-Match seated to 2.86" to fit AICS / Accurate mag's.

26" barrel will easily reach 3,000 - 3,050 fps, and with a G1 bc of .65 it will shoot very flat for PRS and more than enough to slip through the wind in F-class.

Go for it !