NEED SOME INPUT

[Frankr]

building a hunting rifle(heavy sporter) 7mm 1-9 twist 26'.
need some input on cartridge selection. im thinking 280AI. but could go with 7mm rem mag. or 7mm wsm. im leaning tward 280AI.

 

[Kenny474]

.280AI all the way. No belt, standard bolt face, better barrel life, better brass available, (lapua 30-06 is easily reformed if needed) a bit less recoil, and the ability to throw heavy bullets with plenty of velocity. The only real downfall, is you need to fireform brass. But it shouldn't be hard anyway, just load a normal charge and shoot, no false shoulder or other BS to deal with.

I seriously doubt any animal you shoot will have any clue it wasn't hit with a 7mmMag anyway. And there is little that won't fall to a well placed shot from a .280AI.

 

[Preacher]

A .284 in a long action would get my attention, or a 7mm SAUM.

 

[40X Guy]

Another vote for the 280AI. Kenny posted the pro's and con's. I feel the 280AI may be a tad more accurate than the others also.

Frank

 

[TheBlueEyedBear]

I am currently building a 7SAUM for the sole purpose of shooting the BERGER 180gr VLDs. The gun will be chambered with a .317nk and a .220 free-bore. The barrel is a Bartlein 30" SS with a VAIS muzzle brake.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

IMHO, a straight 7mm Rem mag would be the logical choice for hunting.. Ammo and brass are readily available as are a great selection of bullets and loads.. Another great hunting round is the 7mm STW..

 

[TonyR]

The 7mm SAUM will do close to 3000 fps with the 180 and a 30 inch barrel as long as you are not loading to SA magazine length. I load the 180s in my SAUM to about 3.111 COAL. It would be very difficult to get the 180 close to 3000 from a 26 inch barrel with anything less than a 7WSM unless the barrel is much faster than normal. I've done some testing with the 180 and a 28 inch barrel with the SAUM and high 2900's is about max with a typical barrel. I shoot the 180s with a 31 inch 284 Shehane barrel at 2900 for accuracy. I have shot groups at 3000 fps but not with accuracy out of that barrel.

 

[BoydAllen]

A friend has a custom barreled, light weight hunting rifle (built around a Remington titanium action) in 7mm WSM. He loads 175 SMKs to around 2950 using H1000, and 215s. It has a muzzle brake, and is a very handy rifle, that has taken all of his African plains game with one shot. It is his go to rifle. The only thing that I would suggest is that if you are going to build it on a short action, pay some attention to throat length, or you will be limiting your bullet seating options for magazine use. It has a Manners hunting stock that is very tough. That is a story for another time.

 

[jonbearman]

Another vote for the .280AI. You can call dave kiff and request a reamer made for .280AI using the 30-06 brass.He will cut the reamer for the 30-06 neck length formed from the 30-06 brass.Expiper did this with outstanding results.Look him up and pm him.I may still have his phone number so he can email you the print of the reamer.It is the way to go.This way you dont have to screw around with the belted case and brass is a dime a dozen.Way to go.I plan on doing the same thing in a year or so.I had a .280 and I was stupid for selling it.It was a rem mountain gun.I kick myself everyday.

 

[twoodard]

built a 7 WSM this spring on a savage large short shank action. 26.5" 9 twist #5.5 flutted Krieger. its a bit on the heavy side but shoots wonderful. 168 VLD at 3000 loaded to mag length. bullets jumped .120" I think it is and getting .8" groups at 300

 

[bozo699]

I think my next 7mm build will be a 7mm-300wm you can still get quality rws brass in 300wm.
I think you are stuck with crummy rem brass with the saum arn't you?
2nd pick would be 7mm-wsm or the 280AI, Lapua or win brass
Wayne.

 

[TonyR]

I agree about going with the RWS brass if you can find it. I have been using necked down Norma and Nosler 300SAUM brass. The neck ends up a little shorter but it seems to work fine.

 

[bozo699]

TonyR,
That is good to know that you can get Norma brass for the saum I was thinking one was stuck with rem brass. As far as Nosler brass ??? I have some .308 that is near perfect but I have some .300wm brass that I just threw the whole box into the scrap bucket,it made the very worst remington brass look good
Wayne.

 

[TonyR]

I am still at the beginning with the SAUM, but the Nosler I got seems to be OK. I have been using it mostly for testing. I will be trying it in some 1000 yard matches in December. The Norma was very hard to get when I was looking so I have been holding that out of the testing. I suspect that Norma is supplying the Nosler brass but maybe the specs are different. The weight spread is much tighter with the Nosler.

 

[bozo699]

TonyR,
Like I said I was very pleased with the .308 brass so I know whoever makes the brass for Nosler knows how they just dropped the ball on the .300wm brass! You know how it go's you could buy hundreds of pieces of a good product, then get one bad one and you can't say enough bad about them. I have a friend that wants to build a 7 saum or a wsm cant make up his mind. I would like to know how yours ends up performing for you.
Wayne.

 

[Frankr]

Im going with the 280AI. i have used the lapua 06 brass for a 25/06AI i had built and was very happy with it,sold that rifle and necked the rest of that brass down to .270win and was very happy with it. i will shoot the berger 168VLD mostly and think i will be able to get the velocity i need to make it work well,also belive that with the good lapua brass i will be able to exceed my accuracy requirment (with a ssm barrel). i have priced doing this as cheep as i can and as costly as i can,think i will go with best barrel and good smith,be some where in the middle,so maybe if i get it sent off in jan i will have it back and shooting it this time next year.I think the 280AI is the best choice for me.man this is going to cut into and delay my bench rifle build a little bit.
Thanks for the Input guys.

 

[jonbearman]

Good going ,you will love the cartridge(.280AI). My friend Roger Amos built one as you know from the pm I sent you.If you call Dave Kiff he has rogers reamer on file.The only thing he changed with his chambering was the neck length. Give Roger a call ,he is a really great guy and he will explain what he did with the custom reamer.He has shot a .040 group withit at 200 yds.It shoots bug hole's.Good Luck with your project.

 

[snert]

Have a 7mm Mag. Love it. Go with the 280 AI. Hows that for an endorsement?