Thread: Where to from here with my 7WSM?

Originally Posted by Mararoa

Just checked back through the comments and noticed nothing mentioned about the scope or mounts. Are the mounts set up and tensioned correctly? And maybe try a different scope. I got caught out by a leupold once a long time ago. Caused lots of head scratching and quite a bit of expense

Scope is on an EGW rail in lapped 6 screw rings - I’ve checked these a few times in case that’s the problem and I’m fairly confident it’s solid. Yesterday though I noticed the first 5-6 shots seemed to alternate 2” left / right - maybe a sign of something loose?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

hold the forend tightly pulling rifle back into your shoulder...I ASUME you are shooting off bipod with offside hand supporting the stock back at your shoulder/free recoil???

Sorry, no - no bipod, as I found them a waste of time in the field. Most range shooting is off a shooting bag with the butt supported by something else and my left hand gripping the forend either in front of or behind the bag, pulling it into my shoulder as you say.

Originally Posted by dannyb

How far are you wanting to and capable of harvesting a deer ? cause a 160ish gn projectile will do it out to quite far out even at 2900fps

I hear you Danny, but by that reasoning I could have stuck with my 270 shooting 140 grain SSTs into 3/4” at 2860 fps.

I’d like to be confident out to 600m. I’m often faced with 300-400m shots that I can’t reduce by stalking closer.

Currently my self-imposed limit is 250m

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

I hear you Danny, but by that reasoning I could have stuck with my 270 shooting 140 grain SSTs into 3/4” at 2860 fps.

I’d like to be confident out to 600m. I’m often faced with 300-400m shots that I can’t reduce by stalking closer.

Currently my self-imposed limit is 250m

Yup and it's something I'm guilty of plenty
The benefits of a heavier bullet even if a little slower is that they usually have better bc so better in wind, less drop and usually carry more energy down range.
I've done a lot of practice at longer ranges and with a solid rest in good conditions 300-400m is a gift to me, but it takes practice and consistency (load and shooting form).

My current rem mag load is a 166gn pill doing 3018fps it's way more than enough at 600y, however even using the right bullet, if shot placement is poor ft/lbs and velocity won't make up for it.
Sorry not trying to sound preachy

I'd seriously look at a 160ish gn pill in front of some 2217 you can go heavier sure but you run the risk of not being in the optimum stability node for the twist rate of your barrel, sure you can work up loads with heavier pills that shoot mint at 100y but how do the shoot at 400y or 500 or even 700y.
That's why I chose to stay lighter with my rem mag even though plenty of people are getting good results with 180gn pills.
You may have a hard time getting heavier pills to shoot consistently. Especially with pills like the LRAB that are known to be fussy.
My 2 cents anyway....


On your comment about groups shifting that sounds more like a bedding or binding issue, but yeah that could be a whole other canmof worms. Maybe before blowing through pointless components it would be worth getting a smith to give the rifle a thorough going over ? Bore scope, check bedding, check for binding etc etc, it might cost ya $100ish but how much $$$ in components have you blown through to be no further ahead ?

Good luck

2970 fps with low ES, sounds like job done. Tweak seating depth might shrink grp size a bit.

Might be an egg suck but is the barrel free floating? No flexing/contact with foreend?

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

by that reasoning I could have stuck with my 270 shooting 140 grain SSTs into 3/4” at 2860 fps.

I’d like to be confident out to 600m. I’m often faced with 300-400m shots that I can’t reduce by stalking closer.

yip..now THERE is a logical statement indeed.....
too late now but food for thought if this continues to be "pile of poohs n wees" for you.

Originally Posted by Cotton eye

Might be an egg suck but is the barrel free floating? No flexing/contact with foreend?

Fair question - nope, that was the first thing I did ��

Greetings,
The lapped rings could be a problem if it has been overdone.
GPM.

Originally Posted by Mararoa

Just checked back through the comments and noticed nothing mentioned about the scope or mounts. Are the mounts set up and tensioned correctly? And maybe try a different scope. I got caught out by a leupold once a long time ago. Caused lots of head scratching and quite a bit of expense

I have also had this problem. Blaming rifles/ammo but was a dodgy scope all along.

Greetings Again,
Another thought. If you are getting poor accuracy with pretty much everything you have tried it is most likely a rifle problem rather than the loads. I would try a different scope in different rings (not lapped). You can check the base screws while you are at it. You don't need a flash scope for this just one of proven reliability. My next pick would be the barrel. Rechambering a 7mm SAUM to 7mm WSM sounds a bit odd. why would you do that?
Regards Grandpamac.

As I've been reading through this, yeah been here several times for other people. You are at the point where I'd suggest cuddles and hugs, a nice hot drink and a sit down in the sun haha. Pricks of things, rifles that won't group.

List of possible culprits in no particular order:

Barrel issue, muzzle damage, chamber fault, leade fault, fouling, rifling damaged through bulge or something else.

Bedding issue, pinch, movement, contact point etc

Mechanical fault, lugs not bearing properly, mount screw tensioning the bolt, something not bearing evenly, trigger or sear, something not in line or on the piss.

Scope mounting security alignment and general faults.

General prick of a rifle that just doesn't like bullets...


What would I do? Get a factory load and try that then if that won't play start with a serious going over of the rifle looking at every possible issue and eliminating each as you go. If you can't find anything, try another complete scope and mount setup with the factory load (groups not point of impact accuracy so provided its on paper you're good four rounds fouler and three). Now I'd expect by this stage that a different scope would either show a massive change or no change at all, if no change find a lead sinker of about 75gms or so and securely tape it to the barrel about 100mm or so back from the muzzle and try again. This is farking with the barrel harmonics and it will most likely either get worse or better, if no change then don't bother going further. If worse, you are at least gaining understanding of the issue, it's a harmonics issue and the barrel whip is leaving the muzzle at a different position on bullet exit from the muzzle and you need to make a serious adjustment to your load either powder, bullet or something else major as one component is not suited. If better, well try 25mm forwards and backwards and see if you can get the thing to a place where you are happy.

Thanks @grandpamac and @No.3 for more good thoughts.

I’d be surprised if the rings were over-lapped - as I recall, we barely had to remove any of the factory finish.

Crown damage - maybe? There’s a tiny ding in it, but it doesn’t appear to affect the bevel.

Re. the rebarrel - I believe this rifle had never been shot when I purchased it second-hand. As I understand it, an American client of a local guide brought it over but ended up using the guide’s rifle and leaving it here. I dunno if it was a custom or factory build, but it looks like they just a 7RM barrel.

A few pics of the items in question:

That be one of the worst looking crowns I've seen lately. Could be worth a go with a brass round head screw and some lapping compound. Jam an earplug into the muzzle level with the end and with a cordless drill on slow speed and a bit of fine lapping compound or even fine valve grinding paste give it a few revolutions and then check how it looks - just go until the crown is cleaned up evenly. I've had to do this once before, if it helps you might have found a glitch. Some pills are uber sensitive to uneven pressure and will not settle if they start out with a wobble...

I'd definitely send it off to smith to get the crown redone to eliminate that factor. It looks beat up to fuk.