Thread: Short barrel magnum calibres?

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Interesting thread. I have a hankering for a 7 SAUM with a shortish barrel (20” or so). What’s the story with that set up and 162s?

My 7mm SAUM is a factory standard 22" barrel, I'm pushing the 162 Amax at 3087 fps with RE26, so id imagine chopping 2 inches off would still achieve 3k+ with 162's

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

@stagstalker which issue is that article in?

So if I had a Rem 700 in 7-08 in a carbon stock sitting around doing nothing can it just be reamed out to 7mmsaum and mag box tweaked?

You’d also need to open up the bolt face, plus ideally fit a Sako style extractor.
My Saum use to leave the odd case in the chamber so you’d have to close the bolt on it again.

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

@stagstalker which issue is that article in?

So if I had a Rem 700 in 7-08 in a carbon stock sitting around doing nothing can it just be reamed out to 7mmsaum and mag box tweaked?

@outdoorlad It’s in the Dec 17 / Jan 18 Issue. I’m not 100 percent sure, someone else will know better but you will have to do some other things like open up the bolt face. When I get to it (dreams are free) I would be looking for a 300wsm or 270wsm action (I think they use the same bolt face and are on short action). Not an expert on that one.

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

@stagstalker which issue is that article in?

So if I had a Rem 700 in 7-08 in a carbon stock sitting around doing nothing can it just be reamed out to 7mmsaum and mag box tweaked?

And open up the bolt face

Sent from my CPH1903 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Nick.m

Interesting, bit of food for thought and plenty of time to think .
Sounds like the general consensus is SAUM or 300wsm for shorter barreled magnums.

Anyone know why has the 7mm WSM has never taken off in NZ? Seems like the WSM cases are more economic then then the likes of the Rem Mag in a shorter barrel so i would have thought the 7mm WSM would also be a good candidate for a chop aswell.


Chainsaw, You know what its like you always want an all round rifle for everything from 5m-600m, Sika, Rusa and Reds mainly. Bullet speeds not really an issue, id be happy as long as it was pushing 2800+ because that gets me out to 500 odd.

Stagstalker, thats exactly the problem i have, to cut my rem mag to less then 21 inches and im into the fluting which i dont want to do and ideally id like to cut the rifle a little bit shorter then 21. Maybe18 or 19 would be ideal for my style of hunting.

The issue with 7mmWSM and why it never got much of a following is that the 7mmWSM case has very short neck. I understand this was done to prevent an accidental mix up with 270WSM cases.
The answer to get around the short neck is to get a 7mm/300WSM custom chamber made and neck down 300WSM brass.
But then you're into a bit of mission that most folks just cant be bothered with. The 7mmWSM or 7/300 certainly has impressive capabilities but its largely overlooked, or surpassed by new big 7's like Blaser Mag or N28 etc.
And with new powders like RL26 that @GWH has mentioned you can get WSM or RM performance out of a wee SAUM.
And in fact the 284 will get you damn close to RM with the right powders. Certainly get you the >2800 fps you're after.

For your hunting and ranges a 284 or SAUM sounds like the best match. If its 5 - 600 yards max then the 284 would be my pick, you can put together a very light weight rig and the 284 with suppressor is a real pussy to shoot.
If you want to go 30cal you can go 300 SAUM or build a 30-284 (there's a thread on here about this). Pretty much mimics the ballistic performance of the mighty old 30-06 but in a short bbl.

What is a problem with the short neck.? Hasn't seemed to have hamper the 300WM?

You can get Model 7's pretty light, this is my 7SAUM, factory 22" heavy barrel, but fluted.

Another advantage of the short fat mags over the likes of a longer case mag like the 7RM, a barrel chambered in a short mag cartridge you actually end up with a longer rifling length for the same barrel length.

I have kimber montana in 7WSM, currently unsuppressed at 24". Haven't reloaded for it yet - Got a heap of 150 powerpoint factory ammo to run through, but might just pull those projectiles and load up some 162 AMAXs.

Its gonna get the chop/thread soon, probably down to 20" - hoping it will run the 162 at 2850+. Already have a shorter suppressed 308 running 130HP speers for relatively close stuff, but keeping the WSM for a bit more range (only want out to ~600). I could keep it intact, but hunt with a dog and my young fella so keen on a suppressor.

Interesting that 7 SAUM has become more popular relative to 7 WSM here than elsewhere, especially the US, despite giving up 80 fps or so to the 7 WSM. As already mentioned, I expect it’s down to neck length.

Shearer is right that short length necks aren’t necessarily a problem, but I would rather have a 7 SAUM than a 7 WSM.

....... but a 7-.300 WSM appeals too.

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

@stagstalker which issue is that article in?

So if I had a Rem 700 in 7-08 in a carbon stock sitting around doing nothing can it just be reamed out to 7mmsaum and mag box tweaked?

You could single feed 162 eldms with a caseful of 2206h or 2208 and get more range than you could shoot an animal with. How long is the barrel?

22”

Oh with that long barrel a caseful of 2209 behind a 162eldm will give you over 2700. No need to spend the money making it a magnum if you are getting performance like that and still if not too fast you can use right up close in the bush. @ 2750fps MV with that bullet will give you red stag dropping performance out to 900yds(1000ft lbs~)

Originally Posted by superdiver

Oh with that long barrel a caseful of 2209 behind a 162eldm will give you over 2700. No need to spend the money making it a magnum if you are getting performance like that and still if not too fast you can use right up close in the bush. @ 2750fps MV with that bullet will give you red stag dropping performance out to 900yds(1000ft lbs~)

Really even in a short mag? Seems optimistic maybe 2650ish I would have thought.