Thanks mate
Thanks mate
if you're keen on a non belted 7mm mag, do some home work on the 7mm BlaserMag.
It will fit your mag better & will give you ~ 100fps over a 7mmRM burning less powder .
Not quite up there with 7-375 or N28's in terms of speed (~100 - 150 fps) but an extremely efficient and accurate cartridge. I have all three - RM, BM & N28 - so can provide a real world side x side comp.
Ask @Kiwi Greg about 7mm BM vs other options.
Reading what you are trying to achieve, I’d suggest doing things properly the first time, probably saving yourself money in the long run and re-barrelling your T3 to 7 Blaser Magnum.
This gets rid of the belt and a 26” 1:8
7 Blaser will push the 180 ELD-M at well over 3050fps, these ballistics are VERY hard to beat in any other sensible cartridge combination.
IF you have the skill, it will also kill big bodied red deer at over 1000m and is very capable of hitting steel to well over a mile consistently.
I initially went the 28 Nosler route, had some fun and burnt through that barrel in 800 rounds, re-barrelled in 7BM and am very happy with the results.
It’s an excellent long range cartridge.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I bought the T3 early last year, knowing the 7RM and loving it. And then went and snapped my Achilles’ tendon... twice. And while recuperating after a couple surgeries (and still working on it), going nuts stuck at home I managed to talk the wifey into setting myself up with reloading equipment. To keep the mind ticking over. But that also opened the wild cat door.
So if I could, I’d do things a little different for sure. But, I’ve got what I’ve got, and I’m using that.
here a comparison including N28.
I'm getting ~3060 fps with 7BM with 180 VLDs & RL26 with groups around 0.3moa if i do my part well.
How far have you pushed your current set up?
It’s possibly a lot more capable than you think it is.
A 168 Berger or ABLR in front of Retumbo or RL26 is no slouch on long range steel or animals.
If you are happy to single feed, a real easy solution could be to just increase the throat length on your rifle while keeping it as a 7mm mag. Seat the projectiles way out, which will free up case capacity for more powder resulting in a bit of an increase in performance without expensive brass & without burning disproportionately more powder.
Once that barrel is toast and you have some practice under your belt then put together something that is a bit more niche. (specialty cartridge, faster twist /longer barrel)
I recently got a long throated 7mm mag put together. It got up to 309x fps without pressure signs shooting the 180ELDMs. It would have gone higher but that's where my ladder test that i'd loaded up stopped so have no data past that. It does have a 30inch long barrel though.
Just something to consider.
Last edited by ChrisW; 14-01-2020 at 01:57 PM.
My long throated 7RM has a COAL of 91mm, which leaves around 2mm of space in the standard T3 magazine. 7BM would give you more still.
Can you even have the factory tikka barrels reamed anymore?
Out of curiosity, who will ream a Tikka barrel these days?
When i wanted mine done neither Gunworks or Hardy would do it.
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