Thread: Opinion on the 7mm WSM please

If you’re hand loading I’d recommend 150 or 160 partitions for bush work

In my 7 SAUM I used 140gr accubonds for close range stuff (closest was just over 100 yds though). I didn't go heavier because of mag length/powder capacity issues. I used the 160 accubond in my 7mm rem mag, no magazine issues there.
For your 7 WSM I'd try a full copper 140-150gr of some sort as a bush load.

+1 for the Accubonds. Or another bush option & lower cost would be Sierra 160gn GK or the 170 RN prohunter.

Don't over complicate it. Whatever you use I'm betting if you can hit it, you will kill it.

Far too much hand wringing goes on about projectiles.

There are 3 sorts of hunter people: those who blame the bullet when they miss, those who blame the bullet if a deer runs after being hit, and those who just shrug and say "shit happens".

Sure, minimise the risks of losing or wounding a deer - but also minimise the risk of getting ulcers over it

and the forth type...who have such a plurry awesome hound they can cock up the shot and still bring home the venison!!!!

Originally Posted by Tahr

Don't over complicate it. Whatever you use I'm betting if you can hit it, you will kill it. Far too much hand wringing goes on about projectiles.

Hmmm, don’t really agree with you there @Tahr.... there are plenty of projectiles I’d avoid like the plague, primarily the tough bonded & locked ones and the staunch monolithics designed for heavy thick skinned game when my quarry is a thin skinned redskin hind or spiker.

Too many times I’ve been with guys who’ve insisted on using something super tough and then shot it too far back and wondered why the hell it took off like a Lambo on nitrous... especially when shooting in the thick stuff like @Sarvo is talking about. Those are the ones that don’t get found and there’s long faces and I told you sos in the shed afterwards.

Gotta make an effort to match your pill to your game #not hard to do# easy in fact. There’s several cheap and proven all rounders like the ProHunters, GameKings, several of the Hornadys. You need a proper frangible fragementing pill in the woods IMO soemthing that will dump all the energy inside not run straight on through, when shot placement might be a bit iffy.

flyblown......how many were shot with fmj over the years...... I believe what Thar is trying to say is dont get all hung up and over think it. if its not at either end of spectrum eg silly hard or a varmint type it will be fine...and with either of those if you picked your shot it would go down fine...eg super hard..break both shoulders/super soft head-neck or crease ONLY....
your "shot it too far back" statement carries more weight than the projectile used.

Interesting reading

I won’t be using this setup in Bush - it will be night shooting with Thermal scope on rifle - hand held Thermal around neck
The country is regen non replanted pine blocks

With Thermal - you can see an animal (whatever distance but lets say 70m in my case) problem is with Thermal - you cannot see light scrub/tall grasses etc in front of animal - it virtually looks as the Deer or Pig is standing in open - but - often that is not the case
Example - see Deer in Thermal hand held - beauty - flick on Maxtoch and you see nothing - as its behind 4-6 foot of crappy regrowth

So ideally a projectile that is "less likely" to deflect off light scrub is what I want to try and end up with.
I know there is no guarantee with any projectile - but ideally find one that is least likely to deflect or dust it

well for what its worth I dont often poke shot through scrub into a deer BUT we had a big red hind below us at 50-60 yards with a bushy mingimingi right where her shoulder was I lined her up with .270 and waited,then thought to self "Im using 170 grn round nose speer WHF am I waiting for?" so squeezed off resulting in one very dead hind.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

flyblown......how many were shot with fmj over the years...... I believe what Thar is trying to say is dont get all hung up and over think it. if its not at either end of spectrum eg silly hard or a varmint type it will be fine...and with either of those if you picked your shot it would go down fine...eg super hard..break both shoulders/super soft head-neck or crease ONLY....
your "shot it too far back" statement carries more weight than the projectile used.

I see what you're saying, its a fair point for sure. When I put "too far back" afterwards I thought "that'll get some attention!" To me that means a maybe 2-4" behind the rear line of the leg, and a couple of inches or more over the top of the heart... a very common point of impact, somehow blokes seem to manage shooting deer there when they swear blind they aimed at the shoulder... Oftentimes they'll be a fair bit higher than that, especially if they're using a powerful cartridge off a bipod.

You'll all know this of course I'm just having a bit of a cold wet rant after a shite day in the worst of it, and I've just discovered we've run out of beer. Gggrrrr. Anyway, with a hard bullet on our deer it'll go straight through the rear lungs or worse between the lungs and the liver if it somehow ends up way too far back... and the animal will run, often very far. With a fragmenting hunting bullet there'll likely be a lot more radial damage and in my experience at least they'll bleed out way faster, might make 30-40yds tops before they topple over.

I accept its one of those take it or leave it kind of statements I suppose. I'll own up to having a bit of a chip on my shoulder about blokes using hard "big game" bullets on fallow and meat reds, and causing untold bloody dramas, once they run 70-80+ yards down our way they're gone and they're helluva hard to find. Happened last month here, some supposedly top gun bloke (friend of an acquaintance grrr) insisted on using a Swift A Frame in .30-06.... anyway he shot at a very very fine fallow buck from a range he probably wasn't competent at , and it took off straight down into the worst of it, way below. He insisted it was a clean miss but his mate clearly heard the strike. We eventually found it by chance some several days later with the dogs about half a click from where it was shot, bullet passed right through directly above the heart by about 4". Exit wound wasn't much more that 1.5". Too rank by that time to have a look inside but at least we got the head. So yeah, horses for courses is the way I look at it, and you're right @mickeyduck its the bullets at the extreme end of the spectrum that you need to avoid....

if it comes in a yellow box it will be good......(must be the caveman in me I just love speers) havent found one of thier projectiles my rifles dont like and the preformance on game has impressed me no end.....

@Sarvo, I found that the old semi-auto BAR .308 I used for red skins in the Raukumaras was very effective, probably not a MOA shooter with even the best ammo but didn’t need to be. And seeing as how picking up the brass was a non-starter it got fed simple cheap soft points. I asked the rifle’s owner just now before I posted so I was 100% - Winchester Super X power points, 150gr, about $40 a box? Probably something that makes the aficionados cringe, makes their toes curl, but I would give the cheapest ammo you can find a test, cos like I say the BARs can have a bit of a mind of their own. For your application, do you need MOA accuracy out of a semi?

We used those Super X in horrible bush and a fair few feral beefs were taken with them too. I can guarantee there were times the vegetation got in the way, you could hear it. You can get them in 7mmWSM according to the Winchester website, but I do recall one of our mates saying he found it hard to track down cheap ammo for his WSM bolt gun and when he found some he would buy it all up!

Originally Posted by Flyblown

@Sarvo, I found that the old semi-auto BAR .308 I used for red skins in the Raukumaras was very effective, probably not a MOA shooter with even the best ammo but didn’t need to be. And seeing as how picking up the brass was a non-starter it got fed simple cheap soft points. I asked the rifle’s owner just now before I posted so I was 100% - Winchester Super X power points, 150gr, about $40 a box? Probably something that makes the aficionados cringe, makes their toes curl, but I would give the cheapest ammo you can find a test, cos like I say the BARs can have a bit of a mind of their own. For your application, do you need MOA accuracy out of a semi?

We used those Super X in horrible bush and a fair few feral beefs were taken with them too. I can guarantee there were times the vegetation got in the way, you could hear it. You can get them in 7mmWSM according to the Winchester website, but I do recall one of our mates saying he found it hard to track down cheap ammo for his WSM bolt gun and when he found some he would buy it all up!

The guy is throwing in 4 boxes of the Super X
Another 4 of Winchester 150 Ballistic SilverTip - so I prob use the later for sighting in - as knowing me that will burn a box and half :-(
Also 100 New primed Brass and 50 used Brase with a set of Horny Dies

So - I might get someone to reload what the the Ballistic Gurus suggest above
Enjoyed all the feedback - as I am no ballistic knowledge base

Are barrels replaceable on Bars? I thought it wasn't straight forward. That would put me off buying one in a magnum calibre, I'd imagine if you were hard on it barrel life would be fairly short or at least considerably shorter than a 7-08 or .308. Worse case scenario if you are trigger happy and heat the thing up regularly after less than 1k rounds you could end up with a very spendy tomatoe stake unless you can find a clown to buy it with a high round count.... Plus it's an oddball shooter in that calibre not any easy thing to move on.... Triggers on Bars are pretty agricultural too without work, if they were the shit we'd all have one........

Originally Posted by yerimaginaryM8

Are barrels replaceable on Bars? I thought it wasn't straight forward. That would put me off buying one in a magnum calibre, I'd imagine if you were hard on it barrel life would be fairly short or at least considerably shorter than a 7-08 or .308. Worse case scenario if you are trigger happy and heat the thing up regularly after less than 1k rounds you could end up with a very spendy tomatoe stake unless you can find a clown to buy it with a high round count.... Plus it's an oddball shooter in that calibre not any easy thing to move on.... Triggers on Bars are pretty agricultural too without work, if they were the shit we'd all have one........

Barrels replaceable..yes. Expensive yes!! Looked at replacing one years ago. Basically double the cost of normal cos of the gas block. I’d imagine nothing’s changed since then...could be wrong though..?


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