just to throw my 2 cents in here. to the op are you shooting competitions or just plinking? true the big cartridges are hard on barrels. i have shoot a 280ai (comparable to 7mm saum) for several years now. it is supposed to be done at around the 1200-1400 round mark, the last one i pulled off had over 1600 rounds through it and was still shooting in the 1/2 moa range at distance. i pulled it because it was copper fouling more than i cared to clean. that barrel used 162 a max at 3000 fps. my current 280 barrel has 1000 rounds through it (180 berger at 3000) and is shooting well under 1/2 moa at 1000 yet. the throat is definetly firecracked so i expect it will start fouling like the previous barrel, but is good as of this point in time. so far as shooting out to 1 mile, you don,t need a big cartridge to get that done. i have a 284 that i shoot the 162 a max at just under 3000, and have shot it to 1 mile numerous times now. the biggest thing with the smaller calibers is spotting your mises at that distance, so you need a dirt type target backing. the 284 is much easier on barrels than a lot of the bigger cartrides as well. my shooting partner has a sister rifle to my 284 and he has over 1600 rounds through it and it cleans up nice and easy,... and when we shoot at 1000 he gets vertical in the order of 3". if this is your first build i would go with the 284, long barrel life so you can shoot lots and enjoy.
7mm WSM for long range?
- Thread starter Kelly Timoffee
- Start date
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Well, maybe I will stick to my 7-08 , just try some new bullet combination. If guys are shooting .223's and .308's out there with accuracy no reason I can't get a Match King or A-Max to work.I'm getting 1/2 MOA accuracy with hunting bullets.
But what will I spend my money on??
But what will I spend my money on??
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
KT, from what I have shot at long range.....
At 1 mile, 6.5 cal and heavies work just fine - 260AI/6.5 Mystic/6.5 Swede will get the job done easily.
7mm is better ballistically - 7RM is my fave. In a longer barrel 3000fps or a bit faster is easily achieved with the 180gr VLD's. These bullets ROCK and should have no issue making it out well beyond 2000yds if you have the elevation.
The 308 and 338's are great too but cost more, recoil more, hit WAY harder BUT if you are just plinking, I would go smaller.
They all wear out around the 1000 to 1200rds mark. That is sub 1/2 min accuracy every shot. You can shoot way more rds as long as you dont mind the occasional WTF type shot.
I think the 7mm is the best all round extreme range plinker.
Jerry
At 1 mile, 6.5 cal and heavies work just fine - 260AI/6.5 Mystic/6.5 Swede will get the job done easily.
7mm is better ballistically - 7RM is my fave. In a longer barrel 3000fps or a bit faster is easily achieved with the 180gr VLD's. These bullets ROCK and should have no issue making it out well beyond 2000yds if you have the elevation.
The 308 and 338's are great too but cost more, recoil more, hit WAY harder BUT if you are just plinking, I would go smaller.
They all wear out around the 1000 to 1200rds mark. That is sub 1/2 min accuracy every shot. You can shoot way more rds as long as you dont mind the occasional WTF type shot.
I think the 7mm is the best all round extreme range plinker.
Jerry
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Maybe I will play with my 7-08 a bit more, still have those 162 Amax I got from ya, maybe give them a go, just gotta wait for some weather.
6BR have a barrel life estimator posted now. However I have not gotten it to work... Let me know how if you figure it out... I have the Bart Bobbitt method on a spreadsheet, and have reasonable faith in it.
Barrel Life Estimation
On best long range bore, I think it comes down to how much recoil do you want to deal with. If you go up in bore, you have to go up in bullet weight to keep the high BC. So recoil then goes up too. I think most would suggest 6.5-7mm would be the typical trade off range for 1000 yards.
Barrel Life Estimation
On best long range bore, I think it comes down to how much recoil do you want to deal with. If you go up in bore, you have to go up in bullet weight to keep the high BC. So recoil then goes up too. I think most would suggest 6.5-7mm would be the typical trade off range for 1000 yards.
- Location
- In the clock tower!!
I'm running a 284win and with rl17, im driving the 180 berger more than sufficient to reap its benifits.
A 7rm, 7wsm, or 7-300wsm would be insane!! Just a guess but im thinking you would find better brass for the 300wsm.
A 7rm, 7wsm, or 7-300wsm would be insane!! Just a guess but im thinking you would find better brass for the 300wsm.
Here's a very nice rifle in 7mmWSM.
http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek064/
I have a stock and barrel ordered from John at JW Precision to build something very similar. Going with a Mcmillan A5 stock.
I suppose a 7mmWSM isn't for everyone. Especially if barrel life is of great concern.
http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek064/
I have a stock and barrel ordered from John at JW Precision to build something very similar. Going with a Mcmillan A5 stock.
I suppose a 7mmWSM isn't for everyone. Especially if barrel life is of great concern.
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Testing my .284 Shehane today I was getting the 180 Berger VLD's to +2900fps with 56.5gr of 4831SC with 2 x .5" groups at 100.
I got some up to 2950 with 57.5gr but pressure was higher than I like to see.
It is my understanding, from talking with members of Team Berger, that the 180's really don't like going faster than 2850ish (This is the velocity they run their match loads at), so going with a bigger cartridge to try and get a higher speed is apparently a moot point. Not to say that someone may luck out at a higher node, but I would tend to take advice from the guys who test the bullets on an almost daily basis.
Based on the excel sheet calculations, I got almost exactly that number of rounds out of my 6BR before it went south on me.
See below:
If you open the excel sheet and cannot see the entire list of powders. Unprotect the sheet and resize the comment box.
I got some up to 2950 with 57.5gr but pressure was higher than I like to see.
It is my understanding, from talking with members of Team Berger, that the 180's really don't like going faster than 2850ish (This is the velocity they run their match loads at), so going with a bigger cartridge to try and get a higher speed is apparently a moot point. Not to say that someone may luck out at a higher node, but I would tend to take advice from the guys who test the bullets on an almost daily basis.
Based on the excel sheet calculations, I got almost exactly that number of rounds out of my 6BR before it went south on me.
See below:
If you open the excel sheet and cannot see the entire list of powders. Unprotect the sheet and resize the comment box.
lejarretnoir
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- 162km from Connaught
Looks like CyaN1de has got it working. Thanks to you both for that graph. Yep, my 6mm - 6.5 barrels crapped out around the same time this graph gives.
CyaN1de, it looks like the standard .284 case should give me the required 2,850-2,900 fps to drive the 180gr bullets. Was there a reason why you went with the .284 Shehane?
That was the problem I was having. Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure the perfect barrel life estimator is out there yet. I'm not a believer in pressure being a big factor. It will be compensated for by powder weight. Also, I think the methods that do not consider bullet weight suffer some in accuracy. Most agree heavier slower bullets (less powder) cause more barrel burning than light faster bullets (more powder). I believe that is due to barrel time. Heavy slow bullets have more barrel time and that causes more heating and high temperature oxidation of the steel in the throat before the bullet exits the muzzle. 6BR have another article that I believe from memory shows that total barrel life is around 3 seconds (barrel time), so I think longer barrel time does add up to shorter life.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Glad to hear your Shehane is going strong. how's the vertical at 500m?
Yes, the 2850ish node is a sweet one and more then enough for F class.
But I have hit the node at 2950ish and recently the 3050ish with a 7RM (26" barrel so could be 3100ish in a 30" pipe). Groups were in the 2's and 3's at 200yds.
As a LR plinker, I feel the 7RM does it all superbly. You can throttle back or up as needed. We have so many powders, tuning it is no longer an issue.
But a bit much for an F class rig.
Jerry
I am seeing some over pressure at the 56.5gr mark with the 180's in the Shehane but this may be a barrel/throat combination issue as I had problems while fireforming as well blowing primer pockets wide open. I am also only using a 28" barrel as opposed to a 30" or longer which I should have gone with.
I have some 175 XLD's and some 162 Amax bullets that I am going to try as well. The 175's are only 1 point lower in BC than the 180's and a very slight less recoil.......I hope
I am not a big guy so the less recoil I have to deal with the better.
I'm a speed freak and for no other reason than that
. After spending what I did on the dies, I would NOT go this route again.....the cost ($600 to my door from Bill Shehane JUST FOR THE DIES ) is way more than the gain over the straight .284. Yes I could have found a cheaper route to this but the path would have been miles longer to get there and I wanted this up and running long ago.
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lejarretnoir
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- 162km from Connaught
It looks to me the standard .284 case will yield 2,850fps with a 180gr. I like the idea of an improved .284 case so as to reduce pressure and get another 100fps if possible. On the other hand Reloader 17 is capable of extra velocity for this case, but I've never seen any yet. Make a new thread if you want on the Shehane. You have my interest. I'd like to stay with a .308 boltface and good Lapua brass. Yes, this is as far as I want to go with respect to recoil too. I'm also seriously looking at the 7 SAUM case for F-Class.
TERMINATOR101CA
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- TORONTO, CANADA
