7mm Builds

Morpheus32

Morpheus32

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Gents,

I am looking to do two 7mm builds and have been making some decisions on the configurations. I would appreciate if I could get some thoughts, suggests and ideas on options and configurations. I have basically sold off all my misc hunting rifles, extra toys and stuff to afford these.

The two calibers are going to be 7RM and 7RUM. Host rifles are Rem 700 LH. Action will be cleaned up and trued. Chamber will be custom cut to my specs however, I need to decide on what I want it to be. I am strongly looking at using 7mm Accubonds in the 160 or 175 grain range for there excellent BC and section density. Stocks will be tan colour. All will have the V-Bull Mag system. Barrels will be fluted.

7RM - Going to be a long range capable hunting rifle. Does not need to be light weight but no use being as heavy as my AWM in 338. Scope will be a S&B Precision Hunter.

Stock - Current is a Rem Synthetic. Bedded. Other options?
Trigger - factory but cleaned up.
Barrel Length?
Barrel Size and Contour?
Mount?
Rings?

7 RUM - Going to be a long range hunter. Medium weight category but should not approach the 338 in weight since I might as well use that instead. Scope will be a S&B 5-25. Will have a break. Will be a prone gun but but must be able to be used in other supported positions.

Stock - McMillian A5
Trigger - factory but cleaned up?
Barrel Length?
Barrel Size and Contour?
Mount?
Rings?

I would appreciate any thoughts and comments to help me flesh out what I need to specify to get this built.

Cheers

Jeff
 
I have a 6.5-270WSM, that I have been using for long range matches for about 8 months, it shoots like a laser, I think that this is a great case.

I have a second 7mm WSM based on the Berger 180gn bullet, it is supposed to come in the next couple of weeks. I really like this case, and all my research seems to indicate it will have great long range functionality. Now having moved to short action cases, I will admit that to shoot optimally these are both loaded with an OAL equivalent to a Long Action.

It was this article http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek064.html that got me going on my 7mm WSM

My 2cents worth
 
manitou210 said:
Your choice of 7mm is great,
but you might want to consider the 7mmwsm the short case for me gives you a little edge over the long cases, I have seen the short stubby cases do very well in target shooting and hunting to. good read here.
http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek064.html
Click to expand...

The two host rifles are 7RM and 7RUM right now but I like the 7mm caliber for these types of application. The other reason is I have a huge amount of brass for each. I will never want for brass. Also with the 175gr you get a section density over .30 and the BC is over .5, this is important for hunting to me.....
 
Morpheus, how far is LR to you?

If that is out to 800yds, the 7RM will do all that you want and is my choice for portable hunting rifle. Put into a fluted 26" #5 contour. Muzzle brake and live happily ever after. 9 twist.

Guntech has a superb reamer. The best belted reamer I have come across in this cartridge.

Load with 162gr SST/Amax over Re25, Fed215m and you should have no issue touching 3100fps. Retumbo is another good powder choice.

Amax is a very accurate bullet with wonderful on game performance at long ranges (BC 0.64). Just don't smack anything until impact velocity drops to 2500fps or slower. The SST's will handle a 3000fps boiler room hit no problem.

If you really want some LR ballistics, toss some 180gr Bergers downrange. Real world BC places it around 0.68 and you should be able to reach 2950fps without much grief. They have worked well for LR hunters in the US.

The 7RUM is not going to improve your ballistics performance much unless you are willing to go 30" pipe. Then you are only likely to get another 250fps from the bullets. The bullets may not like going this fast?????

longrangehunting.com for lots more info.

Jerry
 
Jerry,

Thanks for the reply. Out to 800 for sure is LR. Capable is the key word and your info confirms what I was thinking. I really like the 7RM overall.

Reference the 7RUM. Your recommending going to a 300RUM? I will have to do some research on the brass....I have about 300 new 7RUM brass in the basement plus 100 once fired. Would be nice if use them. I went with the 7mm RUM as I really like it based on research with the 175 Nosler. Great BC, and sectional density....

I have been reading on longrangehunting....between work on my proposal I am writing for my company...
 
Like Jerry, I personally don't see much of a ballistic edge to a 7mm RUM unless you're willing to live with a very long barrel. There's a reason why 7mm RM is still as popular as it is, and so far has eclipsed such other offerings as 7mm STW & 7mm RUM.

Personally, I wouldn't go to the additional expense for a chambering that will give only marginally better performance at the expense of much shorter barrel life and 20+ grains of powder down the tube with every shot.

If I were going to stick with 7mm's specifically, I'd go for a 7mm-08 for hunting/target shooting up to moderate distances and then use the 7mm RM for strictly long range work 1,000 yds. plus.

If you wanted to standardize on one bullet for both chamberings such as the 162 A-MAX, there'd be no problem getting someone to grind you a 7mm-08reamer based on your specifications.

My $.02 worth.
 
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For hunting in/around cut blocks, the 7RM and the combos I have listed above will do anything you want on any grass eater you will poke. There is little issue making a 9 to 10lbs rig with light enough recoil you can spot your own shots. The muzzle brake is key - use a fish gill design for max perf.

You can read my thoughts on the home page articles at longrangehunting.com

Until they start making 200+gr VLD's in 7mm, the 7RUM is simply too much of a good thing. I have enjoyed my 300RUM and it is a much better use of this much powder. The 208gr Amax through to the 240gr MK are wonderful LR bullets that have taken game beyond the mile.

If you really want to enjoy some expensive trigger time, go for the 338 Mystic or Edge. Essentially a 338-300 or 7RUM improved case. Think 338LM on steroids.

In 30 to 32" pipes, you can push a 300gr MK to 3000fps, 250gr Scenars to 3150fps without breaking a sweat. That will put game down well beyond 800yds and give fairly good case life. Recoil will be brutal without a very well designed brake.

Good luck with your builds.

Jerry
 
my 'dream team' of LR rifles would include a 284 (none of this 6.5-284 nonsense), and a big 338 of some flavour - as well as an 8" 223 for cheap practice.

The way I see it, the 7RUM doesn't offer any significant advantage over the 7RM and I think both are slightly too powerful for their own good - short to moderate range hits with fragile VLD's just seem messy to me.
 
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If you're happy with the "cleaned-up" factory trigger fine. If you want a cost-effective aftermarket trigger that works really well I suggest you look carefully at Rifle Basix ( http://www.riflebasix.com/ ).

7mm experience = no, Rem 700 custom build experience = yes.

There might be some nay-sayers about R.B. triggers - I find them to work well at a fair price and they're way better than the factory Remington triggers.

I have used many rifle basix triggers with 'Great Success' !

Good luck with your build - SD

PS - I agree with Prosper - what he said x2. Why two 7mm-Huge's anyway? How about one 7mm big boy and something like a 7mm-08 as a bush/short(er) range carry-all-day gun?
 
Good points....might can the 7RUM project and focus totally on the 7RM. Just have to figure out what to do with the rifle...I like the idea of potentially a 300RUM but I already own a 300Weatherby....

Appreciate the feed back so far.
 
Mropheus 32:

If I may add my thoughts. I applaud your choice of 7mm RM.

When I had my rig built, I chose the 7 rem mag. I chose that cartridge due to its efficiency and its economy

You will not find better bullets that are affordable yet have some very high Bc's.

The Rig I have has was built on a Sako 691L rifle (yes thats a Left handed rifle). The orringinal cartridge was 300 Wby Mag, and the long action used, combined with the thoat lead I wanted allows me to seat the bullets way out there and take advantage of case capacity, and get the most out of this standard cartrigde while still retaining that all importnat neck tension.

The barrel is a 26 inch heavy style taper that finishes arround .75 at the muzzle. This rifle will put 4 out of 5 shots into one hole at 100 (the fith flys due to shooter fatiuge)

My rifle is little heavier than you want with the barrel, bipod, and mercury recoil reducer (I am sensative to noise), and I retained the orriginal wood stock and had it shape to my needs. This set up brings the rifle straight bacu under recoil and allows me to spot my own shots.

However, I think for the purposes of your second rifle, you are better served with a 338 Edge (aka 338-300 RUM). As state there are many down sides to the 7 RUM and you would be better served with this cartridge, and should fit into your action.

I think you may want to chat with a friend of mine who make his living building LR rifles. I can not post them here, so please send me a pm if interested and I will send you his contact information.

It has been a long day, and if some points of my post are fuzzy and require claification, please tell me and I will do my best to clarify.

regard and all the best

AbH
 
If you're planning on hunting and doing some target shooting, I'd recommend the HS precision synthetic stock (the one on the R5 milspec, and the VSF II). It's light, strong, handy, shoots well off bags and looks good.

I just recently bought a 7mm wildcat off another member of CGN. I'm looking forward to trying this rig out :). It has the above stock, which is the same as on my R5 milspec. I really like it.
 
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