7mm Dakota vs 7mm weatherby

[Possum284]

I'm going to build some kind of a 7mm in gunsmithing school and the action I'm using which is a tikka m695 won't fit a 7stw so I was considering one of the two in the title it will have a 26 to 28in barrel I don't know yet which of these will throw 180 bergers to 3100 and 162 amaxes to 3200+ or will neither of them do it just looking for something different and also I heard about necking down 300 dakota brass to 7mm because it is a little bigger is there enough difference to make it woth it thanks.


P.s. who makes dakota brass I heard it was either lapua, norma, and hornady anyone know who it is

[xphunter]

Norma makes Dakota brass for Dakota Arms.
The Dakota should edge out the weatherby in terms of MV.
I have two 7mm Dakota barrels for my center-grip Remington XP-100 specialty handgun.
One is a Lilja 1-7 twist while the other is a Lawton 1-9.
Lilja is a 18 " and the Lawton is under 21"
I am approaching 3,000 fps with 176 Caterucio's.
With the barrel length you are considering you should reach your goal just fine. I would go with a 1-9 twist.

The longer Lawton barrel was put together specifically for pd's out to and beyond 2,000 yards.

[Possum284]

Yea I read about your gun I figured the dakota would be good with the velocity your getting and I was gonna ask can you rechamber a 7mm remington mag to dakota or not thanks for the reply

[xphunter]

Not sure on the rechamber part. My guess would be yes, but I would ask Kirby or any of the other guys that build guns.
Of course, you will have to open up your bolt face as well.

[Fiftydriver]

In talking with the head of sales at Dakota/Nesika, he told me that Hornady has contracted to build their 300 Datoka cases from now on. I do not know if those cases have arrived yet but they will be switching over to them as soon as they arrive.

Remember on the Dakota case that the rim diameter is significantly larger then a standard belted magnum rim diameter. You will want to consider if you want to open the bolt face up on the Sako and dedicate it to that case head.

Reguarding the 7mm Wby Magnum. When it and the 7mm Rem Mag are loaded to the same pressure, with same throat design, there is NO difference between the two of them. In fact the 7mm Rem Mag brass will on average have a slight increase in case capacity.

I would never go with the Wby over the Rem Mag in a custom rifle as you will not see any benefit with one over the other and its alot easier to get Rem Mag brass. Its to bad Remington and other ammo makers down load the 7mm Rem Mag as they do because its really a much more potent chambering then you would think looking at factory ballistics.

Kirby Allen(50)

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I have built and shot who knows how many of the 7 rem mags and 7 wby's over the past 30 plus years and have never seen a 7 rem mag shoot with the 7 wby. The 7 wby is a little more gun than the remington and will easily outperform it. I have never built a dakota and don't know about it.

[rocky_lange]

Sorry Kirby, I'm with the Ranger on this one. I own a 7 Weatherby and my brother owns a 7 Rem. His best load can not match my best load. You are right by looking at the cases and saying that the case cap of the Rem "should" beat the Weatherby. But, I think the double radius shoulder has something to do with its performance. I met a guy at the range that had a 300 Weatherby that he rebarrelled with a custom reamer that mimicked the original 300 Weatherby except that he had angled shoulders instead of radius. He lost 300 fps at the muzzle with every load he shot.

But, the Dakota is faster than both. Too bad Dakota brass will cost as much as the rifle.

I thought about a 7 Dakota for a while, but decided my 7mm build will be a 7-300 Weatherby. It should be even with or slightly outperform the Dakota. Reamers, brass and dies are readily available.