Which barrel and cartridge??

[rdm]

Hi, new to board. I am going to rebarrel an action and was wondering if anyone had ever tried the Blackstar AccumaxII?? Also which 7mm cartridge would you chamber in? According to Hornady's manual w/ 162gr bullets Weatherby, Dakota, and STW all burn the same amounts of powder and get same velocity. thanks

If I were going to use a 7mm I think that I would have to go with a 7mmWSM , but if you want real speed from it then a 7-300wby or 7mmRUM. The 7mm Dakota makes for a great round due to its short fat case being able to seat long bullets out real far and still work in a bolt action repeater , BUT , I ststed a few reasons that the Dakots just isin't realy a viable option to me I have a 300Dakota and I think that there are better alternitives out there.
The 7mm Remington magnum is no slouch by any means and should be given consideration
I don't know about the 7mmSTW have never delt with one but that is one long case and may cause problems feeding from the mag with bullets seated out far.

The question is , what do you expect this gun to do for you ??

[rdm]

Purpose would be mostly target shooting(600yds.+) and hunting. I was thinking of going with the Blackstar in their standard high power contour in 7mm weatherby with 10" twist. I dont know of anyone who has tried this barrel. Haven't much about them anywhere. But this contour is kind of what I had in mind (1.245" for 3" x 0.800" @ 30").

[Varmint Hunter]

I had a Blackstar barrel once and was not really impressed with it but you really can't judge a barrel manufacturer on a single barrel. It appears that many guys are shooting Hart, Lilja, Krieger or Shilen barrels (I'm sure I missed one). That alone makes me look closer at these barrels than one that appears less frequently at the shoots & matchs.

When deciding on a new cartridge for a custom rifle it is not a bad idea to find a cartridge that has top quality brass available for it. Brass could become the weakest link in your accuracy package.

Just my thoughts.

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VH

[LDO]

7wsm in a 30" tube sounds like a good setup to me.im curious as to why you are only looking at the 7's though.as far as blackstar goes cant say i have heard much-which usually means there are better products to had.what will you be hunting with this rifle?-my-2-dave

[rdm]

I will be shooting deer, coyotes and pronghorn if I can ever draw in on a hunt. The reason for 7mm, it suits my needs. I was leaning toward Krieger, but saw the blackstar website and thought I would ask around a bit before making a final decision. I was leaning toward 7mm weatherby or rem. mag because once the throat erodes in one of these cartridges, I could rechamber to 7mm STW or 7mm/300weatherby. I thought Remington and Norma made Weatherby brass.

Like it was said look at what reloading components are available. With the weatherby's you'll have Norma brass which is good stuff but kinda soft and most Weatherby reamers are set up for realy exsessive freebore which can hurt accuracy and the 7mm Weatherby is a pretty long case fit your were to load some VLD type bullets out to touch the lands it may not feed from the mag.

Now 7mm WSM , their is Norma brass availabe in 300WSM which is a simple neck job which will increase the neck thickness and help accuracy aifer you give them a light turning. The WSM case is proven to be very effecient and accurate and some good data available. And unless you shooting arrows for bullets it will feed from a long action mag with no problem.
AND if you decide that the WSM isin't for you you can have it rechambered to say a 7mm RUM improved without having to cut the barrel back any.

Look at the velocity differances with the Weatherby and WSM as opposed to the benifits of both. Either will do what you want it to and both are capibable of accuracy better than most shooters are capable of producing if the smith does hit work and you do yours at the reloading bench.