ReBarreling for 1000 yards.

[7mm Eclipse]

I have a 7mm WSM Browning M-1000 Eclipse that has been a good rifle for target shooting and whitetail deer hunting. Before I burnt the throat out of the stock barrel, the rifle and I could shoot less that 1 MOA at 300 yards. The loads that seems to work OK were 62 gr of VV560 poured into a Winchester Brass, Federal 215M primer with a 168 VLB Berger at .010 off the lands giving 2850 fps, or, 58.5 gr of IMR4831 with the same brass and primer but with a 168 Serria Match King which gives the same 2850 fps.

Now that hunting season is over, I want to setup to 1000 yard target shooting and eventually move up to hunting western Antelope, Muley's and Elk. Can y'all recommend some changes I should make to the new barrel fo the Eclipse and the bullet load to prepare for 1000 yard shooting. The old barrel is 26" without a muzzlebrake.

[ol mike]

The vv5 series powders burn hot and are abrasive -i'd change to a hodgdon extreme powder [4831sc] or a vit. powder [n-160 or 165 ? maybe].

Then when you travel from atlanta where it's 1500' in elevation and humid to wyoming where it's 4000' and dry your gun will/should shoot the same.
The 168 berger vld will do fine on the critters you mention.
Put a barrel on the same or close to the same diameter so you don't have to sand out the barrel channel.
A 1-9" twist will shoot bullets up to 180gr no problem.
Good luck and welcome to LRH.com -Mike

for 1000yd game animals you might try the 180gr bergervld !

[7mm Eclipse]

Ol' Mike,

Thanks for the response and info. Does increasing the barrel length to 28" give 1000 yard accuracy improvement over a 26" barrel that justify the inconvience of the additional length while hunting?

Muzzle brake or no muzzle brake?

Are there any improvements that have the gunsmith make to the bolt, action or bedding that should be considered when changing a barrel?

Thanks again. I know y'all's shots are 1000+ yards frequently. Here in Georgia the average shot at a Whitetail is 75 yards. The longer shots, 300 to 400 yds, are over harvested corn and soybean fields or in pulp wood cleared hardwoods.

I am really looking forward to shooting at 1000y. Camp Perry is about 1.5 hours south of here.

Thanks for the welcome to the forum. There is a lot of great information and marksmen with excellent experience that we newbies can learn from. Great Site!!

Mike