Talk me out of the 7mm wsm

I don't know what the mag box length is of your Savage but if it's a 3" mag box you would be doing well to go with a 7mm WSM. I've had no problem recently finding brass for my 7mm WSM's and I live in Alaska. When brass was tough to find for it I just used 300 WSM brass necked down to a false shoulder and fire formed. I'd say most of my of my current 7mm WSM brass that's being used is head stamped 300 WSM. I also have quite a few unopened bags of Winchester 7mm WSM brass that I'll use after I go through my current batches. My last ram was killed with a fire form load using 300 WSM brass as I found them pretty accurate for what they were. My opinion is that the 7mm is the best of the WSM cartridges and most rifle manufacturers abandoned the round way too soon. It's a great long range cartridge, if rifle manufacturers would have been thinking about bullets when they were building rifles it would sit at the top of the heap of all 7mm's. There's no better example of gun manufacturers thinking about bullets than the 6.5 Creedmoor, for the most part nobody builds one wrong. The same could have been said for the 7mm WSM has it been done right.
 
Dark Eagle Customs makes a great extended magazine for the Savage DBM though. It will hold 5 rounds. If you go WSM on a Savage call Dark Eagle Customs to see if they still make the magazines. They are great. I have one for my Savage 300 WSM.
Do you know the internal OAL for these magazines?
 
Measure your bolt head lugs. The mag lugs are thicker than a standard 308 size. The stem is longer also. Savage SA WSM factory are control feed. You'll need to gey a modified lon action bolt head and foring pin. Sharp Shooter Supply does it. I'm in the same process now.
 
I love the WSMs and own 270, (2) 300,s and a 325
You can't go wrong with it
Make sure you look at the barrel length when doing comparisons with the 7mm Tem Mag. Many reloading manuals and other sources use a 26" barrel compared to the WSMs which often times use a 24" barrel: that is why many people state the 7Rem Mag is faster.
Short action, less powder and nearly identical ballistics are all pluses for the WSM - you can't go wrong with it so don't let anyone talk you into or out of what you want. In the end you need to be happy with your choice so make it yours!
 
7 WSM pushing a 195 Berger with Retumo around 2900 FPS from a 1:8 twist barrel using a short action (around 2.95 coal) is one of the most consistently accurate loads I have ever worked with. Don't need to do much for 1/2 MOA. I normally just seat it to magazines length and go to the range. 1500 ft lb of energy at 1000 yards should be enough for most situations. If you can get the 180gr to around 3100 the energy is about the same but not as easy to find a 1/2 MOA load in my experience. You won't be disappointed with a 7 WSM but recommend going wit 8 twist barrel
 
Do you know the internal OAL for these magazines?
They are 3". Exactly the same as a Savage short action DBM. He actually uses a Savage mag and removes the bottom and adds a aluminum box to extend the mag and uses a different spring. They are pretty nice. The pic is a 300 WSM one. The rounds in it have a 2.925 COL.
 

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My thoughts are that if you want to build a .280AI or a 28 Nosler sell what you have, get a long action donor and build what you'd like to shoot/build. My experience has been when I settle I'm not used to settling and end up getting what I originally wanted in the first place. I recently was looking for a donor rifle, found what I was looking for on Gunbroker for $400. Just an idea you might want to check out to see what's on there. Sometimes you can hit it right and really make out well. Also the Sherman cartridges are worth a look, Rich will also tell you what you can or cannot do.
 
I love the WSMs and own 270, (2) 300,s and a 325
You can't go wrong with it
Make sure you look at the barrel length when doing comparisons with the 7mm Tem Mag. Many reloading manuals and other sources use a 26" barrel compared to the WSMs which often times use a 24" barrel: that is why many people state the 7Rem Mag is faster.
Short action, less powder and nearly identical ballistics are all pluses for the WSM - you can't go wrong with it so don't let anyone talk you into or out of what you want. In the end you need to be happy with your choice so make it yours!

Completely agree, being an owner of 270, 7, 300 and 325WSMs as well. All of them can be dialed in easily and are super flat shooters.
 
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