Short barreled 7mm ??? Help me pick - people with experience please

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

I would personally look toward the SAUM due to its efficiency and lower powder charge. With the big magnums you'll have a hell of a time getting the powder burnt in 20" (especially the powders that make great numbers in longer barrels - RL26, N570, RL33, Retumbo, H1000) so you may be blowing a lot of wasted powder and smoke out the end that aren't going to help velocity. Big magnums require longer barrels to burn it all and convert that energy to bullet velocity. SAUM brass is relatively easy to get and works awesome with faster powders like H4350. Recoil is a worthwhile consideration when running suppressed as your father in law will be getting the equal and opposite of whatever you launch that bullet at. I've shot suppressed 7's with heavy bullets and it's not much fun compared to a brake, in spite of how much quieter they are.

 

[Tidus56]

they're sweet im gonna try a 22" 7RUM just for kicks

Please post results! I need to do a short barrel setup that I can run a couple barrels on and one will for sure be a 7mm

 

[Troutslayer2]

Somebody must have necked up 6.5PRC to 7MM by now. Hows that work out I wonder?

 

[laker]

Somebody must have necked up 6.5PRC to 7MM by now. Hows that work out I wonder?

Slightly less than a 7mm saum

 

[codyadams]

I would personally look toward the SAUM due to its efficiency and lower powder charge. With the big magnums you'll have a hell of a time getting the powder burnt in 20" (especially the powders that make great numbers in longer barrels - RL26, N570, RL33, Retumbo, H1000) so you may be blowing a lot of wasted powder and smoke out the end that aren't going to help velocity. Big magnums require longer barrels to burn it all and convert that energy to bullet velocity. SAUM brass is relatively easy to get and works awesome with faster powders like H4350. Recoil is a worthwhile consideration when running suppressed as your father in law will be getting the equal and opposite of whatever you launch that bullet at. I've shot suppressed 7's with heavy bullets and it's not much fun compared to a brake, in spite of how much quieter they are.

Pretty sure somewhere I was reading that according to quick load, a 28 nosler has 100% burn rate with N570 and a 180 at like 21".

Anybody have quick load to confirm?

 

[waspocrew]

I'm all for the shorty barrels (I'm going to have a 20" 7 SAUM built soon)… one thing to be wary of would be if a suppressor is used, make sure it's rated for the cartridge and barrel length. TBAC Ultra 7 will handle a 28 Nosler but at a minimum length of 22".

A good friend of mine just picked up a 22" 28 Nosler- it shoots!

 

[Teri Anne]

I'll start this off with a disclaimer, because unfortunately I need to so we can stay on task.

If you are going to try to tell me "with a short barrel you might as well make a 7mm-08" then please go away, that is simply incorrect, your input is not needed, and it's not the topic being discussed here. PSA finished, thanks!

So I built a 20" 7 MAX for my wife, some of you may have seen the thread, we're sending 175's at 2906 fps. It has a shorter LOP Manners stock, and is a sweet little compact gun that takes care of business. Well, my Father in law is only about 5'5", and the rifle fits him great, and asked me to build him one just like it but with a different stock. He wanted to go 7mm, so here we are.

I have an 8 twist Proof 7mm barrel tat will be cut down to 18-20", and a Christiansen arms mag bolt face long action set up for beltless magnums with the bottom metal and mag box, but that can always be changed. The rifle will have a brake for now, possibly eventually a supressor, but he hasn't started down that road yet. Here are some of my thoughts....

28 nosler, 28 Sherman Magnum, 7 max, 7 rem mag, 7 mega.

I have dies for 7 mag, 7 max, and 28 nosler, but I am not opposed to buying new dies.

I have done a good amount of load develooement on the 7 max so I know what to expect there. I have seen people getting around 150 fps more with the Nosler case, and haven't seen anyone with a short barreled 28 SM. I haven't found anyone going with a short barreled 7 mag yet, but I would bet it would be close to the 7 max.

So, anyone with experience have any input?

Well here I go again. First of all, happy to see you trying to fit a new rifle to your wife as well as her Dad. Kudos for you. While I understand the need to experiment and develop a unique rifle/cartridge combination I am still of the mind to stick to and experiment with more of the standard cartridges and rifle combinations. If it was me, I would stick to the 7MM Mag simply because of the availability of ammo that you do not have to load yourself and is pretty much available anywhere you go in the event you are in a situation where you have no access to your prized loads and/or reloading equipment and components. These daze (not Misspelled) I try to find factory ammo that my rifles like and shoot well then try to improve on it. That way if I am ever out of my pet loads I have a factory fall back to go to. Also keep in mind that with the shorter barrels much of the powder in the cartridge is going to go out of the barrel and burn in a big muzzle flash not adding anything to the velocity or energy of the round you just shot. Just Saying.

 

[Northkill]

Pretty sure somewhere I was reading that according to quick load, a 28 nosler has 100% burn rate with N570 and a 180 at like 21".

Anybody have quick load to confirm?

Would like to hear how it works out for you. I went a good bit shorter on my 7 Allen Mag build than is usually done and I haven't regretted it yet. Yeah, it burns just a little RL-33 out the end, but it sure giddy-ups the 150 Badlands anyway...and it feels so much more maneuverable. For shorty's, I do like the short, fat cases, but you got some components that push you toward the big 28. Go for it. You've got options to shave some recoil by running Hammer's, Cayuga's or the like too. And the big 195 EOL on the top end...

 

[Ernie]

Cody,
I will just say I have a 7mm Dakota (18"), and I know of a couple of 28 Nosler's (18") that shoot great.
the 18" 28's run about 50-75 fps faster than the the 7mm Dakota (175's at 2900 fps.)
Different cartridge, but I also have a 18" 26 Nosler...147's at 3025 fps
I have shot my 7mm Dakota XP-100 just past 2000 yards on steel, and the 26 Nosler XP-100 beyond 1500 yards on steel.
The accuracy is there!

 

[freefloater59]

Joining the discussion and glad to see some of the advice. I have a pre '64 shot out 264 Win Mag Featherweight 22" that I'm going to rebuild. My thoughts on building is 7x61 Sharpe & Hart because I have the dies and brass. I'm happy to see the loads and velocities being noted, gives me confidence that the 7x61 will be fine, and now I'm contemplating shortening it to 20" for a really light weight back-packer. It will still be over-bore but not as bad as the 264 was. I'll be ordering a barrel soon, the discussions on bullets and twist are very helpful.

 

[Sleds]

Not quite what you are looking for, but my cousin did a Win 284 in a Savage long action with an 18" barrel. He was shooting the 175 ELD-X just over 2600 fps.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Can you do 277 fury?

 

[codyadams]

Can you do 277 fury?

No, I have a .284 barrel

 

[WKWRIGHT]

I'll start this off with a disclaimer, because unfortunately I need to so we can stay on task.

If you are going to try to tell me "with a short barrel you might as well make a 7mm-08" then please go away, that is simply incorrect, your input is not needed, and it's not the topic being discussed here. PSA finished, thanks!

So I built a 20" 7 MAX for my wife, some of you may have seen the thread, we're sending 175's at 2906 fps. It has a shorter LOP Manners stock, and is a sweet little compact gun that takes care of business. Well, my Father in law is only about 5'5", and the rifle fits him great, and asked me to build him one just like it but with a different stock. He wanted to go 7mm, so here we are.

I have an 8 twist Proof 7mm barrel tat will be cut down to 18-20", and a Christiansen arms mag bolt face long action set up for beltless magnums with the bottom metal and mag box, but that can always be changed. The rifle will have a brake for now, possibly eventually a supressor, but he hasn't started down that road yet. Here are some of my thoughts....

28 nosler, 28 Sherman Magnum, 7 max, 7 rem mag, 7 mega.

I have dies for 7 mag, 7 max, and 28 nosler, but I am not opposed to buying new dies.

I have done a good amount of load develooement on the 7 max so I know what to expect there. I have seen people getting around 150 fps more with the Nosler case, and haven't seen anyone with a short barreled 28 SM. I haven't found anyone going with a short barreled 7 mag yet, but I would bet it would be close to the 7 max.

So, anyone with experience have any input?

I read your disclaimer, I will say with absolute certainty that if I never see another post about building a short barreled long range rifle it will be too soon!!!