New caliber for first build?

[matt_3479]

I own a remington 700 BDL 7mm rem mag. very accurate gun. I want a gun i can hunt with for moose and elk and whitetail at ranges out too 700-800 yards and accurately shoot targets at ranges well out and over 1000. The reason i want 700-800 yards is because where i hunt moose the max shooting is around 600-700 yards and i want to just take it to about 100 yards past that incase of anything at all. Dont want to loose a trophy bull.

I know that loaded properly a 7mm mag can do what i ask for it but im not sure if its really the proper caliber for the job. I do not want a 338. I dont think i will put it to full use. Most of my shooting is between 50-600 yards so i know a 338 isn't needed.

I dont know what caliber will be best for me. I own a 300. wsm and absolutely love it. The only issue is, its a browning a-bolt so i cant do any work to it. It is accurate enough to take the game i want at 600 yards but not any further then that. and if i wanted real precision i cant get that out of it. Its strictly a hunting rifle. I was debating turning it into another 300. wsm. This caliber is more adequate for ranges im talking about and in a long action i can utilize the 190-210 grain bullets. I know there is no point in shooting the short mag if im talking about 190-210 when the 300 win mag does that naturally. the reason im considering it the most is cause i already have everything i need to reload including 100 empty shells 1 fired. The wsm will do everything the win mag will in a long action.

the only other caliber i was considering was the 300. RUM. If i were to step away from the wsm why go to a win mag if just a step past is the RUM. What is everyone's thoughts?

 

[strombeckj]

I like the idea of a 7mm WSM on a long action. It would allow 180's -200's to be seated long and even maybe into the mag.

Jon

 

[270winshort]

I have a buddy of mine that has a 300 wsm, it didn't like the 180 bergers so we went to the 168's, it shoots 3/8" groups at 100 yards and last year in wyoming he shot a 175 plus muley at 1048 yards and the year before that he shot a whitetail in montana at 850 yrds, he is pushing the 168's at 3160 fps, so I think the 300wsm is plenty I would not go with the 300 rum as you really need about a 34" barrel to burn all that powder, I built my son a 7WSM and we shoot the 180 bergers at 3005 fps I would go with the 7wsm , you have a lot more high bc bullet choices, I built my sons rifle off a howa long action so that we could seat the bullets out and still have them fit in the mag

 

[ewallace]

The 300 WSM is a good cartridge a step up would be a Dakota in 7mm or 30 any of these will work for what you are looking for.

 

[backwoods83]

My vote goes to the 300 roy, ( 300 wby mag ) have someone do a match chamber with only .060-.080" free bore. Yes it only hold 5grns more than the win mag, but typically has about 6 grns more usable powder space and a much better shoulder design than all the others mentioned. In the manuals it only shows a slight advantage over the win mag but they typically use test fire arms with no free bore and only 24" long. I know for a fact that a 300 wby will push a 208 amax over 3200fps with H1000 or retumbo in a 28" barrel, and I also disagree as for the wsm keeping up with the win mag because the wsm is designed to shoot much hotter powders than the win mag to get good velocity in shorter barrels, when you go with a long barrel and powders such as H1000 and Imr 7828 the win mag will hold 100fps+ advantage over the wsm.

 

[ZSteinle]

7mmx300 win mag. everything a 7 ultra will do with less powder.

 

[rscott5028]

I would leave the 7RM alone, sell the Browning, and buy a customizable rifle (e.g. Savage or Rem) in 300WSM or 300WM.

Have you tried hand loading for your Browning 300 WSM?

-- richard

 

[bkondeff]

Curious, I am looking at deciding to go with the 7wsm or sticking with the 7mmRM I have now when customizing a Sako 75 I have, which will also be my first custom build.

For me the 7mm 168 and 180 bergers shine over 600 yards. My current gun shoots the 168 at 2975, which is well over 1500fp of energy at 800 yards with very little win drift. To go to a 300 magnum in wsm wm or wby, you will see your recoil go up by 25% or more on 180 grain bullets, that will not match the long range ballistics of the 7mm berger.

If you prefer, say the TSX, which is usually accurate and penetrates much deeper, though doesn't kill better in my opinion, then stepping up to a big 30 would make sense as you have much poorer long range ballistics with that bullet and need to compensate with powder and recoil.

For me the decision is actually between the 7mm RM, 7wsm, and 7saum!

 

[rscott5028]

Curious, I am looking at deciding to go with the 7wsm or sticking with the 7mmRM I have now when customizing a Sako 75 I have, which will also be my first custom build.

For me the 7mm 168 and 180 bergers shine over 600 yards. My current gun shoots the 168 at 2975, which is well over 1500fp of energy at 800 yards with very little win drift. To go to a 300 magnum in wsm wm or wby, you will see your recoil go up by 25% or more on 180 grain bullets, that will not match the long range ballistics of the 7mm berger.

If you prefer, say the TSX, which is usually accurate and penetrates much deeper, though doesn't kill better in my opinion, then stepping up to a big 30 would make sense as you have much poorer long range ballistics with that bullet and need to compensate with powder and recoil.

For me the decision is actually between the 7mm RM, 7wsm, and 7saum!

If the 7RM is already accurate, why mess with it? What twist is your 7RM and have you tried the 180gr Bergers?

Recoil for a custom LRH rifle in 300WM or bigger anything should not be a major concern as you will surely have a heavier barrel and muzzle brake.

-- richard

 

[roninflag]

A remington sendero . you pick the caliber. 300 wm i would say. of course most questions can be answered on here 6.5-20 leup and reming ton sendero.

 

[bkondeff]

Richard,

Accuracy has become the problem. It varies between .5 and 1.2 moa. In particular I notice it grouping in two groups. I have put about 750 rds down the barrel already so I don't want to waste a bunch of time fiddling to find the problem. I want a gun I can rely on. I love to shoot, but my only MAIN concern is consistency for a hunt. I know the lead time to cusomize is long, so I am planning to just go custom. Right now, like this *** author, I want to take what has been my 600-650 yard comfort zone out to about 800 and start practicing more out to 1000 on paper. I do love the statistics the bergers give at 3000fps or so out to 1000 yards for deer/elk. I have killed 2 mule deer buck and 2 elk with these bullets out to 400 yards so far with very favorable terminal performance(death). No more than two steps.

 

[rscott5028]

7stw or 300wm

 

[crnkin]

Anything 7mm that will drive the 180's over 3200.

The 7mm practical might, but the 7 stw, 7 allen mag, or any other lapua based 7mm would be perfect.

338 will still win in the wind, but you wont be far behind, and 800 yards isn't far at all for a 180 vld.

I know its easy to get attached to a brand, but a rem 700 is seriously the best bet for this.

7 WSM is a good round, but if youv'e got the length and your going custom, dont settle for second best

Chris

 

[backwoods83]

Well here goes the ****ing contest, when a 26" barreled 7mm rem mag will drive a 180 berger at 3-3100fps with retumbo or H1000 why use anything from a 7mm practical up to a 7mm rum or 7.21 lazzeroni and gain 100-250fps, use a lot more powder, and be putting a new barrel on 4 times faster. 7mm rem mag 180 3050 vs 7mm STW 180 3200, now do tou think a deer will notice that difference at 800yrds, no, if your aim is on it'll still be dead either way!