300wsm vs 7wsm

arthurj

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Joined
Jan 29, 2005
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474
Hey guys,
I am going to have a 10lb gun built for a 600 yard deer rifle and I can't decide between the 7wsm and the 300wsm. All of the calculations I run show the 7wsm to out perform the 300wsm but for some reason I am wanting the 300. Who here likes the 300 and what are your experience with it versus the 7mm when it comes to killing game?
Thanks a lot
 
Hey guys,
I am going to have a 10lb gun built for a 600 yard deer rifle and I can't decide between the 7wsm and the 300wsm. All of the calculations I run show the 7wsm to out perform the 300wsm but for some reason I am wanting the 300. Who here likes the 300 and what are your experience with it versus the 7mm when it comes to killing game?
Thanks a lot

I prefer the 7 WSM because it is in a niche buy it's self (Short and powerful and for deer
size game a really good bullet selection) .

To get the same performance with the 300 WSM you have to load hard with larger bullets
and even then trajectory is not as good.

The 300 is better suited for larger game at close distances . For longer distances there are
a lot of 30 mags that will out perform the 300 WSM. It is a great cartridge but has its limits
like all cartriges.

The 7 WSM has less recoil,flatter trajectory, and a better selection of bullets with high Ballistic
coefficients in the 120 to 160grain bullets.

So my choice was/is the 7WSM . but if that is what you want "Get It".

The 7 WSM is the balistic equivalent of the 7 Rem Mag in a short case and will kill well beyond
600 yards.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
If its any consolation, I am going to go from the 300WSM to the 7mm SAUM. Go to 6mmbr.com and read the info provided. They like to the SAUM over the WSM in 7mm because of efficiency and better performance. The 7's offer flatter trajectory and at that distance some pretty good ballistics in comparison to what the 300 can do. I have been shooting it with some degree of success. I'm sure if I had a custom barrel I could do better.

Tank
 
Good, thats what I needed to hear. I'll stick with the 7. I'm going to do it in a short action and probably just stick with the 160 class bullets.
Thanks a lot
Liltank, the 7 saum is not ruled out either!
 
Good, thats what I needed to hear. I'll stick with the 7. I'm going to do it in a short action and probably just stick with the 160 class bullets.
Thanks a lot
Liltank, the 7 saum is not ruled out either!


Did you get a chance to read the information of 6mmbr.com? Remington is the only supplier of brass in that caliber, but you can get Nosler custom brass in 300 SAUM and neck it down to 7mm. You could then have a premium brass. Remingtons should work fine, but you will have to do some case prep and sorting.

Tank
 
Did you get a chance to read the information of 6mmbr.com? Remington is the only supplier of brass in that caliber, but you can get Nosler custom brass in 300 SAUM and neck it down to 7mm. You could then have a premium brass. Remingtons should work fine, but you will have to do some case prep and sorting.

Tank

Tank, do you use Nosler brass? I've read a lot of very sketchy reports on that brass. I use Norma for my 300 WSM and it's good stuff. That would be one reason i would stick with the WSM. Ballistically I just dont see there being much difference between the WSM and the SAUM.

Mark
 
liltank,
I have read that on 6mmbr, the brass situation is the one thing that makes me hesitant to go the saum route.
 
Why do a 10 pound wsm? If your doing a rifle that heavy you can build a much better longer range rifle. My 300 WSM weighs 7 pounds scoped out and is deadly out to your 600 yard specs and further. It is a great carry rifle for backpacking or just hunting all day in the mountains. I shoot 150 grain nosler Etips with a .469 BC at 3400 fps out of it. The 300 WSM is a great choice for your intentions you just don't need a 10 pound one. Run the ballistics on my load and it does very well to your 600 yards for deer.
 
Good, thats what I needed to hear. I'll stick with the 7. I'm going to do it in a short action and probably just stick with the 160 class bullets.
Thanks a lot
Liltank, the 7 saum is not ruled out either!

Arthur, in doing a little research, it seems the 300 will push a 180 E-Tip/AB about 50 fps faster than the 7 will push a 160 AB. Their BC's are almost identical with a very slight edge to the 7mm 160. Down range they are essentially the same. If I use a 177 GS HV, I can expect 100-200 fps faster velocites than the 180 E-Tip/AB and it has a lot higher BC... .6+ vs .523 (which is probably optimistic and degraded down range) for the 180 bullets and .531 for the 7mm 160 bullet. On top of that the GS bullets open and expand down to 1600 fps vs 1800 fps for the Noslers.

If you run some ballistics based on lets say... 3100 fps for a 7mm 160 AB, it gets to about 820 yds @ 1800 fps @ 1000' elevation.

The GS HV @ a conservative 3200 fps gets to about 1160 yds with 1600 fps vel. On top of that, the GS bulets are shaped similar to match bullets and are likely to be a little more accurate than the ABs. The downside, they must be ordered from S Africa and after shipping, they cost about $1.80 a pop. The GS bullets are also a superior hunting/killing bullet.

Mark
 
Last edited:
MR,
How many rounds do expect out of a 7WSM? The SAUM has a 30 degree shoulder verses the 35 degree shoulder. The SAUM has a 7% to 11% volume decrease with to the WSM, but due to the shoulder and case design, it is supposed to be more efficient only falling about 10fps slower. It has a longer neck which according to bench rest shooters say it is a better design for shooting the heavier high BC bullets. This is why some guys are going to the 7mm-300WSM. This allows a person to use less powder because the 300WSM has a longer neck and less powder capacity. A gentleman in the UK shot some 1000yrd records using this case which makes me think I want to try it also. He was able to attain velocities of 3050 using a 180grn Berger VLD. I am sold on the 7mm, it is just picking the right casing to achieve what I want.

As far as brass is concerned I have Norma and Winchester. My cousin uses Nosler in .308. We found both Norma and Nosler to both be a little soft for high pressure loadings. Mine had some ejector marks and loose primer pockets, but they still hold the primers. His Nosler completely drop the primers out, but it is very consistant as advertised. Using normal loads and not over pressuring them would result in good firings. The Norma has been good for necks though. None have cracked yet and I have about 15 firings on them.

Tank
 
Tank, I would expect 20-30 firings out of Norama brass int he 300 or 7 WSM depending on what reloading techiniques you use and how hot your loads are. Using bushing neck dies and just slightly bumping the shoulder to min fit would be the way to go. And I did read an article on the guy in the UK using the 7mm-300 WSM. That would be very easy to accomplish with a type S bushing die setup up.

I'm on my 5th firing for some of my Norma brass and it looks fine. I have a couple of loose primer pockets from load development from some overmax rounds but no primers falling out yet. They seem to hold up well with max loads.

I think the SAUM is Rem's attempt to get into the short mag game. If you put two rifles of equal quality side by side on the bench, I don't think you'll see much difference in the results. JMHO

Mark
 
Yeah, I keep waffling on the 7SAUM. I am always looking for efficiency with cost in mind. That is the why I am looking at both the 7-300 and 7 SAUM. I would venture a guess that these two calibers would give a little better barrel life as well.

What is your opinion on barrel life.

Tank
 
longtimelongranger,
I could do it a little lighter but I dont know if I really want to! I want to minimize the recoil and I feel much more stable with a little more weight. I can't do the 15lb thing anymore though, that beats me down carrying that. I think im going to do a rem hunter(mold in that will add some weight), sendero contour, bat vrpic action, and I will probably use a heavier scope like a NF or a S&B. Thats why I think it will probably come in around 10lbs.
MontanaRifleman, you're making me reconsider the 300wsm now, that GS bullet sounds nice.
Thanks a lot
 
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