follow up ?'s

[tropicmaster]

Shot the S&W1500 yesterday with 6 different loads and it just does not have moa in it, much less sub moa. It is still a great hunting rifle, and I will keep it for that. As a bonus I got to shoot 2 hogs while down there yesterday. The 140gr Nosler partition did a number on both of them! So if I want to get into semi serious LR I am going to have to get another platform to work with. Lets talk about rifle first. I have seen multiple as in hundreds of threads on here advising new guys to get a Savage. A local gunstore has them in model 12 as low as $550. I have also read a lot of threads on here about the Remington 700 Sendero. Those are considerably more $, available locally, but still within reason on my budget. The other budget gun I found is the Tikka T3, but I have seen zero threads about this gun and am assuming it might be a *** ? Out of these 3 guns what is the consensus I should get? If it is Savage which model# ?

Since I am essentially starting over I can go with whatever caliber I choose. I want to stay with 7mm for several reasons, mostly bullet selection & what I hunt, but that still leaves about 4 or 5 choices. After reading the 7mm info page on BR.com I dont know how anybody could NOT want to shoot a .284 win. The barrel life and recoil arguments are compelling! I guess I have it down to 284win or 7-08. I am pretty sure I want to stay away from the 7mm wsm, and the 7mm saum due to barrel life considerations- I live 11 miles from a range that has 600yd availability, and I tend to shoot a LOT. I currently shoot 3-500 rounds a week for my sporting clays practice. Charles Ballard made this statement in that article -"All this being said, if a man wanted just one caliber for F-Class, long-range benchrest, and hunting, I would still suggest the .284 Win. " I dont know much about him, but I have to assume he knows a LOT more than I do!

Please destruct my analysis, or offer differing opinions! Which would you choose between .284 and the 7mm-08? I am learning SO much going back through old threads on this site, and I thank all of you for your input!

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I had a Ruger 7mm RM that I sot the barrel out of in about 1000 rnds. When you had mentioned you had done a lot of shooting in yours in the past I was wondering what condition your throat might be in. A 7RM wont last any longer than a 7WSM, maybe a little shorter. A 300 WSM will last a lot longer than a 300 WM for some reason. You might want to get the bore of your M1500 scoped to see what shape it's in just for grins. You might also heve bedding and or crown issues, etc. if you do get it bore scoped make sure you get ALL the fouling out if it first so the smith can get a good look at it.

That being said, I like Senderos. Just bought two used ones in the last 6 months, a 300 RUM and 25-06. Haven't fired the RUM yet, but previous owner said he shot a 3 shot, 1" group @ 350 yds with it. The 25-06 I just took out a few days ago to shoot a group it before cleaning and breaking it in. The owner said it had maybe 200 rnds through it. I set up a target about 110 away and set up my portable bench but forgot my chair so I stood and leaned over to shoot it with bi-pod. It was awkward and not real steady and had a blurry Tasco scope on it which I could barely make out my POA with. After a sighter I made an adjustment and then my next 3 shots measured .24". The fourth took it out to .45". I am a big Sendero fan. Great out of the box accuracy. They are just plain built for LR shooting with heavy barrel and aluminum bedded stock.

Have read a lot of good things about Savages, but I like purdy guns

Tikka's have a great rep for accuracy. I have a friend who has a T3 in 270 WSM and shoots 1/2 MOA with it.

On barrel life.... there will always be trade-offs when it comes to performance. The farther you shoot/hunt the bigger a cartridge you will need to be confidently effective. That's why I have a 300 RUM. I am expecting less than 1000 rounds from it but hoping to get more with a good break-in using a bore conditioner. In anycase, I realize up front 1000 rounds for a 300 RUM is a good life. It will out range a 300 WSM by 200 yds, a 30.06 by 400 yds and a .308 by 500 yds, all of which will have much longer barrel life. If I put 200 rounds down it the first year including load development and another 100 each additional year for practice, it will last me a while. I can shoot the 25-06 for fun and trigger time.

Recoil can be mitigated and dealt with, with or without a brake. In the field, recoil will be un-noticed, especially for only one or two shots when adrenaline is up a little.

My vote is for the Sendero, Tikka next. If you go with the Tikka, I would get the 300 WSM. Much better barrel life than a 7RM and about the same range but a little more thump with close to the same recoil.

Good shooting,

-MR

One other thing... shooting different loads, i.e., differnt powders and/or jacket material without cleaning between load types can affect accuracy.

 

[tropicmaster]

The Tikka and Savage are not offered in .284Win. I cannot figure out where on the Remington site you find caliber availability, but I suspect the Sendero is not chambered for it either. The Savage and the Tikka are available in 7MM-08. If I went with the 7MM-08 now what would it involve to change it to .284 when the barrel wears out, and if thats what I wanted to do? Stupid question probably but I am a shooter not a gunsmith, or builder.

 

[foreign]

if you got a savage in 7mm08 then you could also just get another barrel for it in .284 and just swap them when you want. that setteled me into getting a savage. got a .223 that im going to get a 7mm08 barrel for shortly. then can shoot whatever i want with the same gun. though you may have to single feed the .284 in a 7mm08 action. not !00% on this. but for long range does that matter?

 

[tropicmaster]

I never realised that could be done! You are right that the single feed would not matter. Is that something I can do myself, or is it a gunsmith item? From my little bit of researching old threads high quality barrels are around $500 ? That would be pretty awesome to get a set up like that!

 

[foreign]

tropicmaster. swapping savage barrels can be done by yourself. takes a little knowledge and a bit of a mechanical inkling, but it really isnt that hard. savage drop in barrels arnt that expensive. well down here in nz they are. im about to fork out $nz550 for one. and not even a match quality one. over there in the usa you can get great barrels from shilen, douglas ect for around $us300 i think. then what you will need is a barrel nut wrench (around 30us) a vise (not sure) and headspace guages for each caliber you own (think around 10us for a go and no go guage)
then with a 7mm08 bolt face you can have a 7mm08, .243.22-250 .308 .284. 270, 30 06 ect. if you want a .223 then you have to get a different bolt face or a magnum caliber a different bolt face too.( all available from midway usa, they even have kits with everything you need) savage shooter supplies is another supplier.
in the time it took me to write this i could have changed by bolt from one bolt face to the other and back again.
doesnt take long. ive just given you a brief outline and theres a little more that goes into the whole process and things to be wairy of, but heaps of info on the net if you search and lots of guys on here who do it and if yo join savageshooters.com theres more info than you could read.
cheers

 

[MontanaRifleman]

This will give you a good idea in the case differences and similarity...

http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd284winchester.jpg

http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd708remington.jpg

They have the same case head diameter and the OAL only differs by 0.135"

The 7mm-08 is a necked down 308.

The Tikka T3 Lite uses the same action (which is one reason they are cheaper than the Sako) from the 204 Ruger to the 338 Win Mag.


There is a slight differnce in case diameter, so I'm not sure how that would affect the follower, rails and feeding, etc.? A gunsmith would probably be able give you a good answer.

I've been thinking about swap out option with the RUM cartridges on a Rem action as well. Not sure that can be done, but it would be pretty cool.

And BTW, I completely missed this...

Which would you choose between .284 and the 7mm-08?

My apology. I would go with .284 simply becuase it's a larger case and will give more velocity.

-MR

 

[squirrelduster]

I recently purchased a Savage in 7WSM. I have always been a Remington shooter and purchased the Savage for my Dad. He decided he wanted something else so I was stuck with the Savage.
Too bad. It shoots 1/2" at 200 yards. What a piece of junk.
I have a custom Remington 700 in 300 win mag that won't shoot that good. Fancy stock, fluted barrel by Hart, Jewell trigger, pillar bedded.
I took the Savage out of the box. Loaded some 168 gr Berger VLD's with H4831sc to sight it in and it shot a dime group at 200 yards. Makes my wonder why I spent the money on the 300 mag.
Cool thing about the Savage is if you don't like the caliber buy a new barrel and a go gauge and screw a new tube on yourself in less than an hour you will be out shooting.