Savage 110 custom build - 7mm Valkyrie

[chuckhammer]

Here's a summary of the improved version of a 7mm-300 Win Mag I drew up for my first custom rifle build. I named it the 7mm Valkyrie after both the buxom blonde "chooser of the slain" from Norse mythology and after the incredible XB-70 Valkyrie bomber from the 1960s.

I chose the Savage 110 due to the barrel nut and floating bolt head. Both of these features make for a very home gunsmith-friendly build. I managed to keep the total cost below $1500 for the whole rig. As a result, some of the parts are not cream-of-the-crop but I believe they will serve me perfectly well for now.

First shots are shown at the bottom! These five were touched off on Sunday 12/8 and were only the 11th through 15th shots ever fired from the rifle. Yes, that is two bullets that formed a single nearly concentric hole.

My goal is to find a FAST 1/2 MOA load at 100 yds and then move out to longer distances. I have several different powders and bullets to try so it may take a couple of hundred shots before I reach that point.

All in all, I am very pleased with how it's turned out thus far.

 

[cummin_un_glued]

how was pressure at 86gr?? i'm only running 80gr of RL33

great write up by the way

 

[Outlaw6.0]

That is a dern interesting cartridge. Might actually be a 7mm worth building .

how is the comfort level with that stock?

Looking forward to the performance results.


t

 

[chuckhammer]

how was pressure at 86gr?? i'm only running 80gr of RL33

great write up by the way

Thanks.

86 grains RL33 is nearing 100% case fill. I can still just hear the powder move when shaking a loaded round. It showed what I would call the start of pressure signs:
- Couple of small shiny marks on case head where brass is starting to be forced into ejector hole.
- Primer just starting to flatten and lose its fillet radius on the outer edge. No cratering evident.
- Bolt lift easy enough but the near-zero taper of this case will supposedly disguise high pressures.

MVs were consistently in the 3210-3245 range for all five 86 gr shots. I think 87-88 gr will be a slightly compressed load and I may or may not venture beyond that until switching to RL50. Or I'll need to seat the bullet longer and jam the riflings which of course has its own pressure increase.

The overflow water capacity of the straight 7-300WM WW Super brass I measured for several cases hung right around 89 gr. For the Valkryie cases I measured it was consistently in the 93 gr neighborhood. I bet your 7-300 will handle at least 82 gr RL33 behind a long-loaded 180 Hybrid in WW Super brass.

My COAL is running in the 3.640" range for these. Not magazine friendly.

 

[chuckhammer]

That is a dern interesting cartridge. Might actually be a 7mm worth building .

how is the comfort level with that stock?

Looking forward to the performance results.


t

Thanks, dude. The tactical Choate's comfort is decent on the bench. The comb could be a bit beefier, I guess, but the palm swell and pistol grip angle are perfect in my hands.

I added 2.75 lb of old 30-cal bullets and foam to the buttstock cavity, both to absorb recoil and to balance out the 6-lb barrel. The balance point is now right at the barrel/receiver junction. The rig without bipod weighs 17 lb even. Recoil is about like an 8.5-lb .308 deer rifle. The Choate's soft buttpad makes it a heavy push rather than a sharp impact on your shoulder.

 

[1 mile]

Great info... Thanks for your time and $$$ on this project. Just looking for a new case to push the 7mm 180's faster. 85grs-90 looks like the match to the bullet. The 300rum case is it to much case 90-100 grs ??? " accuracy is as me all know very important too.
Glad I asked about the Valkyrie. I have to ask...do you have rights on the reamer ???

Again thanks

 

[chuckhammer]

Great info... Thanks for your time and $$$ on this project. Just looking for a new case to push the 7mm 180's faster. 85grs-90 looks like the match to the bullet. The 300rum case is it to much case 90-100 grs ??? " accuracy is as me all know very important too.
Glad I asked about the Valkyrie. I have to ask...do you have rights on the reamer ???

Again thanks

Thanks for the kind remarks. I always wanted to draw up a wildcat of my own liking and then turn it into reality. Regarding optimal charge weight for the 180s, it really comes down to how much are you willing to pay in terms of reduced barrel life and increased powder cost for that little bit of extra MV.

Here's a case capacity comparison for some 7mm magnums. Values are approximate as they are headstamp dependent.

7mm Rem SAUM = 74 gr H2O
7mm Rem Mag = 82 gr
7mm WSM = 83 gr
7mm Weatherby Mag = 87 gr
7mm Dakota = 89 gr
7mm-300 Win Mag = 89 gr
7mm STW = 97 gr
7mm-300 Weatherby Mag = 97 gr
7mm RUM = 113 gr
7mm Allen Mag = 122 gr (improved .338 Lapua case)

The MV return on powder investment decreases steadily all the way down that list. Is there a sweet spot for 180s, below which it drops more significantly? Maybe. The 7mm-300WM crew (and its variants such as my Valkyrie, Nate Foster's 7mm Practical, the 7mm Rogue, etc.) are convinced it's around 90-93 gr H2O. Reloader 33's slow burn speed and high energy content are extremely well matched to 180s with this level of case capacity.

I retain no rights on the reamer print but thanks for asking. Feel free to use it. A Valkyrie for ever man, woman, and child in this land!

 

[calib]

I remember when you were first talking about getting this project going, looks like it is well on the way to being a great long range rig. I can't wait to see more groups at more like 200-300 yards and see if those tighten up a bit. hopefully you can find a tight, but speedy load. keep posting

 

[cummin_un_glued]

Thanks.

86 grains RL33 is nearing 100% case fill. I can still just hear the powder move when shaking a loaded round. It showed what I would call the start of pressure signs:
- Couple of small shiny marks on case head where brass is starting to be forced into ejector hole.
- Primer just starting to flatten and lose its fillet radius on the outer edge. No cratering evident.
- Bolt lift easy enough but the near-zero taper of this case will supposedly disguise high pressures.

MVs were consistently in the 3210-3245 range for all five 86 gr shots. I think 87-88 gr will be a slightly compressed load and I may or may not venture beyond that until switching to RL50. Or I'll need to seat the bullet longer and jam the riflings which of course has its own pressure increase.

The overflow water capacity of the straight 7-300WM WW Super brass I measured for several cases hung right around 89 gr. For the Valkryie cases I measured it was consistently in the 93 gr neighborhood. I bet your 7-300 will handle at least 82 gr RL33 behind a long-loaded 180 Hybrid in WW Super brass.

My COAL is running in the 3.640" range for these. Not magazine friendly.

I have actually ran up to 82gr in mine and got 3200fps from it but my throat is very short so at 82gr I was building pressure so I backed it off to 80gr to save my brass. I too think that if it were throated longer that getting a consistent 3200fps from 82gr with good brass life would be very easy. Makes sense to me for yours to gain another 50fps with the extra capacity. Sounds like we are both at the same pressure level with what you describe on your brass.

 

[farout]

Wow! That is one bad *** cartridge and rifle!The coolest bold handles I have ever seen! I am ordering some for my Savages tomorrow! I think I have found my next build!

Thanks for posting!

 

[chuckhammer]

I have actually ran up to 82gr in mine and got 3200fps from it but my throat is very short so at 82gr I was building pressure so I backed it off to 80gr to save my brass. I too think that if it were throated longer that getting a consistent 3200fps from 82gr with good brass life would be very easy. Makes sense to me for yours to gain another 50fps with the extra capacity. Sounds like we are both at the same pressure level with what you describe on your brass.

Would you guess that pressure level (82 gr in yours / 86 gr in mine) at around 62,000-63,000 psi? Just trying to get an idea.

 

[chuckhammer]

Wow! That is one bad *** cartridge and rifle!The coolest bold handles I have ever seen! I am ordering some for my Savages tomorrow! I think I have found my next build!

Thanks for posting!

Much appreciated. I stumbled into the Glades bolt handles one day and figured they were cool and different so why not give it a try. It has excellent leverage and your fingers definitely won't accidentally slip off even with a weak-ish grip. Plus, it's made here in Flordia!

In case anyone is interested, I did my fire-forming in the bullet-less "cream of wheat" manner. I loaded 16gr of Bullseye powder with a compressed column of cornmeal over it, topped off with a 1/4 sheet of single-ply toilet paper. The Valkyrie case you see in the second pic in my original post was formed in this manner and had not yet been fired at full pressure with a bullet. Now that I have fired some full-pressure rounds, the shoulder-to-body junction came out nice and sharp. I'll post a pic showing loaded rounds of 300WM, 7-300WM, fire-formed 7 Valkyrie, and fully-formed 7 Valkyrie.

 

[fmajor]

I'll post a pic showing loaded rounds of 300WM, 7-300WM, fire-formed 7 Valkyrie, and fully-formed 7 Valkyrie.

Congrats on a great innovation!

Would you mind including an old, plain-Jane 7mm RM round in the comparison?

Your 7mm Valkyrie looks like a real winner as it nudges the edge of performance increase/excessive barrel wear. Well done!

 

[cummin_un_glued]

Would you guess that pressure level (82 gr in yours / 86 gr in mine) at around 62,000-63,000 psi? Just trying to get an idea.

just guessing i'd guess 63,000-64,000