short mag build

[Litehiker]

Thought about a "build gun". Too much like work with no guarantee it would work well.
I bought 6.5 PRC Browning X-Bolt Pro.

 

[Philward]

He pulls them apart to get the brass, he doesn't want to waste barrel life on shooting factory ammo that doesn't perform.

How much barrel life will he use up? 25%, 50%, 95%? For a hunting rifle who cares if he uses 25% of barrel life sighting in and load development. Should still have a bucketful of years hunting with it and be accurate.

 

[Kimber7man]

I would like to build a short mag long range mountain rifle. I want a lighter gun without a muzzle brake. Brass availability is important to me. It will be used for deer and elk out to 1000 yrds, I prefer 7mm or bigger. My old faithful 300RUM is too heavy for long hikes. What caliber/load do you recommend?

My build is similar to what you're looking for:
7 SAUM
Defiance anTi XM length
Defiance alloy rail
Defiance alloy BDL kit
Bartlein 22" 8.5 twist #4 CFW
Manners EH-SL
TT special

175 Elite Hunter over 58.5 R23 in ADG brass was 2,770-2,780 in the first 100 rounds, very consistent but I am over 150 rounds and need to chrono again.

Bare rifle:

 

[RH300UM]

Very nice gun, it looks great. I'm impressed with the performance, what powder are you using to get that velocity? What distance is the target pic?

RL26

100yards

 

[Longtine88]

My build is similar to what you're looking for:
7 SAUM
Defiance anTi XM length
Defiance alloy rail
Defiance alloy BDL kit
Bartlein 22" 8.5 twist #4 CFW
Manners EH-SL
TT special

175 Elite Hunter over 58.5 R23 in ADG brass was 2,770-2,780 in the first 100 rounds, very consistent but I am over 150 rounds and need to chrono again.

Bare rifle:

View attachment 309554View attachment 309555

Keep pushing it Kimber…..I use the same recipe and same Components you are and I found a node where you are at your speed but the best one I found was at 61.6 grains of RL23. It was a node that was almost a whole grain wide. 3,014' avg.

 

[Kimber7man]

Keep pushing it Kimber…..I use the same recipe and same Components you are and I found a node where you are at your speed but the best one I found was at 61.6 grains of RL23. It was a node that was almost a whole grain wide. 3,014' avg.

Thanks. That 175 is a great killin bullet!

 

[Dunegoon]

I know this is not a short mag but it is light and long range. Remington 700 stainless in 375 RUM 26 inch barrel. Brown Precision Kevlar stock, Jewel trigger, fluted bolt and handle, titanium floor plate bolts, Talley rings, titanium muzzle brake all Cerakote black and a Swarovski 3-10 x 42 one inch tube scope to top it off. All under 6 3/4 pounds! And YES it hammers on both ends!!!

 

[Backcountry sports]

I would like to build a short mag long range mountain rifle. I want a lighter gun without a muzzle brake. Brass availability is important to me. It will be used for deer and elk out to 1000 yrds, I prefer 7mm or bigger. My old faithful 300RUM is too heavy for long hikes. What caliber/load do you recommend?

Look at a cooper model 92 7mm with scope mines at 7lbs

 

[Rocketeer77]

Help me understand why not a short action, is it too small for the longer bullets?

There's no genuine benefits when running a short action for hunting, plenty of limitations though. Half my bolt action rifles are long action and for handling out in the field there's no noticeable difference. For a follow up shot we're talking microseconds?

 

[LongBomber]

I would go 300wsm or 300SS. The 300wsm will push a 200gr berger out to around 2850fps easily with a few powders and I can get 2940 with rl26. All from a 2.84" oal, fitting in a standard length rem action. You can gain 50ish fps seating long and running a 3" mag box or a single shot.

You really don't need much more than that, or want more in a light rifle. A 300wsm is about all you want in a sub-7 pound rifle, and that is about the max you want to pack around when its really steep or a multi-day pack hunt.

 

[25WSM]

I like the saum cases and the prc cases. The 6.5 prc can be necked up or down and improved very easily. The 300wsm is one of the most successful 1000 yard br cartridges. But it is a little handicap in a short action. The go to powder is h4350 and a 210 or 215 bullet at 2850 fps. This powder fits in the case with lots of room to seat the bullet deep. So I would not hesitate to do a 300 wsm on a short action build if its what you want. I shoot a 6.5 saum on a short action with the wyatt long box and it fits very nice even with 147eldm bullets. I get 3200fps with rl26 in a 26 inch barrel. Look up ballistic info on that combo its pretty impressive. Above all build what you think will make you happy. Have fun.
Shep

 

[L.Sherm]

Don't forget about RL23, the new 1000 record was shot with it.
Worked very well for me also recently.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Thought about a "build gun". Too much like work with no guarantee it would work well.
I bought 6.5 PRC Browning X-Bolt Pro.View attachment 309545

Too much "like fun" for most of us and very rewarding when you do most of it yourself. Here's one I just finished and built/assembled myself. If I could only do this as work my dream would've come true! Looking forward to finishing up my 300 WSM and 7WSM.

 

[COBrad]

My light weight mountain rifle is a 5 lb New Ultra Light Arms .284 Winchester. It's a fine elk rifle but only out to 600 yards max. I recently had a light weight long range rifle built. Defiance Deviant Hunter action, Manners CF EH-1 stock, Bartlien 25" 3B fluted barrel, muzzle brake, Trigger Tech, Farrell Rings, NF ATACR scope. Weighs 11 lbs. lighter scope, rings, action and it could probably be 1.5 lbs lighter. I just finished fine tuning ballistic data for an elk hunt in two days. This group was shot at 1317 yards. Two 3-shot groups ran a hair under half MOA. .300 WSM shooting 215 grain Berger Hybrids at 2817 fps. This is my idea of a 1K yard capable light long range rifle. Built by West Elk Precision in Grand Junction Colorado