Tikka T-3 into a 7 wsm or 7 saum

[pyroducksx3]

Longtime long ranger I understand what you're saying and it makes good sense. I'm not sure which way I'm going yet but I'm trying to get the best fit with the least recoil. I plan on developing loads and practicing with the brake on and then for hunting taking the brake off, of course with rezeroing after the brake is removed. I will be hunting primarily mule deer in the eastern Mts (blue) of washington, as well as black bear with this rifle. I hunt elk with bow. Also 700 yrds I imagine would be the absolute limit for me, at this time I'm not comfortable past 300 but with practice will get there. You make a great case to stay with the 300, its a good thing I have time to figure this out. Thank You

 

[pyroducksx3]

Long time long ranger where were you getting your BC's for those gs bullets maybe I was reading it wrong but their website was way lower like in the .4's?

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Like I said the 7mm wsm is an excellent cartridge and you would be very pleased with it. It is very capable to do what your requirements are. I was just trying to show you how to save some money because what you have is also very good.

The 177 grain 30 caliber GS HV hunting bullet is either .638 or .648 bc. On their website under hv hunting bullet technical data. The 300 wsm will push it over 3100 fps in the t3 light. With that bullet the 300 wsm becomes an excellent round. The 300 ultramag becomes awesome pushing it close to 3500 fps. The bullet is a solid copper allow that is similar in performance to the barnes bullet but doesn't open up quite as well. It stays together through about anything you can shoot it through hunting wise anyway. With the animals your hunting and the range your looking at your 300 wsm tikka t3 will be excellent and I see no need spending the money changing it up. Others probably have other opinions though. If you have accuracy problems with it many times changing the recoil lug system on it to one similar to the rem 700 and bedding it can help.

 

[Autorotate19]

I'm no expert on this but if you do all your load development with the brake on and take it off, you might as well start all over because it changes the harmonics of the barrel. I may be wrong, but hopefully someone smarter than me will chime in. Unless its one of those twist on/off brakes...... Good luck with your project!

 

[pyroducksx3]

I dont believe you have to start all over. I believe you may have to re check your zero but the bullet data will be correct. Doesn't change velocity and BC just point of impact.

 

[Pdvdh]

The addition of a brake could also change group sizes from a given handloaded or factory cartridge, especially on a thinner tubed (lighter-profiled) barrel, in my opinion.

Understand that the principle of the boss adjustable brake or tuner on the end of browning factory rifles is to modify the harmonics of the barrel to match the loaded cartridge, in the effort to obtain optimal accuracy from that given cartridge. Adding a brake to the end of a barrel is no different than modifying the adjustment of the boss tuner/unit at the end of the barrel. I'd be pretty surprised if you didn't experience a change in performance of your pet handload. And if that handload was carefully developed over a period of time with significant sweat & blood - resulting in optimal accuracy in the firearm - I'd expect the addition of a brake to require some renewed tweaking and tuning of that pet handload in order to regain optimum accuracy.

If it was just a plain-Jane factory loading, the addition of the brake probably has a 50/50 chance of improving or degrading accuracy. But if you've already developed a load that gives close to the best accuracy possible for your rifle, you may have to repeat load development in order to get back to the best accuracy possible following the addition of the brake on the end of the rifle barrel.

That's my opinion, and others are equally entitled to theirs.

 

[JARHEAD1371]

Like I said the 7mm wsm is an excellent cartridge and you would be very pleased with it. It is very capable to do what your requirements are. I was just trying to show you how to save some money because what you have is also very good.

The 177 grain 30 caliber GS HV hunting bullet is either .638 or .648 bc. On their website under hv hunting bullet technical data. The 300 wsm will push it over 3100 fps in the t3 light. With that bullet the 300 wsm becomes an excellent round. The 300 ultramag becomes awesome pushing it close to 3500 fps. The bullet is a solid copper allow that is similar in performance to the barnes bullet but doesn't open up quite as well. It stays together through about anything you can shoot it through hunting wise anyway. With the animals your hunting and the range your looking at your 300 wsm tikka t3 will be excellent and I see no need spending the money changing it up. Others probably have other opinions though. If you have accuracy problems with it many times changing the recoil lug system on it to one similar to the rem 700 and bedding it can help.

LTLR I'm looking at the GS website and the 168 .308 bullet is the heaviest one they have a BC listed for. The BC of the 168 is .433 at 3200fps. I don't see how adding 9 gr to a bullet will kick up the BC to over .6. Am I missing something or looking at the wrong bullet? They do have a 197 gr tactical .308 bullet that has a BC of .824 at 3300fps. That's impressive IF it can be pushed that fast accurately. They also don't recommend the tactical bullets for hunting.

PYRODUCKS I had my 7SAUM built last year and have nothing but good things to say about it. My best group (so far) was 1 3/8" at 600 yds. I'm currently waiting to order some 180 gr JLK bullets (.735 BC), going to H1000 or 8435sc, and a calm day to stretch it out to 1K. In good conditions this combo will be excellent at any range you feel comfortable taking a shot. Is there a reason you don't want to hunt with a muzzle brake? My wife and I filled 7 tags with the 7SAUM (with a CSR brake) and had no problems. However,we did have plenty of time to put in ear plugs. It's a beautiful thing to see your bullet crush a deer or antelope at 400 yds. PICS and MORE PICS I went with a brake because I knew my wife would be shooting it also and to be able to spot my own shot for corrections (I can see impacts after 300 yds or so). If you are wanting to shoot high BC bullets you have 2 main calibers to choose from: 7mm and .338. It all depends on how big you want to go. I know I can kill anything on this continent with my 7 SAUM.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Jarhead I found the bullet that Long Time Long ranger was talking about. That website is confusing and you have to look real hard, it jumps around. This is the bullet he was talking about 308177HV198.638 It does say this about the bullet though ."We suggest that this bullet be used for hunting beyond 500m. It can be used in 1:9" twist for closer than 500m. Conditions can cause variations in this recommendation, but we give it as a general guide to application." Most of my shots will be inside of 500. I just want to be ready to take longer. I also want only one bullet for all hunting.


11.540.01.5820.80.82

Long range 1:10"Twist 30-06, 300 Magnums. Close range 1:9"Twist​

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Jarhead, You can run the numbers but I feel confident that my 300 wsm with the 177 grain GS HV hunting bullet at .638 BC traveling over 3100 fps will perform well compared to anything your 7mm saum will do in a hunting situation. Post your bullet and load and let some guys on here run the numbers and see what happens. Both will satisfy this gentlemans requirements but he already has a 300 wsm so why spend the extra money to change it. I completely disagree with your comment that 7mm and 338 are the only choices. I am a hunter, not a target shooter, so my criteira must actually perform well on game in every circumstance. There are some good quality hunting bullets in 30 caliber with good BC's that compare well with any other caliber. That same GS bullet driven near 3500 fps in a 300 ultramag is one of the top performers in any caliber.

 

[JARHEAD1371]

I looked at the 177 gr bullets referred to. They look impressive except for the price. $84.50 per box (100-150 I'm guessing) plus $13 shipping is very steep compared to Bergers or JLKs.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about their caliber of choice, to each his own. I feel that everyone should shoot what he/she can shoot with the highest level of accuracy and confidence. Hell, I'm already looking at other options for another build or rebarrel for when the time comes. So far I've narrowed it down to 7mm/338 Norma with 200 gr Wildcats or 180 gr JLK for a rebarrel and 338 Edge or 338 Norma with 300 gr Bergers (once they are available and tested) for a new build.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Jarhead, No problem, I only have 150 or so rifles in every caliber and wildcats off about every case so I am always needing another excuse to try something else. Those you are looking at should be good ones.

Pyro, The GS bullets perform better under 500 meters than over 500. The problem is them not opening up enough at slower velocities because they are a monometal bullet. At the range you are shooting there are several much cheaper bullets that would do well in your 300 wsm. Basically inside of 500 meters many choices work very well. I am using the 150 etip with a .469 bc just under 3400 fps. I guarantee at the range you are looking at it is a very good choice to take anything you meet up with. I have so many 7mm's based off so many cases I can't even count them all so I love the 7mm as much as anybody. But I wouldn't spend money to go from the 300 wsm to a 7mm of the same case. Either one is fine for what you are doing. I also wouldn't spend money to go from the 7mm wsm to the 300 wsm if I had the 7mm. If you just want to spend some money and the 7mm tickles your fancy then it will also be a good shooter. Performance wise at the range your shooting and the animals I had just as soon have the 300.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Long time long ranger I wasnt looking to change for no reason I only plan to change when I get a new barrel and was looking at if the 300 was still my best option. It seems that if I go to the remington recoil lug and/or plan on installing a muzzle break a new barrel will be required wether or not I choose to stay with the 300 wsm or go to something different. I was hoping to reduce recoil because although I shoot the 300wsm without flinching I still dont enjoy the recoil, but it is tolerable. Was looking at option to possibly reduce felt recoil and maybe even gain a better ballistic advantage.

 

[3fingervic]

I'd keep that gun whole. Save my money, and try to fill another gap in my arsenal. You gun is suited for pretty much anything except elk past 700-800 yards and big bears. Not that it couldn't be done. I would start saving my pennies for a .338 of your choosing. I would really like to get a .338 AM, but I would settle for a Lapua Mag. I have a .300WM, and that's the plan I'm going with.

 

[Mackinjohnson]

So I realize that this is an old thread, but I wanted to comment because this thread helped me make an excellent decision to rebarrel my Tikka T3 Lite from a 300wsm to a 7saum. I could not be happier with my rebarrel. I put a 23" Brux stainless match #3 contour with a Vais muzzle brake on it. It kicks substantially less than my 7mm-08 and shot sub moa before I even started my load development. It has a .09" freebore, so I can load my bullets out longer than a short action magazine will allow. But all Tikka T3s are built on long action receivers, so I exchanged the short action bolt stop to the long action bolt stop. Now I can load a 180 grain Berger Hunting VLD out to 3" or more. You can't do that with other guns, so the Tikka is the perfect poor man's platform. Now that Norma and Nosler are making 7saum brass, the choice over a 7wsm is easy. For those thinking about the conversation, I highly recommend it.