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6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

bjohnson_7

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 14, 2007
83
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by the river TN
I have a Win M70 in .300 WSM I just bought cheap. $275. Its the super shadow version. This thing has issues. I blame it mostly on the cheap ass plastic stock and pencil barrel. It will not hold a group 2 MOA if I'm lucky. So I'm thinking a new barrel, stock, and trueing job. Which is better ballistically and barrel life wise? I'm banking on the 7 but those 6.5 scenars look pretty promising. If I went the 7 route I would probably shoot the 168 bergers. Also who makes a DBM for M70 that would allow for some good seating depth in the mag?
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

i have to agree 7saum + h162 amax + h1000= one hell of a combo
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

I'd be willing to bet that the pencil barrel would shoot much tighter groups if you allowed for cooling between shots. It's designed to be a light-weight hunting rifle and it's not expected to pour shot after shot into a single hole. I have a light-weight Browning A-Bolt .308 that will shoot under 1" at 200 yards if I allow the barrel to cool a bit between shots.
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: countryboy300</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a Win M70 in .300 WSM I just bought cheap. $275. Its the super shadow version. This thing has issues. I blame it mostly on the cheap ass plastic stock and pencil barrel. It will not hold a group 2 MOA if I'm lucky. So I'm thinking a new barrel, stock, and trueing job. Which is better ballistically and barrel life wise? I'm banking on the 7 but those 6.5 scenars look pretty promising. If I went the 7 route I would probably shoot the 168 bergers. Also who makes a DBM for M70 that would allow for some good seating depth in the mag? </div></div>

How do you plan to use it?

So it won't hold a group. I've never seen anyone group shots on a deer. How is it on <span style="text-decoration: underline">first</span> shot? If it's w/i a MOA of the POA it's doing what it's supposed to do. If you have to hump with it in the mountains hunting mulies or elk you'll appreciate that pencil. I've read more than one serious hunter/guide say that they are perfectly happy with with skinny pencil barrels and a Winchester Feather weight stock.

If it's going to be a hunting rifle you may want to try a different stock and see if that improves the performance to where you want to see it.

If you want to use the action to make something to bang steel or paper make it into anything you want. Most of the stuff I'm seeing from the guys shooting 6.5'ss or 7mm's say that they look to re-barrel after about 1000 to 1200 rounds for competition grade accuracy.

Check out 6mmbr they have a lot of good info on chamberings and performance.
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

In general:

6.5 WSM is going to to burn the barrel out quick,maybe 800-1000 rounds.You could back off the load to extend the barrel life.

7 Rsaum and 7 WSM will have better barrel life about twice as much.
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

I ain't gonna make this my hunting rifle. Already got one for that and love it. This one will be for punching paper and pinging steel. May use it for some coyote hunting and who knows...I may get into some comps with it. Can I get the 168 vlds to 3100 with the SAUM? What can I expect the 6.5 WSM to sling the 139 scenars at? The 7mm should shoot flatter than the 6.5 correct?
 
Re: 6.5 WSM vs 7mmRSAUM

That's stretching it with the SAUM in my experience. I happen to like the SAUM cartridges, but is the equivelent of a wildcat now IMO. I would go the 7 WSM for sure. Getting to around 3100+ with the 168 shouldn't be a big problem, figuring a 24" barrel....

Good thinking on the stock BTW, those factory stocks are a really weak link, and especially on more powerful cartridges like the 300 WSM range.

The 6.5 isn't gonna have that much less barrel life based on the 2 I have run, which were both 6.5/300WSM's. It is the amount of heat and pressure that kill a barrel, so the larger diameter should give you a bit more, but I got really good accuracy for at least 2200 rounds of really good accuracy out of mine. The second one got adopted by a friend of mine, and is still shooting well according to him, the first one got gone on a trade--had about 200 rounds in addition to the 2200 in load development rounds and break in, so it may be good for more than that 2200 BTW.

If I was going to a wildcat, (saying the SAUM or the 6.5 WSM) I would probably do the 6.5 WSM since it's a WSM already, and that would make feeding simple, and because brass is easier--of course dies are a little trickier, but several mfgs have them available. As to the DBM, out of my depth there, hopefully some of our smith members will provide that intel.

Good luck with your new rig