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The Great 7mm Debate!

S

Sniper260

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 22, 2013
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I've been in the planning stages for a while, still finishing up some other builds... I've researched it all a lot, but god it is still hard to decide what 7mm I want to go with...

284win, 284 Shehane, 280AI, 7SAUM, 7WSM etc etc...

I love the look of the 284 case.... and I always like to have something different that what everyone else has, yet still have a really great round.


For this build I'm really wanting to shoot 180ish grain bullets. The 180 grain bergers for example... and I would like to be somewhere between 2800 fps and 3100 fps. I do NOT, however want a barrel burning caliber, so pushing a bullet over 3000fps gets to be somewhat iffy on barrel life.

Max range wise for this rifle I would like to get more than 1100 yards reliable and accurately, but no more than 1600 yards - so somewhere in that range... If I really wanted to push anything further or for things out past 1500 I have a 338 lapua set up for 300 gr pills thats about to be sent to the gun smith to be built....

My thing is I have a 260 tactical pushing 140 gr bullets, then a big gap of nothing up to the 338 lapua that I will be sending off here soon... So I figured a 7mm type round could fill that gap nicely for now.
 
The good news is anything you mentioned will do what you are wanting, so it is up to you to prioritize what secondary things matter to you, such as long vs short action etc.
I suspect you will be happy with any of them, which was my conclusion as well, so I went with what is most available and tried and true which for me was a straight 7RM, didn't want to mess with brass availability or case forming etc. Any of them are very nice though and frankly as long as you are doing your job right you are not likely to miss a target because you chose over the other.
 
ducks-and-bucks said:
I always like to have something different that what everyone else has
Click to expand...

My vote's for 7WSM or 7WSSM. 1200-2000 rounds barrel life depending on how you treat them. Feed out of magazines with a short action...

Like Nortex and KYpat say, they'll all do the job.
 
7 WSM, 7/300 WSM, or 7 SAUM on a long action will allow you to get the max out of the cartridge and the heavy bullets, That said, it's going to somewhat sacrifice the barrel life. But you can then load them with a slower powder like H1000 or Retumbo with using max case capacity and the bullets seated long (chamber throated long) and still get the performance from it with a little less barrel burn. But that also leaves you with losing the short action aspect of that equation and the only advantage over 7RM is not having a belted case. But it's also at the disadvantage of brass availability.

Like has been previously mentioned, all on your list can/will do the job you're looking for.
 
I guess secondary issues for me come in with quality components... for example your not going to find 7WSM Lapua brass... Though I hear nosler is making really good brass now... Brass quality would be my next issue and I wont buy winchester or remington brass for reloading.
 
Any 7mm over 2800 will be a barrel burner. Maybe 2000 rds at 2800fps, 1000 rds at 3100fps. Either way it will not last long ;)

2800fps: 6.5-284 brass
3000-3050fps: 7SAUM
3100fps: 7-270WSM
 
Nosler brass so far seems really good. Uniform, case mouths chamfered, flash-holes centered and already deburred. If anything the primer pockets are a little tight, but I know how to fix that...
 
7mm LRM is worth a look. Brass is good quality, non belted, & readily available from Gunwerks.
Case has longer neck as well, might make a good option for Berger 195's if & when.;-)
Reamers & dies also.
 
Last edited:
If you don't mind turning necks, 284 Win or Shehane in a long action would hit your goals nicely with comparatively good barrel life. If you need more, one of the short magnums would do.
 
ducks-and-bucks said:
I guess secondary issues for me come in with quality components... for example your not going to find 7WSM Lapua brass... Though I hear nosler is making really good brass now... Brass quality would be my next issue and I wont buy winchester or remington brass for reloading.
Click to expand...

Precisely why the one I'm building right now is in 7/300 WSM as it uses the 300/270/325 WSM case, necked to 7mm instead of the longer shouldered 7 WSM. Norma is making 270 and 300 WSM as well as 7 SAUM brass.
 
I shoot a 7wsm and have pushed 180 Bergers to 3,023fps in a short mag action but have settled at around 2,950-60fps with great accuracy. I turn all my Winchester brass and find them to be very good but I usually have to cull 2 or 3 per 50. George at GAP set the free bore to run 180gr Bergers but I wish the neck diameter was around 0.309 to 0.315 instead of 0.320.

With a DA of 141ft and 41* I'm supersonic out to 1,650yds

It does everything I need it to do and when the time comes to rebarrel it......so be it. I'm on my fourth set of tires and fifth battery on my 1999 GMC truck. Things like that happen when you work the tools you use.

Prior to my 7wsm I shot a 7mm RM for 22 years and loved it.
 
I would go with 7RM or 7SAUM. Consider brass availability whatever your choice.

AC Delco battery for the GMC...
 
If your planing to shoot 180 berger.. get 7 saum long action..i have short and long action with this caliber..u dont need anything bigger to shoot up to 2k yard..
 
The .280AI will get everything you want using very readily available brass and less powder than the big mags. Its different and its truly OUTSTANDING.
 
7RUM... Push it as fast or slow as you want and never worry about not having enough case capacity. Not belted either.
 
One thing to consider with the 7 wsm is brass availability. Meaning, there is none
to be found anywhere. Also, it will be hard for most of the custom ammo makers
to make any for you for this very reason. I just picked up a 7 wsm and found this out quickly.
Luckily, the person I purchased the rifle from found 300 cases and sold them to me.
Crisis averted.....
 
Go for the 7mm-270WSM in that case. Winchester and Norma make them, you could even neck back the 300wsm, also made by norma and winchester. Chances of finding any of these four cases are higher than just the 7wsm that winchester makes. Good for 3100fps from 30".
 
Any one of those cartridges will get the job done for your objectives. The one thing I will say is go for a long action. The long 180gr Berger is just too much of a pain in the butt in the short. Yes, it is possible to build a successful short action, but why take the headache risk?

You will love the 180gr Berger Hybrid going 2800fps + ... closest thing to a laser beam without the massive recoil of the big 300 mags and bigger rounds. Plenty of splash/vapor on target, even at 1 mile.

Good luck with your build!
 
7RM with 180's at 3040fps works perfectly. Same speed as the 7LRM and multiple brass options. Several of the guys I have built them for are at or just over the 1800 round mark and they are still shooting sub 1/2moa. They aren't using them as match rifles though.
 
I've researched a lot about this lately as I wanted a 7mm retirement present for myself. I will be going with a straight .284 Win on a long action, and my end goals are not much different than yours. I like the quality brass availability since you can also neck up 6.5x284. Recoil is less than all of the 7 magnums, and I don't want to run a brake on this one. Barrel life is pretty good. Carries enough energy for killing stuff out well past any range that I would personally take a shot. Can be kept supersonic to 1400-1500yds depending on how hot you run it and atmospheric conditions.

Hard to go wrong with any of the 7mms though in my opinion.
 
Squid284 said:
I would go with 7RM or 7SAUM. Consider brass availability whatever your choice.


AC Delco battery for the GMC...
Click to expand...

I use the military spec optima/hawker in my custom samurai. Great battery. Expensive as hell but great battery.
 
diggler1833 said:
Recoil is less than all of the 7 magnums, and I don't want to run a brake on this one.
Click to expand...

With a brake, you may find that the bigger 7's recoil less. They use more powder to push the same bullet not-a-lot faster, so the brake has more gas to work with. At first I didn't have a brake, but now I can go through 60+ rounds in a match without even noticing. ...just depends on your application.
 
OP: In your initial post you say a magnum(ish) 7mm would fill a gap left by your 260 and 338.

I kinda disagree. The 260 is good to go out to 1000-1200 yards, right about the point it makes sense to pull out a 338.

I wonder if your money wouldn't be better spent elsewhere? For example, a hotrod 6mm for PRS matches? Then maybe switch your 260 over to a 7mm08 once it is shot out?

Just a thought.
 
Fredo0621 said:
Also look at the RBros 7mm Rogue. Looks awesome as well.
Click to expand...
I shoot the 7 Rogue.
180's at 3100 easily out of a 26" barrel. Using H-1000, I expect good barrel life for what it is. Took a mulie at 841yds last fall.
 
I love my .280 Ackley, longest barrel life of the bunch.
 
Jcub said:
I love my .280 Ackley, longest barrel life of the bunch.
Click to expand...
what bullet and powder are you using along with the specs are you getting if you don't mind to share more information with us?
 
7mm STW has been around for awhile. Great performer. So popular with the long range hunters, the Long range hunting forum has its own 7mm STW forum heading. Comes in between 7 mm rem mag and 7mm rum. Something to think about with the 7mm magnums is coal. 180 g/ vld type bullets make for long cartridges. Single shot vs. mag fed. If mag fed, then might require mods to action and Wyatt outdoors magazine.
 
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