6.5 Saum vs 7 Saum

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

Hi All- I have a Tikka T3 short action in 270WSM, and McMillan game hunters edge stock I won. Wanting to rebarrel/chamber to a new caliber. This would be a hunting gun to shoot elk and mule deer out to 700 yards. I would like to focus this build to be more compact, and light. I have two fairly heavy custom rifles currently. What caliber and barrel length would you choose? I'd like to be in the 2900+ FPS range. Tikka stock mags COAL is 2.9"

 

[WeiserBucks]

Since you said elk , 7 all the way. They shine with long barrels but I had one with a 22" that would make 2900 with a 180 Hybrid after a ton of load development.

 

[Simia Dei]

You’re not limited in OAL with a “short action” tikka either. You can swap out the bolt stop and grab a new DBM and seat that 7SAUM out a long way to really get it performing well. With the redsnake tactical kit you can run it out to 3.5+” or so.

 

[Kraze]

I'd go 7 SAUM for what you described. And as Simia said, you can always swap bottom metal for the Red Snake or Mountain Tactical options and then you can run AICS mags. Mountain Tactical actually used to offer billet mags for the factory bottom metal that would let you load to longer COALs but I don't know what happened to them, as they haven't been on their site in a while.

 

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

What twist would you look for if you wanted to shoot 175 ELD-x and 180 ELDm?

 

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

And could I get away with 22-23" barrel length?

 

[b6graham]

What twist would you look for if you wanted to shoot 175 ELD-x and 180 ELDm?

I'd go 8 and 22-23 just fine

I went with an 8 with a 7SAW

 

[Painless300]

I have a 22” 7LRM in at Desert Tech and I’m at 2910 with Berger 180 Hybrids sitting H1000. You should be able to get pretty close to that in a 7 SAUM.

 

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

Yeah, I believe my first load development will be with the 175 grain ELD-x, seems to be happy balance of velocity and high BC. Think 2900 FPS is possible with 22"?

 

[Barney88PDC]

I think you could get 2900 to 2930 fps in a 22". I have both calibers, 6.5 and 7SAUM, and I'd go 7 all day for what you described. I get 3045 with Berger 180 VLD's in a 26" 9 twist with a compressed load of H1000.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Two questions if I could:

1. Why not stay with the 270WSM and rock the Berger 140 classic hunter, or if the barrel is fast enough twist, try the 170 elite hunter?

2. I’m now in possession of a factory Rem 700 SS in 7 SAUM. Thinking of chopping the barrel back to 20” or 21” to meet min muzzle diameter for a 9/16x24 threading for my Ultra 7. Anyone done something like this and gotten good results with 168-180 grain Bergers for hunting?

 

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

I want a match grade barrel with better twist rate.

 

[knuckleballz]

I ordered a tikka shouldered prefit sendero lite 24" 8 twist 7 rem mag from carbon 6 and bought the mountain tactical long action bottom metal and aics 300win mags that get me out to 3.60 coal. You can file your tikka bolt stop easily to long action bolt stop dimension. I was debating a short magnum but figured I might as well save money on brass and factory ammo and run the 180s long and take advantage of case capacity for more powder/velocity.

 

[knuckleballz]

I should have my barrel within the next month. I will post accuracy/performance results

 

[BIGBUCKZZZ]

Thanks everyone! What is the best rail to put on a Tikka? I need 34mm so Talley out of the question.