Finally...7mm SAUM

Tazman

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Jun 18, 2004
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Indiana
I finally got this dam thing to shoot. I ended up buying new brass. The issue was the Remington brass was soft and pressured up and stuck the case no matter what I tried. I am an engineer (electrical) but my buddy (mechanical engineer-metallurgy) stopped by and said my Remington brass was soft. I used new Nosler brass and 59 grains of H4831sc with the 175 ELD-X and what do you know....it shoots .5 or better but the speed is only 2870FPS. The barrel only has 48 rounds down it (Proof 24 inch) so I hope it speeds up. I loaded the 162 ELDM with 59.5 grains of H4831SC and it only ran 2900 so not sure why only 30fps with back to back shooting and the lab radar.

It doesn't seem to like the 180 berger even though that's what I had it throat-ed for. I can live with 2900FPS and the 175 though. I'm just glad we finally got it to shoot. been looking a some of the speeds people are getting but I can't seem to get there yet.
 
Remington brass is about the best brass there is for the saum. I would try h1000 and see if you have any better results for more speed.
 
Using Norma brass here. Getting 3050 with R26 and 180 ELDM out of a 26” barrel. Super low ES and shoots great. I am loading long so I have a bit more case capacity. 62.5 gr is my load at 3.10”. I recommend R26 particularly if this is a hunting rifle and you are shooting in mild temps. It can spike a bit in hot weather but the speed is worth pursuing.
 
I tried H1000 in the Remington brass.....it stuck the brass at the lowest load. The brass was expanding at the back end. I have RL26 but haven't tried it yet. I have 150 new Nosler brass that I am using now with the H4831sc. The rifle is set us for long range hunting or just plinking. Remington long action with a Prood 24 inch barrel and Manners EH1 stock.
 
Update-shot the 175 eldx with 59.3 grains of H4831sc. It shot awesome but a light ejector mark on case and only 2875fps average. 59 grains of H4831sc gets 2850 with no pressure signs. .3 grains seems to push it over the edge for this combination. I have RL26 and several other powders but I shot a 3 inch 5 shot group at 650 yards so it has some potential.
 
Howdy, reading through a bunch of posts on the 7 saum and reloading as I have one on order. Have any of you tried RL26 with the 175 eldx? The ELDM numbers posted above are impressive!
 
I have about 4 pounds of RL26 which I have been testing in my HMR 6.5 Creedmore. I got the 140 Berger going 2960 with 48.5 grains. I want to test it in the 7mm SAUM.
 
Well that's pretty fast : ) My 6.5 creedmoor load has been 45.2 gr of RL26 going 2730 out of a 24" barrel. This was with a 143 eldx.

I had a hard bolt lift at 47 gr and that was moving at 2869. I was good up to 46.5gr but the group opened up a bit...I think I could work some more with seating depth and run a little faster.
 
7 SAUM is an all time favorite of mine. I’ve used Nosler brass since day one and have some cases with nearly a dozen firings. My rifle has a 26” bartlein medium Palma, it’s set up for hunting / long range steel fun. My stand by hunting load is a 155 cutting edge MTH with 56.2 gr of H4350 - good for 3000 FPS with a SD of 5 FPS. My long range target load is a 160 Sierra TMK with 63.8 gr of H1000 which runs 2950. The accuracy on these two loads is spectacular. No prob making hits on MOA steel at 1,000 with a good wind call.