I was lucky enough to take delivery of my new 7 wsm built by Jon Beanland over the holiday weekend. He had already built me one a couple of years ago that was nothing short of stellar, but was always heavier than I really wanted it to be. So I spun off the MTU barrel and ditched the adjustable Mcmillan A5 in favor of a spiral fluted heavy palma, and non adjustable Manners T2. I used the same Surgeon rsr wsm action that the gun was built on previously. I also switched from surgeon bottom metal to the seekins wsm bottom metal to gain a little more mag length for the short action. I went with a badger thruster brake again, as well as a jewell trigger.
I was able to get out today and put a few rounds down range. I planned on shooting some 162 amax loads I had from my last rifle just to see how they ran in the new gun, and I loaded up 10 rounds of 180 vld's increasing .5 grain of H1000 per load looking for where I would run into pressure. It was 102 degrees while I was at the range shooting. So I figured this would be a good day to find what the max load would be for this rifle. My reasoning for that being, if it's safe today, it should be safe every other day of the year. This is mainly a hunting gun, so most of its use will be in the fall and winter.
I started with the amax loads from my old gun. Shot a couple to get a zero and foul the freshly cleaned barrel. I then fired a 5 shot group and was pleasantly surprised. Not only did they run the exact same speed as they did in my last gun, but they were all clustered into an easy sub 1/2 moa group! Since it was so hot outside I let it cool for a while and shot a couple groups with my 22-243. Once I was done there, I started into the "pressure ladder" test I had loaded up with the 180 vld's. I used the same aiming point as the first group with the 162's figuring the point of impact would be different between the two bullets.... Wrong. At first I could not find where my shot went. I was really more concerned with the speed over the chrono and checking my brass for any pressure signs. I loaded the next .5 grain higher and let it fly. After this one I noticed the original 5 shot amax group was getting a little bigger. I thought that was pretty neat they were shooting the same poi. Since I had already opened the amax group I went ahead and finished the ladder test using the same point of aim, just to see what it would look like when I was done. I was taking my time and making good shots, but not overly concerned. When I was done I had a 15 round group that is just less than 1" center to center.
So far I am super pleased and excited about doing more load testing. I am wanting to run the 180's around 2950, and looks like I won't have any problem reaching that speed or getting it to shoot. Thanks Jon. You are the man!
I was able to get out today and put a few rounds down range. I planned on shooting some 162 amax loads I had from my last rifle just to see how they ran in the new gun, and I loaded up 10 rounds of 180 vld's increasing .5 grain of H1000 per load looking for where I would run into pressure. It was 102 degrees while I was at the range shooting. So I figured this would be a good day to find what the max load would be for this rifle. My reasoning for that being, if it's safe today, it should be safe every other day of the year. This is mainly a hunting gun, so most of its use will be in the fall and winter.
I started with the amax loads from my old gun. Shot a couple to get a zero and foul the freshly cleaned barrel. I then fired a 5 shot group and was pleasantly surprised. Not only did they run the exact same speed as they did in my last gun, but they were all clustered into an easy sub 1/2 moa group! Since it was so hot outside I let it cool for a while and shot a couple groups with my 22-243. Once I was done there, I started into the "pressure ladder" test I had loaded up with the 180 vld's. I used the same aiming point as the first group with the 162's figuring the point of impact would be different between the two bullets.... Wrong. At first I could not find where my shot went. I was really more concerned with the speed over the chrono and checking my brass for any pressure signs. I loaded the next .5 grain higher and let it fly. After this one I noticed the original 5 shot amax group was getting a little bigger. I thought that was pretty neat they were shooting the same poi. Since I had already opened the amax group I went ahead and finished the ladder test using the same point of aim, just to see what it would look like when I was done. I was taking my time and making good shots, but not overly concerned. When I was done I had a 15 round group that is just less than 1" center to center.
So far I am super pleased and excited about doing more load testing. I am wanting to run the 180's around 2950, and looks like I won't have any problem reaching that speed or getting it to shoot. Thanks Jon. You are the man!
