New GAP Extreme Hunter in 6.5 SAUM

[BullyDog]

Great looking gun GA Precision! Now I see why a few guys have been on me about this cartridge. Would like to add this to my 7mmSTW I own for ultra long range hunting. Beautiful gun and performer, thanks for pointing me in this direction, if only this VA check would increase some.

Got the new GAP Extreme Hunter in 6.5 SAUM !

GA Precision Extreme Hunter
6.5 SAUM

Templar Extreme Hunter action
Bartlein 8.7 twist, fluted barrel @ 24”
Vias brake
Manners 100% Carbon Fiber SL stock
APA bottom metal
Jewell HVR trigger
Talley LW rings
NF 2.5-10x32 scope



GAP Extreme Hunter

here is George, Pat and mine in background. First 3 built in the new Extreme Hunter series.

These rifles are stupid accurate. Been incredibly impressed so far.

Zero'd at 200 and tested out to 839 yards this weekend at the Icebreaker III shoot. About 50 rounds downrange so far.

Cinch was spotting and I had first round hits at 509, 710, and 839 yards. The 140's and 130's are both very impressive.
15.2 MOA at 839 with the 140 AMAX.

will post more results soon. Gonna be very impressive platform !!

 

[Jmilera]

George what was your group size at 200 yards?

 

[Papagallos]

I think George and Co. have bullet holes kissing each other.

 

[Jmilera]

Kissy kissy

 

[Sendero_Man]

 

[BullyDog]

Nice!!!! Keep posting pretty pics..

 

[Seandradamus]

Hey all I ordered my extreme a month ago and have been trying to narrow my choice for glass
I really love the features of the march 3x24x40 but.......I'm concerned with 2 things 1. Dusk visibility with a 40 mm obj.
And the thick crosshairs at full mag , I am considering the new 52mm for brightness and also the fine moa retical wish they had fine mil/mil..........thoughts ?

 

[Jeepcreep]

Has anyone shot this rifle without the brake? Curious what the recoil compares to.

 

[waveslayer]

Has anyone shot this rifle without the brake? Curious what the recoil compares to.

I haven't shot the Extreme Hunter before but I have my DTA without a brake. The recoil is very little like shooting a 243 to me. to be honest not sure I have never noticed it

 

[Jeepcreep]

I was just curious why a brake is part of the package. Is it to lesson "harsh" recoil or is it there just to help spot your own hits better, not to save your shoulder.

 

[waveslayer]

I was just curious why a brake is part of the package. Is it to lesson "harsh" recoil or is it there just to help spot your own hits better, not to save your shoulder.

As light as the Extreme Hunter is you will feel more recoil. my DTA is heavy compared to the GAP
that's why

 

[bpaulick]

Would there be any benefit of running a 28" barrel over a 26 or 24? Any extra velocity or is it just extra weight? Its an 1-8.5 twist shooting 140 bergers with 62 grains of Retumbo.

 

[CPGFAN]

I was just curious why a brake is part of the package. Is it to lesson "harsh" recoil or is it there just to help spot your own hits better, not to save your shoulder.

Recoil is minimal. I have a 6.5 saum on a Titanium action and have shot several groups w brake off and it's mild in a 7.5 lb rifle

 

[Jeepcreep]

Thanks for the replies guys. Was just curious. Can't wait to order an extreme hunter...after my Deviant action sells.

 

[trailrider121]

I did a little searching, but not going to look through 48 pages of awesomeness regarding the 6.5 saum. So is there any advantage from the reamer being neck turn vs the non neck turn in accuracy?

 

[Sendero_Man]

Both are going to be very accurate. Depends whether or not you want to turn necks and have everything as true and uniform as it can be.

Uniform neck = Uniform neck tension... Consistency

 

[memyselfni]

For what it's worth I chose the no turn 298 reamer and had nothing but trouble accuracy wise and problems with pressure as well as very inconsistent velocities. Turned necks and all problems went away.

 

[Akhunter907]

As long as we are talking reloading (I have the neck turn chamber) , I also have went to a .292 bushing, getting a bit better accuracy, and per my calcs still running 1.5 thou on my neck tension, which is working just fine. I shot it in one round of F-Class over the weekend at 600, its the number 3, shot as slow as I could, but still got hot. Shot a 197-9x if I remember correctly, berger 130's and 63 of h1000. Was going to just stop at 10-15, but with 5 minutes to go couldn't help myself and rang off the last 5, 3 of which were 9's, so not sure if it was just me or the barrel getting too hot.

 

[montana3gunner]

Alright...I'm jumping on this bandwagon. I've been using a custom .260 for my deer/lope gun for the last several years, and although I've been impressed with what a 140 Amax at 2850 will do on game, I've thought about what having 6.5-284 performance (similar to my competition gun) would be like. So, I sent off a 300 WSM Tikka to GAP for a re-barrel (I can hear the groans...not another guy with a Tikka!) Sent it in with a new Mountain Tactical stock for it.

Also, this might be of interest to those considering the same.... I took the factory Tikka WSM mag (which is very slightly wider internally than the other Tikka mags), and removed the "block" in the back so that I could seat the bullets out as far as I wanted. I also changed the WSM bolt stop to a LA bolt stop. I tested it with 270 WSM rounds with 140 Accubonds loaded out to 3.000+ and it fed really well, but we'll see when it comes back. Might need a little tweeking with the 6.5 SAUM rounds. I can always add some block back in the mag if needed, and put it the WSM bolt stop, with some material removed so that the bolt comes back as far as I need it to.

Based on what I've seen, I'm pretty sure this load will shithouse deer and antelope at just about as far as you can find them. I'm also pretty sure that a 140 Accubond will be great on cow/spike elk, but I'm a little concerned about a big bull. We've got 300+ class bulls in my part of the country and although I've seen them drop at less, I've seen them shake off a lot more. On those hunts I'll probably still grab my 300 RUM. 200 AB at 3150fps. Elk do not like that.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

I think that if hundreds of thousands of moose have fallen to the 6.5 x 55, the 6.5 SAUM should be plenty for an elk.

 

[alpine44]

Alright...I'm jumping on this bandwagon. I've been using a custom .260 for my deer/lope gun for the last several years, and although I've been impressed with what a 140 Amax at 2850 will do on game, I've thought about what having 6.5-284 performance (similar to my competition gun) would be like. So, I sent off a 300 WSM Tikka to GAP for a re-barrel (I can hear the groans...not another guy with a Tikka!) Sent it in with a new Mountain Tactical stock for it.

Also, this might be of interest to those considering the same.... I took the factory Tikka WSM mag (which is very slightly wider internally than the other Tikka mags), and removed the "block" in the back so that I could seat the bullets out as far as I wanted. I also changed the WSM bolt stop to a LA bolt stop. I tested it with 270 WSM rounds with 140 Accubonds loaded out to 3.000+ and it fed really well, but we'll see when it comes back. Might need a little tweeking with the 6.5 SAUM rounds. I can always add some block back in the mag if needed, and put it the WSM bolt stop, with some material removed so that the bolt comes back as far as I need it to.

Based on what I've seen, I'm pretty sure this load will shithouse deer and antelope at just about as far as you can find them. I'm also pretty sure that a 140 Accubond will be great on cow/spike elk, but I'm a little concerned about a big bull. We've got 300+ class bulls in my part of the country and although I've seen them drop at less, I've seen them shake off a lot more. On those hunts I'll probably still grab my 300 RUM. 200 AB at 3150fps. Elk do not like that.

I do not know from experience how tough Elk is but heavy European red stag and wild boar always ended up in the freezer with a 6.5x55 and a bullet that would virtually guarantee exit. We used certain RWS bullets (H-Mantel, TUG, KS) that are not available here AFAIK. But something like a Barnes TTSX or LRX should do the trick. I know that Accubonds are very popular but even a bonded lead core bullet cannot hold a candle to what I call "Barnes router tip penetrators". If those do not come out on the other side you need a bigger hammer.

 

[trailrider121]

Both are going to be very accurate. Depends whether or not you want to turn necks and have everything as true and uniform as it can be.

Uniform neck = Uniform neck tension... Consistency

Perfect, and I figured that the neck turn would be better. I can understand the no neck turn for those who don't want to do it.

 

[alpine44]

I am late to the party.

The results reported for the 6.5 SAUM look impressive. Is the goose cooked for the 6.5-284 or has someone figured out how to get more barrel life out of it?

What stops me from jumping on the 6.5 SAUM bandwagon is the 13.6mm rim. That rules out a few actions I wanted to tinker with.

 

[montana3gunner]

It will be interested to see how this newer cartridge performs, I know I'm really excited about it. It's basically what I've been dreaming about for the last couple years, and GAP deserves kudos for developing it.

I think they did an amazing job with their Extreme Hunter. If you have the money, it would be a great gun for just about any hunting you could do. Unfortunately, they are a little out of my price range, so I have to settle for a re-barrel from GAP. I know they are not the same thing - just same caliber.

Part of the reason I'm trying this out - I may end up re-barreling my comp gun in this caliber.

 

[tho98027]

What's the latest update on a manufacturer to mass produce brass for this?

 

[schmi015]

So back in december I traded a junky 1911 for a new tikka t3 in 300wsm. I promptly sent it to Short Action Customs. Here is my 6.5 SAUM on a tikka t3 action. It's sitting in a manners elite hunter stock with a #3 bartlein 24inches long and threaded at the muzzle 5/8-24. The scope is the new lrhs from bushnell, love the setup and impressed with the work by SAC.

Hopefully i will have a test target after this weekend!

 

[Crotalus]

What's the latest update on a manufacturer to mass produce brass for this?

+2

 

[.284]

So back in december I traded a junky 1911 for a new tikka t3 in 300wsm. I promptly sent it to Short Action Customs. Here is my 6.5 SAUM on a tikka t3 action. It's sitting in a manners elite hunter stock with a #3 bartlein 24inches long and threaded at the muzzle 5/8-24. The scope is the new lrhs from bushnell, love the setup and impressed with the work by SAC.

Hopefully i will have a test target after this weekend!

How much room is in the mag? I like to see how it shoots after you get out
Thanks

 

[memyselfni]

Very nice tikka. Yesterday I sent a 270 wsm t3 off with a mcmillan sako hunter carbon fibre stock off to get rebarreled with a bartlein no 3 fluted and suppressed

 

[pc3]

Folks what is the consensus regarding how a 6.5saum is fed is it easier/simpler to have it built with detach box mags rather than needing to open an action up for the Wyatt's box etc. ?

as you can get alpha mags that are long enough without modification and a 5 shot AI mag simply needs the front plate removed is that correct ?

Does the mag box get in the road for a light weight rifle ? generally I usually think of a light weight gun having a floor plate not a detachable mag box set up, but reality is a shot AI mag does not hang much lower than the trigger guard....probably just does not carry as nice.

Also will a standard 8 twist barrel work ok rather than 1-8.7 ?

 

[waveslayer]

Folks what is the consensus regarding how a 6.5saum is fed is it easier/simpler to have it built with detach box mags rather than needing to open an action up for the Wyatt's box etc. ?

as you can get alpha mags that are long enough without modification and a 5 shot AI mag simply needs the front plate removed is that correct ?

I'm using a DTA and their Magnum mag with no modifications with zero issues. You just need to use consistent speeds running the bolt all the way through

 

[schmi015]

.284 I should have some copper creek 130grn bergers here by Friday and I'll post a pic of mag fit.

Montana3gunner, what kind of tikka do you have that you are sending in? Gap told me they don't work on t3's hence why I went to SAC. But it's all good I had gap redo my 300winmag.

 

[montana3gunner]

Schmi - I sent them a t3. They said they would do it but warned me that there was a lot of things that they would normally do that they could not with a Tikka, is trueing etc. It is what it is. But they will re-barrel it, and I'm thankful that they are willing to take it on.

I think the max cartridge length of a tikka WSM OEM mag is about 2.880, but I'm going off memory. But see my earlier post, they can be modified.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[memyselfni]

130 berger 15 thou from lands fits good in standard t3 wsm mag

 

[hillbillybear]

So back in december I traded a junky 1911 for a new tikka t3 in 300wsm. I promptly sent it to Short Action Customs. Here is my 6.5 SAUM on a tikka t3 action. It's sitting in a manners elite hunter stock with a #3 bartlein 24inches long and threaded at the muzzle 5/8-24. The scope is the new lrhs from bushnell, love the setup and impressed with the work by SAC.

Hopefully i will have a test target after this weekend!

Very Nice Rig What is the weight like it sits now?

 

[schmi015]

I dont have a scale or anything but I would say 7 pounds.

.284 The copper creek 130grn berger loads fit the factory magazine, but just barely. Should have test target by monday.

 

[Sendero_Man]

I think that if hundreds of thousands of moose have fallen to the 6.5 x 55, the 6.5 SAUM should be plenty for an elk.

 

[.284]

Great thanks. From what I have gathered the 130's are about 2.9 and the 140's are about 2.95.
Anyone have any pics with a 140 Berger in a t-3 mag?

In the past I have modified a 223 t-3 mag for the 80 grain Bergers and although it did work most of the time there was a tendency for the rounds to "nose dive" in the mag sometimes. I believe that I probably lengthened the mag for the 80grainers longer than would be needed for the the 140's in the 6.5 saum but I would really like to know if someone else has tried this and succeeded yet for 140's Bergers.

 

[jfields]

If your starting on 300 SAUM brass you also need a .311 bushing. Size with .311 then .295 then turn then Size with .290


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have .323 and .305 bushings. Is that a no go?

 

[waveslayer]

I have .323 and .305 bushings. Is that a no go?

That is fine. If you use the .295 bushing with .300 Remington SAUM the necks won't fit on the Turning mandrel. .. causes some issues

 

[Prebanpaul]

How close is someone with brass. I am looking to have one built, I have my build sheet, just need to make sure I can get factory brass.

 

[tigerfan_9]

How close is someone with brass. I am looking to have one built, I have my build sheet, just need to make sure I can get factory brass.

See link from George....4th qtr of this year to even place an order. But it seams pretty easy to make or you can buy some from copper creek.

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...care-feeding-gap-6-5-saum-16.html#post3106316

 

[OKbow87]

If anybody needs a set of dies for a .298 no turn set up I have some for sale in the classifieds.

 

[blackfoot]

Can somebody offer some advice on loading the Hybrids? For breaking in the barrel/fireforming, I loaded the 140 Hybrids into the lands with 61 grains of H1000. The load showed potential even though it was just thrown together to break in the barrel. There were pressure signs. Then I put together some loads to test jumping them .015". No good. I'm seeing signs of pressure (primer flowing into fireing pin hole) from 60 grains up and accuracy is average at best. Using Norma 7mm SAUM brass, Fed 215M primers, in a .2962 .081FB chamber.

How far are you successfully jumping the Hybrids? Anybody else using Norma brass, H1000, and 140 Hybrids? What load and at what point are you seeing pressure?

 

[.284]

I use the hybrids in a .308 and was very surprised at how much jump they liked. Nothing like loading vld's. My best accuracy was actually at .1 inch jump which is considerably further than I ever seat vld's in multiple rifles.

Is your action a remington by chance? I find they leave signs on the primer like you described for all loads even when they are definitely not loaded hot.
.284

 

[.284]

What's the general consensus on when to anneal?
Prior to necking down?
After necking down?
Or after the initial firing?

 

[bas402]

I anneal after sizing and turning then I clean after firing, anneal then size each cycle as with all my calibers so I don't have to keep track of which cycle to do it and I find my neck tension is always very consistent.

 

[eshorebwhntr]

Can somebody offer some advice on loading the Hybrids? For breaking in the barrel/fireforming, I loaded the 140 Hybrids into the lands with 61 grains of H1000. The load showed potential even though it was just thrown together to break in the barrel. There were pressure signs. Then I put together some loads to test jumping them .015". No good. I'm seeing signs of pressure (primer flowing into fireing pin hole) from 60 grains up and accuracy is average at best. Using Norma 7mm SAUM brass, Fed 215M primers, in a .2962 .081FB chamber.

How far are you successfully jumping the Hybrids? Anybody else using Norma brass, H1000, and 140 Hybrids? What load and at what point are you seeing pressure?

I'm not using Hybrids or Norma brass but with Remington and VLD's I started to hit pressure at 59.7 gr H1000. I backed down to 59.5 and have good accuracy there. I have a shit chrono but if you trust the published Litz b.c. on the 140 VLD my chart is good out to 1200 using a corrected MV of 3110 and 59.5gr H1000 load.

For the Hybrids, I've only ever used them in the 7mm 180 variant but they ran fine for me anywhere from .025-.060 jump.

To continue on from the previous comment, I've had the 6.5x300 saum chambering since 2009. Brass life was always the downfall. When I saw that some were getting north of 10 reloads on their brass I got excited and had GAP set my throat back and cut it with their reamer. Brass life is better, but not as good as I would have liked with the 140 class of bullets and H1000. I finally got a chance this weekend to try some 129 SST's that my wife bought me for Christmas like 6 years ago for my Grendel. I never used them so I blew the dust off them and gave them a whirl. Sure enough, great accuracy with the 63.0gr load that everyone else has had good luck with and nice round primers, no pressure at all to speak of. With this combo I could definitely see getting better brass life than what I had with the 140. I also tried Retumbo with the 140's to the same seating depth (.015 jump) and they shot just as well as the H1000 loads. Had seemingly lower pressure (again, more rounded primers vs flat ones) and better speed according to the chrono. Never got to verify at distance. The only downfall was the ES was a little higher (17 fps w/ H1000 - 29 fps w/ H1000). Again, shit chrono so I need to verify at distance.

My take away is the 130 class bullet is the way to go. Don't fight with the 140 if brass life is important to you. I had 600 of them so I used them and they work well. At my elevation of 0ft the 130 @3200 is flatter to 975 yards than the 140 @3110. Past that the 140 is better but only minutely. And I'm not using pointed numbers for the 130 either. If your concern is ballistic performance, go with a longer barrel, 140's and Retumbo. If your hunting and shooting a lot inside of 1000, I think the 130 combo has proven to be a home run.

 

[blackfoot]

I'm not using Hybrids or Norma brass but with Remington and VLD's I started to hit pressure at 59.7 gr H1000. I backed down to 59.5 and have good accuracy there. I have a shit chrono but if you trust the published Litz b.c. on the 140 VLD my chart is good out to 1200 using a corrected MV of 3110 and 59.5gr H1000 load.

What barrel are you using?

 

[Papagallos]

I'm not using Hybrids or Norma brass but with Remington and VLD's I started to hit pressure at 59.7 gr H1000. I backed down to 59.5 and have good accuracy there. I have a shit chrono but if you trust the published Litz b.c. on the 140 VLD my chart is good out to 1200 using a corrected MV of 3110 and 59.5gr H1000 load.

That seems way off, man. Most everyone running Remington brass and 130s is easily loading 62grains of H1000.