New GAP Extreme Hunter in 6.5 SAUM

[zmann]

Good work George,

I've got 4 bags of 7Saum and 4 bags of 300Saum so i'll be down to size em all sometime. For myself or sell em to a new 6.5 saum owner.

 

[btyeung]

Just wanted to drop a few quick notes on this caliber, but before that some background. I started shooting this caliber early last year with George as part of Team GAP. The only difference on mine is that I got my barrel melonited by MMI-Trutec. I have close to 3000 rounds on mine. I have shot about half the matches I've been in with that caliber. Accuracy is very dependable, 0.4 to 0.3 MOA on each check fire (warm-down post actual practice to double check equipment).

A few benefits that will be of interest to the recreational and hunting crowds:
Brass lasts a long time. Most of my brass has north of 10 loadings.
Recoil is a gentle impulse, albeit longer
Alpha mags easily fit 10 rounds, feeding is slick enough for me to use it as a speed focused gun
Barrel life is long
Velocity is very consistent

After the first neck turning, I load all my match ammo on a Dillon 550. I do weigh each charge, but priming, powder dump, seating is all on the dillon. I keep full length sizing on a single stage.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Cheers,
Bryan

 

[Strive4More]

The 6.5 did Its Job. I will pull the Barrel with just over 4000 rounds about 4034 or so give or take about 10, I kept pretty good count. I will keep this barrel for training as it still shoots great. just lost alot of velocity. Hopefully the Nay-Sayers will have the proof they wanted.

Again if you juice it up it will go fast. but if you keep to the recomended presures it will do exactly what it was designed to do.

Sudden death overtime at the Snipershide Cup....



Sorry George but I couldn't help myself! On a serious note what kind of velocity loss per inch are you noticing? Just wondering if this is a viable 20" or shorter all around match and hunting rifle for those who are fond of the shorties

 

[RobertB]

Wouldn't the decreased air density at 10k feet ASL make it easier to stabilize the bullet?

I'm interested in this myself.

You know, cuz of all this Louisiana altitude ( I mean attitude)

 

[Lofty]

Ive got a brand new 6.5 barrel blank for my DTA that I didn't know what to do with. I was gonna start shooting 6.5 CM but I'm switching over to a gas gun in that cartridge for my match rifle.

So it looks like a 6.5 SAUM might be in its future.

I'm loving everything I'm seeing about the cartridge.

 

[KYS]

Sudden death overtime at the Snipershide Cup....

View attachment 8221

Sorry George but I couldn't help myself! On a serious note what kind of velocity loss per inch are you noticing? Just wondering if this is a viable 20" or shorter all around match and hunting rifle for those who are fond of the shorties

You will lose all that this cartridge was designed for with a 20" barrel. This is going to shine at 26+"
I run 27" on all of mine.

 

[Strive4More]

That makes sense KYS. Looks like I'll be squirreling money away for a 24-26" 6.5 SAUM in the near future.

 

[KYS]

Get a 30" blank and then make your decision.... trust me! You can even go gain twist and get really fancy.
George stocks Bartleins, Im sure he can take care of your needs when you want to get the barrel installed.

 

[Strive4More]

I have a surgeon scalpel in .308 right now in an AICS. Gonna need a new barrel for sure. Anyway of converting my bolt to a WSM? Or would it require a whole new bolt?

 

[Huckleberry75]

I have a surgeon scalpel in .308 right now in an AICS. Gonna need a new barrel for sure. Anyway of converting my bolt to a WSM? Or would it require a whole new bolt?

A new bolt, or have your current bolt opened up to a mag face.

 

[Strive4More]

Thats what I was thinkin. Looks like Ill be shooting Ken an email here in a bit about pricing and lead times!

 

[KYS]

I have a surgeon scalpel in .308 right now in an AICS. Gonna need a new barrel for sure. Anyway of converting my bolt to a WSM? Or would it require a whole new bolt?

Order the new bolt.... I dislike opening up bolt faces. Weakens the rim.

 

[Sendero_Man]

New barrel and new bolt for sure... That is same thing I am thinking on. Switch barrel/bolt with heavy 308

 

[Strive4More]

Thinkin it may end up being better to sell the scalpel barreled action and just order a templar barreled action from GAP. Just doesnt make sense to rip apart a .5 moa guaranteed rifle.

 

[SFC Carpentier jr]

The 6.5 did Its Job. I will pull the Barrel with just over 4000 rounds about 4034 or so give or take about 10, I kept pretty good count. I will keep this barrel for training as it still shoots great. just lost alot of velocity. Hopefully the Nay-Sayers will have the proof they wanted.

Again if you juice it up it will go fast. but if you keep to the recomended presures it will do exactly what it was designed to do.

GREAT job George. Looks like you have come up with a game changer. Guess I better start saving some money.

 

[PowerstrokeOBX]

What's the case fill % with H1000 or Retumbo?

 

[A10XRIFLE]

What's the case fill % with H1000 or Retumbo?

90-95% with H1000, 95-100% with Retumbo. thats giving the load of 61 grains of H1000 and 63 grains of Retumbo on a 140 class bullet

93 grains of H1000 and the 130 Berger is about spot on 100% case fill under bullet

 

[ranger1183]

George has done a great job on this. I won't be surprise if he receives many rifle orders for this one.

 

[Lofty]

Sorry if I missed this earlier, what's the source for dies?

Also a question for George, if I send you guys my barrel blank and barrel extension for a DTA rifle, will you chamber, cut crown and thread a DTA barrel?

 

[vetski]

This is a very interesting thread. Don't know if I could budget for a GAP, but it does make me think that you could rebarrel a T3 WSM, throw it in the new Manners hunting stock and have a mighty fine rifle.

 

[KYS]

If you want dies, you will have to go custom at this time. I ordered mine thru Copper Creek. Josh has designed a set that should be perfect.
But brass prep is detailed to say the least.

 

[PowerstrokeOBX]

I ordered mine thru Copper Creek. Josh has designed a set that should be perfect.
But brass prep is detailed to say the least.

Might as well ordered prepped brass from Copper Creek while your at it to save the hassle.


Thanks George.

 

[Lofty]

If you want dies, you will have to go custom at this time. I ordered mine thru Copper Creek. Josh has designed a set that should be perfect.
But brass prep is detailed to say the least.

Yeah, I already got a quote from Copper Creek....Im just going to order brass from them for now. Im no expert at reloading, especially brass work. Id rather just get 200 pieces and theyll last me quite awhile since this wont be my match gun.

I guess I'll order dies at the same time.

 

[hognuts]

My dies have been on order through Midway since March 23rd (Redding dies)...before I even ordered the Reamer! Now the rifle is built and I still don't have dies. I ordered 50 rounds of loaded stuff from Copper Creek and popped her cherry, but really looking forward to getting my hands on those dies...I guess this will give me time to get it Cerakoted and look pretty before I get it out there and beat it up!

 

[KYS]

Not to be the bearer of Bad News but Im hearing the die manufacturer is 4-6 weeks on custom sets My best guess is another month on these dies that were ordered for me.

 

[KYS]

Here is another type of setup:

Templar SA/RH
Manners T4A
EFR
M5 DBM
Bartlein 27" 1/8.7 twist barrel
SWR Omega 300 Suppressor

Another solid shooter from GAP! I have a Rapid brake timed up to this rifle so I can take the can off if I want to hunt or shoot without it.

 

[Scotty22]

Great looking rig kys but it looks like you got one hell of a collection of pistol mags under that bench as well.

 

[KYS]

Great looking rig kys but it looks like you got one hell of a collection of pistol mags under that bench as well.

6 years ago all i did was pistol competition... I got bored and left it behind. The majority of those mags you see are 1911 mags.
I still shoot a lot of handgun but I prefer the bolt guns now

 

[The_FNG]

Do i dare ask what the lead time is for a non typical build is these days?

Great rifle and cartridge btw.

Edit : Nevermind, i just spotted the GAP sticky.

 

[psinclair]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-reloading/195161-care-feeding-gap-6-5-saum.html

Some more intel for you DIY guys.

 

[XTREM HTR16]

90-95% with H1000, 95-100% with Retumbo. thats giving the load of 61 grains of H1000 and 63 grains of Retumbo on a 140 class bullet

93 grains of H1000 and the 130 Berger is about spot on 100% case fill under bullet

93? Probably meant 63, right?

 

[TRTAC]

I have been interested in this caliber for some time. are you using 7 or 30 cal brass?

 

[KYS]

I have been interested in this caliber for some time. are you using 7 or 30 cal brass?

You can use either. But I think the majority of what we run across is 300 SAUM brass from Remington. At one point Copper Creek had 5k pieces.... don't know what his stock looks like now.

 

[BlaserD]

I like this rifle, lighter contour barrel, Can I get it in 300 wsm?

 

[pongnukl]

Does anyone know if the 6.5saum will feed ok from a long action and will it run in either 300wm or 338 AI mags? Reason I ask is I have a spare stiller tac300 action.

 

[Scotty22]

Does anyone know if the 6.5saum will feed ok from a long action and will it run in either 300wm or 338 AI mags? Reason I ask is I have a spare stiller tac300 action.

I am running the 6.5 saum on a Remington long action with seekins bottom metal and accurate 300wm mags. The only problem I had with the feeding was the Accurate mag has 2 indents that run vertically down the mag and bc the case is fatter then the 300wm case it was causing it to hang up as it fed toward the chamber. Used the drill press and milled the indent out of the rear of the mag that was catching the brass and it works fine now.

 

[Darkop]

Pat, that bear is awesome.....

The ladies speed goat is amazing. Love the shape of the horns! As an Alaskan hunter, I find these prairie animals unique!

 

[Darkop]

Here is another type of setup:

Templar SA/RH
Manners T4A
EFR
M5 DBM

Bartlein 27" 1/8.7 twist barrel
SWR Omega 300 Suppressor

Another solid shooter from GAP! I have a Rapid brake timed up to this rifle so I can take the can off if I want to hunt or shoot without it.

KYS,
This was my next question. How does this rounds suppress? I have a Quicksand in .30 cal and a Thunderbeast on order. How is the 6.5 out of a .30 can?

Thanks in advance,
Darkop

 

[OKbow87]

Does anyone know if the 6.5saum will feed ok from a long action and will it run in either 300wm or 338 AI mags? Reason I ask is I have a spare stiller tac300 action.

Use 338 mags. The 300 mags have an indent that must either be milled out like scotty22 said, or spread a little bit. Any of the saum's or wsm's run well out of 338 mags.

 

[KYS]

As long as you have a magnum rated can the 30 cals will be just fine. I have tried numerous suppressors on there and in my opinion they seem to perform best with a 338LM suppressors.
Now you can use the TBAC 30P-1 but they will get hot quick. That is a lot of powder and heat rises quickly in this cartridge.

 

[KYS]

Use 338 mags. The 300 mags have an indent that must either be milled out like scotty22 said, or spread a little bit. Any of the saum's or wsm's run well out of 338 mags.

They wont feed from a 338 Mag reliably. Case is not large enough and they will nose dive.

 

[RugerSlinger]

I have Redding Comp 300 Saum dies, will these work if I change out the seating plug and the bushing for the 6.5 SAUM?

I already have the barrel and plenty of brass and bullets.

 

[aron]

This caliber is very interesting and might just happen to try it on next hunting rifle build. Great builds and info guys

 

[btyeung]

Were you looking to sell the 7 SAUM brass? Direct message me if so. Thanks!

 

[btyeung]

Another data point, as far as barrel life goes, I used mine with 3000 rounds through the barrel already to place 2nd at this weekends 2013 Score High Tactical Rifle Challenge. There were some doubts from the community as to capacity, feeding, recoil management. I used it to win 2 of the run and gun stages, with 10 rounds loaded in Alpha WSM mags. With a properly adjusted brake, you can easily spot shots at 100 yards with it.

 

[The_FNG]

Pretty interesting.

 

[CopperCreekAmmo]

So this just uses a 7 SAUM reamer with a 6.5 pilot? Pretty interesting.

That wouldnt be a wise idea, you'd have a 7mm neck diameter in a 6.5mm hole.....

 

[The_FNG]

Does PT&G have the reamer specs or are they special order?

 

[A10XRIFLE]

So this just uses a 7 SAUM reamer with a 6.5 pilot? Pretty interesting.

Not at all. Body is the same but the neck and throat is different.

Using a 6.5 pilot on a 7mm Saum Reamer would just net you a very Fubar Chamber for Nothing. !!!!

 

[The_FNG]

Not at all. Body is the same but the neck and throat is different.

Using a 6.5 pilot on a 7mm Saum Reamer would just net you a very Fubar Chamber for Nothing. !!!!

Yes, yes, it's early here is Australia, and i've only had one cup of coffee, once i thought about it for 5 seconds i realised what i typed. So George, does PT&G have the reamer?