New GAP Extreme Hunter in 6.5 SAUM

Done did it, works great ;-)

*Tikka T3 SS .300 WSM
*McM R700 A-hole stock filled and re-inletted for T3
*Benchmark SS #5 contour barrel, 26" long
*Mini muscle brake
*Atlasworxs Tikka T3 DBM
*Alpha mag type 2, feed lips tweaked for SAUM
*March 5-40 FFP glass

Likely going to change out the McM for a W3C chassis once it clears customs ;-)

Rifle is boringly accurate, 5.9 mils to 1000 with 130 Bergers over 63 gr. H100 just as foretold by the mystical one called George.

A long action, magnum bolt face T3 would work as good as a WSM, the only difference between the two if you're
not re-using the factory stock and mags is the bolt stop has shorter throw.

Yea, i've read through this whole thread. There was a guy earlier asking about re-barreling his tikka t3 in .260 and was told it wouldn't work cause its a .308 bolt head but I'm willing to bet that the tikka t3 in 300 wsm with some tlc and magic pixie dust from gap would be a great affordable shooter in 6.5saum.
 
George, Would a tikka t3 lite in 300 wsm be that hard to convert over to 6.5saum. The action would have to be trued and a new bartlein right, and maybe a new stock? Household 6 would kill me if I bought an extreme hunter so i have to go the financially prudent way. I know Eurooptic has them for about 700 bucks or so and then maybe 600-1000 at gap for barrel, work, and stock?

Should work fine. Manners makes a great Tika stock in the EH-T fr Tikka
 
I gotta have one of these, but I have a concern with case availability. When if ever will 6.5 SAUM brass be commercially available? I'm not talking copper creek (I've heard they do great work), I'm talking one of the big ammo companies making it/head stamping it. Great thread thanks all.
 
I gotta have one of these, but I have a concern with case availability. When if ever will 6.5 SAUM brass be commercially available? I'm not talking copper creek (I've heard they do great work), I'm talking one of the big ammo companies making it/head stamping it. Great thread thanks all.

I'm with you, man. I don't mind the brass situation for normal shooting but if I had one of these I would want to take it to Africa on the next trip, and correctly head stamped brass is an essential for clearing customs in many countries over there!
 
I have a GAP Crusader in .260 Remington (re-barreled from .308) that I'm going to have GAP convert to 6.5 SAUM just as soon as I finish shooting the 500 rounds of reloaded ammo I made. I'm hoping by then, there will be more options for brass and dies available.
 
Hey guys,
Long time lurker first time poster.

I drank the Kool-Aid!!

Doing a ultralight 6.5 GAP 4S Sheep Rifle for hunting bighorns here in Alberta.
Already got my Dies from Copper Creek, found some brass, got 500 140 VLD's, got my reamer from PT&G, picked up an in stock Lilja #4 Fluted barrel.

Just Waiting for the Peirce Titanium Short Action and the Precision Stock Works 'Rifleman' stock w/Edge technology. Should be well under 6lbs without scope.
I cant wait to get this thing together, the only thing I cant find is H1000.



th098027,
I just built what I thought would be my last do all hunting rifle. It is a 7mm Rem Mag and I am pushing the 180 VLD @ 2900FPS with Retumbo. This is why I think the 6.5 GAP will be better:
  1. Wont give anything up in the wind to the 7mm 180, and will shoot flatter.
  2. Short action and -2" off the barrel will be about 3" shorter overall. Should handle much better.
  3. Less recoil means I can go with a lighter rifle, major bonus for sheep hunting.
  4. Great barrel life so I can shoot F-Open just for practice and not worry about it.
Obviously I am giving up quite a bit of energy, but the Sheep wont know the difference and from what I have seen in this thread the Elk wont either.

Clint

Thanks for the insight. All great points to consider!
 
New scope looks like exactly what I've been wanting. My two scope brand choices are NF and Bushnell, I can promise I'll get one as soon as they come out. Thanks George for creating the perfect LR hunting scope. If I get a extrm hunter this will top it. If not the bushnell on my STW will find a new home to this one. Again. thanks!
 
My father has an old heavy barrel Remington 700 in 223 which he never shoots since he got his ARs. With a new barrel and bolt could it handle this cartridge or is the action too short?
 
My father has an old heavy barrel Remington 700 in 223 which he never shoots since he got his ARs. With a new barrel and bolt could it handle this cartridge or is the action too short?

I would get a nice ptg bolt... But yes.. Normal short action is fine... I think GAP opens the ejection port a tad

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
I am a future hunter and have a question

Here is my question for George or the others that have the 6.5 SAUM extreme hunter. I am an experienced long range shooter in FTR & F-open & long range varmint shooting (steel). I already have several GAP competition rifles. Never hunted except with my Dad 50 years ago. I am retiring and want just one hunting rifle. Shooting deer, antelope and elk out west with the probability of 600 plus yd shots if conditions warrant. It is the elk part I am worried about. I have been eyeing the 300 wsm on George's web site rifles ready to ship. I know shot placement is the deciding factor but given these criteria would I be best served with the 300 wsm or the 6.5SAUM

Remember I am currently not a hunter. I know very little about the killing power of different calibers. What I have been told is that the 300 wsm is definitely up to the task but I know nothing about the extreme hunter in 6.5.

What would the hunters suggest and what is the anticipated current wait if I order the extreme hunter now?

Thanks for putting up with the lack of knowledge on my part.

Tim
 
I am a future hunter and have a question

Here is my question for George or the others that have the 6.5 SAUM extreme hunter. I am an experienced long range shooter in FTR & F-open & long range varmint shooting (steel). I already have several GAP competition rifles. Never hunted except with my Dad 50 years ago. I am retiring and want just one hunting rifle. Shooting deer, antelope and elk out west with the probability of 600 plus yd shots if conditions warrant. It is the elk part I am worried about. I have been eyeing the 300 wsm on George's web site rifles ready to ship. I know shot placement is the deciding factor but given these criteria would I be best served with the 300 wsm or the 6.5SAUM

Remember I am currently not a hunter. I know very little about the killing power of different calibers. What I have been told is that the 300 wsm is definitely up to the task but I know nothing about the extreme hunter in 6.5.

What would the hunters suggest and what is the anticipated current wait if I order the extreme hunter now?

Thanks for putting up with the lack of knowledge on my part.

Tim

I don't have an Extreme Hunter Rifle, but I do have 6.5 SAUM in a Surgeon action by GAP and I will say that I would not hesitate to use the 6.5 saum on all but maybe 2 of the North American big game species. Stay tuned for hopefully some more explicit photographs.
 
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I am a future hunter and have a question

Here is my question for George or the others that have the 6.5 SAUM extreme hunter. I am an experienced long range shooter in FTR & F-open & long range varmint shooting (steel). I already have several GAP competition rifles. Never hunted except with my Dad 50 years ago. I am retiring and want just one hunting rifle. Shooting deer, antelope and elk out west with the probability of 600 plus yd shots if conditions warrant. It is the elk part I am worried about. I have been eyeing the 300 wsm on George's web site rifles ready to ship. I know shot placement is the deciding factor but given these criteria would I be best served with the 300 wsm or the 6.5SAUM

Remember I am currently not a hunter. I know very little about the killing power of different calibers. What I have been told is that the 300 wsm is definitely up to the task but I know nothing about the extreme hunter in 6.5.

What would the hunters suggest and what is the anticipated current wait if I order the extreme hunter now?

Thanks for putting up with the lack of knowledge on my part.

Tim
"Killing power" as you put it comes down to penetration and wound channel diameter including hydrostatic shock. Bullets generally expand to 1.5-2x their original diameter giving the wound channel advantage to the WSM. The velocities should be about the same (although you could pour the coals to the SAUM if you wanted to) so hydrostatic shock advantage would be a push. The 6.5 SAUM should out-penetrate a 300 WSM, especially at distance. As a hunter I vastly favor penetration over other areas of terminal performance, not that the other areas are without weight, but getting home to the boiler room when I do my part is paramount (don't feel cheated when I see an exit wound either!). The net is they will perform nearly the same in terms of game performance.

However, the 6.5 SAUM will kick less, drift less, drop less, and give you 2x+ the barrel life.

I personally think this cartridge puts as much pound for pound killing performance in the hands of a rifleman as anything I've seen. Certainly in a SA, and I don't think you need anything more for North America.
 
Since we are on the topic of brass availability…...

2h5k610.jpg


Copper Creek is about to be restocked and loading this BADASS cartridge!
(None of this is for sale otherwise, call C4 to make an order) :D
 
That is Remington 300 RSAUM brass. They won't do "special runs" of brass. It costs them a fortune to retool their machines for new brass. The startup is an expensive investment.

It would take a order of 100k or so pieces for them to do that.... we just need more people to buy this caliber so George will place a order, like he did for the 6CM :)
 
Sure wish redistribution worked on the 'Hide!!! grin

I know what you mean! But, at least Copper Creek will be resupplied and you can buy prepped brass OR loaded ammo from them. I will let Josh announce how much he has available when he is ready to do that.
I got that brass thru many hours of phone calls and planning. It just happened to work itself out! We got very lucky on it. :D