7mm WSM. Who's shooting one?

JasonMPD

Cleaning out some old range fodder I found a while back, I came across about 15 spent 7mm WSM cases.  I don't know who left it behind, but I grabbed it.

I found a Win Model 70 7mm WSM in a factory synthetic stock on Gunbroker for $350.  I'm not buying one right now, but prices seem good for them.

How's the cartridge overall and how's reloading for it if anyone does?

GunNut

I owned one for a while (Browning A Bolt) and it was a great gun/cartridge combo.  Light recoiling, flat shooting and very accurate.  The limited hunting I did with it went well and it performed as advertised.  I think I would have really enjoyed loading for it because of the potential but I never did.  I sold it off to a buddy who was getting into hunting and he loved the gun.  I’d buy another one if the right deal came my way.

Ernie Bishop

I have one in specialty pistol.  Competed with it and put it in a different stock and hunted with it.

Zee

Beats Hell out of a 7mm-08. 

GunNut

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

Zee

I think the magazine follower and maybe even the magazine would need to be changes as well. 

Don’t know about the feed ramp. 

I have never owned a WSM. But, the 7mm would be the one if I did. 

Or a wildcat 6.5 WSM. 

GunNut

Zee said:

I think the magazine follower and maybe even the magazine would need to be changes as well. 

Don’t know about the feed ramp. 

I have never owned a WSM. But, the 7mm would be the one if I did. 

Or a wildcat 6.5 WSM. 

Makes sense.  The good news is that the two parts are easily available and cheap.  A 6.5 WSM would be a REALLY interesting proposition!  

Ernie Bishop

6.5 Leopard (WSM) is a great wildcat.  I take Norma 270 WSM brass and neck it down.  I have a specialty pistol as well in the Leopard and have killed a number of mule deer and a antelope or two with it.  Of course, some pd's had to die as well.

These are all single-shot actions, so feeding rounds via a magazine, is not a issue for me.

snake284

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

How longs the barrel? It pretty well needs to be 24 inches to get any real gain.

snake284

JasonMPD said:

Cleaning out some old range fodder I found a while back, I came across about 15 spent 7mm WSM cases.  I don't know who left it behind, but I grabbed it.

I found a Win Model 70 7mm WSM in a factory synthetic stock on Gunbroker for $350.  I'm not buying one right now, but prices seem good for them.

How's the cartridge overall and how's reloading for it if anyone does?

I've never shot one but what they look like on paper it's a gain over a .280 and a 7x57 and 7mm-08. All that in a short action. What's not to love?

JerryBobCo

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

I don't think so.  When I rebarrelled my  .284 to 338x284, I asked the gunsmith if I could convert it to a WSM cartridge.  He told me there wasn't enough metal in the bolt face to open it up that much.  But, maybe another gunsmith will tell you something different.

Michakav

Purchased a Model 70 in 7mm WSM right after they came out. It was a shooter. I sold it a couple years later because I didn't hunt at the time. Wish I had that 1 back.

GunNut

JerryBobCo said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

I don't think so.  When I rebarrelled my  .284 to 338x284, I asked the gunsmith if I could convert it to a WSM cartridge.  He told me there wasn't enough metal in the bolt face to open it up that much.  But, maybe another gunsmith will tell you something different.

I can get a new bolt easily enough, and sell mine on eBay to offset the cost.  The one good thing about Remingtons is they are basically LEGO guns.

kansashunter

I have a 300 wsm that I have thought about rebarreling to 6.5wsm. I haven't yet but someday. 

GunNut

kansashunter said:

I have a 300 wsm that I have thought about rebarreling to 6.5wsm. I haven't yet but someday. 

Oh crap, I forgot!  I have a Howa 1500 in .300 WSM that I could just easily rebarrel!  Hummmmm...

Ernie Bishop

snake284 said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

How longs the barrel? It pretty well needs to be 24 inches to get any real gain.

Mine is 18" and has shot a 5-shot group at a grand under 4" at a BR match.  It will be faster than a 7-08 chambering at almost any length a rifle would be in.

Ernie Bishop

JerryBobCo said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

I don't think so.  When I rebarrelled my  .284 to 338x284, I asked the gunsmith if I could convert it to a WSM cartridge.  He told me there wasn't enough metal in the bolt face to open it up that much.  But, maybe another gunsmith will tell you something different.

I have a number of Remington bolts, with the .473 bolt face that have been opened up.  Odd statement by your smith.

JerryBobCo

Ernie Bishop said:

JerryBobCo said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

I don't think so.  When I rebarrelled my  .284 to 338x284, I asked the gunsmith if I could convert it to a WSM cartridge.  He told me there wasn't enough metal in the bolt face to open it up that much.  But, maybe another gunsmith will tell you something different.

I have a number of Remington bolts, with the .473 bolt face that have been opened up.  Odd statement by your smith.

That may have been due to the gun.  It is a Winchester Model 88.

Ernie Bishop

JerryBobCo said:

Ernie Bishop said:

JerryBobCo said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

I don't think so.  When I rebarrelled my  .284 to 338x284, I asked the gunsmith if I could convert it to a WSM cartridge.  He told me there wasn't enough metal in the bolt face to open it up that much.  But, maybe another gunsmith will tell you something different.

I have a number of Remington bolts, with the .473 bolt face that have been opened up.  Odd statement by your smith.

That may have been due to the gun.  It is a Winchester Model 88.

Understood.

snake284

I like the idea of the WSM. I want to build a long range hunter on a .270 WSM. I want to put a 28 inch barrel on it with 1:8 twist. Now you can get 170-180 grain Low Drag bullets for them.

snake284

snake284 said:

Yeah but you're a long range pistol shooter and everything about your rifle is set up for that. I'm thinking he's a more traditional hunter and would like all the velocity he could safely get out of it. Just my guess. In a normal hunting rifle I don't like magnums with a barrel shorter than 24 inches. But if I had a short mag set up  as a long range pistol I'd probably want it 16-18 inches and no longer.

Ernie Bishop

Snake,

I wasn't responding to your preferences/likes. 

I was responding to the fact that a 7 WSM will run a bullet faster (even more so in the medium to heavier weight bullets for the caliber) regardless of whatever factory length barrel one has or is considering purchasing.

Guessing the one the OP found on GB is a 24" or 26" barrel.  It doesn't have to have a 24" barrel for it to have "real gain."  Maybe the definition of what "real gain" is at stake.

JerryBobCo rifle, because of it's design is out of the race anyway.  You are going to get around a 20-30 fps pick-up or drop per inch, whether you are lopping an inch off from a factory rifle barrel or getting a longer barrel.

Linefinder

I seem to remember reading a G&A article in the late '90s  (don't recall the author) that opined the WSM craze was a flash in the pan, except........

the .270 and 7mm versions offered significant gains over their parent chamberings.

Don't know. Never shot either. But I did get the dogsnot beat out of me by a .300 WSM in a lightweight rifle during one long afternoon.

Mike

Ernie Bishop

In the 1K comp world the 300 WSM still is a popular choice for 1000 yard BR and 1K F-Open.  The 6mm's are more popular than the 300 for 1K  BR, while no one basically uses a 6mm for 1K F-Open.

The difference comes down to the type of game you are playing at distance.

How bruised was your shoulder after that Mike?

Linefinder

It was my first experience with target turrets, in CM instead of inches to top it off. After the first couple shots to zero, I thought I was unscrewing the turret caps but I was actually jacking the scope WAAAY off.

16 hard shots later, I handed it back to its owner saying "That's as close as I can get it. You have 2 rounds left. Have fun". 

Mike

GunNut

Linefinder said:

I seem to remember reading a G&A article in the late '90s  (don't recall the author) that opined the WSM craze was a flash in the pan, except........

the .270 and 7mm versions offered significant gains over their parent chamberings.

Don't know. Never shot either. But I did get the dogsnot beat out of me by a .300 WSM in a lightweight rifle during one long afternoon.

Mike

Interesting.  I had a Kimber Montana in .300 WSM and with 150 gr bullets it was not that bad to shoot (sub 7lb rifle) but if you pumped it up to the 180 class it certainly got your attention.

Most folks never got that the WSMs where never meant to be WM replacements with the heavier bullets since the long pills eat up a fair amount of the case capacity. They were only meant to stretch the legs and flatten out the trajectory of the .308, 7mm-08 etc. in their standard weight offering of 150-160gr .30 and 140gr 7mm, and do so in a nice soirt action trim package.  And at THAT the excelled!

JasonMPD

Ernie Bishop said:

snake284 said:

GunNut said:

Hummmm, now I’m thinking.  Can I rechamber my Remington 7mm-08 to 7mm WSM?  I know I’d have to open the bolt face but that’s an easy job.

How longs the barrel? It pretty well needs to be 24 inches to get any real gain.

Mine is 18" and has shot a 5-shot group at a grand under 4" at a BR match.  It will be faster than a 7-08 chambering at almost any length a rifle would be in.

This.

If I go down this path, I know me. I'll want this thing to be 18" long or so.  If at whatever barrel length it exceeds my 280 Rem by 200 fps it's got a spot in my stable.

snake284

Ernie Bishop said:

6.5 Leopard (WSM) is a great wildcat.  I take Norma 270 WSM brass and neck it down.  I have a specialty pistol as well in the Leopard and have killed a number of mule deer and a antelope or two with it.  Of course, some pd's had to die as well.

These are all single-shot actions, feeding rounds via a magazine, is not a issue for me.

See there, a .270 does have a purpose.