ordered myself a new toy *update*

[caribouhunter]

hi everyone!
i've been looking for a new rifle for some time
i wanted a lighter rifle than my lss in 300 ultra wich is deadly accurate and potent. but so heavy on long walk.
i wanted a left hand synth. ss rifle. (not much choice here)
and i wanted the 7mm wsm caliber.
i finally stumble on a great deal yesterday night and ordered myself a new savage 16flhss in 7mm wsm. there was a 230$ rebate on this model and caliber only, can't wait to receive it.
i also found second hand dies a bunch of brass and different bullets
(140 game kings, 150 tsx, 139 sst, 139 interlock) in classified ads, i'm waiting for and answer from seller.

but i plan to use 160 AccuBond for hunting moose! (and everything else
when i'm done with the other ones)

 

[DrMike]

Great cartridge and a great bullet in a fine rifle. What more could anyone want?

 

[bullet]

Yes, great cartridge and you got a good deal on price. Good rifle also and I can't wait to hear how it shoots. Happy for you man and good luck on those long walks with the new rifle.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your new rifle. The 7mm WSM is a great choice and the 160 gr AB will cover all your hunting needs from mice to moose.

Let us know how she shoots.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Congrats on your rifle and I think you are going to really like that cartridge. I am a big WSM fan and that 7mm is a good one. Throw some pictures up when you get it. Scotty

 

[FOTIS]

Nice

160 gr AB and 63-66 gr of RL22....pending on rifle

 

[DrMike]

I've had great results with the 160 grain AB and 70 grains of MagPro. Good velocity and excellent accuracy. Reviewing my notes, I see that I've had even better results with 160 grain Pt and 65.5 grains of IMR7828.

 

[caribouhunter]

thanks for the input guys.
i have h4350, rl-25, retumbo,and irm4320 on hand, i'll try h4350 first and i might give berger 180 vld a try someday so maybe rl-25 and retumbo might work?
anyway i'll buy any powder needed to make this toy shoot!

of course i'll keep you posted on the result.
not sure what scope i'll put on it yet, i have a 3-9x40 burris
to keep it light and a monarch 4-16x42 sf for long range.
will probably put the nikon on it.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Sounds like a sweet rifle in a sweet caliber at a sweet price.
I love Savage rifles , they just shoot so "sweet". :roll: I'm sure you'll be happy with the results. Pictures are in order.
Greg

 

[SJB358]

I 2nd Greg! Need some pictures! I doubt you will have any issues finding a load that shoots great. Seems like either scope would work fine for it. Scotty

 

[caribouhunter]

received the rifle on friday, and i went to shoot a little this morning.
bought a box of 150 power point factory ammo for barrel break in.
(didn't receive components yet and couldn't wait longer :grin: )

so first impression, is that the rifle feeds well.
but i'm not impressed with accuracy with that particular load.
i cleaned the bore between each shot for the first 5 shot then fired 2 and cleaned than fired 3 and cleaned
then i tried a 7 shots in about 3 inches, of those 7 shots there was 2 separate 3/4" groups and 1 flyer but the small groups were not made in consecutive shots.

so then i noticed that the stock made contact with the barrel, depending on the way i put pressure on the stock while aiming. the rifle was resting on sand bags close to the swivel stud.
so i rested it on the floor plate instead
this way there was no contact no matter how i tried to put pressure on it.
tried a 3 shot group with the last 3 shot i had left, thinking it would be better, but ended with a 2" group.

so it's only 1 factory load i tried and my RUM shoots no better with some factory load either, we'll see when i get my components :roll:

is there something to do with that crappy stock to stiffen it, cause i normally hunt with a bipod attached and this will certainly cause problem.
just enlarge the barrel channel maybe?

thanks!
will take and post pics soon

 

[SJB358]

Glad you got your rifle and got it dialed in a little. I wouldn't sweat it too much just yet. My 270WSM took a little bit to shoot it also. I first tried 150gr PP from Winchester and was only able to get about 1.5" groups at first. Last time I broke it out, it would plaster them into 3/4" with ease. I would check out the barrel channel and see if you can open it up a touch. Should assist it some. That 7WSM is an awesome cartridge, hope it comes around the way you want it too. I am sure with some good handloads you will shrink it down alot. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

As I say, my favourite of the WSMs and one of my favourite cartridges overall. The components should permit working up an accurate load. You are correct to set the rifle on the bags near the magazine for the highest degree of accuracy.

 

[caribouhunter]

so i got my reloading stuff yesterday. and reloaded a few 150 scirocco.
i also enlarged the barrel channel with a dremel.

now it SHOOTS!
h4350 59.5 gr. gave me a 4 shot group of.680" and velocities are 2904-2898-2898-2898 :shock:
60 gr. 3 shots .706" velocities 2917-2908-2917
60.5 gr 3 shots .620" velocities 2932-2936-2936.
and 61.1 gr had 2 shot touching and i pulled 1 to the left velocities were 2962-2966-2967.
so now i dont know what to think of it.
accuracy is good even though i didn't play with seating depth yet.
and all the shot except the called flier would have grouped in 1.15" even with the difference in powder charge. but it's so SLOW.

on the other hand i'm impressed by the deviation in velocity with this powder.
it seems very constant.

what would you guys do?

 

[SJB358]

Seems like your rifle is shooting well enough now. I would maybe look to a different powder and see if you can get your speed up some. The Swifts might be a little "sticky" and not allow full speeds in your rifle. You are still shooting pretty fast though and it is a well shaped bullet, so it is doubtful you would gain much with another 100FPS. Check out RL22, H1000, IMR7828 or Retumbo, something a touch slower in your WSM. I would think you could get a little more out of it if you wanted to. Sounds like your accuracy is where you want it. So you see the rifle is capable. If you can't find something else, at least you have a proven load with H4350. Scotty

 

[caribouhunter]

thanks beretz!
i have RL-25 and retumbo on hand, will try to find a starting and max load
for these powder and try them!

 

[SJB358]

No worries. Hodgdon has starting info for the 150gr PP and the 154gr Hornady, so those would probably give you a good place to start. Scotty

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

 

[caribouhunter]

from these loads it looks like retumbo would be even slower :roll:

 

[SJB358]

Yup, your right, it might be. It is hard to tell till you try it though. Might give a thought to IMR7828 though. Maybe try stoking up your H4350 load a little more. Seems like you are at 61 and Hogdon lists 63 as max. If you aren't getting pressure signs, keep going .5 at a time till you get pressure signs or you max out at 63. You should get pretty close to 3100 with it. H4350 is giving you great accuracy. Depends on how far you want to go with it. Good luck, hope you find what you are looking for. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

I'd shoot it and not worry overly much. Using what you have as a hunting load will get the job done and buy time to experiment with other powders. Sciroccos can be finicky, but on a few occasions they have saved the day for me.