short magnums

[youp50]

I have a 7 short mag and all the bullets, slow powders, and magnum primers needed. One of the next items on my list of things to do is start looking for a load. Any suggestions on techniques are appreciated. I have heard of several idiosyncrasies in the short mags and would appreciate your directions.

[dannoboone]

SAUM or WSM??

I have a 7mm WSM (Montana 1999) and am looking for a good
load for it. I have tried several, but only one group with a bullet
I don't really want to use has resulted in good accuracy. I know
these rifles can be accurate, but they certainly have their
idiocyncracies!

[youp50]

I have a Savage WSM. Tupperware stock with blind magazine. All those letters Savage uses confuse me. Mine is extremely accurate with a tipped factory load 140's and factory Winchester Failsafes. The 150's offer minute of the deer to 300 yards or so. The 160's shoot flatter than any ballistic table says possible. I really like the old Failsafe bullets. They will shoot through anything around here.

I have some 7828, RL twenty something or other, WW 780, and some V V 160. One of them should work. I need to quit messing with the ML and get the scope back on the 7. Or else try one of the sell out Weavers.

[raf]

The only way to get a good loads is experiment. Last year I bought Tikka in 300 WSM and got all kind of advise from different shooters in the shop. Everyone seemed to have a favorite powder, bullet etc. I tried some of those and couldn't make it shoot. Consulted my reloading manual and got a couple of ideas to try and finally found a powder and bullet combo that would shoot. Took a little tweaking but can now shoot under MOA if I do my part. So what works for one may not work for you. Besides, working up your own load is more satisfying. Oh, and my load pushes a 165 grain bullet at over 3100 FSP. I like it but the deer sure don't

[deadeye]

imo i think short mags are overrated,but i will give you some advice on a load w/7wsm,retumbo powder is often overlooked by many for speed & accuracy,also take a look at the new nosler e-tips,hit hard & accurate,i will give you some spec's on a 7wsm a-bolt i set up for a gentleman living in montana-///150gn e-tip,68.5 gns retumbo,cci #250mag primer,fps-2860/shot under .5moa & e-tips blew away accubonds accuracy & book/water test downrange/hope this helps

[youp50]

Dead eye,

Truer words were never spoken. Outdoor writers like Boddington were all over the short mag. I bit on their BS, first and last time. IMO they are a different class of prostitutes than the crack whores downtown. A sleeper is still a sleeper. And a sleeper is a colloquial computer term for w h o r e .

That leaves me with a 7 short and ammo,, brass, and bullets. No way to get out of this one with out a great financial loss. The gun does work and is unbelievably accurate. Just would have been better off with the remington magnum.

As I follow Craig's writings it seems he has decided that only the 270 short mag is interesting now.

I guess when guys like you can work up loads and get a 150 grainer down range at 2860 fps, intelligent people are able to see that the 30-06 easily exceeds this. They are able to make an intelligent decision and stay with the popular time tested cartridges.

Oh well, it made for interesting reading and the hype was good for gun sales.

[deadeye]

i agree hype just to sell something new,the idea came from benchrest shooting as near 100% of powder case capacity was more accurate? well thats debatable just like when they were preaching neck size only,most fl now-imo if someone really wants performance & i have set up many-the 300rum 180gn barnes(retumbo) @3250fps,i would even put this up in africa if i could afford to,there nothing wrong w/your 7sm & certainly the 30-06 is a great cartridge today,amazing how some things never change!

[dannoboone]

Hey, youp, don't beat yourself up too much before reading this:

www.6mmbr.com/gunweek064.html

A friend of mine read an article in one of his target mags that the
7mm WSM was getting a renewed interest in the long range crowd.

I learned of both these things AFTER getting the WSM. My interest
was not gained from the mag hype, but wanted a powerful 7mm
without the problem with reloading belted cases. My choice of
rifles may have turned out to be a mistake; hopefully a 'smith can
take care of a too-tight chamber problem (it's a Montana 1999),
but I have yet to regret getting a WSM. Lighter bullets can be
shot to lazer like trajectories and heavier bullets can take
anything on the continent. Hope to get this thing to the point
of taking coyotes in the 700yd range by next winter.

[youp50]

danno,

This rifle of mine is amazing in the accuracy department. Its second shot from the bench at 100 yards went into the same hole as the first. I can routinely cover three holes with a very short piece of 3/4 inch masking tape. That in the 140 and 160 grain loads. 150s are more like an inch and a half. All that in a tuperware stocked accu-trigger Savage that was barely over three fifty.

I have a scope that is suspect right now, it will be mounted on the 7 short to check its function.

All that being taken into account, I would rather have gotten a 7 Remington Mag. There is much to be said in time tested, tried and true. And the availability of top ten popular ammunition.

[jim]

Man I bought my first magnum this year and it was a 270 Tikka shortmag. My friend sets up guns and was getting phenomenal results from these. I reloaded from the getgo with H4350 and Accubonds. I loaded it on the light side at 55.2 grns, shot almost one holers 3 shots at a hundred and less than an inch at 200. I was floored and shot two real nice bucks at pretty good distance and smashed them, one DRT and the other ran 15 yards. Bullet and gun did awesome. I like that I have a gun that I can download for my pet whitetail load and can crank up if needed. looks like I'm gonna leave it alone for now.

[6ptsika]

I am an advocate FOR the short mags ;D

I started with a stainless synthetic Remington Model 7 in 300 RSAUM which I still have and enjoy quite a bit !

I next acquired a Savage Striker pistol in 300 WSM , this one shot very well but I really had no use for it and traded it to a friend .

Shortly after that I acquired a blued laminated Model 7 in 7mm RSAUM and this one shot well but I never liked the feel of the stock and sold it later for a tidy profit . But kept the dies and brass .

After that I got my hands on a Winchester 1885 in 270 WSM with the 28" barrel . This thing also was a great shooter with Nosler 130 BT's , Hornady 130 SST's and Barnes Triple X 130's . It was also a good deer killer . But after a couple deer with it I lost intrest . At the same time I had the 270 WSM I purchased a then new 325 WSM in the cheapest Model 70 Winchester made at the time . Took that one and shimmed the action up in the stock and put a Rifle Basix trigger in and it shoots like a house a fire .

After that a friend sold me a nice stainless synthetic Model 70 in 25 WSSM and strangely enough this thing shoots great with the 117 grain Hornady SST .

About this time last year I was able to get my hands on a NIB Remington Stainless Synthetic Model 7 in 7mm RSAUM and this thing really really likes Hornady 139 grain SST's . Matter of fact used it to kill a deer last season .

I've pretty much messed with all the REM and WIN short mags except for the 7mm WSM . Also have fooled with the 25 WSSM and a friends 243 WSSM . And I gotta say I liked them ALL !

I am however sorry to say that I've not tried either of the Ruger Compact Mag's and I would surely like to try the 338 RCM given the oppurtunity !

By no means do I think the short mags or the super short mags are the magical or any such garbage . However I do think that they are like any other cartridge , if you reload and put a little positive effort into it you can get them to do as you wish in most cases !