The Creedmoor Forum

So I have been staring at 50 pieces of 300 saum brass for the past 8 months.  The Curiosity finally got the best of me.  The thought of a 140 gr berger traveling 3100 fps on a short action fed from a mag was too much. 
I called Mark at SAC and we drew up a quote for a build.  He had a stock left over from another build which happened to be exactly what I wanted and had the rest of the parts on hand as well.  So hopefully in a few months I will be sharing some information on this round.


[mergedate]1417093644[/mergedate]
[media id=535 type=preview align=center caption="NCM 1077"]

Left to right
300 rem Saum, 7mm saum, 6.5 saum 4s, 6.5 creedmoor
[mergedate]1417093788[/mergedate]
I ordered my dies from Josh at Copper Creek and he was great at packaging a die set of 7mm redding type S FL comp dies.  He added a VLD seater and and the bushings I needed to convert 300 saum brass to 6.5 saum brass.  .
Josh was a great resource and actually helped pick out the bushings and walked me through the process.

Bushings were .320, .305, .290
[mergedate]1417094126[/mergedate]
I ordered brass from Bullets.com and picked up some 7mm saum brass from Norma.  Looks very similar to Nosler.

Set up my dies last night and I made a piece of 6.5 saum from both the REM 300 and the Norma 7mm brass. 

Turning was a hell of a lot easier than converting 243 lapua brass into creedmoor brass.  I actually enjoyed the neck turning portion.

For the 300 Saum brass I followed these steps.
1. remove decapping expander from stem
2. install .320 bushing and size
3. install .305 bushing and size
3. install .290 bushing and size
4. expand neck and turn to 15 thou.

for the 7mm brass I skipped the .320 bushing.

This is intriguing!

I'm not going to push this round like they do on SH.  I'm just going to sip the cool aid and give my honest opinion.

To shoot a round at 1000 yards with a 140 gr berger and use 6-6.5 mils of adjustment over the 7.5-8 mils that I use with my creedmoor made me try this round.

Very cool!

Build specs are the following
Defiance Alpha II action from SAC
Manners TF3a with badger EFR
Calvin Elite trigger set at 1.5#
barlein 5r barrel M24 with 8.3 twist @ 26"
threaded for muzzle brake - undecided still.
Stock is done by Custom Gun Coatings in 3 color flectern camo

Rooks has a new build going and kinda twisted my arm.

 

8.3 Twist
That's a different one again. II read GAP have been using an 8.7 on their 6.5 SAUM builds
Is there that much difference in performance between 8.3,8.5 & 8.7 twists?

a local gunsmith- not mine - built a 300wsm necked down to 6.5 and although it shoots 3300 fps and shoots pretty good using a hart barrell its gonna eat barrells like a mutha. he knew this going in to it but the customer didnt care. it was built for a long range western hunt.  good luck with the barrell life and the whole build in general. keep us updated.

Gonna test the waters Swamp.  Like you said, barrels are expendable.
I'll try the 6.5 this time then rebarrel to the straight 7mm saum if it doesn't pan out.

Aussie,
I think the 8.7 gap rifles are more suited for the 130s.  At least that's what the guys who have them seem to be loading from threads on the Hide.  I told Mark I wanted to stick with the 140 bergers and that's what he gave me.

Quote from: kalindark on November 28, 2014, 07:13:40 AMGonna test the waters Swamp.  Like you said, barrels are expendable.
I'll try the 6.5 this time then rebarrel to the straight 7mm saum if it doesn't pan out.

Aussie,
I think the 8.7 gap rifles are more suited for the 130s.  At least that's what the guys who have them seem to be loading from threads on the Hide.  I told Mark I wanted to stick with the 140 bergers and that's what he gave me.

Fair enough mate.
Those guys have played with them a lot so they would know.
So they are really calculating for absolute maximum stability shooting one projectile type down to the letter?
There's been a few 6.5 SAUM up here on the aussie forums. Long range hunting though.

yep, i learned along time ago that if your gonna shoot then its gonna cost money.
the 7saum may or may not be as bad , i dont know but i'd guess it would be. hopefully not.
to be able to push the high b.c. bergers at over 3000 fps with sub moa accuracy would be a dream build. if yours last 2000 rounds i will be on the band wagon and build me one for sure. but im gonna let you test the waters haha
good luck brother

[media id=537 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8356"]

I'll burn it up as fast as I can Swamp.
[mergedate]1417181167[/mergedate]
[media id=538 type=preview align=center caption="NCM 1084"]

Finished 50 pieces.
turned to .293 neck
trimmed to 2.023"

Now back to waiting.
[mergedate]1417204460[/mergedate]
[media id=547 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8529"]

I feel all warm and fuzzy inside......
[mergedate]1417471530[/mergedate]
[media id=548 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8527"]

pics from SAC.

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see this thing perform at Thundervalley, VBR PA and any PRS events we do in 2015.

I'm jealous Mark got your SAUM done before my .338LM. Oh well, you still have a lot of neck turning to do...

Definitely eye candy for sure! Anxiously await some results!

Quote from: kalindark on December 01, 2014, 04:07:06 PM[media id=537 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8356"]

I'll burn it up as fast as I can Swamp.
[mergedate]1417181167[/mergedate]
[media id=538 type=preview align=center caption="NCM 1084"]

Finished 50 pieces.
turned to .293 neck
trimmed to 2.023"

Now back to waiting.
[mergedate]1417204460[/mergedate]
[media id=547 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8529"]

I feel all warm and fuzzy inside......
[mergedate]1417471530[/mergedate]
[media id=548 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8527"]

pics from SAC.

haha, i hear ya.
im gonna be watching and LEARNING the results of speed, accuracy and barrell life. keep us posted, she's purty  ( pretty) lol

[media id=550 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 8530"]

Gun is shipping tomorrow.  From quote to shipping was less than a month.
[mergedate]1417532448[/mergedate]
Well I picked up the rifle today and without shooting it yet and going strictly off of fit, finish and function.  I'm blown away with this build.

The manners folding stock is solid I think I may like the vertical grip slightly more than my T5a. 

The paint and texture by Custom Gun Coatings is very Nice, I really like the camo.  The added textured grip really makes for a solid purchase on the stock.

The Timmeny Calvin elite set at 1.5# is crisp and besides the wider shoe, I'm not sure I could tell blindfolded between my jewell.

The action with the APA bolt knob cycles very well and Ive tried some dummy rounds In the Accurate mag WSM mag and will have more than enough room to chase the lands.  I think the mag will take coal of 2.980"
Which I found the lands with a 130 berger at 2.865"

The rifle with scope is all of 16#s. I'll get an official weight in a few days.
I have some left over berger 140 BTs loaded to sight In and break In and plan to work up a load for the 130 berger vlds for hunting and will try the 140 berger hybrids or 140 amaxs for Target.

I have some h1000, retumbo and some IMR7828ssc that I'll tinker with.
Going to start with h1000 since that seems to be a known favorite.



[mergedate]1417747347[/mergedate]
[media id=560 type=preview align=center caption="NCM 1103"]