7mm Rem Mag Memorial Build

[lancetkenyon]

I went and picked up the 7Rem Mag today. My wife went with me to pick it up (and didn't even complain when she saw the bill). I could not be more happy with the results as far as workmanship and attention to detail, yet again. Phoenix Custom Rifles put together another beauty for me.

 

It is throated for the 168/180 VLDs. I will have to reseat the 180 Hybrids by a total of .020" over my very optimistic long seated dummy round. Leaving plenty of case capacity for the powder column to allow a bit heavier charge weight and help reduce pressure over a SAAMI COAL length and needing to seat the bullets so deep in the case.

 

I just can't wait to go shoot it this weekend. Just waiting on my 20MOA base to get here tonight or tomorrow sometime. I will be swapping a scope from another rifle onto it to start load development while the bank account recovers a bit and I can figure out what scope I will be purchasing for full time duty on this rifle.

 

Barrel length ended up being 25.75" plus brake for a total of 27".

 

Total finished weight of the rifle is 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Not bad for adding nearly 2" of barrel length, a full aluminum bedding block in the composite stock, skim bedding the stock, and a muzzle brake. Add the weight of the original scope/base/rings and I shed about 8 ounces over the factory gun. That leaves a little more play for scope choice to still keep it under 9-9.5 pounds fully outfitted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CJ Long range]

It's a beautiful rifle!

[Hoss50]

Very nice.

[coueser4]

That is a freaking sweet build!! Again!!

A great tribute as well. Looking forward to seeing how it shoots and the finished setup. Nice work.

[Big or Bust]

Looks great Lance...

[4Falls]

I take back what I said about leaving it original. That thing is gorgeous.

[AZHog]

Beautiful rifle Lance! Great tribute/memorial too!

[lancetkenyon]

Now all we have to do is have either myself or one of my kids draw an elk tag this year.....

 

We have 5 chances at drawing an elk tag and getting it filled by this rifle, and 3 of them are going for a cow tag.

[lancetkenyon]

My scope base came today, so I got it mounted on the rifle. Seekins Precision 20MOA Picatinny rail @ 2oz..

 

 

 

I mounted up and bore sighted my test scope that has been passed around more than a low self-esteem cheerleader with daddy issues.

 

 

SWFA 5-20x50 SS HD MIL FFP These weigh right at 30.4oz. They are built like a tank, and are rated to handle the .50BMG. If you have never seen or looked through one, they are fantastic glass for the price. Rifle now weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces with the scope/base/rings/accessories.

 

 

I am heading to the range Saturday to do some shooting. I will see how 15 or 16X does at 200, as I am leaning towards the Vortex PST 4-16x50 at 22.4 oz. (dropping the rifle to 8 lbs. 10 oz.), or the Burris XTR II 4-20x50 @ 30.9 oz. (keeping it right at 9 lbs. 6 oz.). The Burris has a lot of really nice features that I prefer over the Vortex, but at an additional 8 oz.. An additional 4X of magnification, additional elevation adjustment (which I will probably never need), 10mil turrets vs. 5mil for the PST, and reticle design (Burris SCR vs. Vortex EBR-1) is a big plus too. Pros and cons, decisions, decisions.

[lancetkenyon]

What a beautiful day to go shooting. I started out at Ben Avery from 7:00-12:00. Got the new 7RM sighted in for a 200 yard zero. Also did some load development for the .300RUM, and shot a bunch with the 6.5 SLR. Then packed it up and went to my desert shooting spot for a ladder test. Since my shooting partner was working today, I didn't do my normal 600 yard ladder test. I did a 300 yard test since I had to do my own walking and target marking. Took a while to shoot two ladder tests...

 

I have always used RL22 when working up loads for other people's 7RMs. But I have always loaded up 140-168 grain bullets. It has always given good accuracy with good velocity. But I wanted to try some H1000 for my loads, since I will be shooting the 180 Hybrids/HVLDs. So I started my loads after reviewing the Berger and Hodgdon books. I always tell people only YOUR gun can tell you what it's max load is, not a book, friend, or website. It could be below book max, or above published max. And knowing what to look and feel for signs of over pressure is vital to safely doing load development. So I started out mid way up from the Berger listed minimum, and just over minimum according to the Hodgdon book for the H1000. And started up mid-charge weight for the RL22. I am sure that my max loads are not safe in every gun out there, so use caution when doing your own load work. Start low and work up safely. My chamber is cut for the 168-180 VLDs, so longer throated than most factory rifles. Allowing me to seat the bullets out longer, gives me more case capacity for powder, meaning less pressure than SAAMI specs. I seat my bullets at .400" longer than book max COAL, leaving a lot of case space.

 

On to some data. Conditions were 65-72° F, DA of 27.45", 1° uphill to target, 2-5mph fluctuating winds from 2-5 o'clock.

Winchester once fired brass, weight sorted to within 3 grains, sized to SAAMI minimum specs (I will reset my dies to bump the shoulder .002" in this chamber now), trimmed, chamfered, primer pockets uniformed, flash holes de-burred, and annealed.

Berger 180 Hybrids seated with .0200" jump to lands.

CCI 250 Mag primers.

RL22 or H1000.

 

RL22 charge weights with corresponding velocities from my 25.75" 1 in 8.5" twist barrel.

Charge weight/velocity

58.5 @ 2781

59.0 @ 2813

59.5 @ 2917

60.0 @ 2843

60.5 @ 2878 (Berger book max is 60.3 @ 2771 from a 26" barrel)

61.0 @ 2909

61.5 @ 2916

62.0 @ 2949

62.5 @ 2955

63.0 @ 2977

I had stopped loading at 63.0 grains, thinking I was 2.5 grains over Berger book max, and only finding a few other loads of 63.0 grains in various places. I had no signs of pressure with this load in my rifle. But I will not continue further testing at higher charge weights at this time.

 

H1000 results

64.0 @ 2790

64.5 @ 6831

65.0 @ 2850

65.5 @ 2878

66.0 @ 2897 (Berger book max @ 66.0 @ 2830fps from a 26" barrel)

66.5 @ 2911

67.0 @ 2935

67.5 @ 2960

68.0 @ 2997

68.5 @ 3018

69.0 @ 3029

69.5 @ 3058 (Hodgdon book max 69.5C @ 2884fps from a 24" bbl, note book states compressed charge, I still had case space up to 71.0)

70.0 @ 3079

70.5 @ 3115

71.0 @ 3169 (sign of pressure, slightly sticky bolt lift, no primer flattening/cratering/extruding, no case head swipes or ejector marks) I stopped here.

 

Here was my 3 shot sight in rounds at 300 yards. Right at .9". Not bad, .3MOA. Dots are .25" (holes are .284" obviously). These were shot with 64.0grains of H1000 @ 2793/2795/2820 fps.

 

 

My H1000 ladder test target. I had a couple very distinct nodes with very little vertical dispersion. Shots 4/5/6 (2878/2897/2911fps) had almost no vertical dispersion, and shots 9/10/11/12 (2997/3018/3029/3058fps) had just over 1/4" vertical dispersion (even less if you drop shot 9). SO I will be playing with these two nodes to continue my load development. The high node would be my preference if I can get it shooting like I want, because a 180 Hybrid @ 3000+fps would be a hammer on game. That is nearly .300WM energy, with a better BC bullet. I started out .2MIL left. After shots 1&2, I adjusted .5mil right. Shot #3, then adjusted .3mil left again to shoot the rest. Disregard the holes in the bottom right corner. That is 20 shots of the 6.5 SLR pushing 140 Hybrids @ 2950fps at 300 yards to warm up.

 

 

My RL22 ladder test target. No really great nodes that I saw. But when I overlay it with the H1000, the velocities at 2900-2950 (shots 7/8/9) overlapped pretty well. I will probably not pursue the RL22 loads if I can get the H1000 to shoot well. The RL22 is much less temp stable too.

 

[CraigK]

Wow, impressive velocities! Thanks for sharing, and as always, nice shooting.

[firstcoueswas80]

Kind of depressing from my end. This rifle, with the same load I use in my LRM (68gr H1000) is pushing the 180 Berger the same speed, 2998. And, I am at MAX pressure in my gun.

[Big or Bust]

Keep that SWFA Lance....

 

Rifle will be a shooter for sure...

[lancetkenyon]

The SWFA goes back on my .25-06 Ackley once I get a dedicated scope. It goes back and forth between my AR when I want to shoot long range (800-1000) steel and my Ackley when it is deer (or if I ever could draw an antelope tag) season. The Ackley gets loaned out to my older daughter when she draws a deer tag too.

 

As for velocities and charge weight vs. the 7LRM. The 7LRM, while a different configuration, should be about the same case capacity more or less. Slightly fatter case by .015-.010", straighter walls, but .090" shorter overall body length, and .150" shorter to top of neck, but again, with no belt. It does have some better features with the 30° shoulder and .380" neck length though vs. .280" for the 7RM. Gunwerks' claim of 3100fps should definitely be possible with the 180, as long as your rifle is throated deep and you seat them out long. What is your COAL (or to ogive length)? I am at 3.4725" COAL (SAAMI calls for 3.2902" COAL), and 2.7340" (SAAMI calls for 2.5665") to ogive with the Hornady .284" bushing. Granted, SAAMI does not spec out what bullet they use for their measurements, and the 180 Hybrid is 1.529" long, a lot longer than most 140-168 bullets around 1.2-1.35" long. My 180s are seated with the base of the bullet about .030-.040" below body to shoulder junction.

[HuntHarder]

I am with firstcoueswas80, those speeds are depressing. haha. I wish I could get speeds like that. Do you think it is just a fast barrel, or many other factors? Nice job on the gun.