Looking for advice on a 7 SAUM hunting rig

Going on a backcountry elk hunt in a wilderness area of southern WY in October and decided to use the opportunity to go forward with a custom hunting rifle I've been dreaming of for about 5+ yrs now. I've already decided on the new Bighorn SR3 action as a base, and I'm pretty well set on a Bartlein #3 contour 1:8.7 twist barrel to launch some 180 VLD hunters.

I'm looking for advice on barrel length. I'd like to find a sweet spot between weight savings and maximum velocity, and understand it to be somewhere between 24-26". If anyone has chrony data or personal experience with the cartridge, I'd appreciate the input.

Thanks,
Hog

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bayoupirate said:

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If you want to run the 180 then get a LONG action. The 7SAUM in a short action is too short to mag feed a 180 if seated properly and is maxed out with about the 168 grain bullets. Sure you can load a 180 in a short action but in order for them to fit in the mag the bullet is going to be so deep in the case that you are using up the room where gun powder should be. Hence, you are not going to see the benefits of the 180 in a Short action because you will not be able to get them up to speed.

In a long action you will have PLENTY of room for a 180 to be seated out where the bullet should be with the bearing surface of the round being at the neck shoulder junction. For this I used a reamer with 0.180" free bore and it worked great for the VLD. Anywhere between 0.180-0.220" free bore should work. In my 26" 1:9 twist Krieger I'm getting 2970fps with a 180 Berger Hunting VLD. I will say that the VLD is a pain in the ass to tune. You basically have to seat them so that they are jammed 0.010" into the lands when you chamber a round. I could not get them to shoot jumping at all. If you try to jam them deeper, say 0.030" jammed, then you will eventually get a bullet stuck in the barrel when you eject a live round because jamming them that far into the rifling the barrel will grip the bullet tight enough to pull it, then powder will spill out the case all in your action and it is a real mess. 24-26" is right where I'd go too and if you are using a #3 barrel I would consider a VIAS muzzle break. You will probably have to order a 9/16" thread because I do not think that a #3 contour has enough meat at 24-26" to thread the standard 5/8" x 24TPI. WEAR HEARING PROTECTION. I've shot mine twice without it at animals and NEVER AGAIN! I run a stout load of H1000 and a CCI BR2 primer. I know I'm slightly over pressured with it because in Nosler Brass I get slight ejector marks but no heavy bolt lift and it shoots too good to mess with it.

You might want to just try the 180 Hybrid. They kill things dead AF, don't get caught up in the target bullet vs hunting bullet BS. It will be easier to tune and they are not sensitive to tune like the VLD is. Shot placement is key, put it behind the shoulder in the vitals and it's over.

The 180 is HEAVY medicine on critters. I've shot Pigs, Mule Deer, White Tail, Elk and some other things I'm not going to admit and the furthest anything went was about 20 yards with the VAST majority dropping in their tracks. I killed a doe 2 weekends ago with it from far.

Now if you want to really get crazy I'm working on a project to shoot a 7mm 195 grain at 3150-3200.

This is what I needed. Thanks. I'm goin with a short action. Will change gears and go with the hybrid. Shot placement is always key. After talking with several folks, I decided on 24" fluted 3b instead of 3, and ordered the barrel from bugholes yesterday. Ill just condition for a little heavier rig than I'd originally planned for. Can save a little weight in the optics side also. Having never built a custom hunting rifle, and having near zero access to examples, I'm relying on the gunsmith (who's exceptional) and the advice of knowledgeable guys on the inter web to get it pieced together. Wanted to go with a tactical style scope i.e. NF NXS/ vortex AMG initially for dialing in elevation adjustment, but now I'm leaning towards Leupold VX-6. I've still got a couple months to get it all sorted before the action arrives.

** Just realized I'm logged into the other SN here.