Since I am interning at GAP this summer, I plan on building an ultralight short range deer thumper.

I hope to use a Manners stock with a carbon fiber option (unless someone knows of something lighter), a short action Remington 700, and a 16" barrel in the smallest contour available for the caliber. Under 6 lbs before sighting options I'm thinking?

Unless someone can really convince me of a different direction, 35 or 375 WSM. What is everyone's input, and what velocities should I expect?

Thanks!

I have a .375 X 41 and a .358 X 41. Each has a 16" barrel.With cup and core bullets they both can be loaded to achieve .35 Remington performance levels. With 300 grain plus gas checked bullets they yield at 30-06 performance levels.
; 2200 fps. PLUS. They also kick a bit with that short barrel and heavy bullet. roger

Love the thought of a 35 and a 375WSM. My lightweight package Is a Stiller, Jewell trigger, McMillian, and the cartridge is 6.8spc coming outa a 16" Hart IIRC 2 contour.

The 6.8 is well supported with Accubond, TSX, and cheaper but excellent accuraxy fromt he Sierra pro-Hunters 115gr.

I have a Savage 300WSM I wan to turn into 35WSM so I'm gonna ultimately lean to the 35. Forgive the 6.8 propaganda attempt.

Talk to fireball168 or check out BFGcartridges. You might just need a WSSM case to do what you want on such a short barrel.

Also check out the 458 super short by Michael. 300 grains at 2,400-2,500 with short barrel.
The 35 WSM is also called the 35 Wapiti

Buy an older (steel frame) BLR in 358 Win and you're done. It will be handier in the woods than your bolt action rifle and kill anything in North America.

In OZ the 35WSM is called 35 Sambar.

the WSSM case is well worth thinking about for that 16" barrel

I understand that the WSSM would be much more efficient in the 16" barrel, but will I still be able to gain a fair bit of speed with all the extra powder in the WSM case?

Again, I'm not after any type of efficiency, just essentially the max I can go with a short action.

The 458 super short is intriguing, but I do already have a Guide Gun in 45-70 that does just those velocities and is pretty handy. I'm looking for something that holds onto its velocity a bit better, and would be a bit more comfortable stretching to 300-400 if needed.

9.3 B&M

SSR

Would you consider a 250 gr. bullet at 2050 fps. meeting what you're after? That can be done with a 16" barrel and a cases capacity of 2.25 cc. roger

I would like more speed, with a lighter bullet. Deer aren't hard to kill around here, so I'm looking for something that allows easier (smaller) leads on running targets than my 45-70 with 300 grainers at 2400 fps, and less drop as well, as that bullet dies past 100 yards.

If you are going with such a large case and short barrel then logic would dictate to use the larger bore. My guess is with 300 grain bullets and that length barrel you might get 2,400 FPS but better do some quick load on that. That should be good for 300 yards. Try 18" barrel first.

Can anyone with Quickload run the numbers for me?

Go for it, kid!

Alternatively, you could just order a few pounds of Tannerite. Tape a 1-lb jar of it to the muzzle of a .223 and you'll approximately duplicate the muzzle blast from your 16" barrel. Have fun.

quote:

, a short action Remington 700, and a 16" barrel in the smallest contour available for the caliber. 35 or 375 WSM.

Tyler

You have one major problem to overcome with the above concept. First, if you use the remington short action, the magazine is not long enough to work with the WSM case, at 35-375 caliber. You will have to shorten the necks considerably, and I mean a lot, to get the case to fit the magazine with even a small choice of bullets available in those calibers at the lightest weights. The other choice is to either change parent cartridge to RSAUM or change rifles to a Winchester M70 and use the WSM case--Which is what I would do.

At 16 inches of barrel in those calibers you are going to dump a LOT OF VELOCITY. You can count on 40-60 fps per inch in these small bore sizes. They start loosing considerably when you drop below 20 inches even at 9.3-375 caliber. 35 will drop more. Going down in bore size you need not drop less than 18 inches. An 18 inch Win M70 WSM is 38 inches overall length, and very handy.

Michael

There are a number of 300 grain 416 bullets so maybe a 416 WSM and 18" of barrel?

The build has begun...I'm going to run a Badger M5 bottom metal and magazine system, so I believe I should be able to load longer lengths.

I'm set on 375 WSM, and the barrel is going to be sent off to be recontoured to #3 and cut to 16" finish weight soon!

I understand it's going to be a slightly ridiculous build, but I love being unique. I may even paint it gold and black for some Tiger pride

Sounds like a Burnz O-Matic.

an inch of barrel weighs surprisingly little. cutting barrel to save weight comes at the high cost of velocity.

I ran quickload, and going from 16" to 20" only gained me 100 fps. Definitely not worth it for me, it doesn't change the story hardly at all at 300 yards, and 4" barrel will make the gun very handy.

Go for it, I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Tyler for what its worth I get 2803 fps from my 20" .375 WSM with 225 gr Hornady pills. I suspect you wil get 2650-2700 with 4" less barrel and the 225 gr pills.