My brother has a 300 SAUM on a 700 action. He has not need for the rifle and rarely shoots it. They are not popular so he is considering having me rebarrel it to something else. He has a 28 Nosler, 7x57, .223, and a 22-250.

We are not afraid to wildcat a little so was thinking about a 6.5 SAUM or a 6mm SAUM. If we did that it would be a good Couse Deer/Antelope/Mule Deer rifle.

Give me some thoughts. I have limited experience with wildcats, my only one I have is a 6.5-06. Would like to find something that McGowan or Douglas can short chamber without having to have special dies made and sending them dummy rounds to cut the chamber.

Being it is short action, kind of limits the choices but please give me some ideas?

One potential problem with a 6mmand this based on 6/284 compared to 6mm/06.

I had both the 6mm/284 and 6mm/06 and several times and in switch barrel style bench gun.

For 6mm/06 just used 25/06 brass and 284 Winchester brass for the 6mm/284.

I could very get the same level of consistent accuracy with the 6mm/284. I necked to 6.5 and them to 6mm as one neck down would collapse the sharp shoulder of the 284. On two occasions and two different barrels (Heavy varmint taper0 were chambered for 6mm/06 and then after about 75 - 100 shots were rechambered to the 6mm/284 and simply not as good as the 6mm/06.

I put the difference down to the bigger necking down and probably stresses in the neck. Remember a fired 6mm/06 is only very slightly smaller than a new 25/06 case.

Should add that is they were in normal light barrel hunting configuration rifles then probably no difference would have been seen.

I'd keep it a .300 SAUM and use it for Coues 165gr @ 3,100 in a short action to carry is nice. My Model Seven is sweet and a lot of people on LongRangeHunting.com/SnipersHide prefer the SAUM case over the WSM case. Remington missed the mark while marketing it. The WSM has a bit more case capacity, The SAUM has a very slightly longer neck and is actually a bit more efficient. I like the idea of finding limited availability brass for the SAUM then going all out wildcat and start from scratch on everything.

What is better than having something rare like a wildcat but have the chance to find factory ammo and brass at gun shows I think the SAUM is great. It really shines with 150-165gr bullets which is perfect for the Mule Deer, Coues and Antelope.

So there is my one vote toward keeping it a 300 SAUM

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
I'd keep it a .300 SAUM and use it for Coues 165gr @ 3,100 in a short action to carry is nice. My Model Seven is sweet and a lot of people on LongRangeHunting.com/SnipersHide prefer the SAUM case over the WSM case. Remington missed the mark while marketing it. The WSM has a bit more case capacity, The SAUM has a very slightly longer neck and is actually a bit more efficient. I like the idea of finding limited availability brass for the SAUM then going all out wildcat and start from scratch on everything.

What is better than having something rare like a wildcat but have the chance to find factory ammo and brass at gun shows I think the SAUM is great. It really shines with 150-165gr bullets which is perfect for the Mule Deer, Coues and Antelope.

So there is my one vote toward keeping it a 300 SAUM

My vote would have also been to keep the 300 but toss the 7 X 57 in the bin

If recoil is an issue super easy to load the 300 back to 7 X 57 ballistics. Probably use Varget/4064 burn rate and with less than top loads for that powder burn rate.

get it re-bored to a 35 cal.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
get it re-bored to a 35 cal.

I thought about a 35 SAUM or 325 SAUM

The 6.5 Sherman Short is a 6.5 SAUM Improved. They are working on getting factory brass for it.

https://www.longrangehunting.c...man-shortmag.107838/

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
get it re-bored to a 35 cal.

Bolt face should be good for 350 rem mag

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
get it re-bored to a 35 cal.

Bolt face should be good for 350 rem mag

YES!

quote:

Originally posted by LongDistanceOperator:
The 6.5 Sherman Short is a 6.5 SAUM Improved. They are working on getting factory brass for it.

https://www.longrangehunting.c...man-shortmag.107838/

Hmmm interesting!

6.5 PRC

The 6.5 PRC should be a easy barrel swap job and a good choice for a alternative to the caliber it is now. But ammo availability is anyone's guess, unless you reload. But it's possible that cartridge takes off and has better availability than what you have.
But if you reload then why not keep it as it is?

Earl I would say your brother has a use for that 300 Saum, he just hasn't opened his eyes to it ! I have a model 7 in 300 SAUM. It is just about the perfect rifle for poking around in the bush for deer ,elk and even moose. That short action and 20 in barrel make it a joy to carry in the bush and if a longer shot presents itself in a clearing to 300 Saum is more that capable. Also sitting in a blind that model 7 is a lot handier that some long barreled rifle.

Big bore wildcat?

I personally would leave it alone, put a break on it and sell it. Then buy a long action and build something from ground up. But that is me. He gets an idea in his head, he won't change is mind.

All the hoo ha about 6.5's is fun, but Ive been looking the other direction. May I suggest the 7mm SAUM. If you are interested in long range ( which you seem to be) either for the fun of it or for hunting, that would be a simple and very effective alternative. Especially with a tad longer bbl. The bullet selections in 7mm is incredible. Not much different from a 300 saum, I know. But you can get higher BC's with less recoil and still pack a good wallop. It's not sexy, but it makes a lot of sense.