Thinking of having something made up semi-custom into something pretty decent but can't decide what I want. Terrible thing to not know what one wants so need some ideas.
I have a Remington 700 BDL stainless in 7SAUM that I don't really need and was thinking of using the action or action/barrel combo to make it into something else - but what? Problem I suppose is that I have so many of the other standard calibers that it complicates the cause. Spoke with a custom maker at a show yesterday and he didn't have many good ideas and said if I wanted to trade it on something else with a different action to start from scratch that would be another option.
On a secondary note - I also have an older (great shape) Ruger 77 with top tang safety which is blue in 308 that I could do something with. Ideas please?

The Remington 700 BDL is a good base to work. I have an idea: change your barrel for a .264 caliber heavy barrel and made a .264 SAUM. this can be a nice caliber for seriously long range target why .264 bullets have a good BC. So you can neck down you brass and use it.
Here in europe this is not possibele fro our law, but in the USA I think it's possible.
What do you think about???

Faina

Yep ,
Thats a good Idea. 6.5saum , or .257 saum.
On the ruger , I might leave it as is, I love a good .308. But a .260 is a great cartridge too.
Of corse a .257 roberts would work prety well on the ruger short action !
...tj3006

A 338 wildcat based on the 30SAUM simply necked up to 338 might be very very good.

quote:

Originally posted by tped:
I also have an older (great shape) Ruger 77 with top tang safety which is blue in 308 that I could do something with. Ideas please?

22-250, 1 in 8 or 1 in 9 twist, deep throat, for VLD long range. roger

Tped,

The more I think (dangerous thing) about turning the Remington into a "338 SAUM" the more I like the idea.

I believe essentially all that would be required is to rebore the rifle barrel bore and cut a new neck section in the chamber. You're not moving the shoulder position any so there wouldn't seem to be a need to cut an entirely new chamber. I.E. no special reamer would be needed. I think this also would mean a set back of the barrel for the new "chambering" would be unnecessary.

Making up a set of "338 SAUM" dies for this should be pretty straight forward from a set of 30 SAUM dies. You will need an expander ball to upsize the neck.

You also shouldn't have to have any magazine or bolt work done if you go this route.

I would think the resulting cartridge would perform similar to a 338-06AI. Perhaps better.

You're getting a custom wildcat rifle for just a rebore and die set. That's pretty economical.

Some of our resident wildcat gurus can correct me if I'm wrong. Perhaps you may even convince one of them who has thermodynamic cartridge modeling software to predict what kind of performance you might expect.

Big Guy - your idea seems intriguing and actually I have the same rifle in 30SAUM to make it even simpler.
Last year Hart Rifles suggested making it into a 6.5-284 but I have read allot of things here that the short action might not be optimum for that cartridge.
I don't know that I would want to go smaller with a SAUM - is there anything more conventional?

Ruger has their new RCM (Ruger Compact Magnum) cartridges based on a shortened 375Ruger.

They are offering it in 338RCM.

To make this change, reboring the barrel is probably out. So count on getting a new barrel. I suspect you'll have to get some magazine and bolt face work done as well to pull off that change. Frankly, I question the wisdom of shortening the 375 Ruger. I believe the SAUMs are more reloader friendly than the RCMs will prove to be.

IMHO, Remington deserves a spanking for not making a 338SAUM to begin with. The SAUM platform is absolutely screaming for a 338 version.

I'll keep hoping some wildcatter with the right software will plug in the numbers for a 338SAUM and post the predicted performance.

Come on RIP. I know you can do it!

.338 SAUM:
I know nothing about it but if I had some info, I could run it through AccuLoad3:

Case capacity gross in grains of water?
Case length?
Bullet length?
Loaded cartridge overall length?
Bullet weight?
Barrel length?
Desired pressure maximum average?

Thank you RIP.

I'm NOT a wildcatter but I can give you some numbers I believe are possible with the notion of a 338/30SAUM.

Case capacity gross in grains of water?- 65grains
Case length? - 1.975"
Bullet length? - 200grain 338bullet pick one I suppose
Loaded cartridge overall length? - 2.825"
Bullet weight? - 200 grain
Barrel length? (I'm guessing 22" on the BDL)
Desired pressure maximum average? - 50,000PSI

TheBigGuy:
If your gonna be that vague then let me provide the numbers from AccuLoad3.04:
300 Remington SAUM:
case length = 2.015"
COL max = 2.825"
neck length = .3115"
Case capacity = 74.0 grains water
Max average pressure = 65,000 psi

For a .338 Remington SAUM, necking up from .308" to .338" adds 1.2 grains to case capacity: 75.2 grains

For a .338/200-grain bullet of known length, I choose the North Fork SS: 1.172"

Assume 65,000 psi.

And for good taste, a 23" barrel instead of 22".

AccuLoad3.04 predictions:

H322
49.8 grains (81%) ... 2635 fps ... 55,000 psi
55.4 grains (90%) ... 2780 fps ... 65,000 psi

H4198
52.3 grains (92%) ... 2745 fps ... 54,975 psi
58.2 grains (102%) ... 2895 fps ... 65,000 psi

Norma 201
56.5 grains (95%) ... 2875 fps ... 53,125 psi
62.6 grains (105%) ... 3025 fps ... 64,700 psi

Wow! Pixie dust? Magic powder for the .338 Rem. SAUM?

Good info there. Something I will have to ask around about to see how viably it can be done.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
TheBigGuy:
If your gonna be that vague then let me provide the numbers from AccuLoad3.04:
300 Remington SAUM:
case length = 2.015"
COL max = 2.825"
neck length = .3115"
Case capacity = 74.0 grains water
Max average pressure = 65,000 psi

For a .338 Remington SAUM, necking up from .308" to .338" adds 1.2 grains to case capacity: 75.2 grains

For a .338/200-grain bullet of known length, I choose the North Fork SS: 1.172"

Assume 65,000 psi.

And for good taste, a 23" barrel instead of 22".

AccuLoad3.04 predictions:

H322
49.8 grains (81%) ... 2635 fps ... 55,000 psi
55.4 grains (90%) ... 2780 fps ... 65,000 psi

H4198
52.3 grains (92%) ... 2745 fps ... 54,975 psi
58.2 grains (102%) ... 2895 fps ... 65,000 psi

Norma 201
56.5 grains (95%) ... 2875 fps ... 53,125 psi
62.6 grains (105%) ... 3025 fps ... 64,700 psi

Wow! Pixie dust? Magic powder for the .338 Rem. SAUM?

Thanks RIP, that's why I asked someone who knows far more than I. A well deserved tip of the hat to you.

But darn it, now that I see what this thing might be capable of, it's gonna haunt me. It certainly exceeded what I expected.

Speaking of Pixie Dust. This 338/30SAUM thing looks like it will match the published numbers for the 338RCM and not need the magic.

If you want a real flatshooting medium bore why not go with the 8x68? Lots of bullets to choose from etc.

And you´ll probably have the first one on your block

If having a 6.5 in your repetoire is cool, than Faina makes a great suggestion. I know several guys who have made various 6.5 short mag conversions, 300 wsm/6.5, 300 saum/6.5 and 270wsm/6.5--which is about identical to the 300 wsm, but there is less working on the neck down process I am told--makes sense to me...

These things are fast and have great ballistics, and one fellow I know has put the hammer on some Antelope and other critters like coyote way out there with great results. They ahve all been VERY ACCURATE. I think the short steep shouldered cases just lend themselves well to the 6.5 bullets and powder capacities for these cartridges.

I like the idea a lot.....