Decided on the action. After folowing Savage 99's link to Montana Rifleman I found there M. 1999 SA to be just what I had in mind, Thanks Don.

I ordered the SA Magnum and am leaning toward chambering it in 7mm WSM. Since it is a short action I plan to add another inch of barrel to 23" which should be long enough to get good performance from the cartrige.

By sticking with the 160 grain bullets I believe that it should handle many situations well.

Anyone having hunting experience with the 7 mags. I would like to here some feedback, positive or negative. Thanks, Steve

That'd be a fine choice though mine would be the 300 WSM and a 180. A 23" bbl. would be fine as well but I'd do a 24" bbl. The sub 300 WSM's don't seem to get as much out of their case as the 300... at least that's what the loading manual's seem to indicate. Not sure why that is.

My ranching and elk hunting partner has used a 7mm RM since 1971 and has taken an awesome amount of game with it from coyotes to elk. It's his only rifle for which he loads Hornady 160's. It's had the same Leupold 3x9 on top for over twenty years and has ridden through thousand's of miles of wilderness in a scabbard (horseback) with never a hitch. The rig works, period... course he can shoot too!

BA

The magazine box on the Montana SA is suppose to be 3.15". You might consider chambering your rifle with a long throat so that you can seat the bullets further out.

Have they been shipping these actions?

If so how are they looking/working?

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Mark, I was told that they "should" be ready to start shipping between the middle of July or first of August.

7mm will do good work on anything up to elk and moose. It is not a top choice for brown bear, but it could work in a pinch.

23" barrel should give you fair performance in the WSM. 160 gr. bullets should be able to go around 2900 fps +/-. 140 gr. @ 3150 fps +/-.

I have taken 12 black bears, 3 mule deer, and 2 moose with a 7mm. Bullets were mainly premium 160 gr. bullets, like X's, Fail Safes, Partition Golds, and 175 gr. X's. I have nothing but good results with the 7mm and these bullets.

Go with the 300 WSM, and 180 grain bullets.

Fine choice, 7mm WSM should be able to handle most anything. I would opt for a 24 or 25" barrel though. Why not get the most out of the cartridge?
It will help with recoil and muzzle blast too. If you don't like it you can always have it shortened. If you get the short barrel and decide you needed a longer one it's gonna cost a lot more$$$