take a Ruger 77 short action based on the .308 case and turn it into a 7 saum? Will the bolt work? Will there be enough room in the magazine for 3 shells?

Thanks

Jim

Jon Sundra seems to be making a career out of writing about how he takes a Ruger 77 and has has it rebarreled by Shaw in one of the Short-Action Magnums....get almost any rifle magazine and he'll have an article.

According to Rick Jamison, in a series in shooting times, when he was building those rifles on a shortened 404 Jeffery case The only modification he had to make was to the bolt face. If my memory is correct. Witch would not be the case for the wsm.
Now with that said I know it can be done and has been done, but these things tend to be individual and more work may be in order. Feed rails, mag box, feed ramp etc.
Good luck and I hope your Ruger wsm is as great as my Remington wsm.
P.S. Two deer so far this year.

I am not necessarily a Shooting Times fan, but I do wonder why Winchester and Lazzeroni get all the credit for development of the new short mags and NOBODY in the gun rags mentions Rick Jamison's short magnums from a few years ago. Do the gunwriters dislike him or what?

Simple, Rick isn't a paying advertiser.

We tested a Model 7 Remington for the "Outdoor Life" magazine gear test issue this year, and that rifle was chambered in 7mm SAUM. This turned out to be a very accurate rifle. But it had a 24" barrel, the same as the old 7mm Remington Magnums I've been shooting off and on since 1977, the recoil felt about like the 7mm Remington Magnum, and rifle weighed about the same as a factory rifle with a 24" barrel in 7mm Remington Magnum, accuracy was about what i'd expect out of a 7mm Remington Magnum, and the velocity was about the same as a 7mm Remington Magnum. Oh yeas, the bolt throw was a half-inch shorter, and the rifle didn't feed all that well with the short and fat case.

My conclusion: You might as well save yourself some headaches and just buy a 7mm Remington Magnum and forget about the 7mm SAUM. It offers no real advantage that I can see, and several distinct disadvantages.

AD

I largely agree with A. Day on the utility of the short magnums, but to answer your question:

(1) The .308 bolt face will have to be enlarged to accomodate a .530 rim.

(2) The magazine feed rails will have to be widened (carefully!).

(3) If you don't replace the magazine box with a wider one, its geometry will probably only allow 2 cartridges the diameter of the SAUM. Even with a wider box designed for belted cartridges, it is marginal to get three SAUM's to feed dependably.

Don't convert an existing rifle to some different cartridge. It's just a waste of money.

It's a lot easier and costs less to buy a new one in whatever cartridge that you want.

Allen Day is wrong on the belted magnums. They have been a safety problem from the get go for reloaders due to the headspace problems caused by the belt being the control for headspace and not the shoulder.

Read this thread by John Ricks on belted cases. This settled it here. www.serveroptions.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=004190

The 7MM Rem Mag is a nice size case however and if you get a good chamber by luck or pay a top smith, like Ricks, to make you one it will be ok. But the great designers never used belted cartridges for their rifes. Not Browning, Mauser, Kalishnakov nor Newton.

[ 12-12-2002, 02:10: Message edited by: Savage99 ]

Don, that's a great theory, but in over twenty-five years of hunting with belted magnum cartridges, thousands of rounds fired in practice of same, and over 200 big game animals taken with belt magnum cartridges in many states and several foreign countries, I have yet to experience a single problem with belted cases. But then, I'm not trying to get a dozen reloads out of a case, either, which is a nickle and dime priority anyway. Adjust the sizing die properly, and the belt is a none-issue.

AD

[ 12-12-2002, 08:52: Message edited by: allen day ]