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7wsm vs 7saum
- Thread starter stan5677
- Start date
I know a little about the 7mm WSM, and almost nothing about the 7mm SAUM except that I have heard of it before. Down to google/youtube rabbit hole I go to do some learning.
heres a good break down on 7mm, check around the 5:28 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKrSfJ2_Jg
my vote would be the 7mm Saum if you reloading, 7mm wsmif you dont.
heres a good break down on 7mm, check around the 5:28 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aKrSfJ2_Jg
my vote would be the 7mm Saum if you reloading, 7mm wsmif you dont.
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A little history.
Winchester planned to introduce the 300, 270, and 7mm WSM at the same time. Shortly before putting them on the market however, they discovered that it was possible to load and fire 270 WSM in a 7mm WSM chamber. This was a dangerous situation, so they delayed introducing the 7mm for a few months to tweak the cartridge design slightly to prevent this.
The 7mm WSM was arguably the best of the bunch but was late to the party. By the time it was on the market everyone who wanted a WSM had a 300 or 270 WSM. The 7mm WSM has never been popular at all.
Then Rick Jamison sued Winchester. Jamison developed the idea for the WSM cartridges and Winchester stole his idea. He sued, won and Winchester, or anyone else making rifles or ammo in the WSM cartridges had to pay him a royalty. I think that has expired by now or will soon.
The ONLY reason the SAUM cartridges, or the Ruger short action magnum cartridges existed in the 1st place was to work around having to pay the royalties. The WSM cartridges were always better, but due to the lawsuit would be less profitable for manufacturers.
I don't see a bright future for either cartridge. Brass availability would be the deciding factor for me. You can always make 7mm WSM cases from much more readily available 300 or 270 WSM cases so I'd lean toward 7mm WSM based on that.
Personally I'd go 280 AI and call it good. The difference in long action vs short action isn't that big of a deal. Having 5+1 vs 3+1 capacity is more important to me than short vs long action. If short action were a must, then 7-08 will kill stuff farther than most people can shoot.
Winchester planned to introduce the 300, 270, and 7mm WSM at the same time. Shortly before putting them on the market however, they discovered that it was possible to load and fire 270 WSM in a 7mm WSM chamber. This was a dangerous situation, so they delayed introducing the 7mm for a few months to tweak the cartridge design slightly to prevent this.
The 7mm WSM was arguably the best of the bunch but was late to the party. By the time it was on the market everyone who wanted a WSM had a 300 or 270 WSM. The 7mm WSM has never been popular at all.
Then Rick Jamison sued Winchester. Jamison developed the idea for the WSM cartridges and Winchester stole his idea. He sued, won and Winchester, or anyone else making rifles or ammo in the WSM cartridges had to pay him a royalty. I think that has expired by now or will soon.
The ONLY reason the SAUM cartridges, or the Ruger short action magnum cartridges existed in the 1st place was to work around having to pay the royalties. The WSM cartridges were always better, but due to the lawsuit would be less profitable for manufacturers.
I don't see a bright future for either cartridge. Brass availability would be the deciding factor for me. You can always make 7mm WSM cases from much more readily available 300 or 270 WSM cases so I'd lean toward 7mm WSM based on that.
Personally I'd go 280 AI and call it good. The difference in long action vs short action isn't that big of a deal. Having 5+1 vs 3+1 capacity is more important to me than short vs long action. If short action were a must, then 7-08 will kill stuff farther than most people can shoot.
There is a 7mm prc hitting the market. Sorry the 7mm prc is a long action cartridge. https://backfire.tv/7mm-prc/
stagpanther
New member
I was going to mention the PRC as well. For general purpose hunting though I agree it would be hard to go wrong with 280 AI, it shoots well with lots of bullets and isn't in the "exotic/finicky" class--unless maybe you're contemplating "way out there."
Isnt 280ai long action?I was going to mention the PRC as well. For general purpose hunting though I agree it would be hard to go wrong with 280 AI, it shoots well with lots of bullets and isn't in the "exotic/finicky" class--unless maybe you're contemplating "way out there."
stagpanther
New member
Yes it is--but the "popular consensus" seems to be you might consider going that route. I've made a short-action 284 win AR 10 BTW. The 284 win is a long-time cartridge that has proved itself not only for hunting but also on the benchrest circuit. Just another thought. But I understand the attraction of the WSM and SAUM, they might also be a bit rough on bores/throats.Isnt 280ai long action?
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Of the two, I would recommend the 7mm WSM. If you're out in the middle of nowhere, 7mm SAUM is not going to be available, whereas 7mm WSM maybe. Ammo availability or lack of it has doomed many good cartridges.
With the 7mm WSM you will get another 100-200 fps over the SAUM. That's pretty much what killed the 7mm SAUM, 100-200 fps, kind of like the 7mm Rem Mag vs 284 Winchester or 308 Norma Magnum vs 300 Win Mag back in the day. Doesn't sound like much, but it will make a difference when buying a new rifle.
Although I am not a fan of magnum cartridges anymore, I have been considering a 7mm WSM for about the past 20 years. I may build one evntually. Pretty much all of the 7mm WSMs I have shot were pretty soft recoiling.
With the 7mm WSM you will get another 100-200 fps over the SAUM. That's pretty much what killed the 7mm SAUM, 100-200 fps, kind of like the 7mm Rem Mag vs 284 Winchester or 308 Norma Magnum vs 300 Win Mag back in the day. Doesn't sound like much, but it will make a difference when buying a new rifle.
Although I am not a fan of magnum cartridges anymore, I have been considering a 7mm WSM for about the past 20 years. I may build one evntually. Pretty much all of the 7mm WSMs I have shot were pretty soft recoiling.