AusVarmint

Ok guys time for a new build
Hunting/f-class
The two cartridges i have in mind are 7mm SAUM or 7mm shehane
?
What are your thoughts on these two cartridges ?
And if anybody knows were can i buy or how can make
7mm shehane dies
Cheers thanks

Interesting choice of cartridges, there are a couple of blokes on here who have a 7mm Shehane, I spose you could get dies from the usual places, Redding, RCBS, etc. You will have to put some photos of the process.

Im for the 7saum unless you have a donor with a 308 bolt face. Capacity is pretty close but you don't have to fire form saum cases and they are not known for dropping primers if you run them too hot. I dont know anyone who has used bertram 284 brass as its supposed to have a harder case head to stop the loose primer pockets. Ive heard of people loading 284 with the loosest primers at the start and then moving to the tighter one after they loose one fall out.

I'm building a 7 saum as a FO rifle so i might be a little biased but a mate has a 284 and it does shoot well but just a little slower. The SAUM is about the biggest case you need with the new energy limits on some ranges.

I have a 284 shehane (2 barrels on one action) Had a couple of different barrels but have got onto a working formula with them now (took burning out 2 barrels and alot of time and money in components and gunsmithing to do so sorry if I dont go into it into heaps of detail) Basically, 2209 and push the 180 bergers nice and easy around 2800. Go crazy for velocity and you will be replacing cases after half a dozen firings. In the shehane start around 50.5gr and work up slowly. It or the straight 284 is a good proven case to work with if you have a 308 boltface. Another option is the 168 bergers which have performed well in one barrel around 2900fps. Expecting cases to last a while and barrel life to be good with this load, but they arent the projectile of choice for long range rough conditions, especially wind from either front on or behind me. Thats why I have 2 barrels up and going at the moment (one for long range, the other for short range but both work all the way)

One thing I will say is dont believe what you read on the net about the shehane being a 2950fps caliber with 180's. Alot of guys overseas run them at this speed with 2213sc but only one person in Aus has done this successfully before that I know of and he doesnt do it anymore. Consistency just doesnt seem to be there, and brass life is shit. If you want to run 180's up that high, build your SAUM and just let it purr along nicely at that speed. Seddo is correct with alot of ranges now implementing energy limits, the SAUM is the upper end of the open limit with 180's. Brass availability with the SAUM has been a problem for a bit, not sure how its going now.

Shehane bushing type dies are available direct from whidden gunworks where I got mine from, though I do use a wilson seater that was a blank chambered with my own reamer. For 284 brass, use lapua 6.5x284 and neck up with a mandrel. Use plenty of imperial sizing wax on the mouth of the case and on the mandrel. Most chambers are .313" in the neck which means you will have to neck turn your cases. After a couple of firings you will develop a donut in the cases too, so freebore needs to be right so the donut doesnt impact bullet seating. I use .220" which is great for 168VLD's and 180 hybrids. If using 180VLD's I would get .250" freebore.

I built a 7mm SAUM several years ago and my preferred gunsmith has two reamers for 7mm SAUM, one with a 311 neck, the other 314 neck. Both are neck turn as factory brass is 320 neck.

My 7mm SAUM will run 162gn AMAX at just over 3000fps, generally 3050 is the number I use to plan with and a nice load of AR2217 which is under ADI Max. Trajectory reinforces the velocity so it all works very nicely. For what it is worth, 3050 fps is lineball with the 7mm Rem Mag with the same bullet.

The advantage of the Shehane is that you can access brilliant brass from both Norma and Lapua. The disadvantage is that it is custom dies and fireforming.

The advantage of the SAUM is more capacity = more velocity or lower pressure, common production dies, and a growing base of people using the cartridge. Cases are the downside, being difficult but not impossible to source. Winchester AUS is bringing in regular batches of Norma SAUM brass. Once the Hornady 6.5 SAUM brass comes on line more reliably the 7mm SAUM is a simple neck up. Eventually Remington will make brass again, eventually.

I looked hard at the options and chose a 7mm SAUM. Don't regret my choice at all.