7mm WSM... thoughts?

[Sheltowee]

I’ve never seen understood how the .300 WSM could get so much love, but the 7mm is just a footnote and relegated to F-Class and some benches duty.

Adding to that— the 7SAUM was a cartridge-hipster favorite before the advent of the 6.5 and 7PRCs, but no love for the 7WSM. Maybe the SAUM’s slightly longer head height makes it ever so slightly better with high BC projectiles?

 

[mtmuley]

Yeah i dont know. Must be a 30 cal popularity/perception thing around the early years of existence?

Shooters and hunters are a fickle bunch. Any perceived advantage of one cartridge over another, no matter how small, they will take off and run with it. mtmuley

 

[Lota lota]

On a whim this afternoon, I dropped by the local gun shop and stumbled upon a Browning A Bolt in 7mm WSM. I found myself intrigued with the thought of owning it,so nevertheless I bought it! My spur of the moment thought was "wow, sounds like a great do anything round". Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the round. I find myself purchasing wildcat, semi wildcat caliber rifles to keep my Dillon RL550 from sitting idle. Seems like a great round to load and the ballistics look good. Just wanted to hear any first hand hunting stories with a 7mm WSM. Positive or negative!!!!

I've got one in a custom defiance action. Absolutely love that caliber. Finding factory ammo is tough, but gun broker generally has hornady brass and bullets for it if you like to reload.

 

[Lota lota]

I've got one in a custom defiance action. Absolutely love that caliber. Finding factory ammo is tough, but gun broker generally has hornady brass and bullets for it if you like to reload.

I reload 162 and 175 eld x for it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Adding to that— the 7SAUM was a cartridge-hipster favorite before the advent of the 6.5 and 7PRCs, but no love for the 7WSM. Maybe the SAUM’s slightly longer head height makes it ever so slightly better with high BC projectiles?

I had a 7 saum built end of ‘18 and the main driver over 7wsm was ADG brass availability.

Other things that made the saum more attractive:
-I also already had 7 saum dies on hand from a 6.5 saum wildcat built before they made 6.5 dies
-I liked the smaller case for recoil/barrel life reasons and the longer neck for more bullet seating flexibility

That said, good brass availability is what really killed it compared to the saum.

 

[Don Fischer]

The problem with the WSMs in general is the 280AI gets comparable speed and energy at distance without the recoil and weight of a magnum. That said, it's still fun to just have cool calibers.

I suspect that is the deal with lots of shooter's. They buy cartridges because they are cool, not much any other reason. Ask, what will a 7mm WSM do that a plain ole 280 won't do? Probably keep you hunting for case's!