June 8th, 2008

Norma Brass for Short Magnums

Many readers have been interested in building a Short Magnum to shoot the high-BC 7mm bullets in F-Class and 1000-yard competition. The Berger 180gr VLD boasts a .684 BC, making it very appealing for the 1K game. To propel the 180s to 2900+ fps velocities, you need a pretty big case. Some guys have achieved 2900 fps with the standard .284 Win case, but a bigger cartridge can do that more reliably. The 7mm WSM and 7mm-300 WSM were favored initially, but there has been increased interest in the 7mm Remington SAUM.

7mm Rem Short Action Ultra Magnum

7mm SAUM Has 9% Less Capacity than the WSM
Compared to the WSM cases, the 7mm SAUM has a longer neck, and slightly less case capacity: 73.6 grains of H20 for the 7mm SAUM vs. 81.0 grains for the 7mm WSM. This actually makes the SAUM a better match for the 180 VLDs. There’s enough case capacity to drive the 180s close to 3000 fps, and the longer neck gives you more flexibility with seating depths. For the 7mm bullets, the WSM probably has excess capacity. The SAUM case design looks like a 6BR on steroids and it offers good efficiency. The knock on the 7mm SAUM was that, until recently, only Remington brand brass was available. That’s changed….

Norma’s SAUM Brass
Readers may not know that Norma now produces 300 Rem SAUM brass. This brass can be easily necked down to 7mm. The Norma brass is good, and can shoot the Berger 180s at 2950 fps or more. Forum member Steven Ikeda has been working with the 7mm SAUM and it looks very promising, with velocities equaling the 7mm WSM. The Norma brass (300 SAUM necked to 7mm) is what makes the 7mm SAUM deliver outstanding accuracy.

Norma 300 Rem SAUM brass is available from Grafs.com, Russ Haydon, and other vendors. Graf’s currently charges $102.55 for Norma 300 SAUM brass (item N27654), including shipping. The Norma 300 SAUM cases are in stock, ready to ship. A full selection of Norma brass is offered by Grafs.com. In addition to the most popular calibers such as .223 Rem and .243 Win, here are some of the other Norma brass types sold by Graf’s:

204 RUGER: Item N25510, 100 for $90.20
22-250: Item N25731, 100 for $99.70
7.5×55 SWISS: Item N27511, 100 for $113.95
270 WSM: Item N26907, 100 for $112.05
300 WSM: Item N27676, 100 for $112.05
375 H&H MAG: Item N29501, 100 for $170.95

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