Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5 PRC vs 7mm SAUM

Looking to build on a tikka action with mag bolt face and considering a 7mm saum or 6.5 PRC. Main use will be generally Mtn hunting so about 8lbs with optics, and fairly compact. Likely going with a lilja No3 contour, 23”ish barrel. But main thing I am debating is 7mm saum vs 6.5prc. For those who have had both or either one, any feedback on pros/cons would be appreciated.

Following! I just picked up a Model 7 7 saum, been wanting one for years now and stumbled upon it.

7mm saum

I’ve often said the 7 SAUM might be the perfect hunting cartridge. Short action, plenty of power for any game animal and an outstanding selection of bullets are available for an efficient design capable of shooting 140-175 gr projectiles at excellent velocities with very manageable recoil.

The only problem I see with it is that absolutely nobody agreed with me and the cartridge failed miserably in the market.

The older I get, the more having a good variety of factory ammo available for a cartridge means to me. For this reason alone I’d go 6.5 PRC.

That being said, my eye is firmly on the new 6.8 Western. A cartridge DESIGNED to fling long, sleek, .277 cal 175gr hunting bullets (about the equivalent of 180gr 7mm bullets) at the same velocity the 7 SAUM shoots 7mm 175gr bullets is very intriguing. Being new, it can expect some support, as well.

Tag

I had a 7 SAUM.....It had hard extraction with factory ammo and Remington wouldn't stand behind it.

I, Too, would go with the 6.5 PRC.

I hunted with a Remington 700 stainless/synthetic in 7mm SAUM for a few years after its introduction in 2002, from Texas to northern Canada, taking several species of big game up to 400+ pounds. It just about duplicates the .280 Ackley Improved (which I've hunted with some as well) in powder capacity and ballistics.

But I never could see any difference between the way they killed big game and how the .270 Winchester killed big game--and I (and Eileen) have used the .270 a LOT. In fact at one point in the 1990s I'd taken more big game with the .270 than any other cartridge.

Have also used several 6.5mm cartridges on big game, rising in case capacity through the 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5x55, 6.5-06, 6.5 PRC and .264 Winchester Magnum. Never have been able to tell any difference in the way they killed big game and the .270 either.

What this partly means is over 50+ years of hunting big game with a wide variety of cartridges I keep seeing less and less difference in how various bullets of the same basic weight-range kill stuff--or even bullets somewhat outside of that weight-range. There can be some difference in "hittability", whether due to recoil levels or trajectory (including wind-drift) but the biggest factor has always been where the bullet lands, and how it performs after landing.

There's nothing I'd hunt with a 7mm SAUM that I wouldn't hunt with a 6.5 PRC, so if forced to choose between the two rounds the decision depend primarily on brass and ammo availability. I doubt the supply of either will ever be nearly as abundant as for the .270, but many rifle loonies just have to have something different--partly so they can argue about ballistic minutiae.

I will be following this thread. A 7mm on a Tikka appeals to me, but living and only hunting in Alaska and always using my 30-06 or .338 Winny makes me wonder when I would use it. That and the fact that neither me or most of the hunters I know seldom shoot past 200 yards. Is the 7 SAUM better then the 7 WSM in a Tikka action? If I do it I am leaning towards a 25" stainless Krieger barrel with a tapered slender barrel, not interested in sustained fire, just a rifle that puts 3 shots in a small group.

I wonder what a 7mm PRC would look like compared to the 6.5 and .300 PRC.

I have a #2 barrel that balances nicely. That's the only thing I would change, and of you're choices the 7 mm bore would be slightly lighter, faster, and meaner.
Happy hunting in the mountains.

Agree with the 6.5 PRC v 270 win. I ran those ballistics a few months ago. I've also had a 7 SAUM, currently have both a 280 and 280 AI. I've used the plain 280 since the early 80s. I've also shot more than a few animals with the plain jain 270 win from deer to elk. I honestly cant see any difference between any of them. I concluded I didnt need a 6.5 PRC after gacking for a couple days.

Having said all that, given the 2 choices and intended game, the 7 SAUM is hard to beat. A high BC 160 gr bullet at 7 SAUM vels is tough to beat. I've grown to really like the 160 Accubond and Fed Trophy Tipped, although have shot a few critters with 140 and 160 gr Partitions.

There is no wrong answers in this equation.

That is a great rifle. It's one of the few M7s that really feels perfectly balanced to me. I have one and would gladly buy another for a good price.

I have a nice Kimber Classic Select in 280AI and the M7 in 7SAUM that are ballistic twins. I pick the rifle based on the type hunt. If I found another M7 in 7SAUM I'd gift it to my son-in-law.

140gr TTSX will do almost everything you'd ever want from a big game rifle.

After owning both and a slew of others in todays crazy world I will just go with a .270 simply because of the availability of good premium bullets.
look at the classifieds ................i am lucky to have a LARGE stash of .264 bullets but they are getting really hard to find as you all know! .270 not so much. YMMV

Double post

I’m along the same lines as Mule Deer.

I have a semi-custom 260, and 280 AI that run along the lines of short, and longer range 6.5 & 7mm.

I was going to get a 7 SAUM for hunting because of it’s performance in F-Class... but it simply mirrors what my 280 AI does right now.

the only 2 things I like about the PRC & Creed that differ from a SAAMI 260, and 280AI is the clearance between the max brass to the min-chamber spec.
Mine are as tight spec’s at the PRC & Creed... so they offer no advantage.

No wrong choice. Have not shot either but have shot their equals and they are in a good company. Good all a round cartridges for North America and elsewhere. If Elk were the primary game I would lean more towards the 7mm.

MD,

I don't mean to derail a thread, (that is what we do here😁), but at what point do you think there is an increase in killing power over the .270/7mm class for elk/moose? .30-06 with 200 grn bullets, .300 mags?

Thanks

It isn't about a real or imagined DIFFERANCE between cartridges it's about having one of everything and after that multiples of everything so you can discuss the importance of minute differences. Sheeit I thought everyone knew that. MB

Sorry, my bad!

All these new short fat .277 cartridges will die a slow death. They’ll survive long enough for the Fire dwellers to pick all the flysheit out of the pepper shaker. Carry on.

I like the idea of decent ammo and brass and reasonable price, so am leaning toward the 6.5PRC. I know ammo and brass for either is rare as hens teeth right now. I already have a 270win that been my go to, but was thinking to build something a little heavier that could along high BC bullets. The 270 has done everything I need out to 500 yards, usually loaded with 150 partitions. As pointed out above, maybe I’m just chasing my tail and blowing money...but then it wouldn’t be as much fun! And the 270 won’t be going anywhere, I have a lifetime of powder, brass, and bullets for it.