7mm SAUM Build

Greg G said:
Well, my friends, I have good news and bad news. The bad first. I will not be chambering my wife's rifle for 7mm RSAUM. The conversion takes a new bolt and modifications to the rails. I don't want to risk damaging the action. I thought about the 284 Winchester. But again, there is a small amount of modification to the rails.

The good news. I will continue the build as a 7mm-08. I will be posting how the build goes along here if that is ok.

I ran some numbers using the 140gr AH. It looks like the cartridge has plenty of power at and past 300yds.

So, things aren't that bad. Let the build begin!
Click to expand...
G'day,
Did you tell us what the original chambering is? Being a Palma rifle I'm guessing a .308.
I'm a fan of the 7mm-08 and through some forum friends and research I had a Tikka rebarrelled as a .280a.i. but that takes a .30 ought 6 action length.
 
CBH Australia said:
G'day,
Did you tell us what the original chambering is? Being a Palma rifle I'm guessing a .308.
I'm a fan of the 7mm-08 and through some forum friends and research I had a Tikka rebarrelled as a .280a.i. but that takes a .30 ought 6 action length.
Click to expand...
I guess not. Yes it is .308 (Palma 2011 chamber). The barrel is 30 inches and set up for open sights. Right now, I have my 10-40x56 scope on it. I was shooting up at Angeles Shooting Range. I was just having fun ringing the 700yd steel targets. I'll take a picture of it and post it.
 
Greg G said:
The Palma Rifle
Click to expand...
Gday Greg
Please accept my apology in advance as I’m new to your type of rifle but is that a sling that looks like it’s wired to the groove part towards the muzzle & if so or not what is that part /thing used for

Cheers
 
gltaylor said:
Farleg,
It's probably a mirage shield to keep mirage "wiggles" out of your line of sight when the barrel heats up during a string.

Greg,
Is that a 40X action?
Click to expand...
Right you are gltaylor, it's a mirage shield. The stock is a 40X but the action is a standard 700 SA. The rifle gave me 10 years of good service, (2 new barrels during that time). Now it's time to serve the love of my life; my wife.
 
I got my wife stock this week. I got it from Richards Microfit. As always, the stocks come very rough. It's not a problem for me. I like sanding and finishing.

I started to working on it. I've finished the preliminary work on the butt and hand grip. I filed the high spots off and defined the contours. Next 60 grit paper for the deep tooling scratches. I follow up those spots with 150 grit paper. When I get done with the whole stock, I'm going to sand it with 220 grit paper.

From there I'll wait until I get the barreled action back from the gunsmith. I'll then let the barreled action into the stock and bed it. After that I'll sand the stock with 320 and 400 grit paper, then finish the stock.

The wife wants a shiny stock, so I'll finish it with highgloss polyurethane.

PS I see a pic of my palma rifle. I don't know how it got there.
 

Attachments

  • Stock 1.jpeg
    Stock 1.jpeg
    274.6 KB · Views: 8
  • Stock 2.jpeg
    Stock 2.jpeg
    932.7 KB · Views: 6
  • Stock 3.jpeg
    Stock 3.jpeg
    967.5 KB · Views: 5
  • Stock 4.jpeg
    Stock 4.jpeg
    1.1 MB · Views: 5
  • Stock 5.jpeg
    Stock 5.jpeg
    884.9 KB · Views: 6
Last Tuesday the wife's barrel and bolt came in. The barrel is a Pac-Nor #3, Stainless Steel Super Match, 1:8 Twist and 5 Groove. I had the bolt fluted.

A couple of weeks ago the reamer and headspace gauge came in. I got them from Pacific Tool and Gauge.

Its been about a month since I got the reloading dies.

Darn, I don't know how the extra pictures got in there. Just ignore them.
 

Attachments

  • Barrel 1.jpeg
    Barrel 1.jpeg
    494.7 KB · Views: 8
  • Barrel 2.jpeg
    Barrel 2.jpeg
    468.7 KB · Views: 7
  • Bolt.jpeg
    Bolt.jpeg
    440.7 KB · Views: 8
  • Dies.jpeg
    Dies.jpeg
    422.4 KB · Views: 8
  • Go NoGo Gauges and Reamer.jpeg
    Go NoGo Gauges and Reamer.jpeg
    323.5 KB · Views: 8
Greg G said:
I got my wife stock this week. I got it from Richards Microfit. As always, the stocks come very rough. It's not a problem for me. I like sanding and finishing.

I started to working on it. I've finished the preliminary work on the butt and hand grip. I filed the high spots off and defined the contours. Next 60 grit paper for the deep tooling scratches. I follow up those spots with 150 grit paper. When I get done with the whole stock, I'm going to sand it with 220 grit paper.

From there I'll wait until I get the barreled action back from the gunsmith. I'll then let the barreled action into the stock and bed it. After that I'll sand the stock with 320 and 400 grit paper, then finish the stock.

The wife wants a shiny stock, so I'll finish it with highgloss polyurethane.

PS I see a pic of my palma rifle. I don't know how it got there.
Click to expand...
Holy smokes, I have an affinity for that green camo laminate! @aratliff can attest!
Getting one in the raw and watching the project come to life is something of which I will never tire to see or do.
Might I suggest using pure tung oil https://www.realmilkpaint.com/shop/oils/pure-tung-chinawood/ for the "shiney" finish? Keeping the grain as open as you are, it should soak in and polymerize fantastic. It'll take 4-6 coat soaks, but I get you have the patience for it. If the final coat isn't as shiney as she wants, you can do a final UV bake of a light coat. You can wait for Spring/Summer and put the stock in the sun for a few hours, or you can try a UV light. 75F ambient temp on a sunlit deck sure does the trick. Anyway, the reason for this extra work is for a more durable finish that polymerizes from the inside grain of the wood, and will never flake, peel, scrape off as regular poly can. There is also a degree where too shiny can interfere with the nuances of a piece. Shine and white reflection seen more than the character of the wood. (Just my two scents, sweet & sour!)

I'm all around jealous of the project!
 
Very nice! I've used more than a few stocks from Richards and have always been pleased. I see you've got the new (ish) Field Trekker stock design. I've always admired the look of that one but have not tried it. I will be following this to see how it turns out and how you like the stock

Nice work

Regards
 
  • Like
Reactions: BFD
Thank you BFD. I will follow your instructions. The UV bake is something new to me.
Mountainman, I will up date the build as I go along.
I figure I'll get to the gunsmith by the end of the month.
 
Greg G said:
Thank you BFD. I will follow your instructions. The UV bake is something new to me.
Mountainman, I will up date the build as I go along.
I figure I'll get to the gunsmith by the end of the month.
Click to expand...
As a lot of great things, the discovery of the UV bake was by accident. I collect axes, from around the World, and spent years chopping down dead ash trees for exercise. Fell, limb, buck, yeah I had more energy for that back in the day! LOL Anyway, I would sand and treat the handles with this pure tung oil. One day the wife and I were chilling on the deck and I left a few of the axe handles to dry on the deck. I thought they were still wet when I inspected them, but the finish was hard as a rock and a nice level of shine. So I went ape shlitz and confirmed this result on all my handles and then when I felt confident it was a good procedure, I did my Lee Enfield No.4MK2...Oh buddy does that Irish Blonde contract rifle look drop dead gorgeous!
IMG_2548.jpeg
Chicks dig’em
IMG_2294.jpeg
IMG_8128.jpeg
So I tunged this blonde too:
IMG_20181219_140350081.jpeg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top