I needed to work up some loads and hope the board can help. I have been looking on a couple of the reloading sites and was curious.

Since the early 80's I have used the old H4831 with great success in all the guns I own in the 150 grain Nosler for the 7 mag in 67.5 grain and 10 grains less for the 270 and 280 all loads shoot a 3/4 group or better.

I want to go to using in the 7 mag) and the 140 sierra and 139 grain Hornaday in flat and bt version since that is what I have scrounged to shoot for now.

Looking on some of the reloading web sites you see very different Max grains to use for different 140 grain bullets and different velocities.

If you shoot a 7 Rem mag and use H4831 what do you load the above 3 bullets to?

And a reason why the max load value changed so much for the different bullets with the same weight.

Thanks,

Jim

Every where you look it’s going to be a little different. Best to start low and work up.
From Hodgdon manual #24 H4831
139 - 140 gr. Bullets
Starting load 64.0 grs
Maximum load 67.0 grs

Thanks,

I was looking on the same sites on the computer version where you could list powders to use and same bullet grains and for the different bullets it give vastly different loads for different bullets in that wt in velocity and pressure.

Thanks for the help.

Different bullets, of the same weight, from different manufacturers and even from the same manufacturer but in different configuration ( e.g. FB, BT, Spitzer and non-Spitzer, Momometal etc. ) will likely all achieve max pressure with different charges. Case in point is two different loads I shoot with AR2213sc ( H4831 ) in .243W.
One load shoots Hornady ELD-X 90 gn with H4831 47.40 gns. Another load shoots Hornady V-Max 87 gn with H4831 46.80 gns. Both loads are just under max in my rifle, at the point of consistent accuracy and illustrate how a heavier bullet can use a heavier charge without being over pressure, found by carefully working up the load. Hence, as the earlier poster stated, it's ( always ) best to start low and work up. This matters for each different bullet type / style you choose.

I'm curious about the velocities you gentlemen are getting with 139/140 grain bullets. I shot the 7mm Rem mag for years and found it didn't achieve much more velocity than my .270 Win in those bullet weights but 160 grain to 175 grain I was pleased with.
Just curious

That's par for the course for the 7mm Rem Mag. You will not do a lot better with the 140's in a 7mm vs the 130s in a .270...been that way since the 1960's because the case capacity of the 7mm doesn't do it any favors with the lighter bullet. Where the 7mm shines is in the 160-175 grain bullet range. This is where the extra case does its job. I have em both and made peace with the 7mm Rem Mag a long time ago when I settled on 160 Accubonds for everything.

Its not like the 7mm with 140 grain bullets is anemic.... I mean 140 grs at 3100 fps should impressively put anything you need killed in the dirt right now in North America. You should end up with like a 310-320 yard Max Point Blank Range with a gun like that. And that's not chump change.

But when it comes to that type of bullet and performance I stay with the .270... It may be old and boring but it will do anything a 7mm Rem Mag or 264 Win Mag will do with the lighter bullets with no issues.

In my opinion the 7mm RM is a piece of S^*T. Data in manuals is all over the place. Many loads are way over max in my rifle. You use a lot of powder for not much velocity/energy.
It has been said that it is just a .30-06 with a lot of agrivation and using a lot more powder.

Hip

I appreciate the help.
What has me confused is on the Hodgdon site they have a computer program that you can run different grain bullets and powders on. They pick the bullet is the only problem. It gives you some good info since we are scrounging around for powders and bullets. There seems to be no consistency in their max load when you see a low cup and the several grain difference between the 139/140 grain rounds.

I have shot 150 grain Nosler rounds since 1982 but I loved the old lead tipped rounds Because the loads all hit the same hole the plastic tip shoots well but I do not seem to see the damage and blood trail out at 250+ that I get with a lung shot. I quit using them.

I went from 150 to 140 because of my fun rifle- 7mm-08 which does much better with 139/140 bullets. Easier to have one or two bullets that works for all the rifles now converting the other rifles to 140 loads. I hate to admit but I was lazy shooting hogs and found all the Hornaday Whitetail rounds shoot well under an inch group in all my rifles. I got lazy. The only problem is the 139 is a flat base so over 325 drop faster than the Nosler rounds.

Everyone that owns a 7 mag should invest in a chronograph!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Everyone that owns a 7 mag should invest in a chronograph!

I did and got an honest 3000fps with the sleek Sierra 160gr SBT bullet with the 7x61 cartridge in my Schultz and Larsen 26" 1:12 twist barrel.
That load was easily achieved with good case life and hit long and hard.

No reason why the 7mm Rem Mag shouldn't achieve the same performance in a good rifle.