About 3 weeks before hunting season.
I have my .308s and my 7x57 ready for deer, so i decided to look at my 7 mag ammo stock.
Ain't much there ! I do have 150 160gr partitions , and figure that's a great bullet for deer and elk in the mag.
I have 2 suitable powders for my 7 mag ruger hawkey with 3.5x10 leupold x3. Ramshot hunter and IMR 7828. I would prefer RL_22 but have none.
Witch would you think would be better, The hunter or the IMR 7828 with 160 grain partition. ?
Thanks ...tj3006

7828 would be my pick of the two

I guess i should try both but with only 3 weeks to go, i think I will probably load up 25 rounds with one powder , and if its good use if not , stick with my .308s or 7x57 for deer.
I love getting a great load, but if i get moa that's plenty good , then i check velocity.
Meaning lets say 7828 gives me an inch give or take a quarter, and magnum gave me half an inch , but i got say 150 fps more from the 7828. I would opt for 7828 load.
I don't shoot far enough to need any more better than moa. I will admit though that tight groups are fun...tj

7828 is hard to beat in this situation.
you don't need to run it full throttle to make those partitions do their job...

Another vote for 7828 and the 160 gr. 7828 would not be my first choice for light bullets in the 7mm rem but for 150 grs and heavier it is hard to beat in the rifles I load for.

ok guys 7828 wins.
I will hope for about 2900 and roughly moa.
Thanks for your opinions...tj3006

With 160's 2900 should be tops according to QL

At that speed it will be deadly and I'd bet very accurate

Does anyone know if you can get 3000 fps + safely with 160gr bullets in the 7mm Rem Mag?

I get 2950 fps with my 280 Ack Imp & VV N560 (Nosler manual load) but my buddy is struggling with his 7mm Rem Mag! But he gets 3000 fps with his 7mm WSM!

I have done it with rl 22 and 25 but i have and not working.
I have loaded for a few 7 mags and some are alot faster than others.
more so then other rounds i have loaded for...
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Does anyone know if you can get 3000 fps + safely with 160gr bullets in the 7mm Rem Mag?

I get 2950 fps with my 280 Ack Imp & VV N560 (Nosler manual load) but my buddy is struggling with his 7mm Rem Mag! But he gets 3000 fps with his 7mm WSM!

Don't know why so many have trouble getting 3000fps with the 7mm Rem Mag.

I consistently got a chronographed 3000 fps with Sierra 160grainers from my smaller cased 7x61 S&H in the 26" barreled Schultz and Larsen rifles (a belted 7mm magnum of which I had two at different times, one with a 1:10 twist and the other 1:12). Norma factory ammo chronographed at 3040 fps in my rifle (advertised at 3100fps).

Perhaps it is a free bore issue with many of the 7mm Rem Mags, also they most often only have 24" barrels, a stupidity for magnum cartridges and slow powders. Both the Weatherby and the Schultz and Larsen rifles had free bore built into their 26" barrels to allow higher velocities at acceptable pressures. Before someone points out the problem with free bore and accuracy, my S&L rifle was 'the' most consistently accurate I have ever owned and that was with a factory bedded wood stock.

I am not sure why 7 mags are inconsistant velocity wise. But i have always found it be be an acurate round.
Barrel length of 24 or 26 to me reall is not that important. 2950 or 3000 , matters little.
I just don't have time to work up a top load
...tj3006

I recently chronographed two of my 7mags with 160gr Accubonds and 66.0grs of Reloader-22.My Remington 700 Sendero with a 26" barrel ran the load @ 2969fps.My Remington 700 with a 24" Douglas barrel ran the load @ 3065fps.

My 26" Kimber 7 Rem does 2950 with 64 grains of 7828 with is the max on Hodgdons website for a 160. That's almost 100 faster than they are claiming and pressures are rather mild. The rifle will swallow much more but accuracy drops off.

The 7mm Rem has the most variation from rifle to rifle that I've seen. Some come burning out like an STW and the next makes a 30-06 look like an over achiever. For those that are proud of their fast barrels, be aware that there are 7mms that won't do 2800 with 150s. You're probably not smarter than the guy that owns that one, just luckier.

Working up to 66.5g RL22, or 71.5g Retumbo both get me a bit over 3000fps in two different 7mags.

The 7828 should be real good. See if you can find Re33. A mild load will get over
3100fps with 160s in my guns and over 3000 with 175-grainers.

For hunting use, I would not worry in the least about which powder will give you the MOST accurate loads. I'd shoot some groups at various distances just to check that accuracy is ACCEPTABLE for your purposes.

Then, if I had the time and access to a rifle range with targets at different known distances (ours goes out to 1,000 yards in 100 yard increments) to get my drop figures and necessary holds or sight adjustments for the different distances I may be shooting.

Then I'd quit wOndering and start wAndering, looking for game to put on the table and in the freezer...enjoying every minute of it.

I was just sending a couple of you guys PMs.

I wanted to try to reach 3000 fps in my Model 70 Laredo with a 26 inch barrel and 160 Nosler AccuBonds.

I shot 7828SC in it with new Winchester cases and Fed 215s up to max charge 64.0 grains per the Nosler 6 Reloading Guide that I have. There were no pressure signs observed and accuracy was good but my velocity was only about 2850 (about 2865 or so corrected to the muzzle) fps from the 26 inch barrel. Nosler says it is 3015 fps in a 24 inch barrel.

I also shot Winchester 780 Supreme with the 160 ABs in it that I have had good luck with before. Pushing it up to near max at 65.2 grains in the new brass and with 215s, the M70 yielded the same velocities but not the 2950 fps that Winchester says.

Accuracy is excellent though with the Win 780 and the rifle shoots spot on cold barrel shots and shot consistent 0.500 - 0.600 three shot groups at 100 yards. These shot to a 1.0 to 1.5 inches at 200 yards as well. Considering the downrange wind those were good groups in my opinion.

While I realize this is all good I sure would like to see it reach the 3000 fps range with the same accuracy I have above.

I have 7828, RL 17, 22, and 25 and the 780 plus some various 4350 and 4831. In looking at the Nosler guide the 7828 was right in there with the RL powders that I for some reason don't have the same luck with as a lot of others. That is why I haven't tried the RL powders yet. And I do not have the RL33 but it sounds interesting and especially so at those velocities.

My ES numbers were fairly small around 30 fps on the loads tried and my SD was 10 or something in that range so I felt that everything was pretty consistent as far as the results. I didn't crimp any of the loads. And the once fired brass holding about 7% more water volume, yielded the same velocities too.

Someone commented on one of the 7mm threads that getting an accurate 7mm load wasn't hard. But getting that with true magnum velocities is hard. I am seeing that.

So if you have any inputs or ideas to share to crack that spot where the Devil lives at 3000 fps I am ready to give it a go.

I use Re 25 in my rifles and they run 3000 and a little more in both rifles without pushing real hard. Both are 1/2 inch groupers.

I am going to give it a try. RL 25 that is.

I might have to buy Quick Load to see if it can get a handle on pressures because I may have to go up a little in loads to actually see 3000.

"Witch" powder? 78 gr. of frog legs, with 42 gr. of Blue Dot, with 66 gr. of IWR 666sc

friar

quote:

Norma factory ammo chronographed at 3040 fps in my rifle (advertised at 3100fps).

You might want to go back and mike those Norma bullets just for grins. I have seen boxes of Norma 7MM projectiles that were labeled .283" vice the normal .284". That would account for their faster velocities: not enough to hinder contact with the rifling, but just enough smaller to reduce friction between projectile and barrel.

Ingenious, really...

"Witch" power, eh? Must be Halloween...

Plus one. The only reason I checked this one out was because I to thought it was a Halloween kind of thing!!

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member
R8 Blaser

quote:

Originally posted by montea6b:
"Witch" power , eh? Must be Halloween...

For some of these 7's it is witch power.

I opened the cap on a new bottle of RL25 and poured it in the RCBS 1500. I loaded up some at 68, 69, and 70 grains with the 160 ABs. Now to see what they go across the sticks at. 70 grains of RL25 is getting pretty full in the 7mmRM case.