I have been a hunter and shooter for about 35 years and just recently began reloading. In fact I am headed to the range this morning with my first set loads in 7mm rem mag to try and work up a hunting load.
Over the past several months I have been slowly acquiring the tools necessary for reloading, doing a lot of reading on the topic and working with a couple of friends who have been loading for a number of years. I feel like I have a good understanding of the process and have taken the necessary steps to get going.
I decided to hand load for 2 reasons, cost savings of ammo and accuracy. I am only loading in 7mm right now until I can get a little more comfortable with the whole process and to keep things simple. I dont really know if there will be a big savings or not but here I am.
I have decided to go exclusively with Barnes because of the lead ban in Peoples Republik of Kali. Time will tell if I have made the right choice. I just finished loading 100 rounds and with the Barnes manual am headed out to see how I did. I decided to go with the new LRX in 145gr and IMR4831, federal brass and Winchester primers. I started at the min load and loaded 3 rounds of each to the max in .5gr intervals. I dont know if 3 rounds of each will be enough to get good data but we will see. I used the 150gr TSX load data, which Barnes recommends, and am really itching to get some down range.
Is anyone else loading the LRX in 7mm? What loads have you found to work well?

You might check out the process of shooting a "ladder". It has been discussed here, and is a very efficient way of homing in on accuracy and testing loads.

I'll be at a California range this morning also. Little Tyjunga ??? roger

Sounds like you're on the track of something. Be very careful with your rate of fire as the Big 7 can overheat after just a few shots at an intemperate pace.
You might consider taking another rifle to fire whilst the 7 cools down.

I'm behind the lines out here on the Left Coast, too. You might also try the Hornady GMX. It's gilding metal, so you don't encounter a copper fouling problem and it's comparible in price to the Barnes.




http://www.hornady.com/store/7MM-.284-139-gr-GMX/

My first attempt at loading was a success. In about 4 hours I learned a lot. After putting over 40 rounds down range it looks like the gun really seems to agree with the LRX bullet. The final group turned out at .70" at 100 yds. Load wise it as 58gr of IMR4831 in Federal brass and Winchester primers set .050 off the lands and 2820fps. After deer season I may fiddle a little with bullet depth and see if that is the sweet spot, but for now I am happy with the results.

Nice work at the bench and the range. My caution for the 7mmRM

Don't get discouraged! I've found it to be a bit more finicky than most. Also, besides giving the gun time to cool, you might bring a .22 to the range to shoot between 7mag groups....I've found long bench sessions encourage my flinch--making it very hard to evaluate my loads!

If you are looking for inexpensive, low recoil practice loads I can help you out. I try to shoot from all basic positions from time to time to keep my hand in.....

Cheers,

Dan

You have NOTHING to BE discouraged about. It sounds like you have been very thorough, and are doing it properly! A hunting rifle that will actually shoot that well is not as common as one might think--you will run across a lot of folks here that have such rigs, AND are capable of shooting them that well, but sub MOA guns--that are shot to that standard, aren't day in day out occurences. The folks you encocunter here, aren't your average rifle shooters either IMO.!

I would be very happy with the level of performance you are getting in general, and especially with your first batch of handloads.

I think you are right on track with seating depth tweaking as a next step to see if you can squeeze that last bit of accuracy out of your rifle and that choice of components. You didn't state how many rounds your rifle had through it, or what kind of rig it is, so you may be very near max accuracy now, or you may have a good bit to gain. A new barrel for instance often takes quite a few rounds (100+) to really settle in to it's max accuracy level. Your trigger, your bench rest setup/technique and a lot of other variables come into play when squeaking it down from .70 to something less.


Good luck to you, and good going so far

In 1970 a sailor name Thomas Treinen won the 1000 yard Wimbledon Cup with a 7mm Rem Mag.

I think his load was rather mild but you can research old magazines and find it. It used to be listed by Sierra. They might give it to you on their call in line.

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:




You didn't state how many rounds your rifle had through it, or what kind of rig it is, so you may be very near max accuracy now, or you may have a good bit to gain. A new barrel for instance often takes quite a few rounds (100+) to really settle in to it's max accuracy level. Your trigger, your bench rest setup/technique and a lot of other variables come into play when squeaking it down from .70 to something less.


Good luck to you, and good going so far

To date we are at 200 rounds. I bought the rifle new and did the recommended break in by the manufacturer. It was a painful time of shooting, cleaning, waiting for things to cool etc. I think it was something like 3 hrs for 20 rounds, but I now feel time well spent. The rifle is a Howa 1500, and while not the top of the line in name brand is showing up at the range with its head held high. I have not been back to the range since I loaded the first set but am planning a trip soon. But, only after I actually get into the field and get to put something other than a paper target in the cross hairs.

Dear KRasmussen:

I began reloading in 1977.

I bought an Oehler 35 chronograph in 1998.

I learned more about reloading after the first one half hour, while using the chronograph than in the prior 21 years.

You will be blown away, by how much more you will know with data such as velocity, extreme spreads and standard deviations. The chronograph tells you what is going on in the combustion chamber.

I rarely target shoot without it.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

quote:

Originally posted by Yale:
Dear KRasmussen:

I began reloading in 1977.

I bought an Oehler 35 chronograph in 1998.

I learned more about reloading after the first one half hour, while using the chronograph than in the prior 21 years.

You will be blown away, by how much more you will know with data such as velocity, extreme spreads and standard deviations. The chronograph tells you what is going on in the combustion chamber.

I rarely target shoot without it.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Chris.....I did use a chrono on my first reloads. I will be using one on every new load as well. Thanks for the help.....Ken