This year I have an excellant load that i am going to use for the Pa Bear and deer season. It consists of: Sierra 175Gr SBT, 61gr. H4831, Rem. 9.5M primers, and shoots 1" all day at 100yds in a Rem.700/BDL SS.

However for next year, I think I am gunna try something less, like 150-160gr. bullets for deer and Bear. A lot of people are telling that the lighter grains will work better for close range deer say 25-200yds max. I here alot of comments that the 175gr. will not expand because of the deer being thin skinned.

I'm thinking about trying the 150gr. and 160gr. SBT, and the 154gr Hornady inetrloct and the 162gr.SST(another can of worms) How do yall think the SST will work on deer and bear at close ranges, i have herd mixed fealings about them. i wanna try them, but dont wanna lose deer with them because of over expansion.

Powders that I have available are RL22, and H4831. Right now, i seem to get a little better accuracy with the 4831.

Basiclly what im asking is, after this yr, when i decide to start working up some loads, what is a good lightweight bullet for deer and bear, or would i be best to stick with the 175gr. Partitions and X bullets are out of the question. I do no believe that they are needed for around here. When i head to colorodo, i will think about them, but not here in Pa.

Thanx for your time Ryan

I always use 140gr bullets in my 7mm stw and 7mm mags for deer,elk,moose and bears.Ballistic tips(140gr) work great even on our large bodied canadian deer and I have had great luck with 140gr partitions on bear,elk and moose.

[ 11-10-2002, 23:30: Message edited by: stubblejumper ]

redneck, I am also a fan of the 140 gr's for deer and hogs. It has never let me down.
My most accurate load is:
140 gr. Sierra SPT's
64.5 grs. of R-22
Winchester Large Rifle Mag primer
3150 fps from my 26" barrel
Consistant <.5 MOA
I'm sure you know the saying, start lower, work up, etc. etc.
HTH

Be carefull where you hit a hog with the 140grain BT. I lost two big boar hogs two years ago when I shot each of them high up where the neck and shoulder meet from an elevated stand and the bullets obviously did not penetrate enough.

And I'm a fan of the 150's and 160's in my .280 and .280 AI. In my opinion the best of both worlds; plenty of speed but great penetration like the heavyweights.

175's are tremendous penetrators in big game, nothing wrong with them at all. If they work keep using them.

FN in MT

Of course the 175's will get a deer. Zillions have been bagged with a lot less. My favorite deer bullet for all ranges in the 7m Mags is the 150 gr Remington Pt'd. Corelokt. But I an shooting the 140 Sierra as I am trying to shoot tiny groups also.

For the hogs you might check that the 175's you have now hit on at close range where you might use them and stay with that bullet. If your close you don't want a bullet to hit at much over 2800 fps unless it's a special one.

I have had excellent results with Hornaday 139gr flatbased Interlocks in my 7x57 behind 49.5grs of IMR4350. This load has proven to be accurate and effective on both deer and black bear. Haven't tried it on wild pigs yet. Hope to one one day soon.

A Hornady 162gr SST and your RL22 will make a great combo! The 162gr A-Max is a great long range target round. RL22 is a very good powder, slow and consistant. A 175 round nose will work good for your bear hunt. Load the round nose on the slow to avrage side. To much speed and they seem to expand funny. I hav seen the big 7mm round nose bullets mushroom out just perfect to a quarter size mushroom when shot around 2400-2500 FPS. Good Luck!!!

162 Hornie at 3100 fps with 72.5 gr of H1000. This is a max load. 2" at 300 yds all day long out of my Rem 700 FS.

Gentlemen,

I use the 175 gr. Partition for everything. I like how accurately it shoots, and it penetrates like there is no tomorrow. I use it on everything from varmints to eland, and it always works.

I load a maximum charge of IMR-7828 with a CCI250 primer, and it shoots less than an inch every time. I have found that it works great for anything I would use a 7 Mag for.

Just my experiences.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

The 7 mags only advantage is in the use of 160 to 175 gr. bullets otherwise your just shooting a 270..but the 175 gr. bullet at near 3000 FPS is a killing modica...why change.

Howdy,

Where I live, I use 150 gr. bullets nearly exclusively in my .280. I use Nosler Partitions, and Swift Scirrocos....both moly coated. I really agree with Frank, I know these bullets are suitable for deer, and I think they would be for elk. I would not hesitate or feel undergunned with either of these 150 gr. bullets rather than 160 or 175 gr. bullets.

Coach

I have taken many animals with the 7mmremmag,7mm-08 and 7mmstw and used only 140gr bullets.All performed very well on game including moose and elk so I have never felt the need to use a bullet any heavier.I use partitions on the larger game and ballistic tips on deer sized animals.If I felt the need to use a heavier bullet I would use a .308" caliber with 180gr bullets.

[ 11-12-2002, 03:35: Message edited by: stubblejumper ]

Hello Everybody,

I have used 160 gr Hawk .030 jacket RN in my Ruger 7x57 with great success. I killed one 6x6 Bull Elk and 5 or 6 whitetail bucks with them, The Elk was shot through both lungs at about 125 yards, hit a rib going in pulped both lungs and exited with a quarter sized hole between ribs. It went 100 feet a fell dead. All deer one shot, swift death. I have read on line here before that some guys had problems with this bullet, I have had none. Load I use is 52 gr Acc 4350, WLR primers, and WW cases. No problems of any kind. Chrono 2750- 2803 fps out of this Ruger 77.

Best regards, Luke

For me the only reason to shoot a 7mag is to use those lovely, long 160-175gr bullets. Otherwise, just shoot a .280?

My reason for shooting the 7mm rem mag and 7mmstw is a flat trajectory with adequate power and the 140 gr bullets fill the bill.

I have used the Nosler BT in 140 grain for both mule deer and whitetail deer. I think that they are very accurate, but don't penetrate very well. The only bullet I have ever recovered from a deer was a BT. I have had good success with the Sierra Pro Hunter in 140 grain in my 280 Remington and 7mm Remington Magnum. Good expansion at 280 velocities and holds together at 7mm Mag velocities. The same can not be said for the Nosler BT.

Here we go again: Redneck what is your case? Is it a 7x57 or a 7x64 or a 280Rem. or a 7-30 Waters or a 7x33 Sako or a 284 Win? I know, it a 7TCU. What case are you giving load data out on?

ok guys, tonight i loaded my last of the sierra's for this years deer season in my 7MM MAG. I used 61gr h4831, 175 SBT, and a Rem. 9.5 primer.

I think I am gunna either get some 162gr SST, or 154gr. interlocts. Out of those two, what do u guys suggest to be the best? Deer and Bear are my main species at 25-200yds max.

All comments thus far are greatly appreciated and very helpful. Thanx again guys!

a full load of imr 4831 and a 154gr. hornady sp is awsome in my tikka. i use a fed 215 primer to set it off. i got some .4 inch groups at 100 yards.

Merluke, my 7x57 brass is Sellior and Bellot and 49 grains of AA4350 is enough to flow brass with the 160 Sierra. The load is fine with the 160 grain Speer spitzer and the 150 grain Ballistic tip. I get excellent accuracy though and expect I am gettin 2750 out of my 24 inch barrel.