Sorry if you saw this on another board. I’m looking for a heavy (long), probably round nose, for my 7x57. I want the ‘softest’ one that I can find. It will be used to shoot small to large feral pigs. I need it to open on a 50lber, but with enough weight to penetrate a large one if I get a shot. I think that the RN Remington 175’s would be the best, but I can’t find them. What about the Hornady’s? thanks capt david

Take a look at the 175 gr. Sierra Spitzer BT.

I thought about the Sierra 160s and 175s,but someone on another thread(board) said that the 160s barely opened up on a lung shot deer. capt david

The 175 gr. Remington Corelokt, or the 154 Gr. RN Hornady will work for you, they are pretty soft and mushy...

The 175 RN hornaday is pretty tough, but I like it on deer. It kills well enough to suit me..

But if you want a really soft bullet that will turn inside out, the try the Hawks with the lightest jacket in 160 to 175 gr.

You know, I've thought about those Hawks alot. I just read once that they were not very accurate. Of course that was one man's opinion. I'll reconsider them, thanks. capt david

I shoot the 175 gr Hawks at 2476 fps. I have used it on several large MN whitetails and 2 black bears that both went over 400 lb. THis bullet is soft and I would not use it where you want max penetration, but it exactly fits the bill you describe

As for accuracy, they are not benchrest quality, but then what do you really need? In my 2 7x57's, the shoot as accurately as Hornady 175 gr RN.

I have used the following Hawks.
285gr .035jkt .366 dia. at a velocity of @ 2350
300gr .025jkt .408 dia at a velocity of @2350
and a 400gr .o35jkt .408 dia at a velocity of 2150.
All expanded to a large diameter on pigs.
I think for your 7x57 I would go with a 175gr .030 or.035jkt with a velocity of 2300 to 2400 fps.
This bullet should give you plenty of expansion and deep penetration.
If I thought I might run into a few pigs 250lbs or bigger and might be making raking shots I would go with the .035jkt.
These Hawk bullets have given me almost 100% drop to the shot kills on wild pigs.
The most recent at the DRSS Hunt where I hit a running pig with my 450/400 3 1/4" double with the 400 gr .035jkt Hawk. It slammed him to the ground and he never took another step.

This bullet has a very thin jacket and will also stop a 400 pound hog.

If you insist on a round nose this is likely the last one available

I just checked their web sight and $30 for 50 is a little more than I want to spend, maybe I will but, I wish that I could find a cheaper alternative. The S&B 173s shoot OK, but I don't know how they perform. They are less than $10 a box for loaded ammo. capt david

If you can find some, Sierra used to make a 170 gr. RN that opened up well for me. Unfortunately, Sierra dropped them a few years ago. They always did a number on deer for me. Federal may still load a 175 gr. RN, but if I got any of those, I'd pull them for the bullets and give them a proper powder charge. I've only lost three deer in 55 years of hunting, but one of them was due to a 7x57 Federal 175 gr. not performing as it should. Complete pass through with very little blood trail that soon petered out. Deer was shot about 9 in the morning and we looked for it until sundown. That's been almost 35 years ago and I still feel bad about it.
Paul B.

Have you considered the 175 grain Nosler Partition? Since you need a long bullet the spitzer will be a little longer than the roundnose bullets you're having trouble finding. I haven't used the Partition in a 7mm but I've never seen one not expand or fail to penetrate. Good hunting!

Though I am in the throws of moving on from my 7x57 to a 308 I had several years of one shot kills on hogs and deer using 160 grain Sierra BTSP's and Hornady 175 grain Spire points. I also used the Speer hotcor 160 grain flat base spitzer with excellent results. All three penetrate just fine and expand appropriatly. The 160's were pushed to a leisurly 2600 fps and the 175's made around 2450 fps. I am not really moving on, just restocking it in wood and turning the barrel down to lighten it.