would like to hear about others experiences;
trying to tune a ruger m77 7mag of my cousins
been thru 5 recipies imr 4831/140s
and 4 recipies 7828/140s
and 3 7828/150s
trouble is i can't find anything that will group smaller than 1.5"
any insight from the crowd?
new rifle and clean at the time of shooting

Aloha Ravenr,
I use IMR 7828 with good results in my 7mm Rem Mag. Sometimes a new rifle must be "broken in" to settle down. The most common method is fire lapping. It sometimes takes 100-150 rds. to smooth out the barrel sufficiently. Sometimes 1.5" groups is the best you can get from a particular rifle, which is more than adequate for hunting.

A good example is a friend and I both bought the same Ruger 77 in 243 for a goat cull. We mounted identicle scopes. We reloaded a bunch of ammo using the same 100 gr. bullets and the same powder charge of 42.6 gr. of IMR 4350 from the same can, same case brand, and same primers. I was the only shooter of both rifles on the same day. His rifle shot less than 1" @ 100 yds. The best my rifle could do was 1.75". The only variation was the rifle itself.
I have encountered the need to break in a barrel on several of my once new rifles before it settles down to an acceptable group.

Good luck.

Geoff

A consistant 1.5 makes for a good hunting rifle. Try some IMR4350 with some good 160's or 175's.

RavenR,

I have had my best results w/ RL22 and 160 gr slugs. With a little work....your ruger should do better than 1.5 inches, although that group size is perfectly adequate for most big game hunting applications.

Cheers

I've had my best luck with two 7 Mags (RM & WM) by backing down from max charges a bit. A 160 grain pill at 2800-2900 fps will cleanly take any game a 7mm Mag was designed for-not to mention the added benefit of saving your shoulder and your barrel. Both my rifles had a preference for Viht N165.

The last two weeks I've been working with a shooting/hunting buddy here developing a 160 grain load for his Browning A-Bolt 7mm Mag with a synthetic stock.
After testing several loads, we settled on 59.5 grains of H-4831SC, 160 grain Nosler Partitions, and Federal 210 primers. He shot a 3 shot group at 100 yards with that load that was very close to 3/8", well below 1/2".
Much of a rifle's accuracy is with the rifle itself, and I have no knowledge about your rifle.

Try a few different makes of bullets till you find one that is accurate........it's the biggest factor. You can't make your rifle shoot a bullet it doesn't like.

I had the same kind of trouble until I finally moved up to 160 grain slugs and my gun just liked them. Now shoots .75" all day long.

I agree with rcamuglia, it's tough to make a slug shoot your gun doesn't like.

quote:

Originally posted by Luns4d:
I had the same kind of trouble until I finally moved up to 160 grain slugs and my gun just liked them. Now shoots .75" all day long.

I agree with rcamuglia, it's tough to make a slug shoot your gun doesn't like.

I agree, give various 160gr a try & IMR7828 or H4831sc should give you great accuracy. One thing on reloading. Set your dies so they partially size the case. Many 7rm have sloppy cut chambers & you want to be headspaced on the shoulder for longest rbass life & bes accuracy.

My Ruger 7 Mag will shoot nothing but the 140 grain TSX and 4831. It is the most particular gun that I have ever owned. The 140 grain TSX was the last bullet that I was going to try before pulling the barrel off and pounding it into the ground for a tomato plant stake.

I tried 4350, 7828, BLc-2, IMR 4064 and Varget with:
Hor 120SP, Nos 120BT, Spr 130SP, Hor 139SST, Hor 139SP, Barn 140TX, Nos 140Part, Nos 150 BT, Sierra 150 SBT, Nos 160Part, Nos 175Part

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
My Ruger 7 Mag will shoot nothing but the 140 grain TSX and 4831. It is the most particular gun that I have ever owned. The 140 grain TSX was the last bullet that I was going to try before pulling the barrel off and pounding it into the ground for a tomato plant stake.

I tried 4350, 7828, BLc-2, IMR 4064 and Varget with:
Hor 120SP, Nos 120BT, Spr 130SP, Hor 139SST, Hor 139SP, Barn 140TX, Nos 140Part, Nos 150 BT, Sierra 150 SBT, Nos 160Part, Nos 175Part

Hey Frank, does that Ruger have a long throat like most Ruger's? That may be why it loves the TSX.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:

trouble is i can't find anything that will group smaller than 1.5"

1.5" is as good as a group as I ever get with my Ruger #1 7mmMag 162 gr bullets.

I want to build another 7mm Mag by Oct 2009 hunting.
I have a 7mmMag reamer, Lothar Walther .284 Caliber, 9 Twist, #1300 Contour barrel, and I have VZ24 Brazilian action that I TIG welded the bolt handle.

I hope to keep the same accuracy, but shave a pound or two off the weight.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
would like to hear about others experiences;
trying to tune a ruger m77 7mag of my cousins
been thru 5 recipies imr 4831/140s
and 4 recipies 7828/140s
and 3 7828/150s
trouble is i can't find anything that will group smaller than 1.5"
any insight from the crowd?
new rifle and clean at the time of shooting

I only partially size the cases, not having a neck-sizing die, and that seems to make a fair difference in my M70. Bullets matter, the rifle works well with 140-grain Noslers of both sorts, but copper Barnes bullets go thataway from jacketed lead, and don't group as well. The blue Barnes bullets shoot more or less the same point of aim as the jacketed lead ones. I also use 4831 and 7828, like 7828 best. RL22 was all right, I just didn't like the smell or the feel of the recoil as well as 7828.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
My Ruger 7 Mag will shoot nothing but the 140 grain TSX and 4831. It is the most particular gun that I have ever owned. The 140 grain TSX was the last bullet that I was going to try before pulling the barrel off and pounding it into the ground for a tomato plant stake.

I tried 4350, 7828, BLc-2, IMR 4064 and Varget with:
Hor 120SP, Nos 120BT, Spr 130SP, Hor 139SST, Hor 139SP, Barn 140TX, Nos 140Part, Nos 150 BT, Sierra 150 SBT, Nos 160Part, Nos 175Part

Hey Frank, does that Ruger have a long throat like most Ruger's? That may be why it loves the TSX.

It's so long that I can't get anywhere near the lands so I loaded all the bullets to magazine length. The 175 grain Partitions are actually very blunt and get closer to the lands than the 140 grain TSX and they won't go less the 2.5" for a three shot group.

The only reason I keep this gun is that it shoots the lead free Barnes bullets well and I live in the lead free zone in California.

ravenr ; Finally something I know a little about ( Except for the Ruger end of the equation ).

First you already have 140 bullets correct ? Now purchase Sierra Match Kings in 160 - 168

load 5 rounds of each weight use recipes of H 4831 , H 1000 or 7828 ( middle of the road loads only )

for all loads Plus 5 fouler loads ( anything to foul the bore with .

Take a Freshly scrubbed barrel ( Clean bore ) Off too the range you go .

Shoot your fouler loads 1 minute apart . Now let er cool while you post up a target or take in the fresh

air and sights . Start with which ever load suits you ( I prefer heaviest first myself ) Shoot allowing

1-1.5 minutes per each of the 5 rounds down . Post up a new target or look around again lapse 10

minutes now repeat .

Report back too all of US on which weight bullet your particular Ruger likes to digest .

If a 7 MM , Mag or not won't group 160-168 match kings It's POORLY MANUFACTURED or has a MAJOR

PROBLEM ( IMO )

If it shows preference over one weight or the other work the load up or down by 2 grains again only

loading 5 of each . Re test and dial in on that load ,once perfected it should be Near enough for Nosler


Partition load and capable hunting N A game of your choosing ( not be advisable for Grizzly ! ).

If any of my half a dozen 7 mm's weren't able to group consistently MOA or better , they would be

someone Else's !!!.

thanks for all the advice and i'm ticking my way down the list.
i personally shoot winchesters and never have had one that i couldn't take off the store shelf and break in the barrel and find a recipe that will put 3 under a quarter sooner rather than later.my 22-250 3 under a dime.
cold barrel,concrete bench,no wind,100 yds
this is my first experience with the ruger and wanted to feel out the crowd on the ruger aspect of the equation.
i know that somewhere in that rifle is a
cloverleaf recipe waiting for me to find it.
i can't in good conscience take a 1.5" rifle
hunting,was taught different and the lesson
stuck.may even be alittle anal about it but i have to know that bullet is going exactly where i want it to,not 1.5"s x 100s of yards.
once again thanks for the advice and i'll let you know how it turns out.

quote:

i know that somewhere in that rifle is a
cloverleaf recipe waiting for me to find it.

Sorry ravenr, But I do not believe that is a true statement. Especially with Rugers, and probably with most other rifles as well. But you will certainly have fun trying to find it.
Peter.