I have never reloaded, however I am planning to begin. I'm planning to begin with my 7X57. Does anyone have any favorite loads?

Gads Terry, There are so many to choose from! Curious cartridge to ask that question about BTW. You'll get so many conflicting inputs on this that you'll probably say "WTF!" and still be scratching your head...if you aren't already.

Thing is about the 7X57(one of my favorites)is that it's versatile. Good choice by the way. Two schools reign on the cartridge, light bullets going fairly fast, and heavy going slow, and therein is found the philosophical difference. For the record, what kind of rifle do you have, and what game will it be used on? Where do you hunt? With that info we can get on with it. BTW, there are vast numbers of loads in the manuals and on the Net. I'm one who favors the heavier bullets...somewhat like WDM Bell, although I haven't seen too many elephants around here.

Get a good reloading manual--Lyman-Lee 2nd Edition and read it cover to cover to get an idea of what it is all about. Then go from there...Learn all the basics and apply the rules and you will have a safe and rewarding hobby....PS--when you finally reach that point for favorite loads...Try the Hornady 154 and 175 grain Round nose in .284, the long bearing surface on these heavier bullets provide great stabilization and very good accuracy..if you hunt--either of these bullets will provide the epitome in knock down and stay down power for Mr. Whitetail ..SB

You could start with something like 8# WCC846 from HI-TECH for likr $64.00 and 140gr.Remington pspw/c from Natchez.This will be a nice inexpensive start. You can shop around and find this stuff even cheaper. We,ve been using this Wcc846 in 7x57s and other cartridges and having good results.43gr. of it behind that bullet should give you some respectable velocity. If you are using a mod.93 or 95 Mauser start a little lower. roger

I have a new Dakota arms model 76. I will be using it for whitetail deer primarily, but I may take it to Africa in 05. I normally prefer larger bullets at moderate velocity. I use 180gr. bullets in my 30-06. I have two friends who are very experienced reloaders who are going to show me the ropes, and I am reading Nosler's reloading guide.

You have a very nice rifle, I have had one in .338 Win. for over ten yrs. and like it very much.

I have handloaded for several 7x57s, my two favourite loads are 48-50 grs. IMR-4350/H-4350, 140 Nosler PT. CCI 250, Fed. or Rem brass or, 50grs. RE-22, same brass, CCI 250, 160 gr. Nosler PT., especially the new PT. Gold Molyfree. These are top-end loads, reduce by 7% to start and work up.

The first is almost recoil free in a light rifle, super-accurate and about my favourite deer load. The second will drop bigger game and is not a "kicker" if, recoil is an issue. I would prefer Winchester brass, if I could get it and it will take a touch more powder-but, still "work up".

1. 139 hornady flat ebses--50.0gr imr4350
2. 154 hornady round noese--48.5 h4350
3. 154 hornady flat bases--48.5 imr 4350

start 10% down & work up.. my guns love the round noses and they really do the job on deer

i only use winchester brass, the remington brass i have tried was junk

That is my favorite cartridge. I am the very proud owner of a CZ 550 American that I:
* Free floated the barrel.
* Glassbedded the action area and the chamber area of the barrel.
* Refinished the stock with GB Linspeed Oil.
* Had a gunsmith jewell the bolt with the small herringbone pattern and then polish the bolt handle from the flat black to the nickel finish hiding under the flat black.
* Put Talley Rings on it and a Leupold VariX-1 in 4x12 power.
Cannot afford a custom rifle, so I do all that to make it exactly like what I want, so, maybe it is a little custom at that.
With your Dakota, check the barrel twist to be sure. If you have a 1x10 twist, your rifle may like the lighter bullets say in the 139 grain or 140 grain class.
A 1x9.5 (Ruger uses this twist in its 7mm barrels) will put you on with the 150 grain bullets or there abouts and a euro twist, 1x8.66, like I have on my CZ, like bullets in the 160 grain class and better. All that said, I have heard of 1x10 doing great with 160 grain bullets, and 1/8.66 doing fantastic with 140 grainers, so take these comments with a "grain" of salt.
My CZ has a very, very, very long throat. I cannot use 150 grain class boattail bullets and get the ogive .01 inch off the lands. The 162 grain Hornady SSTs will fit, but the bullet overall length is 3.295 inches when the bullet is seated .01 inch off the lands, which is the length my rifle likes for handloads and handloads is all I have shot through it.
I use nothing but H414 powder. I use Remington cases, Federal 210 primers. I worked up to this load, so please don't try it and just dump H414 into cases without first working up, and if you do have a barrel condusive to the heavier bullets, say 1x9, or so, and want to try the load, use the came components, especially the cases because different brands of cases can affect pressure. Damn, talk about a run-on sentence. My editor would crap if I showed him that one.
Anyway, my load it 48.9 grains of H414 with the bullet seated way, way out to .01 inch from the lands.
With this combo in my rifle (23.6 inch barrel) I get a chronographed average in a July New Mexico day, of 2,855 feet per second. My three shot groups go right around .481 inch from a sandbag rest at 100 yards. My best group went .216 inch center to center from 100 yards.
I shoot this puppy enough to be very confident of it, the cartridge and my shooting ability on mule deer, whitetail deer, antelope, elk, wild hog, javelina, coyote and even turkey where legal in Texas. According to the charts, this combo has more than 2,000 foot pounds of energy remaining at 400 yards.
A friend of mine has a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 7x57mm and he shoots 150 grain Nosler Partitions. He gets sub-minute of angle and 2760 feet per second with H4350.
Again, find out your barrel twist rate and then have fun. Sounds like you have one heck of a rifle. I know I have one! Tom Purdom, also known as 7x57mm