So I just picked up what I consider a great deal on a 7mm magnum at Gander Mountain. The rifle balances and fits really well and I'd like to use it this fall for whitetail. The trouble is I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and most shots are very close and I don't want to ruin alot of meat or wound an animal because of a bullet failure. I have had great success with the .308, 8x57 and 7.62x54r at close range but I'm afraid of the 7mm's velocity. Can anyone recommend a bullet and load either factory or handload that will work reliably at ranges as close as 25 yards. I don't mind downloading the rifle to 7x7 specs if necessary but I would really like to work up one load that will work for everything from Marquette County whitetails to western elk, maybe even an Alaskan moose someday.

Load it with 140 gr. TSX bullets, as fast as you'd like, and ****try**** not to hit any more bones than you have to. I've shot several elk and deer with this load, from 25 to 75 yards, and you can eat up to the hole. It's uncanny. HTH, Dutch.

I've got to disagree with Dutch. Uh-oh, 1st time for everything.

I've had disappointing results with small fast TSX's and there have been anecdotal instances of petals peeling off, penciling through etc.

I would go with a heavy 175 gr bullet like a Nosler Partition, Nosler Ballistic Tip, Trophy Bonded Bear Claw or any cup and core bullet and slow the velocity down to 2800 to 2900 fps.

JMHO

I have never shot a whitetail,but do shoot 7mm remmag my pick would 160gr Nosler Partition.

Under 50 yards i would go for a neck shot.

I hunted for many years with a 7mag here in n.e. Mn, same conditions as you and never had a problem. Either 160 partitions or core-lokts, they both worked great.

Get a 160gr NP and use it for everything.

My 7mm Mag shoots 150 grain Nosler Partitions best. Make the same kind of shot on Deer with the 7mm Mag as you do with your other rifles and that should work well. I'm not a fan of downloading magnums. I wouldn't worry about the 7mm Mag having too much velocity. Just work up an accurate load with the bullet of your choice, and hunt with it. Go for the heart or neck.

Don

I use 154 grain Hornady spire points.
I've taken deer from 25 yards out to around 225 yards.

Stay in the ribs and you'll be OK.

The heavier bullets like this and up to 175 grains will work. They don't blow up.

+1 for agreement with Woods' comment.

I agree with a 160-175 gr bullet at less than 3000fps. Off the top of my head, 2800 would be a great target velocity for short to medium range 7mmMag use.

I've only used the 160gr. NP's in my 7mag and it never caused excess damage. It doesn't leave a huge exit hole and puts the animal down quick.

At anything less than 100 yards, if your meat hunting, why not just shoot them in the head? That's what I've done the past 5 years, if no big buck shows himself. If they're small buck, I don't waste anything, including the shoulders.

I guess I am a bit confussed here. Why wouldn't a heavier bullet at 2800 be a good long range round too?

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
I guess I am a bit confussed here. Why wouldn't a heavier bullet at 2800 be a good long range round too?

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With the heavier bullets, at long range, you would have more of a "rain-bow" trajectory!

My 7Mag feels just right to me and comes up to my shoulder like a fine side-by-side. but I never used it much 'cause you don't need a 7Mag on Texas whitetails. A while back I stumbled across a load on an internet site: 150gr Sierra BT with 48gr of IMR4895. Since I had all the components on the bench, I gave it a try. It's a tack driver, velocity is about 2700....turned the Mag into a 7X57 which has taken many a hog and deer since.

May not work in your rifle, but mine sure loves it!

My $.025 on the subject . Seeing as I've hunted on many a continent with a 7 MM Rem mag Commercial Mauser 3000 L model since 63 . I would think that qualifies me to some extent .

150 160 175 take your pick Slow down the velocity use anyones brand of " Quality Bullet " YOU chose !. At short range round nose work real well !. I agree with above who have suggested heavier rather than lighter projectiles .

My opinion and it's just that . Lighter projectiles seem to need Higher Velocity , so as to do the damage of a slower heavier bullet .

I wouldn't bother to give you loads as everyones rifle has it's own digestive track .


Load for accuracy rather than velocity !.
Stack two or three phone books ( about 6 " in thickness ) one or two wet one dry in the middle . Head on to the range poke a few holes in the books , see what you like . 2650 - 2800 FPS should be right.

I will say Sierra bullets have yet to fail me in any situation Neither have Noslers !.

...

I'd try to get ahold of some Barnes originals. They made one that was almost 200 grs in that caliber. I've carried one of these for over 30 years and have taken somthing like 40 species in North America and Africa. It always does it's job.

If I couldn't find the heavy Barnes, I'd so for some heavy Hornady round nose bullets. The open up easy and would be devastating at close range.

Mac

Chuck White, when you say "with the heavier bullets you will have more of a rain-bow trajectory" i would beg to differ. i know quite a few who shoot long range and all of them use very heavy per caliber bullets because they shoot flatter.

my vote would be for the 160 Accubond. elk to whitetails, near or far, it would be the best for what you want to do.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
I've got to disagree with Dutch. Uh-oh, 1st time for everything.

Oh, heck, I don't really mind if you're wrong.

All kidding aside, there's, of course, nothing wrong with shooting a heavy for caliber bullet at modest speeds. The end result will be the same.

My personal hang-up is with the "what if", that is, what if the object of my desire shows up on the next ridge? A little shorter time of flight, a little less wind drift........ I'll admit it, I never can resist that Siren song..... JMO, Dutch.

Thanks for the replies. I was kind of thinking either a 160 grain Nosler Partition or possible an accubond for the slightly enhanced BC. Will the accubonds be strong enough? I would love to use a 175 grain nosler for everything but I would be concerned about it opening reliably on smaller deer or the occasional long shot.

A bit more rainbow trajectory with a bullet that has got more stuff when it gets there. I guess it's all a trade off.

I like the heavier bullets for long range work.

A 175 with awesome BC and awesome SD is what I want at long range.

Will the Accubonds be strong enough?

this is a very sturdy bullet that has it all. can hold up to close, high velocity impacts. will mushroom very well at long range because the plastic tip initiates expansion.might be the most accurate big game bullet made.

other choices would be the interbond, scirocco, combined technologies. try em and let your gun tell you which it likes best.

I've also had very good luck with Grand Slams. I think they are an underrated bullet.

I would prefer a flat base bullet instead of a boat-tail for the 7mm and 270.For up close shooting you will need a stout bullet like the Barnes,North Fork,or A-frame.I have recovered 130 and 140gr bullets from up close shots and they are really stressed.

I would suggest the heaviest bullet your gun shoots well. I've had good luck with 175g Sierra SBT's on things down as small as Javelina without excessive damage. Nosler Partitions or Barnes TSX bullets are even better but spendy....Hornady SP's may also be a good choice. My A-bolt shoots different bullet weights to different points of aim, so finding one that will work for most everything is my preference.

Let your rifle tell you which one it likes best and stick with it.

Cheers,

Dan

For a gentleman around here that I know, who bought a 7 Mag, and then had to have heart surgery, I loaded him up some ammo last season, that I used about 35 grains of IMR 4198... and some 139 Grain Hornady SPs....that is what he bought.. I would have suggested the 154s...

We tested his recoil tolerance from 30 to 40 grains of IMR 4198, and settled on 35....

What we got was the recoil and performance of a 7 x 57 Mauser... MV was about 2600 fps...

We are talking one of those piece of crap Remington 710s, and he brought back a 2 inch group he shot with the rifle.. I thought it was decent for THAT rifle at 100 yds... he told me that was shot at 200 YDS....

So he was a very happy camper.. and I know he will back over here with the same brass and a pound of 4198 again... and yeah, it got him his buck.. which was at very short range...

I use the 154 grain Interbond. The majority of my shots are under 100 yards.

I've always thought of the 7mag as comparable to the 30-06 in terms of velocity, only with bullets of better SD

I've owned a 7mag since 1990. I've had the pleasure of hunting and taking a lot of game with it in many states, including AZ, MO, AL, CO, and WY.

Specific to your criteria, close range but no meat loss, I can attest to having remarkable success with a plain old 140 Btip and 150 Btip. I've takend quite a few deer at less than 25 yards with it and the bullets are going so fast, there just wasn't anything remarkable about the entrance or exit wound. Small in, small out, dead deer.

But I am not worried about the meat as you are, nonetheless, it didn't damage much at all since my shots were all in the ribs and I rarely use that meat anyway.

I wouldn't bother loading up anything at all. Go buy some Corelokt ammo with a round nose and happy hunting. 25 yards is nothing. Who cares how it groups.

But if you do decide to load, look in the manuals and find the slowest load possible, and load any reasonable bullet you want so long as it groups inside a fist sized hole at 100 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by im_paid_to_kill:
Chuck White, when you say "with the heavier bullets you will have more of a rain-bow trajectory" i would beg to differ. i know quite a few who shoot long range and all of them use very heavy per caliber bullets because they shoot flatter.

What I'm saying is that if you compare a 139 grain bullet to a 175 grain bullet, the mid-range trajectory will be different!
The midrange trajectory for the 175 grain bullet will be substantially greater.

Look at the trajectory charts in your loading manual.
175 grain bullet at 2900fps, sighted in for 100 yard zero will drop 52.6 inches by the time it gets to 500 yards.
139 grain bullet at 3400fps, sighted in for 100 yard zero will drop 38.1 inches by the time it gets to 500 yards.
The difference is 14.5 inches.

im-paid-to-kill, The heavier bullet is definitly NOT flatter shooting at hunting ranges...see Chucks post. Long range(1000yard) shooters do shoot heavier for calibre bullets because they shed velocity at a slower rate and buck the wind better. Not because they are flatter shooting.

A heavier bullet starts out slower and ends up slower, has a more rainbow trajectory at hunting ranges. Check your reloading manual for imfo on your cartridge.
troy

Use Nosler Partiion either 140 or 160. Shoot for the lung and you will not ruin any valuable meat. Great round. Killed lots of big game with mine. You do not need to load it to top speeds. John

I've never had a problem with a 160gr Partition on deer under 100 yards out of my 7mm Rem Mag. Much less meat damage than a .270 Win/130 gr cup & core. 175gr Partitions would be very similar. Can't go wrong with either if you keep the velocities to a sane level.

Chuck,DT, you guys are changing the argument on me a little. in Chuck's original post he said long range.that to me is at least 600 yards and out. if you're only talking 500, then yes, i agree with the lighter bullets shooting flatter.but from 6-700 and out,the heavier, high BC vld style bullets shoot flatter.

the original question was something that could be used for close and long range.i don't think a partition is the best choice for long range.up close it's great but at 500 the accuracy is usually poor.a 160 Accubond is hands down the best bullet for a 7 mag to shoot deer/elk/moose from close to 500 yards.

Well I don't know about the rest of you guys, but to me 500 yards falls into the long range category.

im paid to kill;
In most cases, when we talk about long range competition, we are dealing with KNOWN distances and therefore anyone can sight in and practice with the heavier bullets.
In this case I would use the heavier bullets because they buck the wind a little better.

But what I'm saying is that if you have your rifle zero'd in at 200 yards, ane you,re using a 175 grain 7mm bullet, your midrange trajectory will be somewhere around 110 inches, if you're shooting 1,000 yards.
Now, that's what I call rainbow trajectory.

500 yds is very long range to the vast majority of hunters and a lighter bullet does in fact shoot flatter inside that range. I got to playing with a ballistics program one night after a few too many beers and the result I got was that invariably most modern cartridges will shoot a lighter bullet with a flatter trajectory inside 750 yds. The heavier bullet with it's greater ballistic coefficient and better retained velocity will "catch up" around 750 yds and shoot flatter after that. This applies to a 30-06 with 150 gr. bullets vs. 180's and a 7mm mag with 140's vs. 175's. I'm not saying that there aren't folks that can make good kills over 500 yds, but they're very few and far between. For 99.999% of us "long range" is anything from 200-450 yds. A deer might as well be on the moon as at 600 yds for most of us. Shooting paper at 1000 yds, different story, but we're discussing the man's hunting rifle here.

As to the selection of load for deer at close range and to take out west for elk, I'd get some 160 gr partitions, load them to 2800 fps and call it done as long as they shot well.

A 7mm Remmy Mag rifle makes a GREAT donor for a .458 AR built ... and that's a GOOD short range rifle

(I apologize, but I just could not pass up the obvious.)

I've shot 160 grain speer hotcore @ 2,850 for years. Hogs, elk and lots of deer have been shot with this load and I've never had problems with ruining meat. I mainly shoot behind the shoulder on deer.

I definitely never have any intentions of using the rifle beyond 400 yds. I doubt it'll ever shoot past 200 accept maybe at the range and I have a reasonably accurate savage 10fp for that. I'm thinking of this new rifle as a do it all hunting rifle for shooting within common hunting ranges. If a trophy steps out at 400 yds I'd like to have the load and more importantly the experience to consider it but 99% of my hunting shots are inside of 75 yds so I have to plan for that. So I guess i'm looking for a load predominately for close work but with good ranging capabilities. As for the trajectory of heavy bullets, the 175 grainers sighted in ay 250 yards should still be in the vitals at 300 yds without any hold adjustments. Beyond 250 yards I would need a rangefinder anyway and if I need a rangefinder I may as well use a drop table. I guess I am more interested with the terminal performance of the bullets at normal hunting ranges. I would prefer not to tear up alot of meat but my primary concern is a reliable and humane kill. A 160 or 175 grain premium bullet sounds pretty good to me. I think I'll buy a box of accubonds and if they don't satisfy I'll use the partitions. What powders do you recommend for the heavier slugs. Thanks for the great replies.

Use a 160 AB. Good choice.

H1000, H4831, IMR4831, IMR7828, Re22, Re25

One of those should certainly do the trick.

If you don't want to spend a lot on different powders, the best chance for accuracy in both bullets would be RL22, IMO. I use it for the 160 as it gives the best result in my rifles. The Nosler #5 manual lists RL22 as the "Most Accurate Powder Tested" for the 175 gr bullet.

160gr AB and take them about the third rib back...when they stop to poop, their lungs and heart fall out!

Rich
DRSS

PS: and they usually go less than 10 feet.