I need a good load for the 175 gr. nosler partition in my 7mm remington mag. for an upcoming hunt. I tried the 160 gr. nosler ab, but it copper fouled excessively in my barrel.

I use 70.0 gr. H-1000, Win. brass, and a Fed. 215 primer in my M700 Remington in 7mm. Rem. I seat the bullet 0.030" from the lands. This load has worked well for me on elk, mule deer, and one moose. In the past I used H-4831, but I get better accuracy with H-1000.

What makes you think the 175 will copper foul less than the 160?

quote:

but it copper fouled excessively in my barrel.

I use the Accubond in almost everything I shoot. Including the 7mm 160s. I have NEVER had anything but great success.

I'd seriously try to figure out why it was fouling so bad.

I found my 7mag shoots best after about five shots. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me but that's how it is. I clean it to bare metal, then shoot at least a few shots before going hunting with it. I may run a lightly oiled patch through during the season depending on moisture, but don't scrub it again until after. Leaving it fouled doesn't seem to have made it worse.

If it's a rough bore changing bullets won't change much about it fouling.

I would first ask what kind of .7mm RM you have. All of the early guns were designed to shoot 175 gr rounds. The trend of 140-160gr is something that has happened in the past 15 years, as many prefer lighter/faster to fast/heavier.

The 7mmRM shines with 175's if the twist is proper. In the 175, I like the Nos Part's probably the best for long range on bigger game.

The problem with the 7mmRM is one has to decide how he wants to use the gun. Is it a light bullet lighter/game cartridge or a heavy bullet/large game cartridge.

I can't wait to hear the naysayers to my take on this, but I've seen the data / science, and science makes sense to me.

MD, there is only one cartridge by the name of 7mm Remington magnum. It's not a saum or a 7mm ultra mag or a 7mm stw. IIRC they have always been rifled 1 in 9. This rifle has a Rem. barrel, but it is the 2nd barrel. I burned out the first one, but it took many years and a lot of bullets.

Washbeman, The 175 has a gilding metal jacket, apparently the accu-bond has a pure copper jacket which most bonded bullets do have. I'm shooting a Remington factory hammer forged barrel on this rifle, not a custom match grade hand lapped barrel, so it's a little rough inside, as are all mass produced factory barrels.

Dale, thanks for the tip on H-1000, I'll do a ladder test with H-1000 tomorrow. Without your tip I would have tried H-4831. I'm currently paying $34.00 for a box of 175 NP bullets and $34.00 for a pound of powder (RL-22), including sales tax. So I'm trying to find a good load without spending $150.00 on experimental components.

quote:

Originally posted by swampshooter:
MD, there is only one cartridge by the name of 7mm Remington magnum. It's not a saum or a 7mm ultra mag or a 7mm stw. IIRC they have always been rifled 1 in 9. This rifle has a Rem. barrel, but it is the 2nd barrel. I burned out the first one, but it took many years and a lot of bullets.

You're right that many of the 7mm RM barrels have a 1:9 twist; but not all. The CZ has a 1:10, Sako 1:9.5, and some early guns actually has a 1:11 twist. 1:9 should be perfect for the 175's. I'm not sure the CZ would do as well with the 175's. That's important to consider when buying a rifle or when choosing what kind of loads one wants to shoot.

Not trying to be confrontational, just trying to help out. My favorite powder for the 7 RM is RL22. It all depends on the gun and how your barrel likes certain bullets and powders.

Thanks MD, that'll give me two powders to try. Hopefully one of them will work well. I have both powders on hand.

Try giving the barrel about 500 (yup, 500) strokes with a patch wrapped bore brush soaked with JB paste. I routinely do that with new factory barrels.
My experiences with 7mm bullets for the 7mag is pretty much limited to 160gr NPs and 160gr Grand Slams. I know they work.

Swampie, the Accubond jackets are a guilding metal, probalby the exact same as that used in the Partition. IME Noslers tend to fowl more at higher velocities.

Wasbeeman, the same thought about JB'n it had crossed my mind. I don't own a bore scope so don't know for sure, but it must be rougher than most. I will probably do that or run one of David Tubb's final finish kits through it.

Antelope Sniper, I'm going to shoot Nosler Partitions out of this bbl. if it ever dries up a little bit around here. I'm going to do this before I do anything to smooth this barrel up, then I can compare the fouling effects. I've shot a lot of Nosler Partitions out of a 300 Win Mag and a 338 Win Mag and have never noticed excessive copper fouling like I'm experiencing with the 160 NAB.

If it is fouling that badly I would suspect the barrel, not the bullet is the problem. If it still fouls with the partitions it is time for something like what wasbeeman recommends if you are a do it yourselfer.

I'd try the JB before I started shooting a sandpaper bullet down my bore.
I don't have a bore sighter either but as you work the JB you can feel the bore smoothing out. One hint. You don't have to do all 500 in one sitting.

Swampshooter:

You might watch for Nosler bullets you us at the "Shooter's Pro Shop". I bought 500 of the "blemished" 7mm 175 gr. partitions for about $14-15 per bag of 50 and can not tell any difference in how they shoot from the bullets I buy in boxes at a store. Their inventory changes frequently and in the larger calibers they seem to go fast. I also like the 160 gr. partition in the 7mm Rem. with 71.5 gr. of H-1000. Good shooting.

The 175 is great and I shot them for years, but I would skip the 175 and go to the 160. The 160 partition is where the 7 mag belongs. Try RL 25 with the 160. I get a chrono'd 3006 fps out of my Remington sps with a 26-inch barrel. This is not a hot load, either, and shoots sub-minute.

I second the Shooters Pro Shop idea.

i agree. 7mmremmag shines with 160gr partitions.

I just checked my 1987 AND 2012 Remington Catalog and it say's 1:9.5 twist rate NOT 1:9.0
So that means that the 175 grain Nosler is ideal bullet weight and "length" for this twist ratio.

I would like to know when did Remington or even Winchestor started making 1:9.0 twist ratio barrels??????????

When I first looked at 7mm Mag BDLs in 1968, they had 24" barrels and I remember them advertising a 1 in 9" twist rate. Does that mean it wasn't 1 in 9 1/4 or 1 in 9 1/2, probably not ...

I've done pretty good with Retumbo for the 175's. Also tried it with 160's, it worked as well as several others. My fav was H870 but I'm down to about a pound or less.

I went and looked at my notes. I was @73.2 gr of Retumbo under 175gr Nosler Rartition. This is over max so watch it. I was getting 3037fps.

IMR 7828 has been great as well. I loaded it with 160gr XLC's though. I believe it was 68gr, Federal primers, Rem cases. It put 10 shot's into a group 1/2"w x 5/8"h at 100yards with a sporter barrel thats not bad. I still have some loaded and will use them whenever I need an extra elk rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by swampshooter:
I need a good load for the 175 gr. nosler partition in my 7mm remington mag. for an upcoming hunt. I tried the 160 gr. nosler ab, but it copper fouled excessively in my barrel.

I'm not going to try and talk you out of the 175gr bullet. But I'll say that 160gr Partitions and a max loading of IMR4350 produce MOA groups or better in my M70. I've used that load on a number of elk that just died and usually quite quickly. I also took a 45" Shiras moose in Idaho with that load.

I have a 26" 7 RM and Retumbo is my powder of choice from 140-175gr. 175 Partitions chrono 2934 avg with 68gr. 140gr TTSX at 3349 avg. with 75gr. However, I think any of the slower powders would work like H1000, RL22, RL25,and IMR7828. Check the Hodgdon website for data and never load from advise on the net always work up to it.

Thanks for all the input guys. I've got both the Nosler 175 gr. Partition and the Nosler 160 gr. Accubond shooting 5 shot groups no larger than 1 1/8" @ 100 with max charges of RL-22. Velocities are running 2800 fps for the 175 and a little over 3,000 fps for the 160, 24" barrel. Shot paper @ 200 and steel @ 300 last week and the groups are holding up at the longer ranges. I'm done experimenting for this year, going to hunt with one of these two, probably the 160. Thanks again for the help.

Good luck hunting!

I have used the 175 gr. Partition extensively in Africa and N. America, and I love it. Does that mean it's superior to the 160? Probably not, it's just what I developed good shooting loads with.

I've had excellent luck maximizing velocity and accuracy with IMR7828 (a healthy charge). Rx22 has given me fantastic accuracy, but a slightly reduced velocity. Did the game notice the bullet was going 150 fps slower? Nope, they were too dead to notice.

JRS

quote:

I'm done experimenting for this year, going to hunt with one of these two, probably the 160.

You won't be disappointed!

In my 7mm Rem. Mag chambered rifles, using 175 grain bullets, I've had the best performance using IMR 7828 powder. In my rifles, it consistently delivered sub-MOA three-shot groups.

TT

I killed several elk and lots of deer over the years with the 175 grain bullets. I used Patitions for elk and Hornady Interlocks for deer. They shot identically with the same powder. I have since switched to the 160 Partitons as all of the data points to very good terminal ballistics and a flatter trajectory. They both work well, though. I used Rl22 in a lot of the 175 loads.

Swampshooter, if you are interested in trying the 160 gr. Nosler partition, Shooter's Pro Shop has blemished bullets at $15.45/50 now. These usually go pretty quickly, so don't wait too long if you are interested.

I can not really tell much difference in performance between the 160 and 175 partition on elk out to about 350 yards. Both work well.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip Dale. I'm going there right now. Try to get several hundred.