I am interested in working up a handload with Hornady's 154 grain roundnose in my 7x57 (Ruger Mark II). Dual purpose deer and black bear round. I appreciate your recipes and field experiences with this bullet.

Or... do you have a better recommendation for deer and black bear in the 7x57?

v/r Dogger

The 154gr Hornaday RN is a pretty good bullet, in the 7 x 57 , just load some IMR-4350 around 45 to 48 gr should do it. I load 48 gr of IMR-4350 with 160 gr bullets. Yea it will do real well on deer and black bear and what ever else you would want to shoot with a 7 x 57. For me that would be a hell of a lot of game.

I've used the Horn 154 Rn for the last two years on WV whitetails. They kill like the hammer of Thor. I don't publish loadings on the net but it sounds like you're being pointed in the right direction.

Good choice for a bullet 7x57. It should do really well. I like W760 it has produced very good groups and good velocity. Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

In my 7-08, which is very similar in case capacity to your 7X57, H414 consistently produced top velocity with very good accuracy. Oddly enough, it produces top velocity with almost every bullet weight.
Just a thought.
VH

I have H414 on hand, cases by Frontier, Winchester, Remington, and CCI 200 primers, as well as WLR and Remington 9 1/2 large rifle. The Hornady manual doesn't show a load with H414, I would think that starting with 46 grains and the 154 Hornady round nose would be safe...

I shot a box and a half of them in my 7x57 at 2,650fps. Worked very well on deer, expanding well on the bigger ones with little meat damage.

BUT be sure to test at the ranges you will use them. I was horrified to find that the drop was about 7" at 200yards as opposed to the JBM/Hdy estimate of 4". Too much drop for our little deer.

I now use the 139gr BTSP which is flatter and seems to expand even better!

H-414 is the only powder in a 7x57..Many guns will take a lot more of it than the reloading manuals indicate, so carefull work up to max with this powder in your gun...I suppose this is because most books still quote for soft guns of the past in that caliber that are still floating around...My guns have o6 length magazines and equal throats and I can seat a 175 gr. Hornady half way to the cannalure, so I use a lot more powder than any of the books, my gun is essentually an improved gun but in a different way...Many Mausers are like mine...

I love the 154 gr. RN bullet on deer..It works and isn't as stiff as the 175 gr. RN...

Dogger I dont have much experience with the heavier bullets in the 7x57mm , But I do have enjoy my 7mm as this is mostly the only rifle I take hunting with me. I use the 139 gr BTSP , using Sonchem S335 44 gr , at a velocity of 2820 . I know this is a hot load but it works like a bomb in my rifle , no pun intended . Last season I took some number of animals with it which included , 52" Kudu bull , 26" Blue wildebees (this is one of our toughest animals), a good Gemsbuck , and some impala , and 1 Warthog. All were one shot kills . I only retrieved one bullet out of the kudu , and it weiged 97 gr after expansion ..... That is not to bad for a non premium grade bullet.

But anything works great in the 7x57mm , thats why i shoot one .

Regards
Rudie Potgieter