Hey guys, need some advice.

For future proofing, would I be better to go to a 1:8 twist in 7mm, or stick with 1:9 twist?

This will be for a 7mm WSM I am building as a hunting rifle. Reason I ask is the new Nosler Accubond long range in 175 gr is from what I hear a bit marginal in a 1:9 twist.

I would also like to be able to shoot the 140gr 7mm as well as the heavier weights.

Regards,

Michael.

Nosler has a site and forum some of the moderator also work for Nolser. I was trying to get some data for my long action 284 with their 168gr bullet with Lilja 1/9 twist barrel. They been upgrading their data site in 7mm mostly with 150gr/168gr ABLR and haven't done much with 175gr bullets yet.

If that bullet is marginal in factory 1/9 or 1/9.5 and needs 1/8 twist barrel or 1/8.5 twist barrels sure can't see them continue making that bullet when they got 168gr. If you ever planned on Berger 180gr or soon to be 195gr this coming year I'd do the 1/8 twist. My 284 with 1/9 twist can handle the 180gr Berger haven't tried them yet in 1/9 twist 280AI.

We have one store in town that gets limited supply of Nosler ABLR seem like can't keep 7mm 150gr or 168gr in stock very long but you can always buy 175gr.

Well good luck

My take is if you want to use the 175gr, then you need the faster twist, either a 1:8 or 1:8.5. Many of the older 7x57's and 7mm RM came with faster twist rates for use of 175's.

I don't understand it, but for some reason, somebody decided the 7mm RM and 7x57 should use either a 139 or 140 gr bullet. Why not just use a 6 Swedish in 140.

It's kinda like using a 150gr bullet out of a .30-06. Doesn't make good sense. The only exception I see to this is using the Barnes bullets which retain 99% of their bullet weight. If a lighter Barnes bullet shoots really good from your rifle, then that may be the way to go. Otherwise, you have to match the bullet weight to the twist, regardless of bullet choices.

Take a look at Berger's site. They list recommended twist rates for their various bullets.
There is also the bench rest (See F-class) crowd to research. No hunter is as deep into setting up and shooting rifles as these men and women.

I will again stick tp what has always worked

I am using the 168's in my 1:9 barrel but Nosler says that 1:9 is good for the 175's as well.

I have used 1x9 and 1x10 both seemed to work with all bullet weights from the 130 gr. Speer to the 175 gr. Nosler partition, which has always been a favorite of mine for elk, moose and bear locally. The 130 gr. Speer is an awesome deer bullet. I have used the 7x57 in Africa also and it performed admirably there even on some rather large and dangerous animals..I have not used a 1x10 for many years now, just used the 1x9...I have two 7x57s both small ring Mausers and one has a 9.3x62 switch barrel, giving me the best of both worlds.

In my case, use of the .284 caliber was mostly with the 7x57s and one 7mm Rem mag and one .284 savage mod. 99...I, personally, didn't much care for the 7 mag, prefering a 30-06 to the magnum..not to say the 7 mag isn't a real dandy round, it is....The .284 Savage was a nice saddle gun for both deer and elk.

You guys have got to try the hybrid 180 VLD through a 1 in 9

Truly amazing

The terminal requirements for hunting and paper shooting are different and one should not follow a paper shooter's advice when building a hunting rifle.

For long range hunting, use the tighter twist. The longer bullets are used for longer distances and need more twist to perform terminally. Shorter bullets are not used to shoot over extended distances and the tighter twist will do no harm here.

I've used 7MM Weatherbys and 7MM STW's with 12, 11, 10 and 9-inch twists and know that the faster twists will make lightly constructed bullets very explosive while with a 12-inch twist even a 120-grain Hornaday Hollow Point bullet will always shoot through pronghorn antelope and only leave about 1 to 1-1/2 inch exit holes.

Ive owned and shot many 7x57s over the years and I will always go with a 1x9 twist for any bullet weight..Its worked for me and the 175 gr. Nosler and 130 gr. Speer are two of my favorite bullets along with GS Customs and North forks..

My present 275 Rigby will shoot both the 130 and 175 gr. bullets, the 175 is dead on at 100 with my iron sights and scope and the 130 is just a tad under 3 inches high at 100 with the scope, Have not shot the 130 with irons as yet..

A lot of the twist stuff is overplayed to an extent that most don't really know and are going by "he said she said, I read"...You have to shoot your own rifle to determine what it will do, you cannot guess at it. but when it comes to a 7x57, I have never found a 1x9 twist that diddn't handle 175 gr. bullets, that is the bullet it was designed for many years ago..If I ever do run across one that won't shoot the 175 gr. bullet then I will write it off as a bad barrel and rebarrel it.

Betraying my age but when Remington came out with the M700 in 7mm Rem Mag, it went with the 1 in 9 twist specifically to support the 175g bullet. Specs way back then were a 175g bullet at 3000 fps. Not saying that will work with a 180 or heavier and people weren't shooting animals at the ranges they do now, though a close friend was a Marine sniper back then and he would shoot things at 1000 yards.

I have built a lot of guns for hunters. I have found that the so called recommended twists are on the slow side. I would go with a 1-8 twist so you can shoot the heavy for caliber bullets. If for some unknown reason you want to shoot 120 gr. bullets just don't push them too fast. For me the tighter twists are always better....Tom

quote:

Originally posted by mdstewart:


It's kinda like using a 150gr bullet out of a .30-06. Doesn't make good sense.

I hear you but I've known a lot of old deer hunters that would disagree. roger

I've got a garden variety 1/9 7RM factory rifle. I've never even thought about shooting a 120gr bullet through it but with 150s, 160s, and 175s, the accuracy is outstanding.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by mdstewart:


It's kinda like using a 150gr bullet out of a .30-06. Doesn't make good sense.

I hear you but I've known a lot of old deer hunters that would disagree. roger

I'm one of them, Roger. I have always used 150 gr. Hornady bullets in my '06s and almost always 130 gr. Hornady bullets from my .270s for deer up through mule deer. Never had either one of them fail me either . And I killed my first moose using 139 grain Hornady spire points from my 7x57 of the day. Shot him twice just to make sure, but either bullet would have done the trick.
Both passed all the way through him, shredding his heart enroute.

Happy New Year, y'all.

quote:

Originally posted by Navaluk:
Take a look at Berger's site. They list recommended twist rates for their various bullets.
There is also the bench rest (See F-class) crowd to research. No hunter is as deep into setting up and shooting rifles as these men and women.

Berger even has a twist rate - Stability calculator:

http://www.bergerbullets.com/litz/TwistRuleAltWP.php

>>>Knock yourself out

Many reloaders use monometal bullets and the preferred bullet for a 30-06 with 1:10" twist is then 150gr. In a standard 7mm RM with 1:9" twist the best results come with 130gr and a 270Win with the very slow 1:10 twist uses 110gr in copper. I know a number of guys who only use 116gr monos in their 7mm RM rifles. They do not shoot beyond 350/400m and have no trouble at all.

Although twist is usually measured in inches, it is a ratio that is measured in calibers. So, a 10" twist in .277" is slower than a 10" twist in .30" and a 10" twist in .243" is even slower.

quote:

Originally posted by mdstewart:
My take is if you want to use the 175gr, then you need the faster twist, either a 1:8 or 1:8.5. Many of the older 7x57's and 7mm RM came with faster twist rates for use of 175's.

I don't understand it, but for some reason, somebody decided the 7mm RM and 7x57 should use either a 139 or 140 gr bullet. Why not just use a 6 Swedish in 140.

It's kinda like using a 150gr bullet out of a .30-06. Doesn't make good sense. The only exception I see to this is using the Barnes bullets which retain 99% of their bullet weight. If a lighter Barnes bullet shoots really good from your rifle, then that may be the way to go. Otherwise, you have to match the bullet weight to the twist, regardless of bullet choices.

I didn't buy a 7mm Mag to shoot long skinny 175gr bullets.

I bought a 7mmMag to shoot 140's at speeds that a 25-06 CANNOT shoot 120's

as for the 150gr in a 30-06? I have never in 35years of reloading loaded a single 150gr bullet in a 3006 case, I see no point in 150's when 165's load to the same velocity in virtually every loading manual I've ever used.

I just finished a 7x57 ( I marked it .275 Rigby out of nostalgia and the engraved bottom was engraved 275 Rigby by someone soooo!). The stock is Russian walnut from old world walnut.com, it has a 23.5 inch 1x9 twist Lothar Walthar barrel. A G33-40 action, a 30-06 length magazine box and a throat that was set with a 175 gr. Nosler seated half way to the cannalure.

I did my testing yesterday and sighted in the irons and the scope..it shot three 175 gr. Noslers into and inch with irons at 75 yards, so I was good with that for sure..It shot the 130 and 145 gr Speers at 3100 FPS into nice clusters of 1/2 and 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards and its best load was the 160 Nosler with 5 shots, all touching into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch cluster at 100 yards (didn't measure it), needless to say this load will get more testing and its my sight in load so far..All loads were in the same exact POI so thats a day maker.