are you getting accuracy from? I am looking to use this round for hole punching (My gunsmith has a reamer with a "match" throat). Thanks.

Norma

My favorite brass in Lapua, Norma and WW but in any order is fine with me.

F.N., I assume by match throat that means it's long. I think more importantly than the case will be the bullet, get a European twist of 1 in 9 or less and long heavy bullets and you'll have a shooter. I've been reloading the Remington brass with decent results although I bought a bunch of the S&B ammo because it was so cheap, haven't tried to reload their brass yet.

I shot some of the S&B 173gr. loads in my 7x57 today and had a couple of cloverleaf groups. Also had a couple bigger but that's because I'm not a very good trigger man.

No the throat/freebore is .125 with 1.5 degree angle. It is a lot shorter than the SAAMI spec. (which is a traditional looooooong throat). I was wondering how the Remmy brass was as it is dirt cheap. Seems like some calibers are decent and some are just plain doo-doo. Must be different Q.A. guys on the different lines? Thanks

I ordered 80 rounds of S&B (Sellior&Bellot) loaded with the 173 SPCE bullet to get my brass. It shot OK and I am still trying to wear out the brass.

I've only reloaded my remington brass 1-2 times each and no problems with it so far. The only problem I noted is it looks dirty when it's new. I tumbled all mine when I got it and it cleaned up well, could probably do the same with a little steel wool. It had a discolored look especially around the necks but it seems to resize ok. Keep in mind I'm not trying to get match accuracy out of mine, my standard reload is with the 154 gr. Hornady SP, I don't have my notes inside but it's a very mild load for practice and stays around 1" which is about as good as I can shoot anything these days.

I've had decent results from Remington 7x57 brass. Some of my loads have been hotter'n hell, with 140 gr. bullets chronied at 2880 FPS. groups ran .375" from a Winchester M70 featherweight push feed. Some of that brass (50 rounds) has been loaded ten times and primer pockets are still tight
When Winchester dropped the 7x57 brass, the place where I bought brass had the Remington, so fearing their being dropped as well, bought 300 rounds. I've literally tried to destroy that brass, but so far, it's held up very well.
Paul B.

I like the W-W stuff. In the various 7x57's I've played with over the years, the R-P brass always seemed to stretch like crazy, and I got tired trimming all the time. Don't know if it was the brass, or the dies, or me.

In my 7x57 M70 Fwt, with a fairly stiff load (50 H4350/150 W-W PP's at 3.060"), I haven't had any problems to date. The W-W cases definitely will hold another grain or so more powder than the R-P's.

R-WEST

I have had to search for the bulets that shoot well in my 7x57. My first loads were with 140 grain core-lokts and 5 inch groups were all I could get from them. The 139 grain Hornady with the same powder charge shoots into an inch all the time. The rifle does well with 160 grain Speer flat bases but 160 grain Sierra boat tails are erratic.

My customized Model70 XTR FW has a Krieger barrel twisted to shoot 140gr Nosler BTs. I believe the smith ordered it in 1 in 11 inch twist. And the throat is not as long as SAAMI standard.

Loaded hot -- just over 2900 fps -- and just off the rifling, the BTs shoot into little cloverleafs. (Any faster and the BT might come apart on close range shots.) I use Norma brass as I had some case stretching problems with some of the commercial stuff I reloaded.

Our small eastern deer have not done much running around with a round in the boiler room. Not all pass through shots, but the inside damage is definitely lethal.

The rifle, now pillar-bedded in a McMillan stock, has been my highest dollar gun project by far, but each time I take it out I am glad to have done it.

1B

[ 11-05-2003, 00:38: Message edited by: 1B ]

Hi Paul B. - I remember you mentioning in another thread that your 150 P-P's didn't group well.

I've used them in my 7x57 Fwt and a 7RMag HOWA, and they do acceptably (by my standards for a sporter rifle) well. I consistently get 3 or 5 shot groups @ 100 yards in either rifle in the 1" - 1.5" range with them. The bullets are all from the same bulk batch I got from Wideners a few years ago. A previous lot of them didn't do nearly as well, with numerous unexplained flyers.

I had a similar occurrence with 7mm R-P 140 bulkies one time. Those things wouldn't shoot for beans in anything I tried, so I relegated them to use as foulers or fireformers. The next batch I got, the one I'm using now, shoots as well as any "aftermarket" 139/140's I've tried.

I read an article by Barsness one time, the one where he mentions the Juenke bullet comparing thingie, and he noted that, if a box of bullets is dropped or otherwise mishandled, the Juenke numbers for them are bad, and they won't shoot as well. Maybe your P-P's just had a real rough life before they got to you??

R-WEST

R-West. Maybe that's it. I can load up a box and one three round groups will be just fine, and then the next three rounder will look like a shotgun pattern. I weighed some a while back and the weight spread was more than I cared for. Something like a 3.0 gr. spread, and that ain't to my liking. I sectioned a couple and they have nice thick jackets and look like they'd have worked well on elk as well as deer, but I can't trust 'em to shoot straight. maybe that's why "Big W" sold them in bulk. Rejects?????
Paul B.