Does anyone have any experience loading for this rifle? My friend just bought one a couple of months ago and we are having a hard time getting it to group. He wants to use a 139 gr. Hornady SST, which we have tried a few rounds in. The groups are around two inches. We have tried IMR 4064 and H4350 with no success. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

.257 WBY Magnum

quote:

Originally posted by .257 WBY Magnum:
Does anyone have any experience loading for this rifle? My friend just bought one a couple of months ago and we are having a hard time getting it to group. He wants to use a 139 gr. Hornady SST, which we have tried a few rounds in. The groups are around two inches. We have tried IMR 4064 and H4350 with no success. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

.257 WBY Magnum

Try RL-19.

Also varget and or RL-15.
...tj3006

Just a note. Don't get set on a single bullet. Some rifles just don;t like certain bullets, no matter what powder you put under them. My 338-06 won;t shoot any brand of 225gr bullet less than 2". It puts 200, 210 & 25gr bullets under 1" w/ good loads, but just can't make the 225gr shoot. Try H4350, RL19 & IMR4831, if you can't get a good load @ the vel. you want from those three powders, change bullets.

Thanks for the advice. I'll load 'em up and see what happens.

.257 WBY Magnum

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
Just a note. Don't get set on a single bullet. Some rifles just don;t like certain bullets, no matter what powder you put under them. ....

+1 Exactly correct.

I prefer to Benchmark a new rifle with either Sierra MatchKings or Nosler Ballistic Tips just to see what accuracy level it is capable of. Then when I go to the Hunting Bullet I want to use, it is fairly obvious if the rifle is going to respond to that design well or not, in a short amount of time.

It may just not like that Bullet as Fred said, or it might prefer a different weight. Fortunately we are blessed with an abundance of excellent Bullets from every manufacture.

Best of luck to you.

P.S. H414 is normally an excellent powder in the 7mm-08 and 7x57.

We also have 154 gr. Hornady Spire points to try. We just happened to start with the 139's and wanted to work up a load with them before moving on, but that makes sense that his rifle might not work with those SST's. I have just had luck with them in my older Ruger M77 in a .243 Win. Thanks.

My 7-08 is a Varget user with 140 grn sierra game kings

Try Varget with bullet wts. 140 and under. It has been the best for me in a Tikka Lite. Merg

one more for Varget or RL15 with a 140 grain in a 7mm 08

Thanks to all for all your input on the individual experiences. .257 WBY Magnum

i never had any luck with the SST for grouping. my go to load is 44.0 grs of RL-15 with 140 sierra,B.T. WLR primer. if he wants to shoot plastic tips try nosler ballistic tips. varget is also another good powder. h4350 is a little to slow burn for me.

I have a model 7 in 7mm08. The rifle shoots ragged holes with 140 grain ballistic tips with a hot load of H414. I cannot get the 139 grain hornady to shoot under an 1" to 1"1/2 with any load or powder I have tried. Try the ballistic tips. I won't post my load as it is about 5 grains over max. No preesure signs the harder I push it the groups just get smaller and smaller.

I use RL19 under 140 NBTs. I am going to try Benchmark and Varget when I get home from Afghanistan. Lou