A buddy gave me a sweet little HVA 7x57 Lightweight rifle last year. It has a 22-inch barrel.

He's got reloading equipment and we've loaded for my 270 and 300 WM at his place so now I want to roll up some 7x57 loads.

He says the gun shoots 139 grain Hornady SST bullets very well with 48.5 grains of H4350.

I bought some H4350 powder and some 140 grain Nosler Partitions to try out.

Do you think I should go for the same charge of powder he recommends? I'd rather shoot Partitions than the SST.

What is your pet load for a 140 grain bullet?

My notes show that I worked up to 49grs of H4350, with 140 gr Nosler AB bullets, with good accuracy in my CZ 550. I suspect it's a mild load, but I haven't had the time to get back to it for more testing.

KB

The Hodgdon website lists a max load of 46.5 H-4350 with a 140 Ballistic Tip. I think your load should be OK in a modern rifle - I have used a similar load with no problems.

H-4350 has been the best powder for my 7x57 in bullet weights from 120-160 gr.

I use asimilar load in my long throated comercial FN. It shot one brass 7 times, before I lost it, with no pressure signs. On the other hand a friend tried that load in his custom 98 and he had to hammer the bolt open. Work up!!! captr david

I forgot, I like the 150 Partition @2700 for whitetails, hogs and red hinds. capt david

WE use 140Accubonds in my wife's 7x57. Taken several elk and Oryx in Namibia. See no reason for anything else.

quote:

Originally posted by armadillo:
The Hodgdon website lists a max load of 46.5 H-4350 with a 140 Ballistic Tip. I think your load should be OK in a modern rifle - I have used a similar load with no problems.

H-4350 has been the best powder for my 7x57 in bullet weights from 120-160 gr.

Same here. I was comfortable working up to the 49grs since the Speer manual lists 50gr max for 145gr bullets. I sorta interpolated between the Hodgdon site and Speer manual. Working up is the key.

Since my test was one time, and limited, I didn't find what I consider max load. I was satisfied with less than max.

BTW, I have had really good results in the field and on the range with every cartridge/rifle tested with the Nosler Accubonds. I can say the same of the TSX bullets too, with one exception. I haven't been able to get my 375 H&H to shoot well yet.

KB

I shoot 51 grains of RL22 with a 175 grain hornady round nose. Hits deer like a Buick out of my Ruger No. 1.

I was fortunate to locate a Ruger M77 in 7x57 when it was first introduced; before it became a production item. My rifle was built on a long action and long-throated. I developed a load using 140 gr Nosler Partition bullets and a healthy load of IMR 4064 powder. To date, I have fired some cases 6-7 times w/o any separation only oal trimming. This load has accounted for 7 Texas whitetails, none requiring more than 1 shot. I developed loads using 139 thru 175 gr bullets, all grouping less than 1".