I have two loads that shoot great from my Model 700 7mm Remington Magnum, I just can't decide which one to go w/.

The rifle will be used for Whitetails in the 180# range out to 400 yards.

Which would you choose:

Question:
I have two loads that shoot great from my Model 700 7mm Remington Magnum, I just can't decide which one to go w/.

The rifle will be used for Whitetails in the 180# range out to 400 yards.

Which would you choose:

Choices:
150 Grain Nosler Solid Base @ 3150 fps ( shoots .5 MOA).
160 Grain Sierra BTSP @ 3100 fps (also shoots .5 MOA).

 

Reloader,

I shot a doe offhand in Maine long ago with my Ruger 1A shooting the 160 SBT. I hit it good in the ribs and it fell and then got up and ran into a swamp. It's a good thing that it was early as I spent a lot of time stepping on clumps and trying to keep my feet dry. I finally found the big doe and got help getting it out.

I hesitate to tell someone that a box of bullets is made just so. Who knows how much antimony they put in the 160's vrs the 140's?

After some experiances like that with the longer Sierra's I switched to the shorter Speer and Sierra flat base bullets. I came to these conclusions a long time ago. Now if whitetails are the only game at hand I load the lighter bullets for the cartridge.

In the 7mm RM I suggest and have used with excellent results the 150 Corelokt, 140 Pro Hunter, 130 Hot Core and of course the 140 Partition. Now I am infatuated with the plastic tipped bullets for long range whitetails and I may load the 140 gr Ballistic Tip. Most likely I will just shoot another with the 140 gr Pro Hunters however.

Savage99 how far did it run after it got up. I found being in on hundreds of deer kills that a lung shot deer runs between 50 to 100 yards. If you want them to drop on the spot one needs to break bones. A double shoulder shot or spineing them will work.

It doesn't sound like bullet failure to me just normal behavior. I double lunged a doe this year with my 416 talor with a 300gr at 2620 blew big hole going in and a bigger hole going out She ran apox. 50 yards Was it bullet failure heck no deer just run some when you double lung them.

The next one I shot with the 416 was facing me took it at the base of the neck and shoulder dropped it right there the bullet broke the neck drove all the way through came out just under the spine on the back end.

Morel of the story is if you want them to drop in their tracks ou need to break some major bones or spine them.

Reloader, 180# deer and 400 yrd shots, you must be hunting the bean fields in Louisiana. Have used both bullets for deer and experienced variable results until I cut the lead tip off the 165 grain boattail. Hunting at the time in N. Louisiana, my average shot was 30 yrds. The modified boattail opened up an exit wound (30-06) that I could put my fist thru. Would not make the mod for a 400 yrd shot, so I would go with the 150. Living in Indiana now and sure do miss the hunting and fishing opportunities in your part of the country.....

Oki,

The only place I shoot that far is when I go to Texas or I'm on one of the Gas Lines here at home. I have a place to practice at 400 yards so, I feel confident in shooting deer that far. I don't really care to shoot over 300 but, when the time comes I like to be ready.

The Place we hunt in Texas offers shots as long as you want but, it sure is fun trying to get less than 200.

I do hunt the fields in the Miss. River Delta but, every year our property is grown up more offering shorter ranges. It's old rice fields that have been put into CRP. The Property is surrounded by corn and beans so, the deer are pretty healthy (bucks go 220-250).


Reloader

quote:

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Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Savage99 how far did it run after it got up. I found being in on hundreds of deer kills that a lung shot deer runs between 50 to 100 yards. If you want them to drop on the spot one needs to break bones. A double shoulder shot or spineing them will work.

It doesn't sound like bullet failure to me just normal behavior. I double lunged a doe this year with my 416 talor with a 300gr at 2620 blew big hole going in and a bigger hole going out She ran apox. 50 yards Was it bullet failure heck no deer just run some when you double lung them.

The next one I shot with the 416 was facing me took it at the base of the neck and shoulder dropped it right there the bullet broke the neck drove all the way through came out just under the spine on the back end.

Morel of the story is if you want them to drop in their tracks ou need to break some major bones or spine them.

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p dog shooter,

Our experiances are not the same. I find that the larger the wound the faster they drop no matter what the game or bullet. It's no different than how far you open your faucet.

I am not going to be exact on how far the doe ran. I may have been about 100 yds. It was just a combination of events such as no snow for tracking, almost no blood trail and then there was a tiny bit just a sqirt that was lost in some instances and then of course the swamp and water.

When I hit them with the 180 gr Speer out of the 358 Win they never get up- never. When a deer gets up after being hit that really tells me something and that is the faucet is just leaking.

I would expect the 160 Sierra to be more of an elk class bullet and likely too hard for that long of a range.

Nosler 7mm-SB's are designed for whitetail class animals and should be perfect.

No deer will ever know the difference.

I agree - flip a coin. You could kill a box car full of whitetails and not be able to tell the difference in bullet performance.

I used that same 160 gr bullet in a 7 mag for elk for several years. I was pushing bullets at a bit over 2800 fps-not fast, but I liked the .4" three shot groups that load produced. I also prefer the greater BC for shots that long. I used that 7 mag for a prairie dog rifle with 168gr Matchkings.

Man, It looks like we are split here. I think I'm going to use the Solid Base this year because that's what I'm sighted in w/ @ 200 right now.

Yesterday I shot a .5" group at 100 w/ the 160 Sierras then a .9" group at 200 w/ the SBs. They are both shooting so well and POI isn't much different b/tn the two but, right now I am dead zeroed at 200 w/ the SBs so they'll probably get the nod.

Decisions Decisions. Aint this fun.

Thanks for all of the comments.

Reloader

six of one half a dozen of the other. both will get the job done and then some

I haven't had any of the old solid base Noslers for years, but I shot a bunch of deer with them 20-25 years ago and they work great. Actually a much better bullet than the ballistic tip in my opinion. Either one will work fine for deer, however.

Looks to me as if it is 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. Let me tell a story of what happened to me season before last.
I had a load using a 7 MM 154 grain Hornady SP that produced excellent results accuracy wise, and decided to use them on whitetail deer that run 150# or less. I got a shot at one and hit it just behind the shoulder,broadside, for a double lung hit. The terminal velocity was in the neighborhood of 2500 fps and at the shot, the deer stumbled, then ran into an unpenetratable bramble thicket. I found lung tissue and blood that suggested I wasn't off on my aim but, within about 3 leaps or 15 yards the blood trail ended. Nothing, nada, zip. I and a friend searched as best we could until almost dark. At that time, we enlisted the aid of a dog to track, to no avail. 2 days later, the buck was found about 250 yards away and the bullet, as near as could be determined, entered just behind the shoulder and exited on the off side in about the same place.
I know a lot of people who use the same bullet with complete satisfaction so I'm not blaiming the bullets as a whole. I just wonder if maybe that particular one was too hard? I use lighter bullets for deer now but, if I were to use this bullet again, I would make shoulder shots to insure the above episode wasn't repeated. I was very upset over loosing this deer and even lost sleep over it.

I have seen hundreds of deer shot with every thing from 22lr to over 40 caliber DG rifles. You hit them in the right spot and they die you hit them wrong and they can run a long ways.

I am amazed that a lot of hunter draw conclusions on bullets and calibers after one shot or one kill. I have also seen stange things happen to bullets on the way to a deer. I have seen them come apart, key hole ect after hitting brush trees ect.

I have used cast bullets, fast expanding bullets,slow expanding bullets. I would not draw a concluesion on any one of them untell I have had a chance to see at least a few deer shot with each type.

I bullet place in the proper spot most of the time well kill any deer shortly. But again stange things happen.

I guess I have never seen a deer get away from what I would call bullet failure most of the it can be traced back to poor shot placement or something weird happen on the way to the deer.

Right now given most anyrifle bullet combo and the time I would kill a deer with the first shot out of the gun.

Reloader, Savage99,
.The old nosler solid base is a bit more frangible as I remember and therefore more messy in terms of meat destruction, and with equal shot placement will kill a tad faster.
But for that size animal, in my view, there will be no difference in outcome with proper shot placement.
We tried different .270 factory loads on our caribou culls. Actually, every factory load available in the 1980's 150 and 130 grains.
On 1075 or so caribou, the shooter showed no preference for either load. We standardized on the 130 grainers only, for the sake of standard trajectory, not for perceived differences in killing power..We did not like the 130 grain Remington bronze points because they destroyed way too much meat.. All caribou hit in the lungs( the shot dictated to the shooter for our requirements, bone hits were a no-no)
trotted 5-100 yards then folded up.
The distance ran after a hit in the lungs, is directly related we believe to what part of the lung, what nerve bundels, and what major bloodvessels were affected. Also a ventricular hit in the heart will have a widely varying reaction depending whether that chamber was filled or empty at the time of the hit..
In other words, death is caused by destruction of the vitals as mentioned above. The more destruction the faster death will ensue.
A somewhat slower expanding bullet severing important nerve bundles and bloodvessels, will kill faster then a more rapid expanding bullet in the back of the lungs.