7x30 waters

[theduke]

Does anyone have a good bullet powder combination for contender pistol 14" for deer hunting using 7x30 waters. 

[Graybeard]

Nosler 120 BT and AA2520. Look in the book to see how much to use. You can find my preferred loads for the round at:

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/730.htm

[hornet112]

I use a 140gr Nosler partition with 35gr IMR4064 and a fed. 210m. Droped  2 deer in there tracks. Shoots about 1" @ 100 yards 

[jhalcott]

 I've tried several combo's in mine and STILL can't beat Factory Fed ammo! It shoots about an inch and a half/2 inch groups with MOST reloads . Factory ammo goes under an inch!! This is with a 7x scope and sand bags also.

[DANNY-L]

In my 14"contender I get very good accuracy with
sierra 120 prohunter
37gr Imr 4064
cci 200
col 2.800

[Lloyd Smale]

I use the nosler 120 bt and 748 and a ww primer.

[OLDHandgunner]

I use the nosler 120 bt and 748 and a ww primer.

I second that. Nosler 120 BT w/ 748 powder, but I use Federal primers.

[Curtis]

Nosler 120 gr ballistic tip
Factory 7-30 brass
WW primers
no crimp
35 gr AA2460 gives me 2500 fps from a 14" barrel and accurate as all get out.

This is my second most accurate caliber of the ones that I have tested in TC Contender (223 takes first place).

Curtis

[Tommyt]

I've tried several combo's in mine and STILL can't beat Factory Fed ammo! It shoots about an inch and a half/2 inch groups with MOST reloads . Factory ammo goes under an inch!! This is with a 7x scope and sand bags also.

Get someone to Chrono that Factory round out of your Gun, then match the speed with you reload and that should help your $$ with shooting your own
JMHO

Tommyt

[theduke]

I tried the federal factory ammo and killed two deer last season but was not happy with bullet expanding and had poor and no blood trail.  One deer shot at 90 yards went 40 yards  with no blood trail  80 and one shot at 105 yards went 80 yards with blood at shot site but no trail.  Thanks for loads I will try 120 bts.  thanks

[dopinwind]

I have not killed a deer with it yet but have shot a couple of doe antelope with my 7x30 super 16.  120 gr hornady hollow point ahead of (can't remember) grs. of H4895.  Longest shot was 120yds.  Both animals had fist size hole for exit holes (no tracking required).

Loren

[hoghunting]

 My 14" 7-30 Contender barrel just doesn't like the Nosler bullets. Using Hornady's 120 gr SP and RL-15 with CCI primers, it is one of the most accurate guns I have. And that load has performed perfectly on hogs, deer, and a few coyotes.

[sjf]

another vote for RL 15, 35.0 grains with 120 ballistic tips shoots great

[uncyboo]

Yep, the Nosler 120 BT's are hard to beat in a 7mm handgun. The lighter construction works well with the reduced velocity of the handgun barrels.

[THunter1]

Has anyone ever tried Barnes bullets for the 7-30?

[Elwood]

In a rifle, yes. My son shot a mulie doe with the Barnes 120 grn triple shock out of a 7x30 waters contender carbine. That bullet was devastating, lung chunks were on the ground.
I remember a article in "Shooting Times" about barnes X rifle bullets in high performance handguns. The conclusion was that so long as your impact velocity was over 1800 fps the bullets would open.
hope that this helps
Elwood

[charles p]

I have two Contender 7-30Ws and both like the 130 SSP by Sierra.  I'v shot the 120 Nosler BT but my best results on deer greatly favor the 130 SST Sierra.  Puts them down where they stand.  My longest shot has been a DRT at 156 yds.  My most memorable was a buck facing me at about 60 yds.  At the impact he sat down like a dog, and fell over like a bowl of jello.

[Keith1]

I just got a new 7x30 barrel and have been shooting for probably 3 weeks now with factory loads and also a load that I developed. I plan to hunt antelope with this barrel.

Factory loads in my barrel shoot groups in the 1 1/4-1 3/4 inch area. I just clocked them yesterday and they have a speed of 2386 FPS.

I started developing my handload using factory brass, the 120 grain Nosler BT, 748 powder and Federal 210 primers. The Lyman 47th edition of their manual says that 39.5 grains is max so I started at 35 grains and worked up. My barrel has a very long throat so I knew from the beginning that it would use lots of powder. Lymans COL was 2.550 inches and mine was 2.850 and I still wasn't close to the rifling. I arrived at 39.5 grains of powder and just quit. I was measuring the case expansion directly in front of the rim and about 1/4 inch in front of the first measurement. With 39.5 grains I still wasn't getting as much case expansion as the Federal load gives. For me that indicates that more powder could be added. Maybe at a later date.

Well anyway day before yesterday I checked my load for grouping ability and it shot 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 inches. Yesterday I checked the speed and a 3 shot average was 2492 FPS.
This seems like a good load for this barrel but "CAUTION"!!!! As I stated, "my barrel has a very long throat". Your barrel may not be able to use this much powder, be careful.
Regards, Keith