Reflections on various 7MM bullets

[rickt300]

In the beginning, somewhere around 1992 I put together "Ugly" a Mauser 24/47 action given a 7x57 barrel from Adams and Bennet. It shot poorly with just about any bullet including the 140 gr. Corelokt and Hornady Spire points. Poorly being around 2 inches with three shots. I decided to build a rifle that would be handy in tight box blinds or tree stands and cut the barrel to 19 inches. And that did the trick, she shoot 3 into less than an inch with a variety of bullets. First up for hunting were the 160 grain Speer Spitzers. Great bullet, I rarely recovered one and got quick kills always on feral hogs and deer. I still have a soft spot for this bullet but have moved on. I picked up a couple of boxes of Sierra 160 gr. Gamekings at a gunshow around 1994. These shot very well on top of 46.0 grains of AA4350 and performed admirably on many big hogs and some nice deer too. I did recover a few of them from the bigger hogs but the hogs nonetheless expired quickly, even a rather truculent beast of 400 plus pounds. This bullet would sometines give groups of less than 1/2 inch for three shots. When these ran out I bought some 150 gr. Gamekings but found these did not shoot as well and have most of a box of them left. Durn. Anyway next up were some Hornady 175 gr. bullets, both spire and round nosed versions. Both bullets shot more than adequately well and I used them for a couple of years. I could find no noticable difference in the way these expanded or killed game, very good bullets used under the same load of AA4350 (sort of warm though). About this time I switched powders to H414 and started buying seconds from the Nosler Pro Shop. Oops more to come the wife is pointing at the list on the fridge, gotta go.

[charles p]

Lot's of people swear by their Mod 7's with 18 inch barrels.  How did 140's shoot in your rifle?

[rickt300]

Oddly the Remington 140 gr. corelokt shot very poorly but both the Hornady spire point and Nosler partition in that weight shot very well.

[Dave in WV]

You can do somewhat the same thing as a "Boss" does by changing the seating depth. Sometimes seating a bullet deeper will fix an accuracy problem. I wonder if the original crown on the barrel was the problem?

[rickt300]

It could have been the crown or something not right in the last 5 inches of barrel but shortening it made a world of difference.  On to the Nosler seconds. First up were 150 grain Ballistic Tips with a red tip. These bullets performed admirably, accurate, expanded quickly and penetrated very well exiting most of the time even on fat hogs. I bought several runs of the seconds including some 140 and 160 gr. Partitions. I tended to use the 140 gr. Partitions on the hogs and killed several deer with them. Great bullets, not quite as accurate as the Ballistic Tips but plenty good for my hunting. This bullet killed very well but made somewhat small exit holes. On hogs I usually tried to make spine, neck or head hits because I usually hunted them at night (still do) and wanted them to stay put when hit. I bought some more seconds, 150 gr. Ballistic Tips with gray tips. These are slow to expand, nothing like the red tipped versions and though they shoot nicely I want more expansion in a deer bullet. I recovered one from a huge hog shot broadside thru the ribs and it had a small frontal diameter, the hog going nearly 100 yards before going down. I will use these for target shooting.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  7mm's are not my main caliber I do have three..one Rem. , one in Wea., and a 7mm-08..For years we shot 140 grain Nosler BTBT in the Rem..used it on everything from coyotes to moose..my late wife adopted it as her antelope rifle, and I loaded a bunch of 120 grain Horn. Hollow Points..It just hammered antelope and coyotes with that load..Since she passed I have loaded the Rem. with 168 grain Bergers..only took one antelope with it..the Rem. also used a bunch of 130 grain Speer soft points on coyotes, antelope and whitetails..again very good performance..
Originally, built the Wea. on a 700 action for coyote hunting..loaded a number of 120's for shooting coyotes..still have some, but I custom stocked it and moved it from coyote duty to a big game rifle...It has taken whitetails, mule deer, and antelope with 120's. Also for a time don't ask me why, but we loaded 100 grain Serria hollow points for coyotes, whitetails, and antelope..Now, my favorite load is the Serria 160 grain HPBT..I have used it on elk  moose, antelope, and coyotes. Have a few 160 part. loaded, but seldom use this rifle much anymore..It will probably begiven to one of hunting pals in the future years..
My 7mm08 is on a 700 action..cut the barrel from 24 inches to 21..accuracy remained the same, but muzzle blast jumped a bunch..Use 139 grain Horn. for most hunting of big game.., but so far only one antelope has fallen to the rifle..made it up for eastern whitetails..Also shoot 100 grain Serria hp's in this one for varmit..but it hasn't been used for that purpose..The 100 grain and 139 both shot to the same group before cutting the barrel, but now the 100's hit several inches higher..This little beast seems very accurate with about any load I have put though it..It has a #5 Douglas..When my obligations to visit the east coast are complete, it will either be rebarreled or given to a kid starting out..
The 7's are great calibers, but now my interests are mainly with the .30 calibers for big game and those smaller are being used for varmits...
 
 

[rickt300]

I am trying to cut back on the bullet diameters I load for. .224, .284, .308 and .358 are what I am keeping. I have two 7MM's, the 7x57 and a 7MM Remington magnum with which a friend just killed a big 7x7 elk near LaBarge Wyo. He use a 175 gr. Hornady Spire point on top of 64.0 grs. of RL 22 and performance was perfect. Short shot though around 100 yards. I like the 35 Whelen for hogs because generally the exit holes leak blood pretty good. The 7x57 kills vey well mostly because I shoot it well and I seldom have to shoot past 150 yards on my lease.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  I gave up trying to cut back..I figure I will leave a nice bunch of stuff to 3 of my former students who love firearms and hunting..Picked up a .300 and .270 from a pawn shop this last spring..both rebarreled jobs with fairly heavy 26 inch barrels..made the .300 into my primary winter coyote rifle, and always wanted a .270 with a 26 in. barrel..both are excellent shooters..So far only killed coyotes with the .300, but the .270 has taken, coyotes, antelope, and avery nice mulie..Hope to add whitetail and hogs to the list before I move it to the coyote bracket..I figure a guy has to keep moving and trying things or he gets old and stagnates..Always think of Elmer Keith, 80 years old and still building wildcats, and loading ammo for his elephant rifles..But each guy must do as he thinks best..for years I used mostly .224's for coyotes..then 7mm's and .30's and now have added 243 and .2506 to the list..fun to decide, what will be this weeks coyote rifle..

[rickt300]

Well I haven't actually cut back real hard but at present I don't have any 6MM rifles but I have dies and a lot of bullets that I may sell. I shot my 6MM remington out this summer so it has been rebarreled to 270 which is one of the diameters I wanted to phase out(?). As for coyote rifles I have killed many with the 270 and 223 but my favorite round for that is the 22-250. I did finally get away from the 338 and 8MM though. And I have never owned a rifle in 25 caliber. Might be one out there with my name on it, maybe a 257 Roberts.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  , Rickt300, my one and only .257 Roberts went to a friend in Tx. many years ago..all my life, I had heard what a hum dinger it was..honestly, it was the most disappoint caliber I ever had my hands on..lots of folks love it, but I would rather have a .243 or .25-06 any day, but that is me..as for the .22-250 it or the improved or Swift, are usually in my pickup when coyote hunting..have killed more with those than my other calibers, but my percent of kills increased markedly when I had at my disposal a heavier caliber..here the wind is horrible, and calling very difficult as there are 3 or 4 calling contests as soon as elk season is over in Oct..talk about call shy..Usually, we try bait, or glassing...

[rickt300]

Yeah I just enjoyed a couple of weeks of wind in Wyoming, I used to love it because it kept the Californians at bay for a while. Same for the dust which is rated at 60% dried animal fecal matter. I never owned a 25-06 because I like the 270 better and just can't see what the 25 can do the 270 can't. As for wind deflection once the breeze gets up to 35 miles an hour or so the hold off becomes a lot bigger issue than drop but the bigger rounds are easier to spot misses with and then dope where to hold for the next shot. You are really running the computer at high speed once the coyote gets running hard in the breeze, thats some sporting shooting there! And calling in a high wind is tough too.

[RevJim]

 I used the Hornady 139 SP in my first .280, and the factory 150 corlokt load. I later had a .280 AI and I used the Nosler 150BT for deer/exotics and the Speer 160 Hot Core for elk. In the first 7mm Rem mag I had, I shot the 140 Nosler BT, the 150 Partition and the 160 Partition. My last 7 mag, a RUM was a real hummer with the Barnes 140 TTSX, but I never shot any game with it. I used the LM 139 SST in a little 7mm08 I had. I also used the PRVI 173gr ammo in a Mod 93 7x57 I had awhile last year, very accurate, but never shot anything with it. I have kiled more game with a 7mm than any .270, though I now only have one .270 (BAR) and no 7mm anything! I had a 30.06 made up recently and I  sold it...my Mod 700 35 Whelen AI is just too jealous ( and shoots as flat as my 168 TSX '06 load with it's 200gr TTSX load!) and raises too much Cain if I don't take it! So, even though I have some rifles my SIL is keeping, I only have those two rifles in my gun case, ha. I just tried some of those Federal 110 TTSX in the BAR and they shot into a solid .6"! Sheboygin! It also shoots the Remington factory 100gr very well, which I am going to use on coyotes for the same reasons you guys like it...windy out here! (90% animal fecal matter...wow Rick, Never thought about it...until NOW! ha )

[thumbcocker]

I have one 7mm caliber rifle, 7mm saum. Some friends have the 7mm rem mag. The most consistently accurate bullet we've found is the 150 gr. core lokt. Have yet to kill anything with it, but does it ever shoot out of our rifles.