Author Topic: 7-30 waters improved arrived today  (Read 2042 times)

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Offline sooter

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7-30 waters improved arrived today
« on: August 04, 2008, 05:00:38 PM »
I got my 7-30 waters improved in this evening and just finished mounting a 6x-18x scope on it in burris rings. If i can get to the range this weekend i will post a range report on it after load development is complete. I have 50 rounds loaded up for fireforming and will just step outside to shoot them in the base of an old stump to get them ready to load and shoot for accuracy. I have 5 full boxes of the old nosler solid base bullets that have a lead tip insted of the plastic tip. They are 140 grains in weight and do expand nicely at even regular 7-30 waters velocity as well as 7mm-08 velocity. I will also be shooting nothing but 375 winchester brass in my new gun and even though the brass is just a little bit shorter than regular 30-30 brass, the chamber was cut to perfectly match the 375 brass when necked down to 7mm.

sooter

Offline Spanky

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2008, 05:17:47 PM »
Pictures please.


Spanky

Offline cwlongshot

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2008, 12:03:47 AM »
YES, Pics please!!

 I bought a Contender carbine barrel in this caliber soon after it was available, Shot a couple deer with it. NICE cartridge!! It became the wife's deer rifle and I haven't shot 10 rounds thru it since!!!

 I still have a box or so of those 140Solid Base noslers too... wont use them. Beware they spit the core sumpin' fearse!!!

 Been using the 130 Speer with excellent results. Depending on the vel increase from your improved version, the 150BT may prove a good choice for you.

 CW
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Offline bilmac

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2008, 01:06:32 AM »
I too had a standard 7x31 in a contender that was a great little gun. I too started with 130 speers, but found they wewen't opening up at the lower velocities and we had lots of runners. I switched to 120 hornadays.

Offline tykempster

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2008, 02:57:17 AM »
Know a guy who has the standard 7-30 Waters in a handgun and loves it.  Of course, all cartridges should be Improverized to enhance performance and looks!

I'm interested in the accuracy of the rig!

Offline sooter

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2008, 05:16:12 AM »
I do not have a camera and do not know how picture posting works on a forum. Let me see if one of my friends wifes will take a picture or 2 and put it up over here. It kinds sounds like I need to load a different bullet then the nosler solid base bullet. Are speer bullets as accurate as noslers bullets? What about hornadys 120 gr. hollow point? Are those bullets accurate? I'll go buy a couple boxes of bullets today and load them tonight. I now have 80 pieces of brass fireformed and should have the rest of them fireformed before nightfall.

sooter

Offline NFG

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2008, 08:35:55 AM »
Accuracy is in the eye of the beholder...some think anything larger than bullet diameter is unacceptable, others think 2 rounds in a pie plate at 50 yards is fancy enough...you have to decide your level and work towards it.

You didn't say what kind of rifle/pistol the Waters is so that limits the information also.  Tell us what kind and someone should have information reguarding their experiences.

Most 7mm cal bullets no matter what brand will work for "normal" hunting accuracy...1 1/2" or less.  I have a partial box of the old Nosler SB 140's and horde them like gold.  They were accurate in every 7mm I've ever had and that includes almost all the standards and a couple of wildcats.  If I had 5 boxes of those gems I would work up a good hunting load and use the rest only in putting meat on the table...one shot each only!!!!!

If your new to this game or even an expert, here are a few very good sites for information on how to accurize your ammo and shooter or general information and a search online will give you lots of other forums to pick from.  Saubier, 6mmbr and Precision rifle are more deeply involved with target and small caliber stuff.

http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html

http://www.freewebs.com/precisionrifle/accuracyarticles.htm.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/index.htm

http://www.marlinowners.com/board/

http://www.saubier.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=15b75416fa12aa4097d3b87d029f99bc&f=2

GrayBeard has a very enlightened group of experts on just about any subject having to do with reloading so if you want specific information do a search or just ask.

For my participation I suggest first to accurize your shooter, then accurize your ammo.  Trim, uniform the primer pockets and deburr the flash holes.   It only takes a bit of time and only need be done once except for the trimming which I do for every caliber after every firing.  Then weigh sort and put the high and low weight brass aside.  For your application plus/minus 1 1/2 grain would be sufficient.  doing this will get you started down the straight and narrow and solve many of those "flier" problems that crop up.  An accurate rifle and accurate ammo is the basis for accurate loads.

I have two 7mm-08's, a 15" XP100 and a 22" switch barrel Ruger.  Both shoot the Hornady VMax 120 gr bullet into much less than 3/4" using the exact same load interchangably which doesn't happen very often.  It is a varmint bullet and will work in your 7-30 AI as such also.  The bullet is seated out to touch the lands in both guns.  It might work well at your lower velocities as a deer/antelope also but that is something you would have to try, it might expand well or it might expand to much to penetrat well...I wouldn't shoot a deer with either of my 7-08's with that bullet, I would go up to any of the cup and core lead tipped style bullets, but the 120 Vmax at 300 fs plus faster than the 7-30 AI makes squirrels disappear in a purlpe haze.

All the 7mm and larger cals I've worked with seem to shoot better with the bullet seated from 0.005" away, touching the lands, to about 0.010" into the lands, but doing so means you need to start at the LOW end of the pressure range and work up SLOWLY IN 1/2 gr increments for your CC size case.

I don't have any information on the CC of the 7-30 AI so you should weigh a few fired cases, take the average, then fill one with water,weigh again and subtract the empty weight from the full weight.  That will give you the CC of your cartridge.  I would hazard a guess at around 48-52 gr.  You might do the same thing with an unfire formed sized case so you have a comparison to work with.

It takes a bit of work to extract the highest accuracy from your rifle and ammo.  To some it isn't worth the bother, to others it is the holy grail...you have to decide your comfort zone and level of effort.  In any case you have an excellent base in your 7-30 AI to work from .

Have fun with your new toy and good luck.

'Njoy


Offline Graybeard

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2008, 09:06:07 AM »
Any of you with those sorry old Nosler bullets you don't want can box them up and ship them my way and I'll be happy to properly dispose of them for ya. Seeing as how they have that horrible lead stuff  :o in them that is such a hazard to the environment it's important to have them properly disposed of  ;) and I am a semi expert at proper bullet disposal having been working at it now for about 58 years since I got my first air rifle at age five. PM me for shipping address to ship them to.  ;D


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Offline Ditchdigger

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2008, 01:38:07 PM »
Any of you with those sorry old Nosler bullets you don't want can box them up and ship them my way and I'll be happy to properly dispose of them for ya. Seeing as how they have that horrible lead stuff  :o in them that is such a hazard to the environment it's important to have them properly disposed of  ;) and I am a semi expert at proper bullet disposal having been working at it now for about 58 years since I got my first air rifle at age five. PM me for shipping address to ship them to.  ;D

Every yr. at the PD shoot,everyone accuse's me of really spreading  Male Bovine Scat down really thick. GB ain't bad at it himself. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Rest in Peace Old Friend July 2017

Offline Tencubed

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2008, 04:42:31 PM »
Any of you with those sorry old Nosler bullets you don't want can box them up and ship them my way and I'll be happy to properly dispose of them for ya. Seeing as how they have that horrible lead stuff  :o in them that is such a hazard to the environment it's important to have them properly disposed of  ;) and I am a semi expert at proper bullet disposal having been working at it now for about 58 years since I got my first air rifle at age five. PM me for shipping address to ship them to.  ;D

Well, if your happy with someone of limited experience go ahead and send them to this young fellow.  But, if you want someone thats been around awhile to take care of those dangerous projectiles just send 'em my way.   :) :) :)

I do have "a few" years experience on the young fellow.

Mike
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Why do I carry a gun?  Because a Cop's too heavy.
Oldest rifle I shoot - 1854 Sharps 50-70

Offline sooter

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2008, 06:52:30 AM »
I just opened the first box of my five boxes of lead tipped nosler solid base bullets and I think that I am going to keep them. Thank's for the "disposal" offer guys but, I believe I can properly dispose of them ;D. I shot these same bullets years ago in a custom Remington in 7mm STW and it was pure explosive power on 200 pound deer when traveling at over 3,400 fps.. Thank's for all the tips and information and I have already trimmed all 100 cases that have been fireformed, deburred the flash hole and sorted the cases by weight. Powder wise, I am going to use H-4895, IMR-4320 and IMR-4064 with federal match primers for fo all loads. With this being an H&R Ultra - break open single shot, I am going to start out with the bullets just barely kissing the lands and with light enough of a pressure that I won't have to worry about a bullet sticking in the gun. I did manage to sight the gun in late yeaserday evening with the last of the fireform loads. I think this gun will be a real shooter as the last 3 shots fired were able to be covered with a nickel without any part of the bullet holes showing from around it edges. I'm still hoping to be able to shoot most of saturday and then sunday after church if the weather stays clear. Ill keep you posted.

sooter

Offline NFG

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2008, 07:42:23 AM »
Watch'um, Boys...I think a sandbagger just slipped in.  ;D 

Another good Nosler that has since disappeared I think, is the 150 gr Baltip SB #39586...my 7RM puts 5 rounds in a nickle almost as fast, using RL22 and  just off the lands.  Both my 7mm-08's liked the bullet also but the velocity is way down in the 15" XP and basically turned it into a solid, and my (previous to the 7mm-08) long throated 15" 284 W liked it also.  I only have 22 left so the 7RM gets those, but the CT and BT versions seems to shoot almost as well and I'll be long gone before I get those shot up.

You might add Varget and AA2230 in that list.  Varget has a very slight advantage over H4895 as far as powder amount/pressure ratio goes.  All these powders run 2300-2400fs at 45-50 KCUP at 90-100% loading density.  4320 works best in my 17 Rem,  AA2230 in my 17 FB, 4064 in my 220 Swifts (old standard load) and it's a toss up between 4895 and Varget in many of my mid capacity, 50 CC or so, cases...basically depends on what the rifle happens to like  as to which is the most accurate.  I use Fed Gold Medal primers pretty much exclusively now except for a couple that like CCI's BR's or Rem 7 1/2's.

Are you sure you don't want to give up a box or two?  ;D, :D  I think you could get a feeding frenzy going by auctioning a couple off.   Hahahahahahaha

Good luck

'Njoy

Offline sooter

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2008, 03:15:22 PM »
This is a picture of my new 7-30 Waters improved. It has a douglas #5 barrel on it in stainless steel and is 25inches long. It cost me $350 to have built and was built off a 270 H&R ultra that I had bought earlier in the spring for $200 and now i have a $550 H&R not counting the scope and still cant fully decide on what i want to put on it. I am leaning towards a new Bushnell trohy 3-9 with 40mm lens. I like this one because it is very clear and not overly large especially since i am going to try and make this my main meat gun for this winter. Ill get ms Lisa to take another picture of the gun once i decide on a permanent scope. I also loaded up a couple of rounds with winchester 748. B esides the nosler 140 grain solid base bullets, I picked up a box of sierras 100 grain hollow point bullets and a box of hornadys 120 grain v-max bullets. Ill shoot a deer which ever bullet shoots best.




sooter

Offline sooter

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2008, 04:09:24 PM »
As usual, im a day late and a dollar short but i did finally get to do some serious shooting with my new 7-30waters improved. I put a leupold 24X target scope on the gun for load development but after all that was completed, i mounted a new bushnell trophy 3-9-40mm scope on it in burris rings with the nylon sleeves. I wound up shooting 6 different bullets and got three of them to shoot under and inch. This is my new loads and each one was shot 5 times with three shot groups each and this was the average for all shots fired at 100 yards. groups were measured with a ruler and were measured center to center.

Bullet 1 was the old nosler 140 grain solid base lead tipped bullet. I chronographed this bullet at 2,719 fps. and its groupes averaged 7/8th of an inch.

Bullet 2 was sierras 100 grain hollow point. I clocked this one at an even 2,800fps and its groups averaged 1/2 inch.

Bullet 3 was hornadys 120 grain v-max. This one averaged 5/8th of an inch and clocked out at 2,662 fps.

Other bullets shot from 1 1/2 inches to almost 2 1/2 inches but with these thrre shooting consistant in velocity and accuracy, i have absolutly no complaints at all and am very satisfied with the rifle and chambering.

sooter

Offline dpe.ahoy

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Re: 7-30 waters improved arrived today
« Reply #14 on: August 14, 2008, 02:53:03 PM »
Yer gettin right into 7mm08 speeds.  What is the case volume of the 7-30 imp.?  I'm waiting to get a 7-30 back from Wayne York, along with a 30-30 AI if it works out right.  DP
RIP Oct 27, 2017

Handi's:22Shot, 22LR, 2-22Mag, 22Hornet, 5-223, 2-357Max, 44 mag, 2-45LC, 7-30 Waters, 7mm-08, 280, 25-06, 30-30, 30-30AI, 444Marlin, 45-70, AND 2-38-55s, 158 Topper 22 Hornet/20ga. combo;  Levers-Marlins:Two 357's, 44 mag, 4-30-30s, RC-Glenfields 36G-30A & XLR, 3-35 Rem, M-375, 2-444P's, 444SS, 308 MX, 338Marlin MXLR, 38-55 CB, 45-70 GS, XS7 22-250 and 7mm08;  BLR's:7mm08, 358Win;  Rossi: 3-357mag, 44mag, 2-454 Casull; Winchesters: 7-30 Waters, 45Colt Trapper; Bolt actions, too many;  22's, way too many.  Who says it's an addiction?