7-30 Waters

[greenrivers]

I have heard the expletives for a long time about this cartridge and have to tell you. I just got back from sighting my reloads in and they are real. Maybe even understated. This is an excellent cartridge. Accurate and very easy on the shoulder. I am looking forward to see how it performs on deer. Out to two hundred yards it performed with exceeding accuracy. In the Contender it is a very easy package to carry and shoot. Looks like it may have a very long visit in my safe!

[sweetwyominghome]

Good luck with the Waters. I love mine (24" MGM 1:9) along with my beloved 7mm Bullberry (20 1/8th Bullberry 1:9 barrel).
 
The 7BB is a virtual ballistic twin to the 7-30. I've had it for about 14 years now and have long lost count of the game I've taken with it. The MGM Waters was a more recent acquisition, but I used it to make my longest-ever kill on a hog (353 yards) after taking a sow a few minutes earleir (both pictured below).
 

 
Here is another recent Waters kill:
 

 
And the 7BB was responsible for my 2nd biggest hog (among many others) and a nice west Texas buck on public land back in 2007 (middle photo) along with a wide 8-pointer near Junction around 2003 or so (bottom photo):
 

 

 

 
Also, with a carbine-length barrel, you have ample velocity to make use of certain 140 grain bullets. THe Ballistic Silvertip in my Waters -- using a Hornady bookj load of 36 grains of 748 -- gets right at 2600 fps and have given superb performance on hogs, with exits being the norm on most occasions. But the few I have recovered have given textbook performance.
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

[greenrivers]

Thank you for the responce, and some very nice pictures. We are about to start our deer season in the northeast and I am in hopes of christening this barrel. The possibility of a buck like that does exist in our northern woods and I am keeping my fingers crossed as I have been lucky enough to take several very nice bucks with other calibers.  I was especially impressed with the lines of your thumbhole stock as it is very much what I have in mind for a piece of tiger maple that I am about to start working form mine. We do not as yet have the hogs in our area of the country, but the one that I took a few years ago, left me ready to travel again for them. Excellent table fair. With the kind of performance you are getting with the bullets and load shown, I believe the reloading bench will be seeing this caliber again shortly.
 

[cwlongshot]

AWESOME PICTURES!!!

 I too have been hunting with the Waters for some time. I had a 14" contender that I used to harvest a couple Boars with. I used a 120 and 140 Barnes copper bullet in. Both where recovered to a nearly perfect expansion. The 140 could have expanded more but both did the job in short order. I also have a 21" carbine barrel and its my wife's deer rifle. I load it with 130Gr Speer SPs and it works perfectly. Threw and threw penetration and excellent accuracy because as you have found. Its easy on the shoulder.
 
Its a excellent and underutilized caliber.
 
CW

[greenrivers]

I did not mention that I had my BLR in 06 with me to check the scope and peep before the season, as well as the 7-30. With the thumbhole composit stock (being old fashioned, never thought I would own one) it makes for a very compact and light package. And it shot round for round dead even with the 06! It may not be quick with follow up shots, but it sure beats the weight of the Browning when hiking steep mountain areas.

[sweetwyominghome]

greenrivers wrote: “It may not be quick with follow up shots..."

Spend a little time with the single shots, and those follow-ups became a thing of routine and instinct. And before long you'll be firing that single shot at nearly the speed of a bolt rifle.

[VT30-30]

Nice pictures and rifles. I also like the looks of your thumbhole stock. I just got a thumbhole for my Encore.
It feels a little different at first but I think once I get use to it, it will be allright.

[greenrivers]

They are definitely easy to spend time with and the short reloading time is not a problem when one considers the weight difference of the Contender carbine to a full sized rifle like the Browning. They are very close to carrying a revolver, but with the accuracy of a rifle.