I have the 14" bbl non-ported version of this. I have had the best luck with 120gr sierra pro-hunter soft point. I use 35.0gr of RL15 and consistently shoot 1" or better at 100 yards (you should review the published reload data and work your way up to this load). I have even had a few groups in the 1/2" range. I have tried the 139gr soft points and 162 sst but can't get them to shoot as well as the 120. I also tried H322 powder and didn't get as good of results with it either.
As for dies, I bought the Lee full length resize with seater die and then ordered the factory crimp die. Most people say "you don't need to crimp with single shots" but I do a light crimp anyway because I believe it makes the load more consistent. That is just me. I found that full length resizing stretches the cases more than actually shooting does so I decided to get a neck sizer after I fireformed the cases initially. Nobody listed one. I found a universal 7mm neck sizer that Hornady made, but it required you to lube and could cause stretching so I didn't like it. I found that the 7mm/08 case is only about .005 shorter than the 7-30 (the 7-30 trim to length overlaps the 7mm/08 max length). I bought the Lee neck sizer for the 7mm/08 and have been using it for about a year now without a hitch. The Lee neck sizer is about the only one that doesn't require lubing, which makes reloading much simpler.
As for the cases, I got once fired 30-30 cases, lube them up good and then run through the Lee full length die. You get a second shoulder on the case (looks kind of weird, but it is normal). Tumble the cases again to clean off the lube. Go ahead and load your rounds and then go and shoot. Once you fireform them the first time, the 2nd shoulder goes away and you have a new 7-30 case. I then neck size after that. The double shoulder case shoots surprisingly well.
It has been a lot of fun loading and shooting this round. I am still hoping to get my first white tail with it this year. Good luck!!
Rosewood
