Have any of you loaded for a Remington 7400 ?

[Country Boy]

I always used factory loads but would like to try reloads. But, I'm worried about function,accuracy and vel. What have you used and what were your results ?
   Mine is a 30-06. I have some 150 grn bullets,small base dies and imr 4064. I would hate to mess up my rifle or have one not function at tthe moment of truth.

[Siskiyou]

I have had friends and a brother who load for the old 742.  Brother's current 742 is in 30-06.  IMR4895 and IMR4064 which you have seems to set the standard.  Selected loads are in the "mid-range," meaning do not push max.

He had all kinds of problems with a earlier 740 in 280 Remington.  He was using surplus (H) 4831 and it was to slow burning.  When he dropped back to IMR4064 his problems went away.


One of my better sources on this subject has gone to the happy hunting grounds.  But if I recall correctly he also tried surplus 4831 and had problems.  He switched to surplus 4895 and his functioning problems went away.

Take a look at some of the older post.  I think one or more people have been using 4350.

[R.W.Dale]

I treat my 7400 as if I were loading for a Garand. I stay away from slow powders. Varget is my Favorite propellant for my 7400 in 06.

 I've gotten outstanding accuracy with 165gr Speer grand slam bullets. My cases are Lake City 62 "match"

 With my handlods And factory LC match ammo ejection is positive but not overly energetic. The brass lands about  two feet away in a neat little pile

[fknipfer]

What does it cost to reload a 165gr 30-06 round?  I am just debating about buying a set or reloading equipment and would like to know what the real costs are.  I know a lot of people say factory ammo sucks but I don't believe that.  I think that is just self justification.  I just bought 100 rounds of 165gr Federal Power-Shok SP from Midway USA for 49 cents a round.  I think that is a pretty good price.  I could see loading special rounds like a 240 or 250 grain for heavy duty hunting but not standard rounds unless there is a big savings.

TMHO,
fknipfer

[old06]

I load for the older 742 also in 30 06 and use IMR 4064 a few grains off max and have not had any problems. I use a 180 grain Hornady and get about 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 groups. I never tryed slower powders having heard that they dont do very well I stayed with the first one because this is just a back up and loaner gun but has yet to give me one problem with firing about 150 rounds.

[victorcharlie]

What does it cost to reload a 165gr 30-06 round?  I am just debating about buying a set or reloading equipment and would like to know what the real costs are.  I know a lot of people say factory ammo stinks but I don't believe that.  I think that is just self justification.  I just bought 100 rounds of 165gr Federal Power-Shok SP from Midway USA for 49 cents a round.  I think that is a pretty good price.  I could see loading special rounds like a 240 or 250 grain for heavy duty hunting but not standard rounds unless there is a big savings.

TMHO,
fknipfer

Factory ammo is better than it used to be, but Handload ammo is custom ammo.  If you put a little effort into your hand loading you will in most cases get ammo that will shoot better than factory out of your gun.

If you don't consider the cost of reloading equipment, you could reload for less than .31 cents a round.

[nrb]

Been reloading for decades for a 742 and more recently for 7400. My favorite bullet is 150gr soft point or bronze point. My favorite powders are 4064 and 4350 loaded a grain or two below max. With full length resized cases I can get 1 to 1.5 in groups at 100yds. As for your question of cost, do the math. 150gr bullet about 11cents, 45gr powder about 17cents, primer about 2cents, assume no cost on cases, reloading equipment, time, etc. Cost per round 3006 is about 30 cents. and the pleasure of having a possible better round than you can buy.
best,     nrb

[fknipfer]

The only thing I have ever reloaded for is my 30-06 FN Mauser and I used to load 180grs for it all the time.  Then I got busy in the work world and then I never had time to do it (it seems) anymore.  I have now retired and am going to look for a set of equipment to start again.  Until then I will keep looking for bargains from the big four: Hornady, Remington, Winchester and Federal.
I know that 31 cents is the cost of the bullets, powder and primer which is reasonable enough but to say there is no cost in cases and equipment is not really according to hoyle.  If you say there is no cost to the labor of the reloading I will go along with that.  This is all hypothetical but if the total amount of equipment you use cost between 800 to $1000 you would have to reload 5000 rounds just to get the equipment cost to 20cents each.  I was looking in the Hornady book to get this estimate.  Now cases cost somewhere between 25 and 50 cents each so if you reload them 10 times which probably a good norm you still have between 2 1/2 and 5cents each.  So adding the costs as follows:

Powder, bullet, primer         .31
Equipment                          .20
Cases                                 .05
Total                                  .56 each
 
The costs are more than a person thinks they are because of the hidden costs of equipment and bullet cases.

I bought the whole ball of wax for 49 cents each from Federal and I dought if I can shoot the rifle well enough to be able to tell the difference.
In Alaska I have talked to several guide services who will not hunt with you unless you have store bought ammunition.  You tell them they are handloads and they will not allow you to hunt with them.   I am not saying that the loads you make are not reliable, I am just saying on bear and claw animals they want factory ammunition.

TMHO
fknipfer

[nrb]

What you say is true for you, but others who are a bit more active find reloading both a savings and rewarding. As far as equipment cost, I've seen complete used sets for $100. Years ago I bought a used press, dies, balance, and powder measure for $25 and I still use them. The most reward I get is to work up a load that gives me a miniscule group compared to factory ammo. This pays when target or varmint shooting. If I go to Alaska and face off with a brownie, I'll take the guides advice.

Happy Easter,              nrb

[targshooter]

I currently use a .30-06 7400 Carbine carrying rounds with 50 grains of DuPont IMR 4350 under a Hornady 220 grain RN for hunting in the MN woods.
In the past I had good results with 42 grains of DuPont IMR 3031 under a 150 grain Remington Corelokt bullet in a .308 7400.

[old06]

I bought the whole ball of wax for 49 cents each from Federal and I dought if I can shoot the rifle well enough to be able to tell the difference.
In Alaska I have talked to several guide services who will not hunt with you unless you have store bought ammunition. You tell them they are handloads and they will not allow you to hunt with them. I am not saying that the loads you make are not reliable, I am just saying on bear and claw animals they want factory ammunition.



I can only talk from personal experince I spent from 84 to 92 in Alaska and have only hunted with handloads there like I have since 79 I have taken brown bear with them moose, caribou and quite a few others I have  personally talked with guides and the question of not allowing someone go out on a hunt has never came up in the any of there "rules". I think I can fine four guides that would let any one use there load for eveyone you can that won't! I didn't start handloading for a cost cutting. It was accuracy, performance bullet selection , and the assurance that I had the best load that could be had and tuned to my fire arm. My personal round for Alaska is the 338 Win Mag 250 grain Nosler Partiton with enough H4831 to get 2750 fps I can only guess that I fires about 500 to 600 rounds through that rifle and every last one went bang. With out a through check I can't never remember a round not going bang. with lots of different guns. Yes I know a few sloppy handloaders I'm sorry to say that I would not fire there gun with there round in it. That is part of my hunting goal to take my game with MY LOADS end of question. All I can say is wow things have sure changed since I left.