varm. bullets in 7mag?

[ChrisK]

has anyone had any experience with light bullets in there 7 rem mag? wanted to have some 100,110,or 120's loaded for a fast flat coyote load. yes i know that it could be considered over kill for song dogs but i would still like use it. may only shoot 40 or so rounds a year if i am lucky.

[shot1]

With any of those bullets you won't be able to get much for the pelts. They are really destructive. My buddy tried out the 120 Nosler ballistic tip on small deer. After shooting two or three he went to 140 gr bullets. Those 120s would explode on the hair before they hit the hide and blow a soft ball size hole going in and they did not go much further. I think he used the suggested hunting load out of the #5 Sierra manual to get his powder charge. 70.6 grs H4831SC for the 120 gr bullet. It shot really accurate in his Rem 700 7mm mag. 

[ChrisK]

do you have any idea what his velocity was? Thanks for the post.

[shot1]

I don't know what his velocity was. It has been a few years ago. The Sierra manual gives 3400 fps from a 26" barrel on that load.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  ChrisK, we used both 100 grain Serria HP, 120 Horn. HP, and 120 grain Nosler BT BT...I shot them out of a 7mm Rem. the 100 grain did just over 3500fps. the 120's were not quite so fast..also shot them out of a 7mm Wea...we shot coyotes, rockchucks, antelope, whitetailed deer and mule deer with them..as shot1 said they are destructive, but they sure put coyotes on the ground..it was interesting..I shoot the 100 hp in the 7mm wea. quite a bit...I could easily hit a coyote with it, but they ALWAYS ran..not far, but they always ran a short distance then crashed...with the 120's they did the dirt right there...Now I would use 140's up for game...but for coyotes, chucks, etc..the 120's are something else...

[ChrisK]

you would figure withe 100 grainers wouls sit them right down. thanks for the post guys.

[ChrisK]

my savage only has a 24 inch barrel.

[Coyote Hunter]

In my experience, heavy varmint bullets are prone to ricochets - even in the 75g, .25 caliber variety.  Not every time, not even very often, but often enough.  Have never tried them in my 7mm RM but can't think but that they problem would be exacerbated.

[jro45]

I have a 22-250 I use for varm. With my 7mm I use for deer or Hogs. But of cousre I could
use my 300 win mag or my 300 RUM, 30/06, 257 weatherby.

[ChrisK]

has anyone tried the 110 grain tnt bullets? also does anyone have pictures of critters they have killed using light bullets in there 7 mag. if you do not want to post them on this thead because of graphic nature could you email them to ckiefner@csnllc.com ?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Chris, I don't have any graphic photos of animals taken with light 7mm bullets..but the last years my wife hunted, she mostly shot a custom 7mm Rem. mag with 120 grain Hornady HP's. It was over a heavy load of 4350 I think...she mostly just hunted antelope...she mad e  some quick kills with that load..but if improperly placed it will ruin a lot of meat..one nice buck she shot a bit far back easy to do with short coupled antelope..the 120 hit the liver..the buck went down and was dead before we could get positioned to take another shot..her last buck was shot at about 325 yards. She had a dead rest..the  buck dropped like a rock..I liked the 120's for her because they killed quickly and were easy on the recoil..she was not a shooter, but hunted a bit. For most of my game shooting I like 140's or 160's...I got into the light bullets for shooting coyotes in the winter wind..they carried  better than 22 caliber and hit harder at long range..haven't used the 7mm's for that for 5  or 6 years..but they did a fine job...

[ChrisK]

thanks for the input I appreciate it.

[IOWA DON]

I think I've shot 20 to 25 antelope (mostly does) and also a number of coyotes with the 7MM STW and 120-gr Hornaday hollow points. The velocity was 3650 fps and the barrel had a 1-in-12 twist. The bullets always exited the antelope and made about 2-inch exit holes. I am sure the relatively small exit holes was because of the slow twist barrel. Exit holes on coyotes were sometimes larger, but a coyote by comparison sometimes tends to fly apart when hit with that much energy. That rifle's previous three barrels were 7MM Weatherby. One of those barrels was 28 inches long with a 1-in-9 twist and shot real well with the 120 Hornaday hollow point. I did not have a chronograph back the but it was a maximum listed load so velocity should have been very high. With that fast twist barrel those bullets were very explosive making 4-inch exit holes on coyotes. Also, the first barrel on the rifle, when it was new, was 26 inches with a 1-in-12 twist. I shot a few coyotes with it and got 1.5 to 2-inch exit holes. My high school friends talked about how their fathers shot coyotes with .30-06's and the exit holes were 4 inches. I thought they were lying until I got the barrel with the 1-in-9 twist and shot a coyote with it, and sure enough their was a 4-inch exit hole. Anyway, I think that rate of twist has about as much to do with bullet performance as does bullet construction.

[ChrisK]

This kind of an old but I recieved a $50 gift card from Gander Mountain and was going to order some bullets for my 7mm rem mag. I was still wanting to get some real light ones but wanted my gun to be able to stabilize the bullet also. I have a 1-9.5 rifling in my Savage with a 24 inch barrel. I will be shooting coyotes mostly with this rifle. Before anyone says you would be better off with a .22-250 or .243 you might be right but I do not have either one of those calibers so right now I am better off with a 7mm rem mag! Looking for light bullets that will keep me minute of a coyote out to 400 yards.
Thanks for the help guys.
Chris Kiefner

[Coyote Hunter]

After using 160's for 20+ years, I started playing with 140's and 120's.  (The 160's work fine on coyotes, BTW.)

After some development work, I gave up on the 120's.  Couldn't get them to go as fast as I wanted and downrange the 140's carried more energy and shot nearly as flat, possiblty flatter (would have to recalculate).

In the end I stuck with the 140's and do what I've always done - use coyotes as target practice for my elk and deer loads.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Coyote Hunter gave some good points..at really long range a 140 will carry better, but the lighter bullets are safer if you have any safety concerns at all...I would have to look back at my notes, but 120's would clip along about 3500 fps out of my 7's, but they all have atleast a 26 inch barrel on them..sometimes one powder will out distance all  others with a certain bullet wt..but experimenting is required...one bullet I thought of that I shot years ago that was fairly accurate and very explosive and cheap, was a Speer 115 grain hollow point...I think if I were you, I would look at either 120 grain Horn. hollowpoints, or 120 grain Nosler btbt.. If you want a coyote load, they should do it..while a 140 or 160 would carry up better at 500 or 600 yards with more power and less drop, in reality, you will probably shoot most of your coyotes between 100and 400 yards...the 120's should perform very well and with a high degee of blowup...You are right, you would be better armed with a .22-250 or Swift, but shooting the 7mm with light bullets, beats not shooting at all..I am not sure where you live, but here in Wy.  I almost always carry a .22-250, an Improved, or a .220 Swift...for much of my shooting they are perfect, but the wind is a big factor in somedays selecting a heavier caliber..and if there is NO wind the heavier caliber will still kill coyotes fine...but if you are really going to get into coyote shooting, then a big .22 should be on your list of I MUST HAVE THIS TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE....    My favorite even though I have shot .22-250's when they were still a wildcat, is the .220 Swift..just something to consider for NEXT CHRISTMAS or you birthday...take care, and good shooting......

[ChrisK]

I have a big wish list of things that I want to own before I die!Thanks for the help guys.

[Jaydub in Wi]

About 10 years ago , I loaded sierra's 100 grain hp over a near max load of IMR4831. Never chronoed it but it seemed very fast.  I don't have any loaded in 7mm mag now, but I have some V maxes (95 gr) loaded up for my 264.
When I load some more varmint loads for the 7mm, I'll go with the 120 V maxes. Never took a varmint with the 100 gr HP load but would imagine they would be great.
good hunting