any experience with 120 bts in the 7mms

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got a pile of them left from the 7waters i sold and just read an article in handloader where barness (spelling) claimed hes used them in the 280ai on deer elk and even moose with good results. he claims that nos made them a bit stouter then normal bts because of silouette shooters demands. Im not a big fan of his writtings but it sure would make the 280 and even the 757 reach out a bit farther. Ive been shooting 120 bts in the 264mag this year and cant say enough good about the way theyve worked so far. I posted this in the hunting section vs the reloading because im not looking for load data but some real world experiences with them on deer. Please to post that a guy needs a 160 grain bullet in the 7s to make them kill and to penetrate. Sorry guys but ive killed a truck load in 280s and 7mags with 140s and have yet to loose a deer hit by one.

[Cheesehead]

I have taken many deer with the 7mm Remington Magnum, and few with the 120 grain Ballistic Tip. I loaded the rounds to the maximum obtainable velocity. I remember shooting 2 deer with this round. One was a head on shot into the chest, and the results were dramatic. The bullet did not exit.  The other deer was broad side and the bullet did exit. Both deer dropped in their tracks.
 
Cheese

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

   Lloyd, We have used the 120's on many whitetails and antelope...also coyotes...I used them in my 7mm Wea. it is a rebarreled 700 with a 27 " barrel the 120's are sure death on light game...they were( the bts) the favorite load of my late wife when she hunted deer and antelope with a 7mm Rem. mag...While she was a fair shot, she did not shoot alot...sometimes on longer shots, the bullet didn't land perfect, close but not perfect...none the less it put down antelope with no problem..whitetails would be no different...My self, Barness was a fly fisherman who hunted mostly with factory ammo, til the job with gun zines came along..bingo, he is now a gunwriter... I think for the shots one gets at whitetails, the 120's at top speed would be out standing..we found it that way to be sure...

[Graybeard]

I started reading that article earlier today but didn't finish it. Most likely I will do that tonight.

I've used them in the Waters of course and did load some in 7-08. I seem to recall shooting one deer with the bullet in the 7-08 but shot several with the Waters in 14" barrels.

I'm not convinced using it will increase range with any 7mm larger than the Waters as the BC is lower and by 200-300 yards out it should begin to fall behind the 140 in velocity and flatness of trajectory. I know you like really high velocity so give them a try.

Long years ago even before I set up GBO a fellow used to post on a few of the forum sites that were out there. I specifically recall him on Hunt America. He used the Nosler 125 BT in his .30-06 for all his deer hunting and he raved about the performance and claimed he almost always got exits with them and spectacular kills. I dunno I prefer the 140s in the 7-08 and hope to settle down with 140-154 in my .280 Remington.

Should I ever get a 7mm magnum it will be a Weatherby Mag and for it I'd use premium bullets not less than 140 or more than 160 grains in weight. The same Hornady 154 IB or the Nosler 160 AB or PT would be what I'd be trying to find a good load with.

I prolly won't ever get the 7mm Whby tho it is one of those I've wanted since I used to see them for sale in the Sears, Roebuck catalogs we used for TP in the out house when I was a boy. Dunno tho if my tender old shoulder could handle it.

[Lloyd Smale]

bill ive got absolutely no experience with the 7wby but have shot a bunch with the 7mm rem. I used to be a heavy bullet man but found that the 160s just didnt put down deer well. It sure killed them but i tracked alot of deer. Personaly on deer sized game id never consider using anything heavier then a 150 anymore. Ive killed quite a few with 150 and 140 ballistic tips and really never saw much of a differnce in flattness of trajectory or knock down. Anymore i use the one that shoots the best. Actually the bullet ive used the most in the 7mag is the 140 sierra pro hunter. Its another bullet that just has not let me down. It knocks the cork out of deer and usually allways gives an exit wound. Another good one is the 145 hot core speer. ive shot quite a few with that one too and its allways performed well. As a matter of fact ive shot lots with that one in my win featherweight 280. I settled on that bullet because it was hands down the best shooting bullet in that gun. If i had to pick one 7mm bullet that has given me the most consistant accuracy in all of my 7s it would be that 145.

[Graybeard]

Lloyd was the article by John Barsness or Brian Pearce? The one I was reading was by Brian not John. Did I miss one?

I use almost no Speer bullets. I used to use a lot of their .224" 50 grain TNT bullets. I have some old .30s with a RN I think that I picked up somehow perhaps 20-30 years ago and still haven't loaded. I used some of their half jacket SWC style handgun bullets in .357 magnuma and .44 magnum a great many years ago. Other than that I've never bought anything else they make I don't believe.

[Lloyd Smale]

bill it was feb 2008 issure

Lloyd was the article by John Barsness or Brian Pearce? The one I was reading was by Brian not John. Did I miss one?

I use almost no Speer bullets. I used to use a lot of their .224" 50 grain TNT bullets. I have some old .30s with a RN I think that I picked up somehow perhaps 20-30 years ago and still haven't loaded. I used some of their half jacket SWC style handgun bullets in .357 magnuma and .44 magnum a great many years ago. Other than that I've never bought anything else they make I don't believe.

[Graybeard]

Ah ha that explains it. An oldie. I have it around here I'm sure. I thought you had run across it in a recent issue. Ya don't see a lot of stuff on the .280 AI but it does seem to be showing up more often now that Nolser legitimized it and gave it SAAMI status.

[Lloyd Smale]

If you want it send me your address. Its been by the toliet for 3 years now and ive probably read it many times over. No stains though!!!

Ah ha that explains it. An oldie. I have it around here I'm sure. I thought you had run across it in a recent issue. Ya don't see a lot of stuff on the .280 AI but it does seem to be showing up more often now that Nolser legitimized it and gave it SAAMI status.

[SHOOTALL]

Shot hundreds in a 7X30 W & 7 BR at steel . Shot several deer with a 708 . They worked well. I use a 100 gr BT in a 2506 on deer and they work well . The bullet can do the job.

[Graybeard]

Thanks Lloyd but I have it around here. Mine are in three locations two easy to get to and one about impossible for me. I don't climb ladders anymore so the stuff in the attic over the garage is pretty much inaccessible for me now. I don't think I have anything that new up there tho as most of the magazines and books up there were put there when we moved here in '94. I expect it's in the file cabinet in my loading area.