Advice for reloading 7mm Rem Mag?

saunders278

saunders278

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Hey everyone,

I'm fairly new to reloading, have had some success, but sometimes seem to be going in circles. What works one day won't the next.

I'm shooting an old Remington 700 chambered in 7mm Rem Mag. I'm pretty consistent with factory ammo so I know the problem isn't with my setup and not entirely with me.

So far I've had the best results with Nosler Partition and Nosler Accubond projectiles ranging from 140-160gr. I'm more looking at what type of powder to focus on. Any advice?

If it helps, I neck re-size only, I'm fairly careful with trim length (2.490") and overall length, and I've been using Fed 215 primers so far. Also, I haven't started sorting brass yet, I just have a whole bunch of previously fired factory casings.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

-K
 
What are your goals? Are you trying to stretch it out long range or just making accurate hunting rounds or maybe both? First try to duplicate factory ammo by using bullets of the same weight that you already know your rifle shoots well and go from there. Are you shooting over a chronograph because that's probably the best way to find what powder your rifle prefers by showing you consistency and velocity. I've missed for a couple 7mm rm's and found h4831sc to be a very good performer. It has always given me the velocity and accuracy I was after I the 140-150gr bullet weights.

If your shooting a bit heavier bullets imr7828, h1000, retumbo, rl22 and 33 and I'm sure a few others are good powders to work with. Some guys like rl22 for the lighter bullets as well but it never agreed with me and were I live I prefer to use the temp insensitive powders.

You might want to use cheaper cup and core bullets while you're doing load development instead of the premium offerings at least until you get a feel as to what's working for you and what weight you'd like to stick with. Sierra, Speer and hornady might be some to look at.
 
Sort all cases by brand, and only use one brand, unless you are going to work up a load with each brand. Unless they were fired in your rifle, try them in the rifle after sizing, but before seating bullets.
 
I have 2 different 7mm rem and both shoot very well with the load they like, but the preferred load for one is only average in the other. This is the advantage of reloading you can find that loading that best suits your gun. I have had good success with IMR4831.
 
I'm looking strictly at long range loads. I've got a 243 Win for hunting deer, and I don't usually go after anything bigger than that (I'm more of a target shooter). My general plan has been to use this old Remington (my dad's), shoot the hell out of it, get decent at reloading, then upgrade to a proper precision rifle.

I'll try out your advice on shooting more factory loads and seeing what works best, then try duplicating those. I don't have a chronograph yet but it's on the list.

So far I've had the most consistency with RL22, so i'll get some more of that, but I will try some different projectiles as well. I had a box of Horandy ELD-X 175gr (still have it, actually) but they didn't work at all. I'll pick up some Sierras and Speers though and see how those work.

Thanks for your help Savagelh.

-K
 
I have had excellent velocities with IMR 7828 and very good accuracy as well using 160 gn Nosler Parts and ABs........RL 25 also works very well but it is a compressed load (which I prefer).
 
stubblejumper said:
Sort all cases by brand, and only use one brand, unless you are going to work up a load with each brand. Unless they were fired in your rifle, try them in the rifle after sizing, but before seating bullets.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard that sorting is important. I'm using my dad's rifle and he saved all his brass, so I had a hundred or so fire-formed casings. I figured I'd use those to get some idea of what I'm doing, then buy some good quality brass in bulk.

Another 2 questions:
1. How many times can I re-use brass for a belted magnum? I've heard 5-6.
2. How important is it to use fire-formed brass? Is it really an advantage to use casings that were fired through your rifle? I always thought it was, but I've heard conflicting things from different sources.

-K
 
brass life for a belted mag will be same as any cartridge, since they headspace on the shoulder. I don't see why you couldn't get a dozen firings if you keep pressures sane and neck size or partial FL size the case

Fireformed brass will be more accurate, better case fit in the chamber

As for 175gr ELD-X not performing in your rifle, likely due to twist rate requirements. They're best for 8.5 twist or faster and your rifle is likely a 1:9ish
 
150 TTSX over a (Hodgdon’s Load data and not Barnes) max Load of H1000 gives me 3150 and accuracy. I use CCI250 but have heard groups may or may not shrink with LR primers but I haven’t tried as I’m satisfied with accuracy and very satisfied with velocity. This is out of a 24” barrel, but my hunting partner who uses almost the same load is slower in a 26” barrel so ymmv. I use Federal brass which I’m very pleased with the consistency of in this caliber and I have 5 firings with no change to primer pocket tension.

I tried Retumbo with the 150’s and was getting sooty shoulders but clean with H1000 so I took this as a sign that the pressure curve with Retumbo wasn’t building up soon enough for the carrridge to expand and seal the chamber.
 
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