140 Gr Accubonds for STW

[keithcandler]

Cacey, there are several things to consider when loading a 7 Mag. First you did not say what you were hunting. I am a deer hunter and hunt in SC and Kansas. We shoot out to 600 yds here in SC and the shots are usually not that long in Kansas, typically 300-350 at best. I have been shooting IMR 4350 with the 140's (64-67g depending on the rifle and lot # of powder). With the 160's, many 7 mags will shoot 61.0g of IMR 4350 into a single ragged hole when loaded with a Rem case and a 9 1/2 primer. My family and I have killed many, many deer with the Sierra 160g BT SP, it is a really fine bullet. We have also killed a few deer with the 120g Nosler BT loaded with 72g of R#22, but the deer may travel 40 yards. I think that your move to the 120g Triple shocks is a world class move and I would love to hear your loads: keithcandler at msn dot com.

To answer your question, does the BC of the 160 catch up with the 140?. Well, it is about a push, but the 160 is not as flat shoot'en out to 500 by a long shot, but will blow in the wind just a little bit less not much. One thing that you have to remeber is that the RPM's go up as the velocity goes up, and that usually translates in the bullet jacket opening up and transfering energy to the animal better at faster velocities. The thing is, you have to try different combo's and really see for yourself what really works best, and of course shot placement is everything.

In the last 3 years, we have been shooting R#25 with the 154g Hornady SP, SST, and Interbond. The Rem's that we shoot we are getting 3200-3250 out of the 154's, start at 79.0g and work up looking for signs of pressure in your rifle. We found that the WLRM primer better than the 215 with the Rem case. Short case life with this load. The regular SP has taken 3 elk in the last 3 years, and many deer have been shot with the 154 SST in the 275-325 range, this is a fantastic bullet. We have yet to kill anything with the Interbond.

Hope this helps!

 

[keithcandler]

You should expect at least 3550 out ofthe 140 in a 26" Shelin and 3300-3350 out of a 154g SST or Interbond using IMR 7828 with 215's. Accuracy will be on the gilt edge of a max load for your rifle with this powder. Another thing that is very wierd about this round, it may shoot the same size group at 200 & 300 yds and really not increase much in size all the way out to 550. I use a Burris 8-32 Black diamond and so does my brother. We shoot various ranges, mark the target dial, use a Leica 1200 when we can, nothing but dead deer when using this system, and 500 yards is a chip shot when your rifle groups 3 1/2" at 550.

I urge you to get into reloading for this cartridge ASAP, the factory loads are dogs. If you use Rem brass, you will have very short case life unless you are really shooting mid throttle loads. Winchester will take 5 loadings at least.

 

[distantfoe]

[ QUOTE ]
I have already bought my 160gr Nosler AB's for my 7mm Warp when Speedy gets finished building it. The 160 AB is just about the perfect ticket for long range stuff. Can't wait to try them!

[/ QUOTE ]

What is a 7mm Warp???

 

[Boss Hoss]

Speedy dreamed this one up several years ago and had a reamer made but never built one. It starts as a 300 win mag case improved and necked down to a 7mm.

 

[Nomosendero]

Keith, I see that you play with several bullets (I have been known to do that). Now that you have used the Accubond
do you think you like it better for Deer or do you favor the BST. I am curious because I did not know until your
post that the BST is tougher than the BT. No doubt for Elk
I would go for the Accubond but I am thinking in terms of Deer only in this case.

 

[keithcandler]

Let there be no doubt in your mind that the 140g Nos/Win is adequate for deer. As for Elk, I would go Accubond every time! It was a total fluke that I killed two bull elk with a 7 mag and 140g Nosler Ballistic tips. I did not know that I was going to get to go elk hunting until the last minute and it was all the ammo I had. I shot the elk dead center of the body length wise and up and down. They both dropped like a toilet seat at 200 yards. I would never choose a ballistic tip for elk, it does make you think, however.