7mm Rem mag, 180 Bergers and Reloder 26

[codyadams]

Has anyone tried this combo yet?

My cousin has a new stainless Remington 700 Long Range in 7mm Rem Mag, and were going to be loading the 180 Bergers in it. I have Reloder 26, H-1000, H-4831sc and Ramshot Magnum that may work. I'm going to start off with Reloder 26 and H-1000.

If noone out there has tried this combo yet, I'll report back what I find. We're hoping to break 2950 fps with the 180 with a good accurate load.

 

[Dosh]

c, per Berger's twist chart the Berger Hybrid 180 requires a 1:8 and the 180 VLD Hunting a 1:9. Strangely Berger has the 180 VLD Target listed as requiring a 1:8. The Remington Long Range has a 1:9.25 twist. I haven't tried the 180's in a 7mm yet only the 168's. Perhaps the Hybrid 180 would not be as stable as the 180 VLD Hunting. I'll be interested in your grouping with whichever 180 you try. Good luck

 

[Jakeleg]

Interested in what you find out I plane to work up a load with reloader 26 and 180s also.As soon as I get time so far I have only put one load with r26 and 168s it was 70 grains I believe and 3200 fps in a 8.7 twist no pressure signs for me and shot really well,with low spread.

 

[codyadams]

c, per Berger's twist chart the Berger Hybrid 180 requires a 1:8 and the 180 VLD Hunting a 1:9. Strangely Berger has the 180 VLD Target listed as requiring a 1:8. The Remington Long Range has a 1:9.25 twist. I haven't tried the 180's in a 7mm yet only the 168's. Perhaps the Hybrid 180 would not be as stable as the 180 VLD Hunting. I'll be interested in your grouping with whichever 180 you try. Good luck

Ya....we live at 6600 ft elevation, and hunt that high or higher. At my current elevation with our average pressure and 30° temp the stability factor is jist about 1.8 in this rifle with the 180 VLD Hunting at 2950. At the lowest elevation we hunt, with the coldest temp we would hunt in (single digits) the stability is still slightly above 1.5

 

[MudRunner2005]

If that combo doesn't produce acceptable results (interested to hear your results), 3 other good powders to try for the heavies are 7828 SSC, 7977, or H1000.

 

[KurtB]

Based on what I have seen with 180 Hornady ELD-M, you should hit 2950.

 

[Trm82]

Based on what I have seen with 180 Hornady ELD-M, you should hit 2950.

I have not shot the 180 but have shot the 175 eldx with retumbo and it worked great. I used the data of hodgdon site for the 180 vld and I was getting 3040 fps.

 

[jweigel]

Sorry to repeat myself if you just read the 175 ELDX thread but I had great luck with 180VLD in my Sendero 7RM using Vit N570. Even at 1800 elv. they shot .5 out to 700. Pushing them just under 3K.

jjw
ND

 

[bryanfields]

I've used both those powders with 180 hybrids. I got best accuracy with 66 grains of H-1000, followed by 65 grains of RL26. I also had good luck with 61.5 grains of RL23. Barrel is 28" Criterion. Shoots in the 3s and 4s with H1000.

 

[codyadams]

Finally shot this combo. After previous experience with similar powders and reviewing what alliant recommends for lighter bullets, I did a work up from 64.5 to 68.5 grains in 1 grain inctements with 3 of each charge. I'll post a picture of my results, as well as the brass.

I kept note that some of the brass had extractor marks from previous firings, that I marked with a red arrow. I also fired this brass while doing some work ups with H-1000, which in comparison, performed poorly against RL-26. Velocities were close, with H-1000 reaching 2970, but this was max or maybe over, leaving the small extractor marks you see on some of this brass. Accuracy was pretty good, falling between .4"-.6" groups, but the E.S. was 28 on the lowest record and 52 on the highest...far from acceptable, in my opinion.

All load work ups were done in weight sorted federal brass, CCI LR Magnum primers, and 180 Bergers seated .005" off the lands, right around 3.519" OAL, bullet dependant of course. I plan on doing some seating depth test, to see if I can get groups to stay under the .5 MOA mark consistently, as it seems to be similar to H-1000 with groups from .4 to .6, but as far as velocity and E.S. is concerned, this is a winner. Also, none of these 5 loads had hard or even firm bolt lift.

 

[TexasTB]

If those powders don't work give RETUMBO a shot. I shoot that with my 7mm Rem Mag at 550 feet elevation and get 2950 fps.

 

[cowboy57]

Im running Retumbo in a custom throated 7mm Rem mag and getting 3100 from the 180 Berger Hybrids out of 26" barrel

 

[codyadams]

Im running Retumbo in a custom throated 7mm Rem mag and getting 3100 from the 180 Berger Hybrids out of 26" barrel

Yes, the 180 is pretty deep in the case. If it would be seated to an OAL around 3.650 or so, that would give quite a bit more room for powder capacity. But 3020 from a factory rifle with single digit e.s. and half MOA accuracy is pretty darned impressive, and I'm going to continue working up till I see pressure, but I'm going to wait till I have some new brass on hand to do so

 

[thatguyshm]

I'm loading the 180 ELD-M in a 1-9" Criterion and using RL23. I found two accuracy nodes, one centered around 61.8 and one at 63.3, which is max for me. Remage barrel, 26", Norma brass, Fed215, COAL 3.400" approximately 30 thou off. Lower node is 2850, higher is 2925. Easily and repeatable half MOA. I'm barely above sea level.