7rm all-round bullet

[abdul-hannan]

Hi, I've been looking to see what a good everything bullet for a 7rm when I say everything I'm talking everything from whitetail at 60 yards to elk at 600 to steel at 1200. I have been looking at the Berger 168 grain vlds but I have heard stories of too much meat damage and inconsistency at close range. So what I've been wondering is whats your experience? would I be better served with accubonds? should I stick with the vlds? what about accubond long range?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

An all in one bullet like that is a tall order. I have been loading my kid's 7rem with a 140 Sierra pro hunter, but that one will run out of steam before 1200; the longest kill I've made with that pill was out of a 7rum at 3400 fps at 1/2 mile. I'd think of a fast twist barrel and something like a 175 eld-x... I've been driving that to 2850 with a mild load from my current 7rum and have 250 and 500 yard kills with it on mule deer... It's been fine so far. A 60 yard shot will be hard on that bullet unless you run it through the slats though...

 

[JMW67]

what chambering and what twist rate in the barrel

 

[Plinker147]

Berger 175 elite hunters. I've shot deer, elk, oryx, Barbary from close to far. They are extremely accurate, and lethal. I think they are better than the VLDs

 

[Shane Lindsey]

My one and only bullet so far has been the 190 LRHT (my first 7mm RemMag).

2835 FPS from a 26" barrel. I figured up close there is enough to make a mess and out far, well plenty for that too...

 

[abdul-hannan]

what chambering and what twist rate in the barrel

sorry for not specifying. 7 rem mag, 26-inch tube, 1 in 8.

 

[abdul-hannan]

Just to specify my main concern is meat damage on smaller animals like a whitetail.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

If ranges are 600, go mono and don't look back...

 

[Bob Wright]

I would develop 2 loads. 1 for long range target since you have a great twist for the heavy vld, Smk types, and 2, I would have a hunting load with a Hammer Hunter and drive them fast. There is little meat damage with the Hammers.

 

[JMW67]

^^^^ this is the right answer in my opinion

 

[bsnyder]

Berger 175 and be done. You don't have to load to loads. Or the 180 hybrid targets.

 

[loonie]

175 Nosler ABLR . From 30 to 870 yards on elk deer and goats get consistent performance every time. Quit using the 180 vld for hunting after using these.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I'm using the 168g ABLR in my 7STW, it's all I could get at the time, they perform very well for me, both in accuracy and terminal performance. I cannot fault them.
I also have the 175g ABLR, but still working on a load.
I moved away from Berger bullets, had several failures in 3 calibres. Not all the time, but enough to make me second guess them. The worst have been the OTM for me.

Cheers

 

[Ucsdryder]

I'm loving the 180eldm so far.