7 STW Barnes 145gr LRX Commercial Load

[Montana73]

I have a 26" Shilen barrel with 1:9 twist. I want to try some 145gr LRX in my gun for hunting.

I've looked and can't find anyone with this load avail in stock right now - except Double Tap.

They have 145gr Barnes LRX in stock with their specs of 3450fps in 26" bbl.

Does this sound about right? If so, I guess I'll buy a box and see what they offer. Then, I can go to other better known companies that do handloads, e.g., Copper Creek, Superior Ammo, Choice Ammo,etc, etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bill

 

[David Emerson]

I have a 26" Shilen barrel with 1:9 twist. I want to try some 145gr LRX in my gun for hunting.

I've looked and can't find anyone with this load avail in stock right now - except Double Tap.

They have 145gr Barnes LRX in stock with their specs of 3450fps in 26" bbl.

Does this sound about right? If so, I guess I'll buy a box and see what they offer. Then, I can go to other better known companies that do handloads, e.g., Copper Creek, Superior Ammo, Choice Ammo,etc, etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bill

Yes it sounds right. In my 7stw with a 140 accubond and 26 hart I am getting 3450 with 1/3moa accuracy.

 

[SammySTW]

I've been wanting to get a box of the LRX from Doubletap just to try it out, but they're always out of stock when I check

 

[Montana73]

Mine was ordered from DoubleTap when in stock, then when order received, they backordered immediately with no date of order so I cancelled. I got tired of waiting and sent an e-mail to Copper Creek Cartridge Co and found out they will load the 7STW 145gr Barnes LRX in new Hornady brass. The guy I spoke to said he thought the fps on their load would be approx 3250. I ordered from them and hope to try it out soon.

 

[SammySTW]

3250 is a little slower than I would want it to be, you should be able to at least get 3350-3400 safely with that bullet. I recently bought some 22 creedmoor ammo from them and it was pretty slow too. But I think if you get their load development sample pack, they will work up with some higher charges. The Barnes bullets love speed

 

[Montana73]

I'm sure they would start out at the safe level for their factory loads. They also mentioned that they would, like Choice Ammunition and Superior Ammunition, build you a load development sample pack for those of us who don't handload and still want a load that works for our specific gun.

 

[Montana73]

Here is the load data from Barnes. Looks like 3250fps is at or close to max load? This data from Barnes is Rem case, 24" Bartlein barrel with 1:9.5 twist.

7mm Shooting Times Westerner

Powder	Minimum Charge Velocity (grains) (fps) Maximum Charge Velocity (grains) (fps)
RL 22	65.5	2979	72.7	3196
*Supreme 780	70.4	2981	78.2	3269
IMR 7828ssc	68.9	2926	76.6	3245
H1000	72.3	2970	80.4	3241
Retumbo	73.5	3031	81.6	3246
Magnum	76.1	2963	84.5	3283

145-grain LRX BT Sectional Density .257 Ballistic Coefficient .486 C.O.A.L 3.600"
Suggested Bullet Use

 

[SammySTW]

That sounds pretty close for a 24" barrel. When I shot the 150 TTSX, I had them a little over 3300 with 79.8 gr or RL 25, in a 26" barrel.

This reminds me, I bought a few boxes of Nosler factory ammo with the 150 Partitions, the box said 3175 fps, and the Nosler book also showed about the same with that powder charge. My gun shot them with an average of 3380 fps haha