7MM 168gr Berger VLD hunting load data

[dave77]

Can someone please help me by sharing some load data with me? I ordered some 168 gr. VLD hunting Berger bullets awhile back and honestly had forgot I had ordered them until they came in the mail. Haha. I have a 7mm rem mag sendero that I really want to try them out in before a hunting trip out of town coming up in a couple of weeks. I don't have time to order a Berger reload book and get it to me before I go. The powders I have available are IMR 4831 & IMR 4350.
Could someone be so kind as to share start and max loads for these two powders ?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[MudRunner2005]

Get some H1000, and load them up with 70gr of it, with a Fed 215 primer and seated about 0.005-0.010" off the lands. Works great for my 7RM's.

 

[dave77]

Thanks for the help MudRunner2005 but I don't have any H1000 powder on hand. IMR4350 & IMR4831 is all I have available and all will prob have available to load with before I leave for my trip. I plan on doing some shooting Saturday to check zero in my rifle. If I can find a load for the Bergers great. If not then I will use my tried and trusted nosler partitions

 

[mrb1982]

There are still quite a few guys using the powders you have also. I do not have much experience with them though.

I worked up a load this summer with 168's. I was .04 off the lands, 71gr H1000, Federal 215 match primers. I never chrono'd it, but I think it probably had plenty of performance. I wasn't getting a sticky bold or flattened primers at that point yet but I quit because it was shooting good and was plenty of snort.

I have a buddy shooting the 168's with 73gr Retumbo, obviously, like the 71gr H1000, you would need to work up to that in your gun. That would be a pretty woofy load I would guess also.

I am now going to try the 180's and see how it goes. My gun seems to be pretty receptive to hot loads so I think I will be able to probably be able to get some descent performance on the 180's even with my little ole 7RM lol Gonna have to wait for it to warm up before I get to play with that though.

 

[wbm]

Sierra Manual V 168gr SMK OAL=3.260"
Federal Brass Federal 215 Primers Savage 110 1-9 Twist 26" Barrel

IMR-4350 53.1gr @ 2600fps MAX 60.1gr @ 2950fps

IMR-4831 54.7gr @ 2600fps MAX 62.2gr @ 2900fps

You can also email or call Berger and they will usually email you load data for a particular bullet/powder combination.

 

[BridgerMT]

Well here goes my 2 cents
I have been working on a load for my stock Rem 7mm for 9 months I am reloading all new 7mm Remington brass, CCI Magnum primers, with H1000 powder, Berger 168 vld hunting bullets in a 24 Inch barrel rifle......
The Load that I will be using is 69 grains H1000 with .30 jump averaging 2899 fps
this load seems to be the best one for my gun for good speed and great accuracy touching holes @ 200 yard Bullseye 5 shot group.
I did get a 3025 fps average load with 71.5 grains .30 jump but this load is all over the place about 2.5 inch groups @ 200yards. also ran 71,70.5,70,69.5. all not as accurate as 69.
I have ran all these loads with .20 .30 .40 thousandths jump and the .30 was the best in speed and accuracy for me.
Example:
69 at .30 2899fps 69 at .20 2866 avg. differences in speed just in the jump was a surprise to me,,, also surprising was hot loads 70.5 71 and 71.5 @ 200 were low about 2 to 2.5inches avg and the 69 is about 1/4 inch high go figure that 1 out I can't LOL.
Remember all guns shoot different!! If I were you I would do the same no matter how long it takes...
I am using a Huskemaw 5X20X50 zeroed @200yds 28 clicks at 600 yards this is what I get so far 900 yard shots coming next!!!

If You Think Its A Trophy Too You Than Shoot It!!!!!

 

[mrb1982]

Very nice. That is a good way of working up loads.

I have done it a little different to date. I load up a good mediocre charge, depending on the powder. I shoot 4 shot groups at different seating depths to find what works. Then I go back and load all at that seating depth, with graduating charges to find the best shooter.

One thing that a buddy of mine advised me on. He told me sometimes with these Bergers that you will be graduating charges and all of the sudden you will lose some accuracy. But if you keep going sometimes it actually starts to come back in. This was the case for me at 71 gr. I shot the best groups at 69gr and 71, then in between was different, some better, some worse. Not saying any way that anybody else does it is better or worse, just different. Just a few pointers that people with a lot more experience than me have passed on so I thought I would pass it on also.

 

[dave77]

Hi guys,

First, thanks for all the helpful information! After some more looking on this site I found another thread that someone had posted the entire load data direct form the Berger load manual. I loaded up three charges using 57.5gr, 58.0 gr & 58.5 gr IMR 4350 seated about 10-15 thou off of the lands. I was able to shoot some 3 shot groups Friday afternoon after work and the groups got smaller the hotter the load. The 58.5gr loads grouped very well for me with absolutely no pressure signs. The group measured .412 at 100 yards. This will work great for my intended purpose!

When I get more time i plan on getting in some more bench time with some different variations and see what the groups look like at 200 & 400 yds. and maybe playing around with seating depths to see what, if any, changes i can make to improve the groups.

Thanks again,
David

 

[fassasin1]

Can someone help me I have a 77mm rem mag 24 inch barrel
Hornady cartridge winchester primer .an I have 2 powders h4831 and retumbo what is the best way to load this bullets for hunting trying shoot as far as I can please help

 

[roninflag]

shooting at what? what rifle? what bullet

 

[fassasin1]

168 gr berger bullet for elk hunting it a 7mm rem mag

 

[Dosh]

F 1, try them both. No two rifles like the same load. Yours may like one or the other and both are fairly temp resistant. Use the load manual and start there, play with seating after the powder and charge are established. Be safe, good luck

 

[Punisher]

H4350 is a versatile powder but not optimum for a 7mag. That is what everybody is driving at with suggesting retumbo and H1000.

The fact is that our pressure curve will be very sharp so your max pressure comes with a low grain weight of powder. This isn't necessarily dangerous, but your velocity won't be what it could be with this powder instead of Retumbo or h1000.

I have used 4350 with good accuracy result, but was only getting 2650 fps with the max load of 61 (I think!!!) grains.

Nosler has 4350 in their manual. As well as Speer, but hodgdon doesn't recommend it's use in a 7 mag.

Hope that helps. Maybe it's too late.

 

[Punisher]

Can someone help me I have a 77mm rem mag 24 inch barrel
Hornady cartridge winchester primer .an I have 2 powders h4831 and retumbo what is the best way to load this bullets for hunting trying shoot as far as I can please help

70.3 grains Retumbo. With a 168 gr VLD is what my gun likes. 4831 and I have a checkered past. I got a bad batch and had a handful of rounds that wouldn't ignite with the same lot of CCI primers I had been, and continued to use afterwards with other powders.

I only shot 20 rounds of the 4831. Had 5 misfires and took the rest out and burned it in the burn pile. I'm sure it isn't all like that, but I'll just stick with other powder.