Looking for a powder recommendation 7mm R mag.

[demented]

A-Bolt, 26" barrel, bullet will be Remington's 150gr Cor-Lokt. I'd like to be able to get an honest 3000fps with good accuracy using these bullets, Remington 9-1/2 primers, Winchester brass. I've never done any 7 Mag loads so I have no idea what powder might be a good starting point for my needs. That there are so many powders offered can be confusing, and since components are so difficult to find locally, getting lucky with the first powder tried would really be nice! I recently did some .308's, first powder I tried did great, 47gr of IMR 4064, 150 Cor-Lokts, CCI primers, Black Hills brass will do approx. 3/4" from my Savage 16. Can I even hope to get so lucky twice?

 

[Willys46]

List of go to powders for 7 rem mag:

H4831 or H4831sc
H 4350
Reloder 22

Alot of people love RL 22 and it gives great velocity, I think it burns dirty so i use H4831. 28" barrel, 168 VLD, 215m primers, 3050 fps

You can also substitue IMR 4831 or IMR 4350 BUT THIS DOSE NOT MEAN THE SAME LOAD! THey have similar numbers, but different burn rates.

 

[Wookie316]

140gr with 68gr RL22 gives me 3300 FPS with great accuracy.

 

[johnnyk]

demented,
Long time fan and reloader of the 7Mag. She is not a finicky round to reload for most of the time. I have used a couple of powders that have really stood out as solid performers. I first started using IMR4350 and got great accuracy, but them switched to IMR4831 and it shot just as accurate. Now it may have been all in my mind but IMR4831 seems to kick a little more than IMR4350, even though the velocities in the book were similar.
Then I discovered RL22 and fell in love with that stuff. It shot great and provided all the accuracy and velocity a feller needed. My load during that cycle was the 150gn Ballistic Tip ahead of 67.0gn of RL22 and a BR2 primer. Velocity averaged 3150fps in the Sendero that I shot that in.
I traded that rifle for another 7mag and it likes IMR4350 better than RL22, so that is where I'm at now. My load is still the 150gn BT ahead of 63.5gn of IMR4350 with a 9.5M primer. I'm getting, on average, 3240fps but this load is 1/2 gn above the max in the Nosler #6 manual. Be careful and work up to it. JohnnyK.

 

[demented]

Thanks to all.... It may just be me, luck, what have you, but over the years I've had great results with IMR powders in everything from .243-.308-.270-30-06. Since this will be my first sojurn into magnums, I admit being at a loss and to be honest, a bit intimidated by the usual necessity of going beyond the manuals to get a 7mm to perform as it was intended, not as a sheep in wolfs clothing. Until now I've used Federals Premium with 160 Nolser Partitions (bought ten boxes on clearance at Wally World five or six years ago for 12!!! bux per!) Like that'll ever happen again! Anyhow, these now run close to $60 per box after taxes, both too expensive and a bit of overkill for our 200 pound class deer. Sorta figgered on doing a load that'll do well enough to 400 yards to get me by. My choice of Remington 150 Cor-Lokts was due to there not being anything else locally available, hopefully these will offer enough accuracy and performance to make them suitable for their intended task. (400 yds-max)

 

[4bycamper]

Powder for 7mm RM? That's easy.
Anything around RL 22 burn speed will work reliably.
Unfortunately RL 22 requires different loadings for Colorado summer ( 80*F)
and winter ( 0*F). Just a little temperature sensitive.

A couple of my current favorites:
Win 780 Supreme is the all time favorite. When you can get it.
71+ gr. of Ramshot Magnum will provide outstanding velocity,
68 gr. Accurate MagPro works well too. Works so well that I just picked
up 2 more pounds of it. These like F 210 and WLR primers.

I have also noticed how hard it is to find powder these days.
It has occurred to me that I might want to hold on to a 7mm Remmy mag.
If only because it's so easy to feed.


JM .02

 

[demented]

I live in Arkansas so temperature extremes are normal here, too. So I'll need to be careful shooting a cold weather developed load in our 100 degree summers...Darn, yet another thing to worry about! I begin to think loading magnums is part voodoo, part art, part luck and lastly a bit of skill. In what order of magnitude I'm not quite sure!

 

[4bycamper]

I live in Arkansas so temperature extremes are normal here, too. So I'll need to be careful shooting a cold weather developed load in our 100 degree summers...Darn, yet another thing to worry about! I begin to think loading magnums is part voodoo, part art, part luck and lastly a bit of skill. In what order of magnitude I'm not quite sure!

Exactly. I learned about this cold weather loading a 300 Win Mag. My winter loading of RL 22 made it hard to lift the bolt in the late spring. So I kept 20 labeled "Cold weather only". Summer loads in winter included a major POI shift.
Always great accuracy with the right load in the right season, though.

You can always stick to Hogden Extreme Powders like H 1000, H 4831, etc.
Very close to target accuracy in the 7mm RM with NO temp sensitivity.
I'm told Hogdon doesn't use nitro in their powder. Very stable.
I think there's enough room in the 7mm case to pack 72 gr H1000 in.
This ought to get you past the 3000fps mark.



JM .02

 

[J E Custom]

List of go to powders for 7 rem mag:

H4831 or H4831sc
H 4350
Reloder 22

Alot of people love RL 22 and it gives great velocity, I think it burns dirty so i use H4831. 28" barrel, 168 VLD, 215m primers, 3050 fps

You can also substitute IMR 4831 or IMR 4350 BUT THIS DOSE NOT MEAN THE SAME LOAD! They have similar numbers, but different burn rates.

+1
I prefer H 4831 & H 4831 SC with 168 grain Match Kings for long range targets, and 160gr
accubonds for hunting.

I had a very hot load of H 4831 that pushed the 168 MK to 3254 ft/sec. (over max).

65.5 grs should get you around 3100 ft/sec with the 165 and 3150 with the 160 AB but
work up slowly until signs of pressure show up and then back off 1 grain.

J E CUSTOM

 

[demented]

I really appreciate everyone's help. My powder choices might be somewhat limited unless I decide to wait months until stocks can hopefully be replenished! Perhaps I should have said YEARS, if EVER! Rolling my own has to a great degree been affected by availability (or lack) of decent factory loads at ANY price. In the small town I live in, I can at any time carry the entire stock of centerfire rifle cartridges available to my vehicle without even resorting to a shopping cart!

 

[DKA]

I use 160 Nosler Accubonds and 72.5 Gr H 1000, very accurate load. Should start 10 % lower and work your way up.

 

[tayhot]

Vihta Vihuri N160 powder is the best for the 7mm Mag IMO. Velocity in a 24" barrel and 150 gr Barnes TTSX is 3080 on average and had the least amount of variation. I tried RL22, Magpro, IMR 4831, Retumbo, Magnum, and N160 was the best velocity and had best accuracy.

 

[tayhot]

Oh yea, 62 gr of N160 is what I use

 

[MSLRHunter]

Cant go wrong with RL22

I load the Berger 168 VLD in my 7 rem mag with 26" bbl, nosler brass, cci primer, 65.5 gr of RL22 at 2995 fps, very accurate.