Newbie & wondering where to start

[2Feathers]

Hi all,

New to reloading and have been doing a lot of research and overwhelmed where to start?

I have a Ruger M77 7mm rem mag made in 1972. pillared barrel, glass bedded, trigger job. Bushnell elite tactical 6-24x50 set up. 10+ twists. Previous owner did hand load but load info not available. Was pretty good from what I remember, just never asked for them?? It was 10+ years ago anyway so...

I have had a hard time getting factory loads to shoot well but never really performed any tests to identify what it likes.

I was thinking of shooting 168 Berger classic hunters and 215 standard primers in whatever brass and not sure on the type and gr. powder.

I don't want to just start trying 100 different powders and grains and ..... such and not sure there is a better start up scenario? Anyone with this gun have any load data and process to get me going?

 

[TacRabbit]

I don't shoot the cartridge in question so I don't have real world info on it but you could e-mail berger and ask them that same question. They will send you load data for the bullet mentioned and usually recommend a good starting point.

 

[Dexter Grayson]

What I did when I first started was searched for guy's favorite loads in the caliber that I had. Favorite powders, primers, projectiles, etc. then I went from there and did a lot of load testing. If you are wanting to shoot the Bergers, email them and they will send you starting loads and max loads for your projectile and powder combo. I would also try one powder at a time to cut down on cost.

 

[roninflag]

out of my Remington sender o. the best I found so far was re-19 and wlrm primer with the 168 berger, .020 off. for long range and target- heavier is better. like a Remington sendero or a Remington 700 long range.

 

[dogdinger]

I always shot the 168gr SMK with 68 grs of h1000, win primer, win brass.......this was a mild load in my rifle but gave exceptional accuracy. as always start low and work your way up...blah, blah blah, you know the drill AJ