Powders for 7mm Remington Magnum

[tomt]

Going to be handloading for a Remington Sendero in 7mm Remington Magnum. It has a 26" SS fluted barrel with a 9.25 twist. It will be used in two different places, North Florida for Whites from 200-300 yards. Out west for Elk, don't know the yadage out west.

In looking at Quickload, RL-25 seems to be a great powder, but I'm concerned about temperature sensitivity. Started looking at H1000. You don't get the velocities with H1000, but you don't have to worry about temperature swings.

Would like to use the 160 Sierra Gamking for deer.

What are real world experience with H1000 in the 7mm rem mag?

Also recommend a good Elk bullet.

 

[Derek M.]

Well the distance at which you plan on shooting an elk will make a difference on bullet selection.

As to powders, Re25, Re22, are beyond excellent in the 7mag. I have used both with great success and I keep a lot of both on hand. I've also loaded plenty with H1000 and some with Retumbo. In my experience, you won't find better velocities than with the Alliant Reloder powders. I've never worried about the temp sensitivities and they've, knock on wood, never failed me.

If you are looking for a great elk bullet at moderate ranges look no further than a 160 Partition.

If you want a long range high BC bullet, for what it's worth, I'm going to be trying the 168 VLD, 180 VLD, 180 Hybrid VLD (all Berger), and the 180 VLD by JLK bullets.

Also, look at cutting edge, matrix, and wildcat bullets.

 

[T3-OleMan]

......................................................
Also recommend a good Elk bullet.

For ELK I use Barnes MRX and TTSX Bullets and Hornady GMX in my 338WM.

Good luck.

 

[Joe King]

I've used IMR 4350 with 150 Nosler BT (absolutely drove tacks, it was to destructive for me though) 160 Nosler AB (shoots good but could be better)

Rl22 with 175 partitions (they will drive end to end on elk), 162 gr SSTs another tack driving load (but every one of em I recovered was just the jacket, and it didn't seem to matter how far or close the shot or how big or small the animal)

Pretty much anything from 4350 to H1000 will work and work well in the 7mag, just match your powder burn rate to your bullet, with charge densities upwards of 85% case capacity and you shouldn't have any trouble finding a load combo that will make you happy.

Also there's some pretty good info here
7mm Remington Magnum @ www.reloadersnest.com

 

[MachV]

R22 has given me the best AND the worst loads out of the 7mag since it first came out=I no longer mess with it or its big brother R25....Just too lot and temp sensitive.
For that matter H1000 and Retumbo are not much better from lot to lot. Bought a large amount of Retumb to solve that problem...fer now
IMR 7828 and H870 work alright if I know they are going to be shot @ less than 80deg
H4831sc seams to be the most consistant but not the Fastest.

The 160 Partition has alway done well!

 

[Shortmagman]

I have had good results with both RL-22 and H1000 when loading my Ruger Mark II in 7mm Rem Mag.. For a number of years I used only H1000 because I read an article in one of the gun mags that said that if you really wanted to get the most out of your 7mm Rem Mag that H1000 was the powder to use. I loaded H1000 when I wanted to shoot a heavy bullet(160 grains or above) and was able to get the accuracy and velocity that I expected. However, as the years past I became aware that either Hodgdon changed the burn rate of H1000 or the loads that were listed in my Hodgdon 26th Edition were incorrect. Example: For a 154-162 grain bullet this manual shows a starting load of 71.0 grains. Of course that is way above the max. load listed in newer manuals.

So I moved to RL-22 when I shoot 160 grain bullets, and when I hunted Elk in Wyoming a few years ago my load was a 160 TSX bullet and RL-22 powder. I wish I could tell you how this load performed on Elk, but I did not get a shot. The 160 TTSX bullet would be a better choice but that bullet did not exist at the time.

Later I loaded and shot the 160 Nosler Accubond, and this is the bullet I would use for an all around Elk load. I don't take shots beyond my ability so I keep my shot to under 500 yards and I think this is an outstanding bullet for this. If I were taking longer shots 700-1000 I would consider the Berger bullets.

 

[sendero72]

For whitetails, I used 150 gr Btips, IMR7828 and it was great out to 600 yds in the Sendero. No elk in south carolina

 

[Wile E Coyote]

H1000 or Retumbo behind Berger 140 VLD, 168 VLD or 180 VLDs.

The H1000 has produced the most consistant loads (single digit ES, 8) while Retumbo has higher velocities. I cannot get any Retumbo load to have an ES lower than 40.

I've taken whitetails, feral pigs and coyotes with these loads and everyone that was hit, went down without a complaint. The ranges were 200y to just over 700y.

When I run out of Retumbo, I will just be using H1000 because of the consistancy issue.

 

[backwoods83]

My vote goes to the 168 berger or 160 accubond and H4831sc with CCI BR2s or WLRPs.

 

[tomt]

Thanks a bunch guys

Here are some Quickload numbers for the 7mm RM
sierra 160 Gameking
COAL 3.290
H2O case capacity 82.00 gns
filling ratio 103.7%
71.0 gn H1000
55400psi
Propellant burnt 99.35%
3019fps

So how does this compare to real world numbers. Keep it coming!!!

 

[tomt]

Here are some numbers for H4831sc

sierra 160 Gameking
COAL 3.290
H2O case capacity 82.00 gns
filling ratio 95.3%
66.7 gn H4831sc
59437psi
Propellant burnt 99.05%
3019fps


It looks like H1000 can get the same velocity but at a lower pressure.

 

[backwoods83]

Real world numbers, 24" 9.25 twist, 162 amax 67.5grns H4831sc, fed210m, federal case, oal of 3.405", touching the lands, 3036fps avg 8 fps ES, same combo but with 72.5grns H1000 and a 215m primer, 3039 avg 22fps ES.

 

[g0rd0]

For deer my rifle likes 67.0 grns IMR7828 with a win mag primer and 150 ETIP I seat the bullet out to OAL 3.460 this OAL seats the bullet against the rifleing when chambered. This is a 1 holer 3 shot group at 100yrds.
This fall I am hopeing on a moose trip to Newfoundland and have some 175 grn partition points so, I will be bussy working up a load for that. Any sudgestions for the 175 grn is helpfull gun)

 

[Joe King]

For deer my rifle likes 67.0 grns IMR7828 with a win mag primer and 150 ETIP I seat the bullet out to OAL 3.460 this OAL seats the bullet against the rifleing when chambered. This is a 1 holer 3 shot group at 100yrds.
This fall I am hopeing on a moose trip to Newfoundland and have some 175 grn partition points so, I will be bussy working up a load for that. Any sudgestions for the 175 grn is helpfull gun)

Nosler manual:175gr Partition: Most accurate powder tested, most accurate charge
62.5gr rl22
CCI250

Goes end to end on elk