7mm mag loads

F

Fred Arnold

Member
I have some hornady 139 gr. interlocks on the way and am wanting to shoot them in a 7mm rem mag. I have imr 4350 on hand and am hoping to try these in the 3100-3200 fps range. How will these bullets perform on deer size game at these speeds?
 
Although I own one and have shot deer with it, to me the 7RM is borderline too big for whitetails. I will get a whole lot of pushback for that statement, but the opinion remains my own. I think there are better options, especially here in TX where most of the deer are fairly small.

Now, having said that, a whole lot will depend on where you shoot the deer. The Interlock will (or at least should) hold together at impact velocities of around 3K and below, to the point of impact velocity being so low the bullet doesn't expand at all. The collateral damage, however, of shoulder shooting a whitetail at velocities like you are expecting can be significant. I would recommend you shoot ribs, as that is guaranteed to get lungs, and there really isn't enough meat on a whitetail's ribs to worry about, in my estimation.

On the other hand, the secondary projectiles of bone caused by hitting a shoulder blade, and the bloodshot meat caused by secondary projectiles and impact at high velocity are, to me, unnecessary and cause a waste of edible meat and extra processing time.

Please understand: this just my opinion. I am in no way ridiculing the load OR disparaging where you shoot your animals.
 
I have shot SEVERAL. Whitetails with my 7MM Rem Mag using a Barnes 140 TTSX bullet. I have only ever had to track one. Only reason I had to track it was due to bad shot placement cause of it running away. I'll grab my 7 mag over most other calibers when I need meat, cause they drop dead when hit with it.
 
I shoot a Hornaday American Whitetail 139 Grain BTSP, pushing that speed. Kills Deer dead.

Most have dropped in place, Only had one runner, but that was a shot placement issue. Even then it was less than a 100 yrd from the hit.
 
I have shot the 139 Hornady Interlocks for years and they are fantastic deer bullets. I load them over RL22 right now. It is not a super-hot load and I get 3100 fps from a 26-inch barrel. Go to the Hodgdon site and check their data for the 4350. You should be able to get a decent load worked up with it.

Hornady lists 61.9 grains of IMR 4350 as a max load for 3100 fps from a 24-inch barrel. Drop down a little and try it out. It should give you 3000+ in a 24-inch and a bit better in a 26.
 
I load a Speer 130 gr. BTSP with 65.9 gr. of IMR4350 (data from 1995). Really accurate and have taken Antelope at 300 yds.+ with this load. I used to live in Colorado and have used it on Mule deer also when I had doe tags.
 
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I have loaded 140gr Barnes "blue" bullets for many years. They work for me.
I shoot the max load out of the Barnes handbook. They shoot flat and kill down range.
My Sendero loves them.
 
Originally Posted By: DoublessAlthough I own one and have shot deer with it, to me the 7RM is borderline too big for whitetails. I will get a whole lot of pushback for that statement, but the opinion remains my own. I think there are better options, especially here in TX where most of the deer are fairly small.


Please understand: this just my opinion. I am in no way ridiculing the load OR disparaging where you shoot your animals.
I also agree but thats what I use here in Maine but I shoot a little slower 140gr Nosler Partition that seems to do a great job so far. I wanted 1 gun for deer,bear and moose and the 7mm fits that bill using the 140gr NP for deer and 175 Grand Slam for bear and moose.
I use H4831sc or H4831
 
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Originally Posted By: ScalloperOriginally Posted By: DoublessAlthough I own one and have shot deer with it, to me the 7RM is borderline too big for whitetails. I will get a whole lot of pushback for that statement, but the opinion remains my own. I think there are better options, especially here in TX where most of the deer are fairly small.


Please understand: this just my opinion. I am in no way ridiculing the load OR disparaging where you shoot your animals.
I also agree but thats what I use here in Maine but I shoot a little slower 140gr Nosler Partition that seems to do a great job so far. I wanted 1 gun for deer,bear and moose and the 7mm fits that bill using the 140gr NP for deer and 175 Grand Slam for bear and moose.
I use H4831sc or H4831

Have you considered loading the 160 Partition to do it all with one load, instead of shooting two different ones?
 
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