7mm Mag Loads

TroyBoy

TroyBoy

New member
I just got a new Leupold scope for my old Savage 7mm Mag and was wondering what some of you are using for bullets and powder in your 7mm Mag. My gun hasn't been shot for 15 years so I'm not sure what it grouped like before, but my loads were 58gr. IMR4350 and Hornady 139gr. BTSP. Mostly going to be Antelope and whitetail load. Thanks for the replys.
Troy
 
I'm interested in some info on this too. Just picked up a Tikka T3 in 7mm Rem Mag as well. Thinking something in the 150's or 139's if it's that much better.

Does anyone have any deer performace results with the 154 or 139 sst's? I really liked the 95's out of my .243. Thinking this way I could just switch up some interbonds if I ever draw Elk tags.
 
I shoot the 139 Hornady, I use IMR 4831 metered out to apprx 2900 fps. You might try the 100 gr Hornady #2800 for varmints. I loaded this with IMR4831 64.4 g = .75" for 3 at 100yd. This is a .26" jump in my rifle, (this was on the bench). I usually load .010 off the lands. It has got me thinking.
Jim
 
My Elk load is 160 grain Nosler Partitions - IMR4831 - Fed Mag primers - Rem brass. It's a stout load that doesn't show up in any newer manual. Chronos 3094 fps.
 
I will always recommend RL22 in any large mag case. Bullet selection always factors in. Alliant has a website that will give some receipes. The 139 gr Hornady and 120 grain NBT has proven accurate for me in a 7 SAUM. Both would be good deer and antelope bullets. I have 7mag dies, bullets and brass but no 7mag, go figure.
 
I like the 162 or 165 bullets over IMR 4831, slower than a 150 but tend to be similar in drop do to an increased ballistic coefficent. 140 to 150 are good antelope or deer loads. Stick with slow buring powder RL 22 IMR 4831 etc. Max loads usually tend to open up the groups a bit though.
 
I personally don't like any bullet under 150 in the 7 mm Mag for Big Game Hunting with the 160 being my favorite. Rel 22 or Hod 4831 is the two best powders for the Big Seven.
 
If you like shooting long range with lighter bullets, I had good luck with 72 grains of RL22 and 130 gr. speer bullet. Worked well on whitetails
 
I too am a huge fan of Reloader 22 in the 7 Rem Mag. Reloader 19 also works well, but it is more dense and when it spikes it does it all at once.

As far as killing big game, I have had good results with 140 and 160 Accubonds as well as with 139 and 154 Interbonds. A really good friend of mine who kills a lot of big game talked me into trying the Hornady SST. He swears by them on antelope and deer.
 
CCI primer, max load of IMR 4831 behind a Sierra 160 gr Spitzer. I've killed mountain goats, caribou, white tail and Sitka deer with it and plan to get my first antelope with it this year. My hunting partner killed a moose up in Berner's Bay outside of Juneau, Alaska with this load. It kills efficiently and is a great accurate long range load.
 
I have had many 7 Mags 700's and Brownings, here are some loads that worked really well in all of them.

64.5-65.5g of IMR 4350; Rem case, 9 1/2 primer; 139-140g bullet seated to touch the lands @ 3250 fps

67.0g of R#19; Win case; Fed 215; 140g Barnes tripple shock, seated .035-.050 off the lands@ 3200 fps

63.0g of IMR 4350; Rem Case; 9 1/2 primer
150g Nosler Ballistic Tip, 150g Sierra; 154g Hornady Spt BT stated to touch the lands@3100

72.0-73.0g of R#25; Rem Case; WLR Mag primer; 154g Hornady SP seated to touch lands @ 3250 fps

60.0-61.0g of IMR 4350; 9 1/2 primer; Rem brass; 160g Sierra spt BT @ 2950-3000 fps

61.0g of IMR 4831; 9 1/2; Rem case; 160g Sierra Spt BT @ 2900 fps

The 154g Hornady Sp is a super bullet on deer, elk, and will shoot a hole through both shoulders on a large hog.

The 160g Sierra BT is one of the finest deer bullets ever put on this planet.


Good luck!
 
Ackleyman,
I was using 58gr. of 4350 because that is what my Dad worked up for me when I was 11-12 yrs old. Recoil may have been an issue but I have shot 5 antelope in WY. and one deer in Wis. with this load. Thanks for all the great info, gives me a great place to start. The old Savage is like getting a new gun again as it has been a along time since it has been shot. I now have a son that is the same age as I was when I got this gun! How time flies! I have lighted the trigger, floated the barrel, and going to bed the action. I will post results after I work up some rounds.
Thanks,
Troy
 
I rebarreled to a 7mmRM and it loves H1000 and 162gr A-Max bullets. The same load in my dad's 700 shoots quite well too. I believe the load is 68.0 grains.

-BANDIT
 
This is an excerpt from a reply I received about loads for my 7mm Rem mag with RL-22 .

*Barrel Erosion*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve, just to clarify, after the initial firecracking and erosion, on several barrels in 7mm Mag, the barrels were toast. Once the barrels were replaced, and the powder was changed to H4831, we saw no more firecracking or excessive erosion. The barrels, that originally showed the erosion, would no longer perform to the standards, that were required of these rifles. Examination of previous take-off barrels, before we started using R22, showed no excessive erosion or fire cracking, even after 1500 rds. The barrels, same manufacturer, that were used with the R22 propellant, showed excessive erosion in as little as 450 rds.
The ammo, used by this agency, is loaded by an outside contractor, who must keep pressure, velocity and accuracy within very tight tolerences.
 
I also have a Savage in 7mm RM. I use the Sierra 140 gr pro hunter with 64gr H4831sc. This is a super accurate load in my rifle and despatches whitetails like lightning. I have never hunted elk but I'm sure that correct bullet placement would do the deed.
Edited the powder weight, 45gr is for 243!
 
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I only use my Rem 7 mag for Elk, so my load would not work very good for what you are looking to hunt.

But this is what I have been using:
Barnes "x' - 150 moly coated
RL22 - 67.5
MV 24" factory barrel - 3100

Excellent groups - nickel size!
 
Quote:
This is an excerpt from a reply I received about loads for my 7mm Rem mag with RL-22 .

*Barrel Erosion*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve, just to clarify, after the initial firecracking and erosion, on several barrels in 7mm Mag, the barrels were toast. Once the barrels were replaced, and the powder was changed to H4831, we saw no more firecracking or excessive erosion. The barrels, that originally showed the erosion, would no longer perform to the standards, that were required of these rifles. Examination of previous take-off barrels, before we started using R22, showed no excessive erosion or fire cracking, even after 1500 rds. The barrels, same manufacturer, that were used with the R22 propellant, showed excessive erosion in as little as 450 rds.
The ammo, used by this agency, is loaded by an outside contractor, who must keep pressure, velocity and accuracy within very tight tolerences.



I am afraid I demand more info on this quote... Who is this that found this erosion and can we please forward these findings to Alliant and find out their response?
 
And here is the rebuttal from that same post...

"Eddie,
Not sure what to say. I don't doubt your data. The data I base my opinion on is several barrel makers over several years in keeping stats for 600 and 1000yd competition. If there was an issue with double base powders being harder on barrels it would show up real quick. But we haven't seen this. I'm talking about keeping track of match stats across many states, all barrel makers, over an 11 year time period and nobody can conclusively say that double base powders are harder on a barrel during this time. This is one big advantage of competition shooting. You get large amounts of data in a shorter period of time for things like this.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying your data is false or incorrect. But it does contradict the results of a much larger sampling size over a much larger period of time. Obviosuly something doesn't add up here. What cleaning solvents were used, rate of fire, etc etc?? We don't know.
Excessive erosion in 450rds would have competition shooters in a hissy fit. And nobody is complaining that I know of.
Again, I didn't post this to be arguementative. Only that a much larger sample size hasn't supported this arguement over a long period of time."
 
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