The instructions that come with the dies say to screw the die down till it contacts the shell holder.
So, there's that!
Just starting out with the 7mm RM...
- Thread starter Herd_Bull
- Start date
The instructions that come with the dies say to screw the die down till it contacts the shell holder.
So, there's that!
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Yep. If you follow the instructions itll sure let em fit in the chamber
W
What do your cases weigh if you dont mind me asking? Im looking for cases and trying to stay around the same case weight.
HTSmith
Silver $$ Contributor
Start out with a Magnum Primer. I've had good luck with CCI250 and Fed215M. Get a slow stick powder. Dusty made some good suggestions. I've had good luck with H4831. Several of the manuals give the load density in %. You want to use a load that will give at least 85% fill.
I also agree that you should get a Lee Collet neck sizer. You should get a couple of loadings before you have to full length resize and have to start dealing with that belt.
Im on my 7th loading and still neck sizeing with PPU brass. I anneal every 3rd firing.
well u r doing the right thing by asking but ull get all different answers, h1000 always worked for me with 150g to 168g bullets but all guns are different
7 mag great round, 150-168 really loves h1000, but all guns r different seen abolt rugers and rems shoot 76g of h1000 and a 150 nos ballistics with great results, my custom sav loves it also with custom comp nos 168g, ull find a fuller case is usually best in 7mag, good luck and be careful, start low an build up In grains
My nosler cases weighed 214.20 grains. I never weighed them before and was surprised at how consistent they were. I weighed 10 new ones and they were within a tenth either way.
Thats awesome. Problem is i have to stay within the 260 range. There has to be more brass out there in that weight range or close to it. Thanks for the info. I have other guns that would appreciate them. Good info.
What is going to be your main application-hunting, targets? How far do you intend to shoot?
The brass is not a big deal, but just make sure that you start off with all of the same kind. Run them through the sizer to make sure that they are all uniform.
I would buy 139-grain Hornady Interlocks to start with. They are reasonably priced, are great hunting bullets and have been super accurate in my 7 mags.
I have used Reloder 22 with the 139s with good results. Also, IMR 7828 works well. If you want to shoot heavy stuff, Reloder 25 and Reloder 33 work real well with 160/175-grain loads. I do not load the 139s real hot. I keep them around 3100 fps and they shoot great and kill great. I use data from the powder companies to start most of my loads. Start about one grain under max and go up or down as accuracy dictates.
As far as seating bullets, start with recommended cartridge overall length and work from there.
I have always used CCI mag primers, but others will work, too, just try to stay uniform.
There are lots of intricate things that you can get into with reloading as you will see with some of the answers that you get here. To start with, just keep it simple and basic and then work into other things. The whole concept is a good piece of brass, the right powder, primer and bullet and go shoot!
The brass is not a big deal, but just make sure that you start off with all of the same kind. Run them through the sizer to make sure that they are all uniform.
I would buy 139-grain Hornady Interlocks to start with. They are reasonably priced, are great hunting bullets and have been super accurate in my 7 mags.
I have used Reloder 22 with the 139s with good results. Also, IMR 7828 works well. If you want to shoot heavy stuff, Reloder 25 and Reloder 33 work real well with 160/175-grain loads. I do not load the 139s real hot. I keep them around 3100 fps and they shoot great and kill great. I use data from the powder companies to start most of my loads. Start about one grain under max and go up or down as accuracy dictates.
As far as seating bullets, start with recommended cartridge overall length and work from there.
I have always used CCI mag primers, but others will work, too, just try to stay uniform.
There are lots of intricate things that you can get into with reloading as you will see with some of the answers that you get here. To start with, just keep it simple and basic and then work into other things. The whole concept is a good piece of brass, the right powder, primer and bullet and go shoot!
nastynatesfish
A day which we will live in infamy
For the first firing. But regardless when you size you don't size all the way down to the belt. Unless heswantingto get to neck sizing or numbing I believe it to be the same exact setup. I started with 7mag and 223. Never noticed any difference in die setup till I started bumping shoulders and neck sizing only
All great information everybody, thank you. Now I'm a little nervous about hand loading. I don't really understand why the "belted" mag would be more difficult than others, but like many of you said, I'm sure I'll soon find out. I have a FL sizing die and a seating die. I was going to FL size until I learn the ins and outs and then get into bump and neck sizing. I have 4 manuals on the way and plan on starting there for recipes. I'll be building hunting loads, shooting distance out to 400-500 yards. No idea on the size of my chamber yet, that's going to be something I need to learn. I do have some once fired brass from the rifle so I was going to start there and bump the shoulder back .002 to .003. Then start maybe .02 off the lands and go back from there. Thanks again. Sounds like I have some serious learning to do...
I reload for a ton of belted brass. you need to have someone help you or watch videos on how to set up dies to headspace on shoulder not on the belt! if you like to keep buying brass go ahead and set up dies for belt. all my belted cases last at least 12 reloads and I only set up dies to headspace on the shoulder and with zero headspace if gun will take it and if not set shoulder back .001.
I'm a little confused of what exactly headspacing on the shoulder vs. the belt is? I understand that FL sizing the belt everytime will lead to short brass life. Is headspacing on the belt the same as FL sizing? So what type of die is used to headspace on the shoulder? A FL die, but it's just not screwed as far into my press? Is headspacing on the shoulder the same as bump sizing? Or is it neck sizing? I'm using my rounds for hunting purposes so was going to stay away form neck sizing. Now I'm a little nervous with this whole belt thing. Any good explanations or video links would be appreciated. I don't really have anybody I know that reloads and am planning on learning on my own as I go.
Ok don't worry about the whole headspace thing with the belt. The headspacing the belt is for when the gunsmiths guns the chamber. He headspace the belt and on a non belted case he headspace to the shoulder. Buy the hornady lock n load headspace gauge use the correct bushing to headspace a 7mm RM. bump the shoulder back using your fl die .001 to.002 and no more since this is a bolt action. Take a fired piece of brass and measure it with your dial calipers with the bump gauge. Write the measurement down. Now take the fl die screw it down to the shell holder then i would say back it off a half of a turn. Size it check it on the headspace bump if the measurement didn't change keep screwing the die down about 1/8 turn until you get your .001 bump. If you mess up and bump it to far it's ok it's not the end of the world you can still fire that case just back it off and get another piece of brass. I will try and find some videos for you.
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Thanks Derek. It looks like I'm going to have a lot to learn here. I do have the Hornady headspace gauge so am good there.
"If you mess up and bump it to far it's ok it's not the end of the world you can still fire that case just back it off and get another piece of brass."
What happens if I'm more than .001 to.002 off with the shoulder after I bump it? Just accuracy issues or other issues? Would it be bad to go to .003 so that I knew that 100% of the time the load will load? This is a hunting round.
I saw that Larry Willis makes a FL sizing die for belted magnums... would it be worth looking into that so I could just FL resize the entire case and not worry about the area in front of the belt bulging?
Thanks for the videos. They helped explain things. From what I understand headspacing off the shoulder is the same as bump sizing then.
"If you mess up and bump it to far it's ok it's not the end of the world you can still fire that case just back it off and get another piece of brass."
What happens if I'm more than .001 to.002 off with the shoulder after I bump it? Just accuracy issues or other issues? Would it be bad to go to .003 so that I knew that 100% of the time the load will load? This is a hunting round.
I saw that Larry Willis makes a FL sizing die for belted magnums... would it be worth looking into that so I could just FL resize the entire case and not worry about the area in front of the belt bulging?
Thanks for the videos. They helped explain things. From what I understand headspacing off the shoulder is the same as bump sizing then.
No it won't hurt to bump it to .003. You are just working the bass a little more but it won't hurt.
My 7mm rm is my bench gun and my hunting gun. I can't afford to have a bench gun and a hunting gun. So I kinda have a combination. It is heavy but is shoots really good.
With that being said I always just bump mine at .001. Just make sure your ammo is clean and your bolt is always closed.
Now on the custom die that's is up to you. I use a Rcbs FL die and from what I've seen so far I like it.
Ive upload a picture of a piece of brass that was just fired yesterday this was its 3rd firing and its not bulging. You can also see the sizing marks on the brass.This load that I have for it is 68.8 of h1000 pushing 180 hybrids at about 2935fps. the reason for the bulging is your chamber might be is the chamber might be a little sloppy is this a custom gun or factory?
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