Building me a Savage 7mm BR to play with. Went with a "no turn" neck and a 9 twist 26 inch Shilen stainless match select. Bullet selection for the 7mm in light weight stuff is limited so that me be an issue but currently have 120's and 140's to play with. Since Peterson makes 7mm BR brass that was a given to get brass for it. Got some break-in loads made and going to the range today to try it out. Will report back....
My new 7mm BR barrel has arrived!
- Thread starter Lefty Trigger
- Start date
I love 7mm stuff and when I found that Shilen has a reamer with a "no turn" neck I called Northland and got one on order, took 4 1/2 months. At first I thought I was going to get into silhouette shooting since I found a group that does that very thing, shooting metal animals out to 200 yards. But then the big let down,... pistol only.
Pretty happy with results today, no load development, no seating depth (book measurement 2.300) and new brass. Shot this 10 shot group at 200yds after about 20 rounds of break-in and cleaning. Will take one of my fired cases and make me a measuring tool because I have no idea if this was jumping .020 or .200? Load was 31.5gr of H335, Rem 7 1/2 primer and 120gr V-max at book setting of 2.300coal.
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I don't know why, but I find that my 7mm BR makes me smile more than any of the other calibers. I have other calibers that are more accurate, and others that make more sense from a ballistics perspective, but the 7 mm BR is the one I enjoy shooting most.
From a ballistics perspective, the Berger 140 is my choice for a hunting/steel chickens load.
From a ballistics perspective, the Berger 140 is my choice for a hunting/steel chickens load.
A couple of decades ago I had an XP-100 in 7mm BR, it was the most accurate pistol I ever had, a one hole shooter at 100 yards. It didn't get used for a while, so like a fool I sold it...What I wouldn't give to have that one back!
Bruce W
Silver $$ Contributor
Try some xbr 8208. also LT 32 works well. I had good results with the sierra 130 MK. I believe that bullet is now discontinued. Also very good groups with the speer TNT bullet. with the TNT the bullet was only in case mouth about an 1/8 inch to get close to the lands . Velocity in the 2800 fps with a 14 inch barreled Wichita pistol ( 10 x) scope and accuracy in the 1/2 inch range. If you shoot the TNT they should be sorted for ogive to base length as they vari.
Yeah bullet selection in light weights is slim pickens. It shot the 120gr V-max pretty good with no load development but I tried some 139gr SST's and those flat sucked. At 300 yards the best they would group is about 2.5 inches. I think I'm going to try the Speer 110gr TNT as I can get some of those.
Might try them, I just got my hands on a bunch of Speer 7mm 110gr TNT's and those look like they will fit the bill if they shoot well. They appear to be a perfect fit to the chamber in my barrel and I just got some VV N135 powder to try them with.
I have a 7mm08 that shoots lights out with 162gr SST's holds a pretty decent 1.250-1.500 group at 300 yards.
FWIW, almost 40 years ago I had an XP 100 in 7BR. It was the most accurate firearm I ever had back then. I shot piston silhouette with it and used 154 gr. Hornady flat base bullets just touching the lands. I never failed to knock down a ram that I hit while a number of other competitors using lighter bullets would 'ring' the rams and leave them standing. You might want to try heavier bullets.
The results with the N135 were not all that great. The gun seems to be looking for something and I just can't figure it out? I think I might try moving up the burn chart and try some faster powders with them light bullets. I have 8208XBR, benchmark and H4198 coming for it to try. H4198 is the most popular powder for the 30BR so that may be a good option and Hodgdon has data for it.
A case stuffed full of Varget and a 120 Hornady SSP bullet ( had interlock) in a 22” barrel Rem 700 shot 3/4” groups for me and accounted for my daughters first 2 mule deer. One at 95 yards and the other at 270 yds. Memory is that the charge weight was 34.5 grs and velocity was right close to 2700 FPS.
The SSP bullets by Hornady and Sierra no longer produced I believe but a 120 gr Nosler BT would perform nicely as long as velocity was 2000 or so FPS.
The SSP bullets by Hornady and Sierra no longer produced I believe but a 120 gr Nosler BT would perform nicely as long as velocity was 2000 or so FPS.
What is a "reamer with a 'no turn' neck?"
Large diameter at the case neck so you dont have to fool with turning brass.
Things are starting to come together for the little 7BR. Been working hard with the Speer 110gr bullets and finally getting a load dialed in with H322. Still needs more testing but there is a node arounds 32.7-32.9 that holds pretty well at 300 yards.
Also a few have mentioned the (discontinued) 130gr Sierra match king, my local dealer still has some so I loaded up a few with N135 and they shot pretty awesome at 300yds right around 30.4-30.5 shooting a 3/8 inch group! I hate it when things work out like that but the items are no longer available...
Also a few have mentioned the (discontinued) 130gr Sierra match king, my local dealer still has some so I loaded up a few with N135 and they shot pretty awesome at 300yds right around 30.4-30.5 shooting a 3/8 inch group! I hate it when things work out like that but the items are no longer available...
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SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
I still have excellent results after over 20 years of using only H322 in my XP. I only use 100 and 120-grain bullets and my accuracy levels are excellent. My 100-grain bullets are the now discontinued Hornady HPs and the 120-grains are the also discontinued SSPs. Thankfully I still have a pretty good supply of both.
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