7mm-08 short barrel powder recomendations

[Dave D]

Greeting fellows,
First time poster here
I'm just stepping back into the reloading ring after 7 years off and looking for some powder recommendations for an 16.5 inch tubed ruger compact 7mm-08. I'm going to also start loading for my 7mm rem mag (again) and my father want's some loads for his 300 Wby. I know I can work up some loads for the 7mm and 300 using the same powder without any hitches and 4350 looks to be a candidate for all three. I was hoping to load all three with the same powder as long as accuracy and velocity are sufficient. My model 70 (7mm) likes 4350 with longer bullets and I'm OK with that. The concern I have is that 4350 may a "bit" too slow burning for my daughters 7mm-08 out of that short tube. I'm not terribly concerned with dad's 300 loads, since a rock out of that thing will kill whitey no problem and he never shoots over 50yds where he hunts or sights in.
I've been leaning toward 8208 XBR or H4895 for starters for her 7mm-08.

Any recommendations for a short barreled 7mm-08?

 

[twoodard]

check the hodgdon web site and look at the pistol data on that. my 15" encore really likes the varget so I have stuck with it. and seeing that your barrel is so close I would start with that data

 

[smoking-brass]

Dave,
try some Imr 4064 with a 140 grain bullet of choice...another good powder for a short barrel is Imr 3031.
Good luck

 

[Dave D]

Thanks for the replies.

twoodard:
I didn't think to look at the pistol data, good idea.
Even the pistol data shows 4350 at good velocity so it looks like a good candidate for all three cartridges.

Vinnie:
If it doesn't work out well then I'll give the IMR 4064 or 3031 a try.

 

[smoking-brass]

You can't go wrong with Imr 4350...great powder

 

[alf]

H-4350 should be just fine. Mine prefers H-414, which is about the same speed, not counting lot differences.

I don't vary powder speeds by barrel length either. As an example, I shoot the exact same load in my Bat actioned 30" 6.5-284 as I do in my 18" XP-100.

 

[Dave D]

Well I finally got to work up some loads.
Rifle: Ruger model 77 compact, Stainless 16.5", 7mm-08, trigger at 3.5 lbs, laminated stock bedded from tang to lug, barrel floated.
Case: Frontier trimmed to 2.013"
SST COAL: 2.885" (touching the lands)
Interlock COAL: 2.847" (touching the lands)
SGK COAL: 2.766" (touching the lands)
Bullet: 140g Sierra Gameking
Bullet: 139g Hornady SST.
Bullet: 154g Hornady interlock
Powder: H4350

Day 1: Temp 30F, wind 10-20 mph variable.
3 shot groups, SST's
Load 1: 47g , = .97", .97" vertical
Load 2: 48g , = 1.89", 1.7" vertical ( shot by my 15yo daughter).
Load 3: 49g, = .7" , .66" vertical

3 shot groups, Interlocks
Load 1: 45g, = 1.235", .52" vertical
Load 2: 46g, = .575", .2" vertical
Load 3: 47g, = .79", .79" vertical (crosshair was about 1/4" low when it fired on one shot) could have been a .5" group possibly).
Load 4: 48g, = .890", .23" vertical.

Day 2: Temp 30F, wind 30 mph gusts
3 shot groups, SST's
Load 1: 50g, 1.73", .61" vertical (after 3 fouling shots with factory ammo).
Load 2: 50.5g, .44", .1" vertical

3 shot groups, SGK 140g to the lands.
Load 1: 47g, 1.34", .96" vertical
Load 2: 48g, 1.22", .83" vertical
Load 3 49g, .84", .84" vertical


All the shots were fired from a table shooting off some sticks of fire wood with my hand under the rear of the stock for a rear rest.
Distance was a long 60yds. (Don't laugh it's all I have here at home).

Observations:
The SST's, and Interlocks respnded well to being seated to the lands and the SGK's didn't.
This is a hunting rifle for my daughter.
I'm leaning toward narrowing down the field to using the 139g SST's for further load testing around the 50.5g mark. I don't have a chronograph yet to determine velocity but extrapolating the Hodgdon data I'm guessing it's shooting around 2700 fps.

Questions?
Why is the horizontal dispersion so much greater than the vertical? Poor shooting technique? Wind at 60 yds?
I know three shots isn't great by any means for determing much but just thought I'd share and hope for some insight from experienced shooters.

 

[jonbearman]

I would find a way to use a rest or sand bags to be able to tell how accurate any load is.If you cant afford a rest ,get a uncle buds sand bag,the bigger one than the bulls bag and sand bag the rear as well if you can and try again.

 

[ChrisNZ]

Dave-

Short of a hurricane, wind can be ignored with a 7-08 at 60yds.

As Jon said, you'll really need to find a decent rest to detect any true diffs between the various loads. Sounds like there could be a fair bit of "operator variability" in your current results. At 60yds, even poor loads (by current accuracy stds) will be sub-inch.

I guess it comes down to the distance you're likely to encounter bambi. If it's under 200yds, any of those will do. I'd favour the SSTs- in my experience, they really open up and flatten stuff. I mainly shoot red deer which are way bigger than most whitetails and the SSTs just level them. So much so, I changed to Accubonds for less meat damage.

have fun
Chris-NZ

 

[alf]

My observations,

Poor bench/rest techniques. Like a house, the foundation is critical.

60 yards is a total waste for load development. Just not far enough to establish any credible load.

No chronograph. Tells you more than just speeds. I'd be totally lost trying to do any load development without one.

On the plus side, you're shooting, having fun, and spending time with the daughter.

 

[Dave D]

Thanks for the replys guys.
I'll definately use sand bags for the next round of shooting and invest in a chronograph as soon as possible.
Unfortunately 60yds is all I have. My thought was that if a load will shoot 1/4" at 60yds it should be 1/2" or less at 100yds and likewise if it shoots over 3/4" at 60yds it won't shoot under 3/4" at 100yds. I can stretch out longer shots come spring at my parents house or on a friends farm but I was hoping to find a promising combination at closer range first since I can do that here at home.
I really appreciate all the advise and wish I had access to this forum years ago when I started reloading, with your help I likely could have saved alot of time working up loads for my 7mm rem mag.

 

[JabaliHunter]

My only suggestion for the short barrel would be to try relatively flat based bullets that obturate quickly, such as nosler partitions or some of the hornady flat base designs...