7mm Rem Mag Range Results

[Herd_Bull]

I’m new to hand loading. Here’s the range results of my very first batch of rounds. I started at 66.0gr up to the not exceed maximum of 70.0gr in 0.5gr increments. Wondering how I should fine tune and how some of you much more experienced guys interpret these results and recommend where I go from here? Thanks!

I’m loading for hunting purposes.

7mm rem mag
168gr Berger VLD Hunting
H1000 (66gr – 70gr, in 0.5 gr increments)
CCI Large Rifle Mag Primer
Norma Cases (never fired)
0.02 jump
COAL 2.490

RIFLE: Remington BDL SS 26”

 

[AckleymanII]

You sure have a good shooter there!!!

Before you quit, change out to a Fed 215, then a win mag primer.

Also, I had great luck with 69-70g of Retumbo, with a fed 215, play with seating depth what ever you do, mine liked a firm contact with the lands.

 

[Riesel]

I'm going with the 68.5 grains of H1000 and not looking back. You're gonna be hitting everything you shoot at. Run that load through a chrono, check it against a ballistic calculator, and then verify it as much as your shooting range will stretch. That .617 BC will have that 7 shooting flat for a looooooong way. Dang fine shooting rifle and you are doing a good job pressing that trigger.

 

[ireload2]

Three shot groups are not a lot of data to judge accuracy. I would shoot the entire test over and see if you get the same results.
You might try 5 shot groups too. If you find that the best results repeat try some 10 shot groups.

 

[Homerange]

I'm going with the 68.5 grains of H1000 and not looking back. You're gonna be hitting everything you shoot at. Run that load through a chrono, check it against a ballistic calculator, and then verify it as much as your shooting range will stretch. That .617 BC will have that 7 shooting flat for a looooooong way. Dang fine shooting rifle and you are doing a good job pressing that trigger.

Me too.
Careful study shows the vertical dispersion tightening at that point but I'd want to shoot it again to be sure.
Do you have any crony data yet?
ES?

 

[boltfluter]

Great shooting and loading on your part. 3 shot groups are fine for a magnum hunting rifle.

Regards, Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[DHuffman]

68.5 seem to be in the middle of a nice wide node with good vertical 1/2 grain both ways.

I'd run another test starting just below 67.5 up just past 69.5 in .3 increments and see if it repeats. Then I'd run a seating depth test. Excellent shooting and reloading!

 

[wapiti25]

I shoot the 168 Berger and I run the bullet very close to the lands but not jammed. You are on the right track but I would shoot your load again just to be sure. try your load at a longer range such as 300 yds.

 

[snowpro440]

68.5 is perfect , you're not going to shoot more than three rounds at an animal anyway the way that gun is shooting......Verify a drop chart and have fun with it ...no need to waste anymore barrel life or components....

 

[Riesel]

68.5 is perfect , you're not going to shoot more than three rounds at an animal anyway the way that gun is shooting......Verify a drop chart and have fun with it ...no need to waste anymore barrel life or components....

This seems to be the general consensus

 

[Zero333]

When I work up loads for a hunting rifle there are 2 things that I start with.

1.- The COAL must fit in the magazine.

2.- Bullet ogive must be at least 0.020" away from the rifling. Which yours is.

If your COAL fits the magazine then you're almost set. Now load up 30+ rounds at 68.5gr and shoot a couple 5 shot groups at 100 yards, couple more groups at 200 and 300 yards to verify that the load is repeatable and consistent.

 

[nastynatesfish]

If it was me I'd want the 70gr load and work seating depth in the case some and see what happened. If you didnt see any pressure try higher charge. Remember the reloading book is a guideline. Load it for your rifle. I'd want velocity to push the 168s farther. Again me. If your just hunting, run it at 68.5.

 

[fourpower]

I’m new to hand loading. Here’s the range results of my very first batch of rounds. I started at 66.0gr up to the not exceed maximum of 70.0gr in 0.5gr increments. Wondering how I should fine tune and how some of you much more experienced guys interpret these results and recommend where I go from here? Thanks!

I’m loading for hunting purposes.

7mm rem mag
168gr Berger VLD Hunting
H1000 (66gr – 70gr, in 0.5 gr increments)
CCI Large Rifle Mag Primer
Norma Cases (never fired)
0.02 jump
COAL 2.490

RIFLE: Remington BDL SS 26”

View attachment 982148 View attachment 982149 View attachment 982150

I would go with 68.5 looks good. I load for 6 different Remington 7mm mags. they all shot the 168 bergers great and my loads were all 68.5 to .69 grs. but we have since went to 180 bergers and all the guns shot better out to 1400 yds. we use 67grs h-1000 and everyone is very happy with this load. I have since tried 70grs retumbo in my gun and have won a match shooting steel @ 1400yds. this load shoots .25 out to 500yds and will hold moa out to 1000yds. it hit 18in steel plate 4 out of 5 shots to win. I don't know why but the barrels don't get as hot shooting the 180 bergers! but just have fun a great shooting. we only shoot paper @ 100yds after that we shoot bowling pins and real small steel plates and have a ball.

 

[barefooter56]

I’m new to hand loading. Here’s the range results of my very first batch of rounds. I started at 66.0gr up to the not exceed maximum of 70.0gr in 0.5gr increments. Wondering how I should fine tune and how some of you much more experienced guys interpret these results and recommend where I go from here? Thanks!

I’m loading for hunting purposes.

7mm rem mag
168gr Berger VLD Hunting
H1000 (66gr – 70gr, in 0.5 gr increments)
CCI Large Rifle Mag Primer
Norma Cases (never fired)
0.02 jump
COAL 2.490

RIFLE: Remington BDL SS 26”

View attachment 982148 View attachment 982149 View attachment 982150

Herd_Bull,
Good shooting! It looks like you have 3 really good nodes there. 67.5, 68.5 and 69 grains. Vertical is very good. Very flat waterline which is what you want. I would suggest you leave the seating depth alone and test these two loads out to 300 yards to see if they hold. If you run a chronograph test pay attention to the SD and the velocity. SD is a good indicator of vertical dispersion. And SD of 10 or less is what you are looking for. IF you are not seeing any pressure signs yet and want to see if you can get to your next velocity accuracy node . Since you are so close to maximum load . Drop your powder charge increase increments to .1 or .2 grain increments to reduce the chance of any pressure surprises on the way up. Will be following this string .
Take care!

 

[Corey Schwanz]

You are well on your way. Of the groups you have there, I'd run the 68.5 load out to longer distances and if you are happy with those results, I'd think about calling it done! Nice shooting!

 

[Herd_Bull]

Thanks for all the responses everybody. As a few others have told me already, I think I'm now addicted to this reloading thing... sure didn't take long. I've shot this rifle for over 15 years with factory ammo and never could get results like these. I'm very happy so far.

No, I have not chronograph'd any loads yet. I was first planning on finding the most accurate load on paper and then chronograph it and start inputting data into a ballistic program and see if I can start determining POI at greater distances.

I think I have a good idea where to go next thanks to all your responses. I'll send updated results as I get the time and weather cooperates for the range.

Would there be any reason I couldn't or shouldn't try the 180gr Hunting VLD's as well? I would imagine that my factory chamber could still accept the 180's correct? I think I've read somewhere that guys with custom 7mm rm rigs need to have a larger reamer cut the chamber for larger bullets but that may have been for 190 or 210gr+ bullets... can't remember for sure. Just want to be sure 180's would be safe in my rig. I'm definitely far from and expert on this stuff and much less experienced as many folks on this site.

Thanks.

 

[Herd_Bull]

Now mind you guys, I'm brand new to reloading and still have a lot to learn about both reloading and shooting.

I narrowed the charge range to 67.5 - 69.5 and shot a 3 shot string of each again. I loaded 6 of the 68.5 charge so I shot 2 three shot strings of that charge. To tell you the truth I was in a little disbelief after the results of my first range test and wanted to see if I could duplicate it at 100yds like some of you mentioned I should do. Everything else remained the same other than the environmental conditions and I did clean the barrel after the first test. I shot 2 foulers before starting 2nd test. First test was dead clam and 10-15 mph wind in my face for this test. I know I should have waited for a calm day, but I wanted to shoot

As you can see the results were not mirror matches. This time the 68.0 and 69.5 were the best groups. I did bring the chrono this time:

67.5
2,710 LOW
2,754 HIGH
2,736 AVG
44 SPREAD
22.9 SD

68.0
2,715 LOW
2,749 HIGH
2,732 AVG
34 SPREAD
17 SD

68.5
2,721 LOW
2,766 HIGH
2,739 AVG
45 SPREAD
16.13 SD

69.0
2,754 LOW
2,766 HIGH
2,760 AVG
12 SPREAD
6 SD

69.5
2,789 LOW
2,818 HIGH
2,799 AVG
29 SPREAD
16.74 SD

Granted they were only 3 shot strings so there is not a lot of data and the wind was definitely much more of a factor then it was during my first test, but I still managed to get a couple good groups.

Again, I'm not looking for complete perfection here, I just want to find a accurate and repeatable load that I use for hunting consistently out to 400-500 yards. I have always heard that a reloader can easily get caught up in the never ending chase for 100% perfection with that one ragged hole 100% of the time and all that does is burn components, barrels, cleaning products, none of which are cheap. I am starting to understand why a lot of you have told me that reloading is #1 addicting and #2 can drive a guy crazy.

I just want to find good enough while still maintaining a high level of consistency and accuracy if that makes sense. In grade terms... an A- would be fine with me, I don't need an A+

Any thoughts from you much more experienced marksmen where I should go from here. I have a very special hunt planned for this fall that I want to be ready for.

Thanks!

 

[Homerange]

2 things that have me wondering
have you found 2 nodes that give small ES or is the sample group too small and another different 2 that show great grouping, again is the sample group too small.

2 grains of powder for ~80 fps, yes that will make a small difference in trajectory but I'd be picking a load thats easier on the barrel, one that uses a bit less powder and still shoots well. 400-500 yds is not far for this cal so again pick the loads you like the look of and shoot again. Produce similar results and you'll then be supremely confident in your rifle and able to take on some great kills.

 

[Herd_Bull]

Thanks Homerange. I guess I'm wondering the same things you are. Will the 69.0+ load be much harder on the barrel than a 68.0gr load? They are awefully close. The 69.5gr load does make the bolt have a very minor stiffness to it when unlocking the spent casing.

 

[Homerange]

Thanks Homerange. I guess I'm wondering the same things you are. Will the 69.0+ load be much harder on the barrel than a 68.0gr load? They are awefully close. The 69.5gr load does make the bolt have a very minor stiffness to it when unlocking the spent casing.

Don't overthink it but the additional "fire and brimstone" of a heavier load for a few fps will hurry throat erosion but when all's said and done let your groups and low ES find your best long range loads. For this rifle that IS capable of good groups, let it tell you what it likes.
IMO you're nearly there.