if its a model700 adl i can guarantee you its sloppy. I fight it all the time. The hotter the load the worse it is. PPU is the only brass i can get any use out if. Its tough stuff. You can keep neck sizeing it over and over. I have neck sized as many as 8 times. The neck wall thickness is not good. You have to clean the necks up a little. I have to bump the shoulder on everything else that i have tried so far. Bad necks or less usage of the brass. Pick your poison!
Just starting out with the 7mm RM...
- Thread starter Herd_Bull
- Start date
7 Rem Mag is not the easiest to start with. Lots of things to look out for, especially if starting with someone else's once fired brass. You cannot go wrong with H4831, H4350, and Reloader 22. 168-175 grain bullets will drop about anything in N.America if you choose the right bullet and it is placed in the right spot.
Best advise is to read, look up some data, and read. Look for some more data, and read more. KEN WATERS has some good articles on the 7 Mag. There are several other good articles out there.
Another good piece of advise, get a GOOD and EXPERIENCED loader in your area to help to set up sizing die so your die, in your press, sizes your brass to fit your gun. If you don't get the sizing die set up properly and the 7 Mag brass fit to your gun, it will mess up a good portion of anything else you do.
Lots of good advice above. One of the hard parts about starting out in reloading is trying to determine which replies are full of opinion and which are full of facts. You chose an awesome cartridge. Choose wisely and you will have very safe and accurate reloads.
Good luck.
Steve
Best advise is to read, look up some data, and read. Look for some more data, and read more. KEN WATERS has some good articles on the 7 Mag. There are several other good articles out there.
Another good piece of advise, get a GOOD and EXPERIENCED loader in your area to help to set up sizing die so your die, in your press, sizes your brass to fit your gun. If you don't get the sizing die set up properly and the 7 Mag brass fit to your gun, it will mess up a good portion of anything else you do.
Lots of good advice above. One of the hard parts about starting out in reloading is trying to determine which replies are full of opinion and which are full of facts. You chose an awesome cartridge. Choose wisely and you will have very safe and accurate reloads.
Good luck.
Steve
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
I have been shooting the Rem 700's since 1978, they are very accurate to say the least, bed them, freefloat, and I put on a muzzle break of one variety or another.
For no particular good reason, I have used Rem brass.
IMR 4350 with the 140g Noslers is like a base line test load, and Every rifle I have owned in this caliber, Rem, Browning, and Savage have shot their very best with the bullets touching the lands with 120,140, and 150g Noslers.
With the 140g Nosler ballistic tips or accubonds, 65.0-66.0g of IMR 4350, REm case, 9 1/2 primer shoots sub half inch groups at 100 yds with a tuned rem 700(with bullets touching the lands).
My 700 adl is a 2008 model. Its nothing like as good as the 1988 model 700 i had til i bought this one. I have been a remmington man my whole life but i have bought my last one unless there quality goes up. My last 2 guns have been savage. No issues so far. Tack drivers. Nice gun for the $. I have to agree that the 700 shoots its best groups seated to the lands or just off the lands. Its shoots ok if you can get the right kind of brass when you need it. Thats the problem. The shoulder has to strecth .016 to fireform. Takes a tough piece of brass to survive. Also the chamber neck clearence is .007 on unturned brass.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
I helped out my cousin with his Savage 110, bedded a boyd's laminate, put on a Burris 6x-24x and with the load above, he was shooting mini clay pigeons(2 3/4") at 300 yards with out missing. He had to de-copper the barrel every 20 shots.
Also, I think that the Remington barrels being made now are better than the old barrels, at least the SS barrels are better than the old hammer forged blued barrels. They seem to be drilled a lot straighter and have a smoother micro finish inside.
here is a piece of brass fired in my 700 under a micro viewer. See the reamer marks embedded in the brass. Thats what my chamber looks like. Its all the way thru the chamber. Bought new like that.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
I would have to send that to Remington, but for the life of me I just can't seem to make it out!
Its not uploading for some reason. I sent it to them and it looks the same. There to deep to polish out.
In this age of digital media i hate to say get a reloading manual but I think it is a good investment for a beginer. Nosler has good 7 mag data. I would say get some 4350,h4831 abd h1000. Those will get you a good spread on burn rates. Mine loves 4350 for 140-150 grain bullets. I use winchester brass and CCI 250's. Ballistic tips are a good bullet to test for accuracy and not a bad hunting bullet either. I would also recomend a chronograph. It is probably the most important tool you have in load development. Shooting chrony and pro chrony make cheap models that work fine.
Thank to all for the helpful comments and advice.
Yes, this will be for a Rem 700 with a factory action. I don't know how "sloppy" the chamber might be, but from the sounds of it, I should expect it to be. Once I get started, I'll have a better idea.
Still not sure whether I should bump size (headspace off the shoulder) or look into a custom FL die and FL size. I wonder how many times a case can be FL sized with a custom FL die before the brass has bulge or other issues...???
Yes, this will be for a Rem 700 with a factory action. I don't know how "sloppy" the chamber might be, but from the sounds of it, I should expect it to be. Once I get started, I'll have a better idea.
Still not sure whether I should bump size (headspace off the shoulder) or look into a custom FL die and FL size. I wonder how many times a case can be FL sized with a custom FL die before the brass has bulge or other issues...???
The best thing you can do imo is seat the bullet .001 off the lands with a start load. This should fireform the brass. Take your headspace measurement and write it down so you dont forget it. Neck size until you feel resistance when trying to close the bolt. There should be know resistance when closing the bolt. When you feel resistance bump the shoulder back to your reference measurement. This is the best method by far for the belted mag. I just bought some norma brass for my 7 rem mag model 700 adl. It takes up the slop in the chamber. I loaded 3 new cases. I primed and charged then seated a bullet. That's all i did. I shot a little under a 1/2" group. Its worth the extra dollars. I have about .003 chamber neck clearance with the norma and you dont have to turn them. They are perfectly concentric. Sweetness!
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