120gr HH’s and Varget- tweak or move on?

[VTbluegrass]

Try a few, may two three shot groups, at the first groove and Lee Factory Crimp. This little tid-bit courtesy of the Bean got my Kimber '06 consistently to 3/4" from 1 1/2' without the crimp. Neck tension seemed to be the culprit. My ES dropped from 25fps to 10FPS. I couldn't tell you how far off the lands they are but its significant.

 

[JAYgs8163]

That rifle seems to have a 1-9.25 twist rate, The 120grHH has a recommended minimum twist of 1-10.5
Could that be your issue?

T.P.

Or faster.

With regards to H4350, I think it will be way to slow of a powder. If anything I would try something in the Varget area again, maybe even faster. Are you seeing pressure signs? Also make sure the barrel was clean of copper before you started your load development.

 

[ButterBean]

I've finally ran into a rifle that doesn't immediately like Hammer bullets.
I have a Model 7 7mm-08 youth compact that I decided to load with 120gr HH's. Ladder test showed 44.0-44.5 of Varget was a good starting point.
all groups were 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" at just under 2900fps
I haven't messed with adjusting the COAL yet. Mild crimp so far following Butterbean's recommendations.
Usually I get easy sub 1" groups right off the bat with Hammers. Then I mess with COAL and grains and get it to 1/2- 5/8" groups and call it quits.
So I'm leaning toward switching to H4350 (because I have a bunch) and giving it a shot vs spending a bunch of time with Varget. Plus, for some reason I've never had good luck with Varget with this rifle.

The 4350 won't help you, 1/2-5/8 I'd load it and Let Her Eat

 

[nicholasjohn]

If the Varget has never worked for the rifle then it seems like you should try the H4350 if it suits the cartridge.

Sounds like a nest little rifle in a great chambering. Please post pics of the rifle and target when you test the new loads.

I'm going to source some hammers in 7mm and .30 I'm readings lot of good stuff on their performance on game.

I'll second that. Since you've got a lot of it, you can work the bugs out without burning up a powder that you maybe don't have as much of. It may be a finicky rifle that's going to take some tinkering to get just right. Besides that, H4350 is a powder that seems to be just right for so many cartridges, and you'll probably get better case-filling with the slower powder. This is something that was mentioned to me by the guy at Hammer Bullets when I talked with him last.

He also told me that the slightly faster powder ( for me that was H4350 ) might work out better, but that was not the case with my 280 and the 143-grain HH. H4831 turned out to be the better choice, and you might be in the same situation with Varget vs. H4350 in your smaller cartridge case. He also told me to use magnum primers, and if I wanted to try standard primers later, it wouldn't be a bad idea. I tried both powders and both types of primers ( Federal 210's & 215's ) and settled on H4831 & the magnum primers as the best combination. If you are in the same boat as I was, the slower powder and the magnum primer may be the magic combination for you.

 

[JAYgs8163]

H4350 is toooo sloooow.

 

[Jer2170]

Some people don't care for it, but I've had great results with the lighter bullets(120's) including Hammers and CFE-223 in the 7-08

 

[TBuckus]

The 4350 won't help you, 1/2-5/8 I'd load it and Let Her Eat

It's 1-1/4"-1-1/2" right now. Wish it was 1/2-5/8
Didn't think 4350 was too slow. Used it in this rifle with 120 BT's.
Reading up on your Lee crimp die thread,
I only crimped 1/8" turn, so I can go more for sure. Also, I think I'm right on the edge of a groove, so I could go deeper seating, thus crimping in the groove of you think that'll make a difference.

 

[Carlos88]

Sometime back I ran out of RL15 for my '08s. Tried H4350 and it seemed too slow and accuracy was weak. Tried IMR4451 when I got my grubby paws on some. Ding! Ding! Ding! The load was with 120gr TSXs.

H4350 is about 5% slower than IMR4451 so reduce your loads from the Hodgdon data fron 5-10%.

As a side note I used it on my Kimber Montana in .257 Roberts with 100gr TSX. 3050 with no pressure signs at all. I could not go over 3K with other powders I tried.

 

[JMW67]

If you have it H 4895 has worked well in several 7-08 rifles I have loaded for when Varget would not

 

[TBuckus]

If you have it H 4895 has worked well in several 7-08 rifles I have loaded for when Varget would not

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't have sold my 4895 to my friends a couple months ago

 

[ButterBean]

It's 1-1/4"-1-1/2" right now. Wish it was 1/2-5/8
Didn't think 4350 was too slow. Used it in this rifle with 120 BT's.
Reading up on your Lee crimp die thread,
I only crimped 1/8" turn, so I can go more for sure. Also, I think I'm right on the edge of a groove, so I could go deeper seating, thus crimping in the groove of you think that'll make a difference.

I misunderstood, Give me a call and we'll get it figured out 812-264-6183

 

[JMW67]

Mr Bean will be able to help you but remember some rifles just dont like some bullets I have never not been able to get good accuracy with a hammer hunter I do have a couple rifles that did not like the absolute hammers as well but still moa or a little better. Win. 760 or H-414 will also work good in the 7-08

 

[TBuckus]

Got a great new game plan from butter bean.
Will check back in later with results

 

[ButterBean]

Got a great new game plan from butter bean.
Will check back in later with results