7mm-08 questions I need thoughts new to reloading

[JWhitty]

I'm not loading for my 7mm08 rig yet, it throws Hornaday American Whitetail 139 gr at 1/2".....

But tip toe around max loads, up to you if you think you need to burn more powder, the bigger question is how do they shoot?

 

[Krowen]

So I started reloading for a 7mm-08 for my daughter to use this hunting Season and I started with a ladder test with 162 eld x bullets and imr 4451 and going of hodgon reloading website I am at max at 45 grains for that bullet and I am getting 2650 velocity which is ok in my eyes for a 20" barrel with no pressure signs at all but when you shake the round there is still room in case and the powder shakes so do you think it would be ok to keep working up in small increments looking for pressure?

 

[Krowen]

I load my daughter's 7/08 with 120 Barnes with IMR 4895. Shoots very well with no recoil (she's 110lbs). We shoot deer out to 250yards

 

[59FLH]

My scale is a lee precision safety powder scale and I have been scooping out of can and hand trickling into scale until it levels out to mark

Not knowing your OAL nor your mag length, at 2.875" the Amax bullet and 45g of IMR 4451 is compressed and at 2.875" the 162 ELD-x could and should be on the razors edge of compressed and you stated you can shake the powder in your rounds.

Please reply back with over all length. 45g of 4451 is a lot of powder to stuff in a 7mm-08 case with long bullets.

 

[Deleted member 118518]

Well for kick I'm not to worried about she shoots a 12 gauge just fine and the reason why I am going with a heavier bullet is because I have had issues with the lighter bullets not opening or performing the way that they should so that's why I am ok with a heavier bullet that will produce some more energy then the lighter bullet. I was just curious is to if it sounded right or if hodgon website is a little low and I was more wanted to find pressure then back off to a accurate load so I know that no matter the weather if she shoots it it's all of a sudden gonna be a lot of pressure

Bullet jackets get thicker as the bullets get heavier. Bullet makers assume that if you're using a bullet of more weight that the animals you're hunting require a tougher jacket. So if the lighter bullet failed to open or mushroom as expected you should consider a different brand of bullet in the that same weight at the higher velocity. Having said that, the ELDX is not as hard as others in it's weight range.

 

[bowhunter1287]

Not knowing your OAL nor your mag length, at 2.875" the Amax bullet and 45g of IMR 4451 is compressed and at 2.875" the 162 ELD-x could and should be on the razors edge of compressed and you stated you can shake the powder in your rounds.

Please reply back with over all length. 45g of 4451 is a lot of powder to stuff in a 7mm-08 case with long bullets.

I will have to look when I get home at what I have down as my measurement

 

[Paladin300]

So I started reloading for a 7mm-08 for my daughter to use this hunting Season and I started with a ladder test with 162 eld x bullets and imr 4451 and going of hodgon reloading website I am at max at 45 grains for that bullet and I am getting 2650 velocity which is ok in my eyes for a 20" barrel with no pressure signs at all but when you shake the round there is still room in case and the powder shakes so do you think it would be ok to keep working up in small increments looking for pressure?

If you are getting 2650 from a 20" barrel with 162s and they are grouping well I would not mess with it. Load them and shoot them. The space between the bullet and the powder is insignificant if SDs are good and groups are consistent. When dealing with a heavier bullet weight pressures can increase significantly with the slightest increase. I was testing some loads a few weeks ago and increased the load by 1 grain of R15 and blow two primers and broke an extractor spring. The previous load only had a slight extractor mark and no other pressure signs. It grouped inside a 1/4" but I decided to take it up a notch. That gun will be down for several weeks or months while the bolt is out for repair.

That said, you can probably increase it some with no issues but you may find that it is not as accurate and that you do not have enough room to reach the next accuracy node. Additionally, you will burn through unnecessary powder. I don't know that the risk and cost are worth it. The gain may only be minimal at most. I hope that helps. Blessing!

 

[59FLH]

OK, the reason is, if you run your numbers through the load calculators, 7mm-08 @ 2.875" with 162 Hornady ELD-X and 45.0g IMR 4451
PSI is 77,000 + and 20" VL is 2740-2750.

I did not add or subtract the 10% burn rate factor that effects pressure and velocity. But at OAL's of 2.86" and less the load is compressed. and pressure gets higher.

I am very happy to be wrong, but my concern is your scale is not correct and your actually loading less the the 45g's, maybe you have a savage or custom action and are loading to 3."

 

[Hugnot]

Am I reading this right?

So I started reloading for a 7mm-08 for my daughter to use this hunting Season and I started with a ladder test with 162 eld x bullets and imr 4451 and going of hodgon reloading website I am at max at 45 grains for that bullet and I am getting 2650 velocity which is ok in my eyes for a 20" barrel with no pressure signs at all but when you shake the round there is still room in case and the powder shakes so do you think it would be ok to keep working up in small increments looking for pressure?

Sounds OK to me.



58.6 K psi is probably in line with SAAMI specs. I would guess that about 95% of the case is filled with IMR4451. A slower double base ball powder being denser and allowing a bigger charge might give another 75-100 fps. I used RamShot Hunter with 150's in my 26" 9 twist 7mm-08 for 1,000 yard silhouette chickens at just under 2850 and some thought I was shooting a 7mm RM. Possibly Lapua 7mm-08 brass would handle higher pressures for another 75-100 fps but would that be needed in a 20" barrel hunting rifle? The big question is - how good does it shoot?

 

[.300 Dakota]

Brass capacity can very from one manufacture to another , need to keep that in mind.

It can vary between lots of the SAME manufacturer, also. I don't have the 2 side by side, but I'd be willing to bet the Amax has less bearing surface than the ELD-X, meaning the latter will top out on pressure first. I say to each their own, so if inching up to find pressure is what the OP is itching to do, then go for it, but I wouldn't put a loaded round above where you are now in the magazine and hand the rifle to the child. If you need more energy or flatter trajectory than you're getting, then you need to think about a whole 'nother cartridge. If it's NOT needed, then there's no reason to fool with it any further.

 

[.300 Dakota]

Am I reading this right?


Sounds OK to me.

View attachment 288610

58.6 K psi is probably in line with SAAMI specs. I would guess that about 95% of the case is filled with IMR4451. A slower double base ball powder being denser and allowing a bigger charge might give another 75-100 fps. I used RamShot Hunter with 150's in my 26" 9 twist 7mm-08 for 1,000 yard silhouette chickens at just under 2850 and some thought I was shooting a 7mm RM. Possibly Lapua 7mm-08 brass would handle higher pressures for another 75-100 fps but would that be needed in a 20" barrel hunting rifle? The big question is - how good does it shoot?

It would sound even better if he had a 24" barrel like the test gun you referenced in the data excerpt. Also, they are running a Rem 9 1/2 primer, which is known to be the "coolest" primer you can shoot of the major manufacturers. If he has a CCI, Federal, or for sure Winchester primer in there and he happens to be seated a little farther one way or the other from the referenced load, he can easily be to 60,000 where he is. Without signs of pressure, if it shot well, I'd shoot it, too, but I probably wouldn't be trying to beef it up any.

I think you hit the nail on the head about the denser ball powder, and if not Hunter, then StaBall or Superformance should certainly give better speeds without pushing the pressure envelope. That's off the top of my head and I'm not referencing any data to see if they even have loads for those powders in the 7-08, but they probably do somewhere.

 

[bowhunter1287]

So I'm running once shot hornady brass with a federal 210 primer I think that's the number it's just federal lrp I'm not looking for anymore I was looking for a node and I would have to look at my notes but every .5 grain jumped the velocity about 50fps as to how well it shoots I put a new scope on and bore sighted and was not on paper at 200 yards and it just rained so couldn't see where I was hitting and I didn't have many loads loaded cuz I was just testing FPS and pressure instead of trying to adjust the scope a bunch but I will load some more rounds around the 44 44.5 and 45 to see which groups the best and has the lowest es and sd is where I'm gonna start after reading all these suggestions that I got

 

[BoomFlop]

So you didn't work up to the 45 gr load, but started there? I'm confused as it said in your first post that you worked up a ladder, but now it sounds like you haven't gotten on paper yet?

Im so confused. At the end of the day, be safe!

Steve

 

[bowhunter1287]

So I did work up to 45 grains I would not start there I loaded up one round I started at 42 grains and went in .5 grain increments up to 45. And what I have done before is bore sight at 200 yards and then generally I am on paper then I adjust from there but I was not on paper and was hard to tell if I was hitting low or one way or the other so I did not mess with the scope sense I had so few rounds loaded so I was just looking for the nodes and pressure.