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I have shot the 195 gr Berger Elite Hunter before in my 7mm Allen Magnum rifles but this time I was wanting to try Ramshot LRT powder to see what it would produce.
Bit of background on the rifle. This is one of my APS Stalker Hunter rifles I just finished for a customer. it has a 27" Bartlein #3B contour barrel, 8.7 twist and fluted.
Stock is a McMillan Adjustable Game Warden in GAP transition camo
Small PK brake
Bead Blast matte finish
Jewell trigger
HS Precision detachable Mag system
Nightforce ATACR 5-25 F1
Three NF Ultralight 34mm tactical rings
I started out with high hopes for the LRT powder as it has proven extremely impressive in the 7mm Allen Mag with the 180 gr bullet weights as well as being extremely potent in my 25, 26 and 27 Stalker wildcats.
I started out at 98.0 gr with Ramshot LRT with this rifle and the 195 gr berger Elite Hunter seated to an OAL of 3.680". I picked 98.0 gr because that is my standard accuracy load I use with RL33 and this bullet in testing past rifles and has always worked well. This load generally produced around 3200 fps in a 27" barrel length.
To my surprise however, the first load of Ramshot LRT at this level produced excessive pressures. This surprises me because my lot of LRT is actually slower in burn rate then my lot of RL33. Not sure what was causing the excessive pressures in this rifle but it is what it is.
Seeing this, I decided I would go back to my standard RL33 powder and see what it would produce. Seeing the excessive pressure signs with LRT I stepped back to 95.0 gr. Again, I was surprised when the pressures were apparently extremely low producing a mild 3128 fps. As such I increased powder charge one grain at a time until I reached 98.0 gr level, again, my standard accuracy load level.
95.0 gr...........3128 fps
96.0 gr...........3160 fps
97.0 gr............3191 fps
98.0 gr............3215 fps
At 98.0 gr I was slightly over the average 3200 fps velocity level normal with this combo of powder, bullet and barrel length. However, pressures were very mild so I decided to see what would happen when I pushed down on the throttle a bit harder as I was running only around 95% load density at this point. My general rule is to hit for a goal of 95 to 99% load density as I DO NOT like compressed loads in any of my high performance wildcats.
99.0 gr............3250 fps
100.0 gr..........3294 fps
At 100.0 gr load I saw the very first hint of a crater on the firing pin divot. Very mild, bolt lift effortless, extraction effortless, zero ejector ring on case head, primer pockets actually feel tighter then then the primers were seated in the freshly formed cases. I have found this is not unusual using Lapua or Peterson brass for reasons we don't need to get into here but if you want to discuss this later in a different topic we certainly can.
I decided to keep going and see where this rifle and combo would top out. At 101.0 gr the load clocked 3333 fps. Still only sign of any excessive pressure was a slight bit of cratering on the firing pin divot. Other then that NOTHING at all. At 102.0 gr, the average velocity was 3368 fps. Firing pin divot was slightly more pronounced and first hint of ejector ring on the case head appeared. Bolt lift still effortless, extraction effortless, primer pockets unchanged for tightness.
Decided to step up one more step and went to 103.0 gr just to see what it would do and as I expected, we hit the wall as far as I am concerned with pressures. Bit of a shiny ejector ring on case head, more then I like. Primer pocket slightly loosened but still very snug. From what I have seen I would predict that this load would result in 4-5 firings per case. Less then I accept for my recommended loads. Velocity..... 3402 fps. That's +3400 fps with a huge 195 gr Berger in a 27" barrel length and in a round that is only 3.680" in length to feed through a relatively short HS Precision detachable magazine system.
Back in the day, when I first made released my 7mm Allen Magnum, I was building them on fully blueprinted Rem 700 chrome moly receivers and custom receivers such as the BAT HR and Nesika Bay receivers. Using the 200 gr Wildcat ULDRBBT at that time, in a full 30" barrel length, we were seeing average velocities in the 3300 fps range.
No doubt that the new powders we have today and the very quality Peterson brass are working well with the BRUTE strength of the APS Stalker receiver to produce some truly amazing performance. Seeing these results and taking into account that the owner of this new rifle will be taking it on a hunt for bison here at the end of the month, I made the decision to use the 99.0 gr load that averaged 3250 fps. Not because I feel this is the max working load for this rifle, I do not believe that. In fact, I believe that max working load for this test was the 101.0 gr load which produced 3333 fps.
I decided to throttle back a bit simply because this load level would offer at least 8-10 firings per case, likely more then this with a neck/shoulder annealing mid life and it would help the 195 gr berger survive a bit better on impact. Not a big difference but some.
Plus, add to this that we are still talking about 3250 fps with one of the largest lead core 7mm bullets out there designed for big game hunting.
Again, if it were my personal rifle, I would load to the 3333 fps load level and be totally confident in this load easily getting 8 firings per case, again, that is my standard for pressures in my recommended loads. So lets look at this load as far as down range performance. Below will list some numbers for the drop chart this rifle would use. My local data used to develop this chart would be, 3400 ft elevation, 26.5 bar pressure at elevation, 45 degree air temp, 40% humidity and a 10 mph full value wind for drift numbers.
I like to use a 300 yard zero for my Stalker Hunter rifles as they are designed to be used for all forms of hunting. As such, they can be used for quick closer range shooting if need be or settle in for a 1000 yard precision long range shot if needed. The 300 yard zero gives the hunter basically a 400 yard point and shoot capability on deer size game with most of my wildcats.
Here are the numbers with this rifle.
Yards.................Drop(moa).........Drift(moa).......velocity..........energy
180 highest point..3.0".................0.4moa............3139fps.........4267 ft/lbs
300.....................0.0..................0.7..................3013.............3930
500.....................-3.3.................1.2..................2810.............3419
800.....................-9.2.................1.7..................2523.............2756
1000...................-13.8...............2.1..................2342.............2375
1200...................-18.8...............2.3..................2168.............2035
Supersonic velocity limit range.....2860 yards
I like to keep an energy standard of 2000 ft/lbs of energy for my big game hunting rifles. The 7mm Allen Magnum carries this level of energy out to 1200 yards which by the way is significantly farther then I recommend my Stalker Hunter rifles be used at. They just do not have the weight, in my opinion to shoot effectively out these these ranges. My Raptor LRSS platform would be much better suited for this class of range.
Still, it shows what these relatively lightweight, portable Stalker rifles can do when chambered in my 7mm Allen Magnum. Have said it before a million times, in this class of rifle and this class of chambering, there is nothing that will outperform the 7mm Allen Magnum ballistically. Not saying its the most potent option as far as terminal performance but for game up to 800 lbs, its more then capable at 1000 yards easily.
Add to that the absolute lack of recoil when teamed up with my Painkiller muzzle brakes and anyone can shoot these. My 12 year old daughter can shoot this class rifle in a tee shirt with no discomfort of any kind. Recoil is so light that you can spot your own shots at ranges outside 200 yards. Inside that range, the bullet get there so quickly you may not see the impact from the slight quiver in the rifle.
All in all, another monster 7mm Allen Mag heading out to its new home and hopefully be put right to work collecting a lot of fine protein for the family!!!
Bit of background on the rifle. This is one of my APS Stalker Hunter rifles I just finished for a customer. it has a 27" Bartlein #3B contour barrel, 8.7 twist and fluted.
Stock is a McMillan Adjustable Game Warden in GAP transition camo
Small PK brake
Bead Blast matte finish
Jewell trigger
HS Precision detachable Mag system
Nightforce ATACR 5-25 F1
Three NF Ultralight 34mm tactical rings
I started out with high hopes for the LRT powder as it has proven extremely impressive in the 7mm Allen Mag with the 180 gr bullet weights as well as being extremely potent in my 25, 26 and 27 Stalker wildcats.
I started out at 98.0 gr with Ramshot LRT with this rifle and the 195 gr berger Elite Hunter seated to an OAL of 3.680". I picked 98.0 gr because that is my standard accuracy load I use with RL33 and this bullet in testing past rifles and has always worked well. This load generally produced around 3200 fps in a 27" barrel length.
To my surprise however, the first load of Ramshot LRT at this level produced excessive pressures. This surprises me because my lot of LRT is actually slower in burn rate then my lot of RL33. Not sure what was causing the excessive pressures in this rifle but it is what it is.
Seeing this, I decided I would go back to my standard RL33 powder and see what it would produce. Seeing the excessive pressure signs with LRT I stepped back to 95.0 gr. Again, I was surprised when the pressures were apparently extremely low producing a mild 3128 fps. As such I increased powder charge one grain at a time until I reached 98.0 gr level, again, my standard accuracy load level.
95.0 gr...........3128 fps
96.0 gr...........3160 fps
97.0 gr............3191 fps
98.0 gr............3215 fps
At 98.0 gr I was slightly over the average 3200 fps velocity level normal with this combo of powder, bullet and barrel length. However, pressures were very mild so I decided to see what would happen when I pushed down on the throttle a bit harder as I was running only around 95% load density at this point. My general rule is to hit for a goal of 95 to 99% load density as I DO NOT like compressed loads in any of my high performance wildcats.
99.0 gr............3250 fps
100.0 gr..........3294 fps
At 100.0 gr load I saw the very first hint of a crater on the firing pin divot. Very mild, bolt lift effortless, extraction effortless, zero ejector ring on case head, primer pockets actually feel tighter then then the primers were seated in the freshly formed cases. I have found this is not unusual using Lapua or Peterson brass for reasons we don't need to get into here but if you want to discuss this later in a different topic we certainly can.
I decided to keep going and see where this rifle and combo would top out. At 101.0 gr the load clocked 3333 fps. Still only sign of any excessive pressure was a slight bit of cratering on the firing pin divot. Other then that NOTHING at all. At 102.0 gr, the average velocity was 3368 fps. Firing pin divot was slightly more pronounced and first hint of ejector ring on the case head appeared. Bolt lift still effortless, extraction effortless, primer pockets unchanged for tightness.
Decided to step up one more step and went to 103.0 gr just to see what it would do and as I expected, we hit the wall as far as I am concerned with pressures. Bit of a shiny ejector ring on case head, more then I like. Primer pocket slightly loosened but still very snug. From what I have seen I would predict that this load would result in 4-5 firings per case. Less then I accept for my recommended loads. Velocity..... 3402 fps. That's +3400 fps with a huge 195 gr Berger in a 27" barrel length and in a round that is only 3.680" in length to feed through a relatively short HS Precision detachable magazine system.
Back in the day, when I first made released my 7mm Allen Magnum, I was building them on fully blueprinted Rem 700 chrome moly receivers and custom receivers such as the BAT HR and Nesika Bay receivers. Using the 200 gr Wildcat ULDRBBT at that time, in a full 30" barrel length, we were seeing average velocities in the 3300 fps range.
No doubt that the new powders we have today and the very quality Peterson brass are working well with the BRUTE strength of the APS Stalker receiver to produce some truly amazing performance. Seeing these results and taking into account that the owner of this new rifle will be taking it on a hunt for bison here at the end of the month, I made the decision to use the 99.0 gr load that averaged 3250 fps. Not because I feel this is the max working load for this rifle, I do not believe that. In fact, I believe that max working load for this test was the 101.0 gr load which produced 3333 fps.
I decided to throttle back a bit simply because this load level would offer at least 8-10 firings per case, likely more then this with a neck/shoulder annealing mid life and it would help the 195 gr berger survive a bit better on impact. Not a big difference but some.
Plus, add to this that we are still talking about 3250 fps with one of the largest lead core 7mm bullets out there designed for big game hunting.
Again, if it were my personal rifle, I would load to the 3333 fps load level and be totally confident in this load easily getting 8 firings per case, again, that is my standard for pressures in my recommended loads. So lets look at this load as far as down range performance. Below will list some numbers for the drop chart this rifle would use. My local data used to develop this chart would be, 3400 ft elevation, 26.5 bar pressure at elevation, 45 degree air temp, 40% humidity and a 10 mph full value wind for drift numbers.
I like to use a 300 yard zero for my Stalker Hunter rifles as they are designed to be used for all forms of hunting. As such, they can be used for quick closer range shooting if need be or settle in for a 1000 yard precision long range shot if needed. The 300 yard zero gives the hunter basically a 400 yard point and shoot capability on deer size game with most of my wildcats.
Here are the numbers with this rifle.
Yards.................Drop(moa).........Drift(moa).......velocity..........energy
180 highest point..3.0".................0.4moa............3139fps.........4267 ft/lbs
300.....................0.0..................0.7..................3013.............3930
500.....................-3.3.................1.2..................2810.............3419
800.....................-9.2.................1.7..................2523.............2756
1000...................-13.8...............2.1..................2342.............2375
1200...................-18.8...............2.3..................2168.............2035
Supersonic velocity limit range.....2860 yards
I like to keep an energy standard of 2000 ft/lbs of energy for my big game hunting rifles. The 7mm Allen Magnum carries this level of energy out to 1200 yards which by the way is significantly farther then I recommend my Stalker Hunter rifles be used at. They just do not have the weight, in my opinion to shoot effectively out these these ranges. My Raptor LRSS platform would be much better suited for this class of range.
Still, it shows what these relatively lightweight, portable Stalker rifles can do when chambered in my 7mm Allen Magnum. Have said it before a million times, in this class of rifle and this class of chambering, there is nothing that will outperform the 7mm Allen Magnum ballistically. Not saying its the most potent option as far as terminal performance but for game up to 800 lbs, its more then capable at 1000 yards easily.
Add to that the absolute lack of recoil when teamed up with my Painkiller muzzle brakes and anyone can shoot these. My 12 year old daughter can shoot this class rifle in a tee shirt with no discomfort of any kind. Recoil is so light that you can spot your own shots at ranges outside 200 yards. Inside that range, the bullet get there so quickly you may not see the impact from the slight quiver in the rifle.
All in all, another monster 7mm Allen Mag heading out to its new home and hopefully be put right to work collecting a lot of fine protein for the family!!!
