7mm Rem. Mag. and 180 grn. Bergers???

[Jumpalot]

I emailed Berger and got some load data already. I'd like to hear what you are loading personally. It seems the velocities I see here are much higher than what Berger is showing. Also, I've seen where some people (on other sites) are loading as much as 6 grns. higher than what Berger shows to be max. I understand that every rifle is different and that you need to start lower and work up to max for your personal rifle.

Kirby is building me a lightweight 7 RM with a 26" barrel. I currently have some H1000, Retumbo, H4831, RL22, Norma brass, Federal GM215M and CCI 250LRM primers.


I've heard that most load data published on the 7RM will be to lower pressures and that you can load it to higher pressures. Is this true with the Berger data as well? I will be careful as I work up. I've just never exceeded max book load on any of the rifles I have.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Jumpalot]

Anyone????

 

[Limbic]

68g of retumbo is a pretty popular load. It is pretty stiff and gives you 2950+ MV. I would be careful because much higher and you might see pressure signs. My gun would group them well oneday (.2MOA) at 200yards and then 1MOA the next. Fortunately I ran out of them and I'll go back to the 168's at 3000 fps.

 

[BIG MO]

Rem 700 7mmRM
180 Berger
66.0 RL 22
Win Brass
CCI Mag
.060 from lands
3000 fps

If you feel the need to seat the bullet closer to the lands, drop the powder charge on this load significantly.

 

[Jumpalot]

Thanks. Does everyone else just shoot the 168's? If so, why?

 

[kiwi3006]

I just shoot the 168's. I get 3087 fps and looking at the ballistics there was not enough difference to go to the 180 grs. I only shoot deer in NZ so there is no need for the extra mass of the 180 gr.

Stu.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I couldn't get the Bergers to shoot as well as the 162gr A-Max bullets. That worked out fine because the A-Max was very accurate and dropped whitetails like rocks. They also cost less & are easy to find.

Definitely worth a try.

 

[Punisher]

68g of retumbo is a pretty popular load. It is pretty stiff and gives you 2950+ MV. I would be careful because much higher and you might see pressure signs. My gun would group them well oneday (.2MOA) at 200yards and then 1MOA the next. Fortunately I ran out of them and I'll go back to the 168's at 3000 fps.

Do you think the variant grouping could have been because you were close to the pressure threshold? A little difference in temperature on the days you were shooting might have tipped the scale and given you some poor groups.

Myself, I like the powders like r19 and r22. They don't perform well in the summer, but are super good at everything under 50 degrees.

Thanks for the feedback on the group size, it will give me something to watch for since I'm just starting to shoot 180 Bergers out of a new gun.

 

[Limbic]

Looking back on it now I believe my problem was with not annealing the necks of my brass. 2-3 firing was a lot and with that much powder I probably should have been annealing after every other shot. I have way too many great groups with this load so I suspect the problem was either with me (likely) or with the brass or both

 

[mrb1982]

I have been told by a number of people that they have seldom seen a 7RM with the 180's that won't shoot well with 68-70gr H1000 or 70-72 Retumbo. Seems like from a lot of the loads I have seen for these bulllets, that is fairly true. I will be finding out in the next few weeks.

 

[Woody26]

70 gr Retumbo
CCI mag primers
3.470 coal
180 vld
Shoots .5 MOA out to 1000

 

[Wachsmann]

I think overall the 168 in the 7mm Rem is a asswome match. Do to case capacity, its just almost impossible to reap the full benefit of the 180 grn bullet in the 7mm Rem. I know a lot will disagree but without hot rodding the case charge its very hard to push the 180 fast enough to give an added value. I would susgest going to a good ballistic program and compare the difference between the 180 and the 168 grain. I will be finally receiving my stock tomorrow to put together a 7rem. I plan on using the 168 grn bullets almost all the time. I will also try the 180's but mainly will use the 168. Also I'm very interested to see how the McGowen barrel shoots since this is what barrel I will be screwing on. it will be a 26inch varmint contour.

 

[Jumpalot]

Since I'm the OP, I guess I'll chime back in. Tried the 180's with H1000 and could only get a little over 2800 fps. I tried Retumbo and had better velocities but my ES was terrible. The H1000 load was very accurate and consistent. Killed a whitetail at 597 yds with it. Went back to the 168's. H1000 fouled bad with the 168's, so I went to H4831. Just over 3000 fps and ES of 14 and same accuracy I was getting with the 180's. I figure what little I'm giving up in BC, I'm more then making up for in velocity. Used this load to kill an antelope at 916 yds.

 

[Wachsmann]

Yep yep yep...Sound like the 168's are doing the trick. And you could also drop and elk at 916 yards if you wanted to with a well placed shot using those 168's.