Opinions Needed - 7WSM with 150gn bullets and IMR4350

[Deleted member 107796]

Hey All,
As many know, reloading data for this oddball can be hard to find. What I'm seeing is a disparity in max powder charge for IMR4350, from the few sources I have, from about 60.9gn - Hodgdon at 65.0gn for all 150gn bullets shown. I just tried a load with the 150gn Berger Classic Hunter using 63.7gn with no issues but I thought I'd get some opinions if any has matched a 150gr bullet to the 7WSM using IMR4350. regards

 

[jjmp]

From my old IMR hand loaders Guide 2003/2005 pg 52 top left hand corner 7wsm winchester case ,rem 9.5 mag primer ,nosler 150 Balistic-tip. 24 inch bbl,col 2.830 . Imr4350 62.0 gns 3072 fps ,chamber pressure (psi)62800 ,ps they only give max charges , hope this helps !

 

[yorke-1]

Hodgdon says 65.0gr IMR4350 with a 150gr flat base, Nosler says 60.0 with a 150 NBT and Quickload says right about 62.0 gr with a 150 SST.

I'd say if you're shooting any of the boat tail style bullets to start looking for pressure around 60.0gr of IMR 4350. You may be able to go up higher in your gun, but start watching for pressure signs closely. I'd start my charges around 57.0gr and work up in .5gr increments.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Great stuff so far. I just inspected my cases from the Berger loads at 63.7gn. No signs of pressure with that boattail. Very good to add that comparison with the FB bullets.

 

[LVJ76]

Here is the Nosler data, I think I might have the Sierra and Hornady data at home, I'll post that tonight.

Hope this helps

 

[tbrice23]

Hey All,
As many know, reloading data for this oddball can be hard to find. What I'm seeing is a disparity in max powder charge for IMR4350, from the few sources I have, from about 60.9gn - Hodgdon at 65.0gn for all 150gn bullets shown. I just tried a load with the 150gn Berger Classic Hunter using 63.7gn with no issues but I thought I'd get some opinions if any has matched a 150gr bullet to the 7WSM using IMR4350. regards

My load is 150 Berger classic hunter and Reloder 23 and GM210M primers. I think 3230 fps with 25" barrel.

 

[tbrice23]

found my load info
200 yard group

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Great shooting and load! As your data shows, it is easy to achieve +3200fps and much of the published stuff scratches 3100 at best.

 

[tbrice23]

Just looked through some of my old targets, I did run imr4350 for a while with the 150CH at about 3190fps. Accuracy was about 1moa to .75 moa.
As soon as I tried RL23 everything came together!

shot at 200yds. 20mph wind. Notice the 68.0gr load had a SD of 1fps. 67.5gr had a SD of 2fps.

 

[LVJ76]

Here is some more data

 

[shphtr]

I shoot 155 gr. Hammer pushed by 70.2 gr RL 26 for single 5 shot ragged hole at 3550 FPS from a 24" tube without detectable pressure signs. It shouldn't matter but they are HBN coated. Prior loads had been hangin' around .5 MOA. ES less than 10 as I recall. I've been waiting for this barrel to come into it's own! If everything is repeatable I will be most satisfied.

 

[yorke-1]

I shoot 155 gr. Hammer pushed by 70.2 gr RL 26 for single 5 shot ragged hole at 3550 FPS from a 24" tube without detectable pressure signs. It shouldn't matter but they are HBN coated. Prior loads had been hangin' around .5 MOA. ES less than 10 as I recall. I've been waiting for this barrel to come into it's own! If everything is repeatable I will be most satisfied.

If you're hitting 3500+fps with a 155gr bullet in a 24" barreled 7 wsm, I'd be very careful. You're in the realm of the 7 RUM and other much larger cases; but in a cartridge with 30-40% less capacity.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

I guess it's time to try some Reliant powder. I haven't yet because I see overlap in many of their offerings. The RL23 and 26 stands out here but I also see RL22 and 19 for this caliber and the performance seems comparable. ??

 

[NorCalRiceGuy]

I guess it's time to try some Reliant powder. I haven't yet because I see overlap in many of their offerings. The RL23 and 26 stands out here but I also see RL22 and 19 for this caliber and the performance seems comparable. ??

Be careful with RL22. It is VERY temp sensitive.