Ruger American in 7mm-08 / Anyone with a Great Handload?

[Deleted member 107796]

I figure these things should perform similarly, so I'm being lazy! Not really, just getting some ballpark data from those experienced with this rifle.
I'm excited to try this caliber, perhaps the last I'll ever need or that's what I keep telling myself before getting something, as I like the higher pressure limit than many calibers in its' class. I have an incredible Tikka T3 in .308 and think that the Ruger in 7mm-08 will be a great shooter. I already have some 150gn Swift Scirrocos and Barnes TTSX that may be my first attempts as well as some Varget and IMR4350. Cheers

 

[MudRunner2005]

Lapua 7mm-08 brass (or Lapua .308 Palma brass necked down to 7mm-08 and trimmed to length), Varget powder, Fed 210M primers (7mm-08 brass) or CCI 450 primers (.308 palma brass), and Berger 175 Elite Hunters would make a great universal load for both hunting and LR shooting.

 

[cape cove]

If your talking hunting load I like the 145 Barnes LRX with a stout load of H-414/WW760 lit with a Rem 9 1/2M. Shoots great in my 7mm/08 and vel is appx 2975 ft/sec out of my 26" tube.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Thanks for the replies. Some sporters just favor some combinations over others, that's why I posted the question.

I saw another post that specified 42.0gr Varget for a 140gn Berger or Nolsler BT, as their golden load but I see that 42.0 is just 1.5gn off of the highest max of 43.5gn I'm seeing in the LoadbooksUSA and it's higher than the max load of several manufacturers. A bit high for my first loads but I'd consider test loads of 40.5 to 42.0 in increments for a 140gn bullet, as a great range, if I load this weight.

 

[cape cove]

No doubt that Varget is a great powder in the 7mm/08, as well as CFE 233, various 4350's , IMR 8208 as well as H-380. I've tried them all in my 3, 7mm/08's. I just keep coming back to H414/WW760 for 140-150 gr bullets. It gives me the highest velocity combined with great accuracy in the rifles I've dealt with. JME

 

[Deleted member 107796]

No doubt that Varget is a great powder in the 7mm/08, as well as CFE 233, various 4350's , IMR 8208 as well as H-380. I've tried them all in my 3, 7mm/08's. I just keep coming back to H414/WW760 for 140-150 gr bullets. It gives me the highest velocity combined with great accuracy in the rifles I've dealt with. JME

Thanks. Good info, no doubt. Up to this point I've been a simpleton using only IMR4350 for everything from 257Roberts to my WSMs, the Varget for .308 (and now, 7mm-08) and Leverevolution for my .35Rem.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mike, believe it or not, LeverEvolution powder is very similar to Varget on the burn chart... The only issue I've found with it, is that it's a very fine spherical ball powder, so it's very very small kernels and you can't use it in an automated powder dispenser because the kernels will get into the mechanics and eventually can cause issues. But, if you're not opposed to using a powder trickler, like the Hornady Quick Trickle and a small scale like a Gempro or Hornady G2 scale, it's great to keep some for backup. So, if you have those 2 items, and you have a hard time finding Varget, you can ****-near substitute LeverEvolution for it (work up a new load, of course). When Varget was hard to find from 2012-2015 after the Obama ban scare, that was one of the things I discovered worked well as a substitute. I also discovered IMR 7828 SSC when H1000 became impossible to find, and I'm glad I did. It was always sitting on the shelves and I did some research and started using it, so when others were freaking out because they were out of powder, I was able to get by.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/428274/hornady-lock-n-load-quick-trickle-powder-trickler

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/700534/hornady-g2-1500-electronic-powder-scale-1500-grain-capacity

 

[therifleman556]

RL 17 is another good one for 140 and up. You should be able to squeak 2700 out of 162s with it. That was according to another member running quickload for me.

 

[therifleman556]

using a 22" bbl with the 162 ELD-x

RL17 , 2720fps 103% casefill
H 414 ,2670 fps , 102% (same as W760 powder)
RL15 , 2620 fps , 97%
IMR4350 , 2593 fps , 106%
RL19 , 2660fps , 112% this would discourage me from wanting to use this powder , low velocity and can't get enough in the case without a hassle .
I try to work with 105% max , on case fill