Which bullet for the 7mmRemMag?

[WRG]

For real good long range accuracy and decent expansion you may also want to consider the 140 gr Berger VLD hunting match. A lot of shooters swear by them as far as terminal performance is concerned. I don't have any first hand experience on how they perform on a game animal but know a few who have. In the accuracy department they really perform well at ranges over 200 yards depending on muzzle velocity as this is when this bullet tends to go to sleep. A very accurate bullet once you get them to fly straight but that is the tough part, getting them to be consistantly accurate. I have tested these a little and really need to spend more time with them. Seating depth off the lands is critical to fine tuning the load and can be time consuming but at least the price of the bullet is reasonable. I want to say, I think Berger suggests starting .030 off the lands and working it in, if I'm not mistaken and from what I understand a lot of rifles like it touching or just kissing. I never got that far but plan to resume testing after the hunting season has concluded.

 

[elkspert]

I just finished my 7mm dakota build and took it to montana for a elk and deer combo. The gun is 2 for 2, shot a 4 point muley at 260 yrds behing the shoulder, complete pass through, the deer took maybe five steps and fell over. My elk was shot at 460 yrds, Dialed the scope and went for a high shoulder shot. All four feet folded underneath him and he was dead before he hit the ground. I am and will be using the 168 bergers until I see something different.

 

[WRG]

I just finished my 7mm dakota build and took it to montana for a elk and deer combo. The gun is 2 for 2, shot a 4 point muley at 260 yrds behing the shoulder, complete pass through, the deer took maybe five steps and fell over. My elk was shot at 460 yrds, Dialed the scope and went for a high shoulder shot. All four feet folded underneath him and he was dead before he hit the ground. I am and will be using the 168 bergers until I see something different.

Nice job! That Elk you took at 460 is no pop shot! Any chance you could give us a little statistic's on the round your using "components & velocity"? Also what ballistic program your using and what BC did you plug in? I would also be curious to know at what distance your round enters the transonic region to get an idea as to how well it re-stabilizes. I find that Bergers advertised BC tends to be a little over exaggerated but you obviously have it nailed. I know one dead Elk speeks for itself but is there any chance you were able to recover the bullet and could post a pic here? I know I would as well as others, like to see how well it performed.

Thanks Bill

 

[WEATHERBY460]

is the 150 grain nosler ballistic tip type bullet good for elk at 500 yards?

 

[elkspert]

Nice job! That Elk you took at 460 is no pop shot! Any chance you could give us a little statistic's on the round your using "components & velocity"? Also what ballistic program your using and what BC did you plug in? I would also be curious to know at what distance your round enters the transonic region to get an idea as to how well it re-stabilizes. I find that Bergers advertised BC tends to be a little over exaggerated but you obviously have it nailed. I know one dead Elk speeks for itself but is there any chance you were able to recover the bullet and could post a pic here? I know I would as well as others, like to see how well it performed.

Thanks Bill

Well the round is out if a 7mm Dakota, I had to play with setting depths a bit. I don't have my book infront of me but I believe the bullets just "touching" the lands. I'm using a 26 inch brux barrel with 1 in 9 twist and a brake. Remington 700 action (blue printed). Bell and carlson stock with same work done to it. Its topped with a Schmidt and Bender 4x16 with the holland reticle. Thats the program I used along with the seirra infinity 6. I used the listed berger B.C of .617 I believe. That round is chronographed at 3080 fps. And I did recover the bullet, well I guess the jacket. We are going to weigh it, but we are guessing around 50 grns. I will post a pic next week when I return home. Also my friend shoots a 300 Dakota with the berger 210's. He shot his deer at 360 yrds, one shot behing the shoulder, (same scope) took a couple of steps and fell over.

 

[ltrbuck]

I use Nosler 150 gr. Ballistic tips for deer and they've done well for me. Took a 155" this yr at 425 yds. Zero'd at 300, layed it on the back and it dropped about 8-9" and lunged it!

 

[loaders_loft]

+1 for the 150 ballistic tips. the nosler (not CT) bullets will likely be the easiest to find an accurate load. secant ogive (CT, hornady, etc) and VLD are more finicky in my handloading experience with a couple different rifles.

my plan is to use 150 ballistic tips for light game and 150 e-tips for heavier game and condor zone hunting. I suspect I can match the velocity pretty close, using a slower powder for the etips. I'm using H4831sc for the BT and plan RL19 for the etips.

by the way, I'm shooting a 7 wsm not a rem mag, but the results should be similar.

do yourself a favor and get a premium set of dies to put your mind at ease. I like my forster dies much better than my regular rcbs...

I was really trying for good results on the 168 bergers, just got tired and ran out of time chasing consistency, when the 150 ballistic tip was sitting there staring me in the face with a nice accurate load....

 

[head2h2o]

I have used a couple of different rounds in the 7mmRM and I have settled on the 160 accubond. I do some of the same type of hunting that you noted that you will be doing.

 

[7 loader]

I prefer for my 7mm rem mag 150 gr class. the reason is up to elk sized game they will do the job just fine. SST's are a fine bullit good down range, and terminal ballistics. I use the CT ballistic silver tips with rem nickel plated brass (purely asthetic), IMR 7828, and cci250 primers. The velosity is about 3050 fps, and 3/4 in groups. gun)

 

[roninflag]

139 horn btsp, 140 berger , 140 partition, 140 baltip.

 

[Clark]

Back when I could only get 80 pounds per box, so I had to order lots of boxes of Hornady blems, the best 7mm bullets I got were the 162 gr SST. The 175 gr soft point and the 154 gr round nose are not as good.

So I have leaned to live with the 162 gr, and I have a couple of my 7mmMags will shoot sub moa, and a couple of my 7mmMag rifles will not.

I have shot allot of Barnes triple shock from a 7mmMag, and they are not as good.

The partition or solid Copper bullet are better for quartering away elk shots with lots of penetration needed.

But the small animals and the broadside animals are better off with thin skinned fast expanding bullets that blow out both lungs right now.

95% of the ruminants I shoot at are presenting me with a broadside shot.

What does it all mean?
Hornady 162 gr SST red plastic tip