entoptics
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2018
- Messages
- 846
Feel free to vote in the poll, and if you have any real world experience with the specific choices below in 7mm-08, please chime in with performance data.
Purpose. My buddy is a STAUNCH "ethical" hunter
. I don't judge him at all, as up until we started shooting together recently, he was a sight in at 100 and go hunt (10 rounds a year) shooter. He's killed a pile of deer, but his current max range kill is 185 yds. He's hoping to reach out further with me as a mentor, but still has a long way to go. I admire that he knows his limits and will absolutely stay within them. Down the road things may change, but for now, the following are hard limits. He wants "more than enough", not "in perfect conditions".
Elk (300 yds), Deer (400 yds), Moose (300 yds). 2200 fps impact velocity, 1400 ftlbs for deer, 1700 ft lbs for elk/moose.
Target shooting for giggles and training (400-750 yds mostly, 1000 yds max).
Rifle.
7mm-08, 24", 1:8 twist, 5R, X-Caliber Savage Prefit. ~1 MOA precision with him on the gun.
Available powders. (Unlikely to use anything else. This is for a friend's hunting rifle, and neither he nor I want to deal with the trouble/money of buying stuff to try for relatively small batch reloading).
6.5 Staball (First choice. Initial testing shows good speed, good reports of temp stability)
CFE 223 (a little too temp unstable for my taste)
Varget (Edited to add. Forgot I have a good stash of it. Might be just the ticket)
H4350 (likely too slow/bulky for this cartridge, but I have it on hand)
IMR4064 (at little too temp unstable for my taste)
Reloading philosophy.
Neither of us wanna spend a pile of money with different bullets/powders/primers. We're looking for the "easy button". I also don't want to hand him anything at the very upper end of pressures. I have about 60 pieces of Hornady brass for him, and if I could get 5-10 more reloads (annealing) on them, that would last him for years (one reload per year probably).
Also, I enjoy helping him, but I'm not willing to go down a rabbit hole trying to find some miracle load, and I don't think he has the patience for that either.
Sooo....
Which would you recommend?
130 AH
hammerbullets.com
131 HH
hammerbullets.com
140 AH
hammerbullets.com
143 HH
hammerbullets.com
I think we may struggle to get the speed we want with the AH due to the limited powder choices. I hear they like fast burners to get the extra speed they claim to offer. I also think the 130 class will struggle to deliver the energy he requires for the bigger ungulates. I'm inclined to just go with the 143 HH, but I don't really know what real world expectations are.
Also, we already tried the Badlands 140 SBDII, and it shoots like crap (1.5-2.5 MOA with several recipes) in his rifle (great in my 1:8 7mm Rem Mag. Go figure). Also tried Barnes 145 LRX (1 MOA), which will be the fallback if the Hammers don't work.
Thanks in advance.
Edited to add Varget to my list of powders.
Purpose. My buddy is a STAUNCH "ethical" hunter
. I don't judge him at all, as up until we started shooting together recently, he was a sight in at 100 and go hunt (10 rounds a year) shooter. He's killed a pile of deer, but his current max range kill is 185 yds. He's hoping to reach out further with me as a mentor, but still has a long way to go. I admire that he knows his limits and will absolutely stay within them. Down the road things may change, but for now, the following are hard limits. He wants "more than enough", not "in perfect conditions".Elk (300 yds), Deer (400 yds), Moose (300 yds). 2200 fps impact velocity, 1400 ftlbs for deer, 1700 ft lbs for elk/moose.
Target shooting for giggles and training (400-750 yds mostly, 1000 yds max).
Rifle.
7mm-08, 24", 1:8 twist, 5R, X-Caliber Savage Prefit. ~1 MOA precision with him on the gun.
Available powders. (Unlikely to use anything else. This is for a friend's hunting rifle, and neither he nor I want to deal with the trouble/money of buying stuff to try for relatively small batch reloading).
6.5 Staball (First choice. Initial testing shows good speed, good reports of temp stability)
CFE 223 (a little too temp unstable for my taste)
Varget (Edited to add. Forgot I have a good stash of it. Might be just the ticket)
H4350 (likely too slow/bulky for this cartridge, but I have it on hand)
IMR4064 (at little too temp unstable for my taste)
Reloading philosophy.
Neither of us wanna spend a pile of money with different bullets/powders/primers. We're looking for the "easy button". I also don't want to hand him anything at the very upper end of pressures. I have about 60 pieces of Hornady brass for him, and if I could get 5-10 more reloads (annealing) on them, that would last him for years (one reload per year probably).
Also, I enjoy helping him, but I'm not willing to go down a rabbit hole trying to find some miracle load, and I don't think he has the patience for that either.
Sooo....
Which would you recommend?
130 AH
.284 Cal-130 Absolute Hammer™ - Hammer Bullets
Here is an Absolute Hammer™ for the 1-10" 7mm rifles. This will be a great choice for all your big game hunting needs with great vel to weight ratio that will really hit hard. The Absolute Hammer™s have very low engraving pressure so they will tend to need faster than normal powder and more of...
hammerbullets.com
131 HH
.284 Cal-131gr Hammer Hunter™ - Hammer Bullets
Recommended twist rate of 1-10" or faster Bullet length is 1.30" Nose length is .7949" Bullet weight is 131 grains Recommended use: Big game hunting G7-BC=.211 estimated
hammerbullets.com
140 AH
.284 Cal-140gr Absolute Hammer™ - Hammer Bullets
We tested this 140gr Absolute Hammer™ in my personal 280ai with a 22" barrel. My previous load was with the 143gr Hammer Hunter™ at a velocity of 3126 fps. The 140gr Absolute Hammer™ load settled in at 3387 fps. This is exceptional from a short barreled rifle. Absolute Hammer™s do not line...
hammerbullets.com
143 HH
.284 Cal-143gr Hammer Hunter™ - Hammer Bullets
Recommended twist rate is 1-9.25" or faster Bullet length is 1.40" Bullet weight is 145gr Recommended use: Big game hunting G7-BC=.230 From shot drops
hammerbullets.com
I think we may struggle to get the speed we want with the AH due to the limited powder choices. I hear they like fast burners to get the extra speed they claim to offer. I also think the 130 class will struggle to deliver the energy he requires for the bigger ungulates. I'm inclined to just go with the 143 HH, but I don't really know what real world expectations are.
Also, we already tried the Badlands 140 SBDII, and it shoots like crap (1.5-2.5 MOA with several recipes) in his rifle (great in my 1:8 7mm Rem Mag. Go figure). Also tried Barnes 145 LRX (1 MOA), which will be the fallback if the Hammers don't work.
Thanks in advance.
Edited to add Varget to my list of powders.
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