ORIGINAL: rem 700
I hear ya eldeguello. They show 2950fps for a max, not even a hot 280 load, and I foundthat kind of odd. I wonder what part of theload is stopping them fromshowing hotter (liability? I would hope not).
I think I'll load up some small batches of the smaller charges I've just used again and try for accuracy...I wasn't disappointed with my poor average noting all the wind, but surely they aren't that bad in 'normal' conditions
I'll try and update this in a couple weeks with my experiences (will be gone for awile) and also we'll see how the core-lokts do with some rl22.
For some reason, in recent years, the manual publishers (and even the ammo makers) have "wimp-ized" the 7mm Remington Magnum. For example, when the round first came out, the Remington 175-grain factory load was rated at 3070 FPS. I got mine in 1969, right after the Ruger No. 1 hit the market, and being the dummy that I am, I BELIEVED the data that the ammo makers put out, and using Norma N205 powder (now replaced by MRP1), I developed a load for the 175-grain bullet that gave the same MV as the factory load was supposed to do (3070). I had two chronographs at that time, and verified the load's performance.
Then Norma stopped making N205, but brought out MRP (now called MRP1), and it was able to do the same as N205 with a slightly different powder charge. Then, Norma powders disappeared from the market (this has happened two or three times in tha last 30 years!!), so I switched to RL 22, which was claimedto be "the same as" MRP. Well, it wasn't-RL22 would not give over 3000 FPS with a safe load! So I tried IMR 7828, and it worked OK! But I had to use 70 grains of IMR 7828 instead of the 66 grains of N205, or the 68 grains of MRP that worked before.
I use 175-grain bullets exclusively these days in the 7mm Magnum, because the 140-grain bullet at 3350 FPS is just too destructive. If I want to shoot a 140-grain bullet, I use a 7X57mm to launch them. However, today I use the 150-grain Remington Corelokt in my 7X57mm's for deer only.... When I go for elk I use the 7 Mag.and 175-grain Nosler Partition bullets.