Steven Ashe

Working up a load for 7mmRemMag Tikka White Tail Hunter, 24" bbl. 139gr Interbond. Wanting to get higher MV. At 71.5gr of IMR7828, groups open up to 6" at 200 yards. MV is good with that charge, at around 3330fps avg, but I can't accept that poor accuracy. Accuracy was good with a lighter charge but MV was whimpy.
Anyone have any suggestions for another propellent? Hornady wants me to buy the later reload book, which shows 139gr Interlock, but I am cheap! On hand, I have MagPro, IMR4350, 4064, 4198, 3031, Varget and H380. Would any of these be worth trying with the 139gr Interbond? Or, should I just load four rounds of each and flail away? I have been loading according to what Speer and Hornady say is the load for 140gr bullets.

oldelkhunter

In the new Hornady #6 manual no 139 grain Hornady bullet exceeds 3200 fps even with their maximum load. You can try 69.8 grains of H4831 with a WW case and a FEderal 215 primer . This is not a load out of a reloading manual.

Steven Ashe

Okay oldelk, thanks, I will stop at the local shop and see if they have that propellent.
Since 9-11 propellents and lead shot have been hard to find around Baltimore County, Maryland. Has anyone else seen the same? Two gun shops close to me have closed all together. Bonitz Bros. in Harrisburg Pa. no longer stocks propellent, even with the high hazmat shipping fee.
Maybe firearms will not be outlawed but if it gets to the point that we can no longer feed them, the end result will be the same as banning all firearms. No?

oldelkhunter

Well that is the desired effect Anti-gunners would like..all those guns and nothing to feed them. Let me know how that load works out. I have about 2 boxes of 139'rs interloack FB and the SST. I think the 7 REM drives the standard hornadys too fast and they blow up . Heck for that matter I blew up their 162 grainer on a huge mule deer I shot when it hit bone (I recovered the deer btw). I called Hornady CS and informed them of that and then they told me it was designed for Elk and it couldn't have happened. I read something interesting yesterday and it makes a lot of sense. Basically if you get a blowup bullet design and bond the core its still a blow up bullet design that works with higher velocity but penetration will be impeded since the bullet will overexpand. Now if you have the jacket tapered correctly and then bond the core you will have better controlled expansion. Thats what in my opinion make the Accubond better then the Interbond . That and the fact Nosler makes the best darn bullets on the market with few exceptions.

James B

I like Reloader 19 for the 7 Mag. I did not have real good luck with the Hornady 139 grain bullet in the 7 Mag. It seemed pretty fragil and did a lot of meat damage on deer. In the 280 they work very well. Regardless of what I reload, I always load the lighter bullets down a good bit from the max. I am never concerned with milking out the top velocity from my rifles unless thats where the best accuracy appears to be. If I need the max velocity for some reason then I may try to achieve it but I seldom if ever need the extra velocity. I have a 280 with a 26 inch barrel. I like the 120 grain Sierra Pro-Hunter bullet for that rifle. I load that bullet to about 2850 fps even though with the long tube I can get 3300 fps with no pressure signs. That bullet performs very well on deer at that velocity. Its a little fragil at higher velocity. For Elk I move up to the 160 grain Partition at about the same velocity. It performs very well also.

Steven Ashe

I was able to range test again today, using the 139gr Interbonds. The 7mmRemMag will be only my backup rifle, but I wanted the accuracy to be there, in case I do need it. The load came down to either 70gr of MagPro or 70gr of IMR7828. The accuracy was about the same. Both loads, using Fed215 primers would print five shot groups, just a tad over 1" at 100 yards. The load using 7828 chronied an average of 3240fps, while the MagPro load was 100 fps slower. I am going with the 7828 load, mainly because that propellent fills the case, whereas the MagPro has lots of space in the case. I believe that a full case of propellent will give more consistant groups.
Earlier this week, I had tested with more propellent. I did not get signs of too high pressures, but the groups were 2" or more at 100 yards.

7mm MAGNUM

Might I suggest going up to the 162 grain Inter-loc or Interbond Hornady pill on top of 66.0 grains of RL#22.

You will be amazed at the performance & accuracy!!

PaJack

I'll take accuracy over MV any day...

bronko22000

Ashe - While you at the shop, grab a box of the 139 gr Hornady SSTs. They shoot better than the interlocks out of my 7-08.

RedAllison

SA I agree with James B about R19. I was diggin thru my old reloadin stuff the other night to find my powder scale (for weighin charges for my smokeless Savage ML) when I noticed a can of Reloader 19. I would have to dig thru my manuals to find the info but I remember making some damned awesome loads with that powder under 140grn Ballistic Tips. They were were HOTLY loaded and in the 3300+fps range. I blew the necks out of several cases and those that didnt still didnt have much life in them but BOY was that load accurate and flatout sent those bullets honkin on!

The SST is no better than those old Ballistic Tips, that being for neckshots only on deer. But the SST Interlock, while not a Scirroco or a Accubond, is still a better proposition than their predecesors.

Whack em where they stand,
RA