7x57

[Ben Lamb]

I've had a Ruger M77 Tang safety since I was a kid. It never shot well and when I got serious about reloading, I discovered that a reasonable group at 100 yards was about 8 inches out of this rifle. Sooo...it got sent back to Ruger. They recrowned it, put in a different trigger and retorqued the action to spec and claimed that it shot 1.5 inches with 175's.

I'm not interested in that heavy a bullet for the 7mm, especially at the speeds we'd be looking at (2500-2600 fpx max). So I stepped down to the 154 grain Hornady's and w/ 48 grains of IMR 4350 was getting about 2750 FPS and 1.5 inch groups. I tried some RL17 and found some 1.5 inch groups in between 49 and 51 grains, and 52 grains resulted in a blown primer

I'll keep working up the RL 17 loads until I find the right one, but was wondering if anyone else was shooting the old 7mm and what loads they were using in heavy for caliber bullets?

The gun doesn't like the lighter pills unfortunately. So now I need to find a different rifle for the 140's, I'm thinking a 6.5x06 is somewhere in the future.

 

[Rat Fink]

The 7mm-08 sure loves 140 Partitions.

 

[Ben Lamb]

The 7mm-08 sure loves 140 Partitions.

And if I had a shorter throat and different twist, the mauser would too.

 

[sbhooper]

It is not the 7x57 that is the problem. Old Ruger rifles are the problem. Get a new barrel on it and it should work. You may go through lots of powder and bullets to find one that barrel will shoot.

 

[Ben Lamb]

It is not the 7x57 that is the problem. Old Ruger rifles are the problem. Get a new barrel on it and it should work. You may go through lots of powder and bullets to find one that barrel will shoot.

When I sent it in to Ruger, I mentioned that if they couldn't fix it, I wanted a new barrel. They "fixed" it. It does shoot 1.5 inch groups now.

If I can't get it to shoot below 1 inch, I'll get a new barrel put on it, along with getting the stock slimmed down.

 

[sbhooper]

I have heard some good stuff about new Rugers, but it was a crap shoot getting a good barrel on the older ones so it seems. Good luck with it.

 

[belly-deep]

What's wrong with 2750 fps? I you're not going to safely squeeze much more out of that cartridge, and if you're barrel is slow, you might already be at max.


If you want a 7mm Rem Mag...buy one...

 

[Ben Lamb]

What's wrong with 2750 fps? I you're not going to safely squeeze much more out of that cartridge, and if you're barrel is slow, you might already be at max.


If you want a 7mm Rem Mag...buy one...

I just want to be obtuse. Not interested in a 7mm mag, and I'm not a fan of small bores in general for hunting.

 

[choc dogs]

I've been feeding my m70 fwt 7x57 140 partitions, using imr 4350, and my log isn't here and I don't remember velocities, and loads but I ended up with consistant 100 yard groups at about .90 inches and quit. it was nothing spectacular velocity wise,but every deer I pointed it at fell over, so I guess it works.

 

[exponentialpi]

What twist rate is the barrel?

 

[Ben Lamb]

What twist rate is the barrel?

1:9.5 - it's a fast barrel, but it doesn't like the lighter bullets due to a long throat.

 

[Zach]

The 7mm-08 sure loves 140 Partitions.

Mines liking 140 gr ballistic tips with 40 gr of Reloder 15.

 

[cowboy]

Do you know how far off the lands you're seating your bullets? Playing with your seating depth in an organized manner will pay off many times far more than playing with powder charge

 

[belly-deep]

I just want to be obtuse. Not interested in a 7mm mag, and I'm not a fan of small bores in general for hunting.

I understand. In my .270, H4831sc and 130gr Nosler Ballistic tips will go into about 1/3" and shoot a shade over 3000 fps.

IMR 7828 will get the same bullet moving along at 3200 fps, but the groups open up to 1.25".

Guess which one I shoot? Hint: Not the slow one.

On the other hand, I dumped a few mule deer bucks out at 350-375 yards with a .280 Rem shooting Federal 160gr factory loads. When I finally chronographed it years later, I found out they were only clocking a bit over 2600 fps at the muzzle. Everything worked out fine and I learned that if you know your range and trajectory, velocity doesn't matter much. Of course, I did post a 24 guard on the freezer for a few days, just to make sure those deer didn't come back to life once the word got out my bullets were going turtle speed.

 

[belly-deep]

Do you know how far off the lands you're seating your bullets? Playing with your seating depth in an organized manner will pay off many times far more than playing with powder charge

Another option would be to try a bullet at "likes" being seated off the lands a distance. Barnes TSX comes to mind...

 

[canvsbk]

I would agree that seating depth can be equally as important as powder selection. However, it's generally been my experience that until you get that rifle bedded you're wasting time and money. With just a little research you can do it yourself quite easily. There could be a ton of different things effecting it, chamber cut off center, junk barrel, copper build up....
I've got a Ruger at the smiths as we speak and this is it's last chance to behave. At some point you gotta quit pouring money into 'em.

 

[exponentialpi]

Over on another board there is a load of 160 nosler partitions at 2700fps with 47.5 grains of RL17. Reducing that load a little might be a place to start for a 160 load.

 

[What Map]

Ben, when you're ready to move on to 6.5X06, you'll like it. I own two. I'm running 129 grn Hornady Bonded over 50.7 grains of R22 for now. My wife shoots a .260 Rem and loves it. Bonded .264 bullets have a lot to offer.

 

[huntRme]

I gave my son a 6.5 x 55. He uses a 125 gr. NP and a case-full of H4831 and it is amazing. Wish I had one. When he isn't looking it goes hunting with me.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Another option would be to try a bullet at "likes" being seated off the lands a distance. Barnes TSX comes to mind...

I'm hoping that it likes the 154 Hornady Interbonds (Midway blems). They have a BC of .525 and I'll have a COL of 3.055. 3.100 COL was pushing it into the lands, so I just backed off a little.

If it shoots somewhere around 1 inch at 100 and is 2750 fps or higher, I've got all I need from this rifle. The H4831sc is one of those powders I keep hearing a lot about. I'll pick up a pound and see how it works with the girls.

Over on another board there is a load of 160 nosler partitions at 2700fps with 47.5 grains of RL17. Reducing that load a little might be a place to start for a 160 load.

I bought 200 of the 154's. The damned rifle better like them.

The 6.5's interest me. They look great for long range shooting, and it's a great excuse for getting a new custom rifle.