rogn
03-21-2011, 12:31 AM
Planning a hunting trip and wanted to practice. Ive always wanted to try light to subsonic loads and wanted to work with the same rifle as hunting with. I had a small quantity if Lyman 285*** dont remembervthe number but its 130 gr cast from wheel wgts with a dash of tin. These have been sitting in a drawer for 20 years and neede to see daylight. Lubed up a bunch with liquid alox - Ive never gotten a size die for the 7mm. So I just lubed up some unsized no gas check, just bare based. I still have a big canister of AL-7 from old duck hnting days, so I tried about 10.5 gr, and they shot reasonably well. Chronoed at 1300 fps average for 5 shots. Dropped the load back to 9.5 gr and tried at 100yd. They shoot into about 1.5 inches and I can use the heavy cross hair tip at 6X on a the variable to get a 100yd sight in. These are single loads with the bullet just hand "seated" with the bullet pushed in until the first bearing band "snaps" into the unsized case mouth. I turned the necks to provide clearance for the unsized bullets. The bullet is seated into the lands when the bolt is closed. Recoil is almost nonexistant and the report- forgot earplugs on 1 shot is really mild, about like a factory 38 spcl in 6" barrel. Leading has been nonexistant for about 30 rounds. Im wondering now about getting a sizing die. Ive done everything wrong here and its still working well. Just thought Id pass it on.