7mm enough for deer?

[nekshot]

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I have been frustrated with the performance of heavy 7mm boolits in my guns and as most times the boolit I would not hunt with shoots best. So I made a mill bit to my idea of a good deer boolit profile and beagled the hole of a 135 gr boolit and here is a 148 gr wadcutter from the 135 gr original. I shot these in the wet book box at 80 yards at 1800fps and I do believe this is good enough for ethically shooting at a deer.

[Hickok]

I would say put it in the right spot and it will work on deer. Just me, but I like to hit them through the shoulders with a cast boolit.

Hope you get a nice buck!!!

[nagantguy]

I'd say plenty, good work sir. Especially if you plan on using the neck shot, just saying. I've dumped deer with .45 acp pistol, 12 and 20 gauge slug and buckshot, and several smallish NC and FL deer with a .223. As well as some truly powerful rounds including 7mm and 300 weatherby mags, thing in common; good shot placement. I don't know his name but the guy who replaced Cody on dual survivor has several videos thing deer with a spear thrown from an atal. Says he never lost one that was hit in the vitals. He uses mostly home made flint and chert tips. The quest for the "Perfect" deer round is a blast I've been at it for 20 something years but nothing trumps shot placement. The mental part of marksmanship is just as important as the physical, hence our quest for perfect boolits. Yours look great and seem to expand well with out coming arpart. They will be great at around 1800. Again very nice work indeed.
.

[Wolfer]

The only 7mm mold I have is the RCBS 168-sp. it's very accurate in my 7x57 up to 1500 fps. Boolits from my recovery box look just about like yours.
the only bigger critter I've shot with it was a bobcat. Performance was good enough that I wouldent be afraid to hunt deer with it. But it seems when deer season rolls around I have guns that shoot a bigger boolit faster and I tend to carry them.

[Bad Water Bill]

As far as I have seen there is only one thing that is important in shooting.

SHOT PLACEMENT.

A cousin fed himself for many years using the only gun he owned, A Savage 99 in 22 High power.

My grandfather fed his family using a Win 94 rifle in 38-55 for more years than most here have been alive.

One shot one kill from both guns.

40 years to late to ask my grandfather if he cast and reloaded his BUT I do still have some of the cast reloaded 22 H P rounds that were used in the Savage.

If you can not hit where you aim at it doesn't matter how you cast or the mix of lead or powder or if the boolit will expand to 10 X what it started out at "a miss is still a miss" and a "boiler room hit" is still a DEAD deer.

[quilbilly]

I concluded a long time ago that my 7mmTCU with a 130 gr. RNGC at an MV of 1900 was more than adequate for deer out to 150 yards with good shot placement. A 45 cal PRB also weighing 130 gr out of a muzzleloader is a serious deer meat maker at a terminal velocity of 900 fps no matter what the muzzle velocity is. From your pics, your 7mm expands more than my round ball does. Good forth and aim well.

[pworley1]

7mm has been enough for deer for over 100 years. Hit them in the right spot and enjoy the meat.

[castshooter-too]

Nekshot
what alloy?

[nekshot]

These were 50/50 . Wheel weights and plumber lead.

[str8shot426]

The legendary buck shot by James Jordan in 1914 was taken with a 25/20. Nuff said. I quote lovelife saying, "holes kill stuff".

[Duckiller]

7x 57 is an elephant gun. Probably could kill a deer. Elephant or deer must be hit in a vital spot.

[fatnhappy]

7mm doesn't have enough steam for deer unless you slip it between their kevlar plates.

FWIW, I'm using a 7-08 with the NOE 7mm Hunter @ 1900 fps as my primary rifle this deer season.

[Huntsman]

Now you got me thinking. Maybe I should invest in a mould to cast for my 280 Rem.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Now you got me thinking. Maybe I should invest in a mould to cast for my 280 Rem.

I load Nosler 150 gr. Ballistic tip bullets in a friends wife`s .280 Rem. She has taken over 100 head of game from 3 continents with never more than 1 shot needed. She won`t try my cast bullets thru it though, yet she loves the lead 9mm and .357 ammo I load for her.Robert

[Petrol & Powder]

7mm has been enough for deer for over 100 years. Hit them in the right spot and enjoy the meat.
Very true. The 7 x 57 Mauser is an excellent cartridge with a long and very successful track record. The 7mm-08 has proven to be an excellent cartridge as well.

A friend of mine used a .30-06 for many years and had a chance to buy a model 7 chambered in 7mm-08 but was hesitant to change. The rifle was in excellent condition and a known "good shooter"; I told him if he didn't buy it - I would. That little rifle drops deer as well, if not better than the .30-06.

So, YES, a 7mm bullet will work just fine for deer. The damn things aren't bulletproof for crying out loud!

[Sneakybuffalo]

Ppl hunt deer with .223s

[Motor]

My brother saw a guy on a TV program (real not fiction) shoot a moose with what looked like a Vietnam Era M16, most likely a early AR-15 in .223/5.56 caliber. One shot put in down and one more finished it off.

Personally I have taken 2, WV white tails with my AR-15 using 65gr Sierra Game Kings. I saw no difference between those 2 and any others that I've taken with anything else.

Shot placement is key.

[flounderman]

If you shoot them in the neck you don't spoil any meat, you don't have to look for them, no matter what caliber you use. The only reason I know for not shooting in the neck is the shooters ability to hit it. On the other hand, if you shoot them in the hind end, it doesn't make much difference what caliber you use, either. Personally, I don't waste meat and I despise working on a bloody deer. I also don't have a lot of use for the people that just keep the tenderloins and back quarters and throw the rest of the deer away. And if you have a deer standing broadside, 50 yards or less away, why would you shoot them thru the shoulders?

[theleo]

I use a 280 improved on deer, elk, and antelope. Longest shot was a 5 point bull going down hill at around 400 yards. I shoot 140gr Accubonds in that rifle, it broke the spine then exited between the shoulder blade and sternum near the armpit. I've used a 7mm-08 on elk as well but only one spike at about 80 yards broadside, shot it in the lungs and no bullets recovered. Needless to say, yes I would hunt deer with a 7mm and your load should handle any deer on the planet at woods range as long as you do your part.

[jhalcott]

I've used the 135 grain "soup can" bullet and several other to take deer with a 7TC/U Contender (in 3 lengths!) 7BR XP, 7IHMSA and other calibers, including the .280Rem! Put the bullet where it needs to go and start the cook fire! Velocities ran from 1500 fps to well over 2500 fps.

[clayton4971]

I have been using a 7mm for 25 years and have never not got a deer. Shooting a lot and shot placement are the key to a good kill ( not to mention how much easier they are to field dress)

[DougGuy]

nekshot I don't think you could beg for better boolit performance in your wet box, they just don't get any more gooder than that! And the common denominator with any firearm and a game animal? Shot placement. Even if it didn't expand at all, a shot through the vitals with a hardcast that you didn't recover will still put the animal down.

[nekshot]

yup, I shot a whole lot of deer with a 22 lr in my time and that was done culling a herd and using perfect shot placement. What I like about the wet book box it tells me what the alloy's will do in a perfect environment. The reason I posted this was to debunk the common myth that 30 cal is the smallest that should be ethically used for deer. Heck, if you really want to see cast performance I should post the results of my 7.62x39 with 190 gr boolit, but I wanted to share what a big meplat does on a 7mm cast boolit and I would definetly trust this boolit in a less than perfect shot because of its consistant ability to hold together.

[xringshutr]

Like others have said. Shot placement is absolutely the key. While not optimal, I've knocked down a big doe and a nice 4x4 mature buck with a 221 Fireball and LIGHT varmint bullets. Doe = 34 gr HP, Buck = 40 gr V-max. Both neck shots and it was "bang-flop". Not one step. 7mm??? No problem even at moderate cast bullet velocities. Find a load that shoots well and put the shot where it's supposed to go.

[dkf]

My brother saw a guy on a TV program (real not fiction) shoot a moose with what looked like a Vietnam Era M16, most likely a early AR-15 in .223/5.56 caliber. One shot put in down and one more finished it off.

Personally I have taken 2, WV white tails with my AR-15 using 65gr Sierra Game Kings. I saw no difference between those 2 and any others that I've taken with anything else.

Shot placement is key.

Yukon Men on Discovery Channel? Its a Colt SP1 and he uses it for almost everything on the show. He must be taking head shots on the Moose and Caribou. Would not be my choice for that game though.

For deer the 7mm is more than enough. Looks like the op is getting some nice expansion.

[AggiePharmD]

I'd say plenty, good work sir. Especially if you plan on using the neck shot, just saying.
.

I've used neck shots wih jacketed bullets on deer with both 6mm and 30.06 with each one being DRT but have been wondering if neck shots with cast would work. To me necks shots are more challenging as they are less forgiving.