7 TCU for deer - Mold suggestions?

[Mr_Sheesh]

I've had a 10" barrel; Mainly got it a long while back as we almost got to run a friend's large gold mine, of all things. (Sadly, he signed an "exploration" contract with one company - And they "explored" it all right, dug most all of it out of the ground, while giving him about 10k/month. Horrid example of how the system treats the non rich.)

Anyways; In WA you can use handguns for deer so I am considering using that for deer, but am thinking a powder coated softer bullet would be better than a 160 grain Spitzer j-word bullet, "probably." And thinking of going to a 14" or longer barrel for more "oomph".

What do those of us who use 7mm TCU for deer, find works well? I could always talk myself into a 7-30 waters if a bit more power's a good thing, but IDK, bit of arthritis in my hands and that could be obnoxious potentially.

(I haven't powder coated bullets yet - Starting to read up, but I seriously need to move so I CAN do that, apartments SUCK for reloading.)

[bobthenailer]

In my 7mm TCU I tried the Saeco 071 160gr , RCBS 145gr sil , a lyman 287641 160 gr . accuracy left something to be desired @ 100 yds in the 4 to 6 inch range from the bench using a 2x7 scope. however it shot jacketed bullets very well 1" or better @100 yards
The above cast bullets shot very well from my XP100 in 7mm IHMSA. that does not have the long free bore of the TC , In the TC the cast bullet is almost all the way out of the case before it hits the rifleing .

I have a few hundred left of the Saeco 071 160 gr sized @0.285 hornady gas checks & LBT lube if interested ? leave a PM

[Hamish]

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=29_452&products_id=1246&osCsid=tbf0t5cmb4av5v3ttcbdlo53k3

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=29_191&products_id=2731&osCsid=tbf0t5cmb4av5v3ttcbdlo53k3

[NSB]

Back when I shot silhouette I had a couple of 7TCU's, one ten inch and one fourteen inch. I hunted deer with them several times and shot three or four deer (don't remember the exact amount, it was thirty+ years ago). I do remember that bullet expansion was non-existant with jacketed bullets. It was a pencil hole in, pencil hole out. Cast didn't shoot well out of either barrel. You simply can't get enough velocity out of the caliber to expand 7mm rifle bullets well, or at all. I'd opt for something a bit faster. Just my experience with it.

[Shuz]

I shot many whitetails years ago with my 10" 7mmTCU. I was never disappointed with the performance of a Speer 145g spire point, and H-322. When I went to cast boolits because of the cost of jacketed bullets for IHMSA competition, I used the Saeco 070 145g boolit, but I never tried it on deer.

[runfiverun]

a soft jacketed bullet designed to expand at low velocity's would work just fine.
there is the long range Accubond [not the regular one] Hornady makes the A-max and on and on.
a 130-140gr weight is more than enough weight to do the job and allows that extra 100 fps from a shorter barrel.

[hornady308]

Take a look at the Lee 7mm Soup Can that is sold by Midsouth Shooters Supply. https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/000067mmsoupcan/7mm-soup-can-130-grain-six-cavity-special-order-mold

Several people 'round these parts have used this boolit for killing deer. I have the mold, but have yet to use it for hunting since I still have a small supply of the old Hornady 120gr SSP bullets. But, when I run out of the copper stuff, I'll be switching to the Soup can, cast of acww/plain lead (50/50).

[475AR]

There is a jacketed bullet now out that expands between 3200-1300fps, it is the nosler accubond long range bullet. I am going to use it in a shortened 6.5tcu this year. My understanding is it does reliably expand at 1300 fps. Alot of the 6.5 grendal guys with 12.5" barrels are using it for deer and hogs with great success. Nosler does have it in several weights in 7mm, here is the 150gr version.
http://shop.nosler.com/nosler-bullets/accubond-long-range-nosler-bullet/accubond-lr-7mm-150-grain-bullet-100ct.html

[kens]

that 7mm Thor, cast soft, should do the trick.
bullet expansion is a function of alloy hardness vs speed.
the slower the velocity, the softer the alloy.
so, for the 7mm pistol, I vote for the 7mm Thor, cast softer, with gas check.
I don't have a 7tcu gun, but for conversation sake, lets say that 1600fps is doable, on a 130gr bullet, the Thor.
Consider that a .357mag can be a 130gr bullet, and can be 1500fps, this would be considered a hot .357 load.
A .357mag will dispatch a deer, and the 7mm will have a sectional density by far better than 357.
and if cast soft, it will certainly expand quite well, and being soft, it will not fragment.

[quilbilly]

Two weeks ago I used my 7mm TCU carbine 18" barrel to take an unusually large blacktail doe that I estimate was about 170# live (90# actual on the hooks at the butcher) with the 140 gr RFGC soup can boolit from the specialty Lee mold sold by Midsouth. The range for the broadside shot was about 80 yards and the muzzle velocity was 1650 FPS. The boolit broke ribs on both sides and the exit hole says the boolit mushroomed to about .5" leaving quite a blood trail. The deer went 30 yards. Almost no meat was harmed. You should be able to easily reach that velocity with your 10" Contender since my load is not remotely hot. My alloy is 60% pure and 40% hard birdshot with a little extra tin added.