Big thank you to 7MM gurus!!

[sghart3578]

First, I want to thank everyone who replied to my questions. Your info was a great help. I finally got a chance to shoot my test rounds and compare results. I was pleasantly surprised by all 4 of the bullets tested, even the ones from the Lee mold. Before the Lee fans object let me clarify. No one is a bigger Lee fan than me, a look at my reloading room with 4 Lee machines will attest to that. I was surprised by the performance of the Lee bullet only because I was trying to get the bullets seated out to touch the lands. The three Lyman bullets were long enough but the Lee design was too short. However the Lee design shot very well. Before the test my money was on the Lyman 287308 based on threads that I had read in the past. But the winner was the Lyman 287641, barely. All groups were close. This is a great result for me because the 287641 mold is still available and the 287308 is apparently out of production.

I also got ahold of 20 Hornady 175gr jacketed bullets and loaded them with a 60% load of H4895. I seated them .010" off the lands. These were an absolute tackdriver. Almost no recoil and three bullets into one hole at 40 yards. Thanks Uber7MM.

I did not chrono any of the loads because of time constraints but that will happen next week. I will post those results if you guys are interested.

Thanks again.


7526075261

[UBER7MM]

sghart3578,

Please post your results.
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Safe casting, reloading, shooting, (generally in that order)
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[462]

sghart3578,

Thanks for posting the pictures of the various rounds. For the last two days, the Lee mould has been sitting in my Midway cart, but after seeing how short a round is, it's been put back on the shelf.

I've had excellent results with the Lyman 287641, too, and have been on the lookout for a reasonably price Loverin design.

[sghart3578]

To 462,

I agree. At this point my cast bullet of choice is the 287641. It shoots great at 40-50 yards. Nest week I will try at the 100-200 yard range on steel plates.

If you lean towards jacketed bullets the Hornady 175gr were the only ones that worked. The lighter weight jacketed bullets were too short.

Steve

[UBER7MM]

Sghart,

I had some great groups at 100 yards with the Lyman 287641. Its all about getting the pet load that shoots consistent tight groups. It's taking me some time to get that pet load dialed in. Change one thing and all can change. Not so much with load components as with stock/bedding, scope etc... Don't change two things at once.

I like the 287641 and reduced loads of 4895. I use the Lyman handbooks. Since there is no 4895 data for 7x57, I'd extrapolate minimum loads from the 7mm'08 with the same boolit and experiment from there, watching for safety signs. It's uncharted territory, but with minimum loads as a baseline, I'm okay.

Be safe,