7mm soup can arrived today!

[Camba]

I decided to check for the famous 7mm soup can Lee mold in Mid-South Shooting Supplies and I found the 6-cavity mold available. It looks great! This is my 3rd 7mm mold so far.
The guns that I will be shooting them from are:
1. Remington Model Seven - 7mm-08 Rem
2. Browning BLR - 7mm-08 Rem
3. Contender (14" bbl) - 7-30 Waters.

My best groups at 50 yards had been so far in the 2" or so groups with some occasionally 1" group that don't seem to be able to repeat the next time. I would love to hear about some accurate recipes to see if I can break the 2" group at 50 yards.
The only round where my cast boolits are accurate are in my 223 Rem and my 5.7x28 FN with the RCBS 55 mold.

Any suggestions? Advice? Thanks.

Camba

[357maximum]

Need more info: What alloy are you casting them from and are you air cooling or waterdropping? Sized at?, Powder choice? Velocity goal?

I had excellent luck with that boolit in the 21 inch 7TCU contender carbine, but in order to get "good" accuracy I had to use a waterdropped alloy consisting of 50% COWW and 50% lead pipe...I then added 5% Railroad bearing babbit to that mix sized at .287. I was able to hit 2500 fps+ with CONSISTENT 1.25 to 1.5 inch groups @ 100 yards. I never killed a deer with them, but that is only because the 7MM THOR prototype came my way and it just looked so "kill worthy" and it shot a touch better....so I had to use that instead. I am sure the soupcan would have done just as well in the boiler room of a buck.

[mac60]

Camba - I have that mould. They drop from the mould at .286" (wcww) I use Hornady gas checks. I size them to .2855",lube with RandyRat's Tac#1 in a Lyman 450 and load them over 14.0 gr. 2400 in a R-P case with a cci200 primer. I'm shooting them through a Stevens 200 in 7mm08. Here's a group I shot with that load at 100 yds.

90512

Those squares are 1", so that's not a bad group. The 6 cav. mould drops 'em like rain. Recoil is very light and they're a blast to shoot. It works for me!

[jhalcott]

I've used this bullet in 7tcu, 7BR, 7-30, 7-08 and.280 Rem.. With good to great results! Depending on alloy, gun, powder and/or ME, sometimes sub inch groups(off bags) some times plus inch. I have taken at least one deer with each of the above calibers. The 7tc/u was used in 10", 14" and 21" barrels, all scoped with 2x7 scopes. I used Teflon tape or other lubes and Hornady gas checks. Many powders from fast to slow burning, ball to "log" type. I still have the mold and a coffee can of checked and lubed bullets under the bench. That 6 hole mold REALLY makes a lot of bullets quick! It is a good bullet for ground hogs too.

[Camba]

357 Max:
The lead I am using is at least 50% WW and the rest is lead shot in the same amount. I have tried water quenched and also air cooling. So far I have not experienced any leading in my pistols or rifles. The boolit is not so hard because I noticed in a few occasions, when I dropped one to the concrete floor, that it gets dinged. So, that would indicate somewhat that my boolits are not as hard as they should.
The powders that I have at hand that I use the most for my cast boolit loads are: 2400, Blue Dot, H4198. I also have at hand: Bullseye, Red Dot, AA1680, H3031, H335, H4895, H110, and True Blue.
The primers I use (interchangeably) for pistol and rifles are: CCI500, CCI550, CCI400, CCI450, CCI300, CCI350, and very low supply of MagTech rifle primers, and Winchester large pistol, large rifle, small pistol, and small rifle. The 5.7x28 FN (Contender rifle) with the RCBS 55 SP boolit had surprisingly great accuracy, followed closely by my 223 Rem rifle loads. Now, when it comes to the 7mm rifles and contender pistol, the best groups (not so repeatable) comes from my contender 14". One time I have got 1" group from my Mod Seven, 7mm08 Rem bolt action and I went ahead and reloaded 100 rounds of it. Sometime later, I decided to shoot that very load to some targets and I could not keep a 2" group a 50 yards.
When I read about the achievements of others in this forum, it encourages me to keep on trying and experimenting.

Mac60,
That group size in my rifles would be a dream for me. I hope to strike good luck with this soup can mold. The velocities that I had been working on is in the 2000 fps mark. I have not experimented loads lower than 1600 fps.
Camba

[357maximum]

My 7TCU carbine simply dotes on 26.0 grains of H322 with the soupcan made of the 50/50+5 alloy.


Looks to me like you might wanna borrow mac60's 2400 data and go from there with the other powders and then........ going progressivly slower in burn rate as you find out what professor gun wants. I have not tried the soupcan much in cartridges larger than the 7TCU.....others have.

If you are waterdropping your alloy you should be close enough, but depending on what LEAD SHOT you used the boolits could take a few weeks to a few months to fully "age" for ultimate consistency.

50/50 alloy is not about "hard"...it is about "tough" and about "mallable"......you do not want rock hard boolits ...... unless you are making varmint grenages from linotype...whole other world of little critter splodin available there.

FWIW.... I have yet to see H4198 be the "WRONG" answer in a 308 sized case for your velocity goals. Good luck, keep us informed along the way.....there are alot of people willing to help, just remember the more info given the better the help will be.

[mac60]

Camba - Don't let anyone fool you. I'm as guilty as sin, in that I cherry pick groups to take pictures of. Every group I shoot through that rifle with that load is not that small (some are twice that). You mentioned you had been working on velocities of about 2000 fps. I'm pretty certain that the load I mentioned is not generating that kind of velocity. If you're just shooting for group - to me it really doesn't matter how fast the boolit is going. Why don't you try and throttle it back a little and see what kind of results you get. You might be surprised. You certainly have some good equipment to work with, the Model 7 Rem. is a nice little rifle as is the BLR. I'm quite sure if you stick with it you'll get there.

[357maximum]

I am running under the assumption he wants to hunt with his soupcan...this thread is in the HUNTING forum afterall.

[mac60]

I am running under the assumption he wants to hunt with his soupcan...this thread is in the HUNTING forum afterall.

He never did mention what kind of use he planned to put the load to, but right you are - this is the HUNTING forum. My bad!

[Camba]

Mac60, 357 Maximum:
I enjoy receiving advice and I hope I continue to ask for more. You both are correct: I want it for hunting but I also needed for trying to achieve similar target results as when I sight my copper jacketed bullets. The nice thing about hunting "paper" is that you get multiple shot opportunities :)
But eventually, when I get the satisfying results, I want that to be my meat getter ammo. I always enjoy getting the meat using low cost reloads. Even my 223 rem cartridges are loaded with 2400, blue dot, and other pistol powders at lower velocities with good accuracy results.
Right now (since I am in the castboolits forum) I am overwhelmed with the camaraderie of its members. I can't weight to cast the first 7mm soup can out of my new mold to see if I get better results than the RCBS 145gr SIL and Lee 130gr.
One question I have is about the gas check:
I have to seat my boolits deep as the ogive is small (not too much point) for them to chamber right. One time I use the bullet puller because I lost track of a load so I wanted to pull down and start over. The gas checks of 9 out of 10 got stuck in the case with the inertia bullet puller.
So. What does it happen to the GC when they actually get fired?

Camba

[taco650]

Can someone post a pic of this 7mm "soup can"?

[357maximum]

When they get fired there is 10 to 50+ thousand pounds per square inch on their **** depending on the load...unless your gas check is rattlin about inside the case,,,you are good to go.


******* If your gas check is in fact rattlin about inside the case you have alot bigger issue.....but it is an issue that can be fixed by a talented machinist/toolmaker/enthusiastic simpleton with a drill and some patience...I have lapped a moulds gascheck area out before...no big deal.

[Norbrat]

Can someone post a pic of this 7mm "soup can"?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?171994-soliciting-opinions-for-the-7mm-Lee-soupcan-mold Post #6

[fatnhappy]

90915

[kens]

I tried my new 6 cavity 7mm soupcan yesterday. Boolits literally fall out of the mold. The fastest rhythm of casting I ever had. However they are not true round. .284x.286
Using coww

[Ben]

Doesn't Lee guarantee bullets to be within .001 " round ?

Send it back.

Ben

[taco650]

Doesn't Lee guarantee bullets to be within .001 " round ?

Send it back.

Ben

Maybe a little leementing will clean it up and then a good resize round them out?

[Camba]

357 Max,
No. I have not experienced any rattling inside the case. It is simply that when I use the inertia bullet puller, the tight neck separates the gas check from the bullet. I believe you are right with your theory; the pressure from inside the cartridge will force the entire boolit out, let alone the GC.
Thank you all for the great info on this boolits.
Camba

[taco650]

357 Max,
No. I have not experienced any rattling inside the case. It is simply that when I use the inertia bullet puller, the tight neck separates the gas check from the bullet. I believe you are right with your theory; the pressure from inside the cartridge will force the entire boolit out, let alone the GC.
Thank you all for the great info on this boolits.
Camba

Good old friction doing its work ;-)

[quilbilly]

I have both the Lee soup can mold and the Lee 130 gr RNGC mold for use in my 7mm TCU carbine. At 100 yards the RNGC boolit groups routinely at about MOA when my eyes are doing their part with the 4x scope and I am not hypothermic (like two days ago). The soup can is not quite as accurate with the same load grouping at about 2-1/2". That being said, if I was hunting deer with it (I hunt deer with a muzzleloader), I would probably use the soup can boolit with the flatter nose. That RNGC boolit is great on coyotes out to just under 300 which is about my limit with that scope.

[kweidner]

I love my soup can in my.280. I have an encore pro hunter. Don't have the group pics but it hovers well under 2" at 100. I shall have to dig through my data and see if I can find those groups. 2400 IIRC was my powder. I haven't had an opportunity to shoot them at game but they sure are fun on paper.

[gwpercle]

It doesn't LOOK like a soup can. Why is it called that?

[Whiterabbit]

FWIW.... I have yet to see H4198 be the "WRONG" answer in a 308 sized case for your velocity goals. Good luck, keep us informed along the way.....there are alot of people willing to help, just remember the more info given the better the help will be.

I wish! I use tons of 4198 in my pistol.

H4895 and traillboss simply worked better in my 7x57 with this bullet. Which does make me sad. I could take a powder right off the bench entirely if 4198 worked well.

[Lefty SRH]

I like the looks of the Soup can. Id like to see this one go thru one ofnour custom molds guys as a group buy.

[TCLouis]

The GB Soupcan load I have been shooting out of 7mm TCU 10" Contender is 14.6 - 15.1 WC 820(M).
Both of those are the most accurate loads I have tested and 15.1 has been best in my barrel. I went above 15.1 some (forget how much) but accuracy was best at 15.1.
NOT military brass (Federal as I remember) and about 2' or less at 50 yards.

Need to chronograph the load one day. Maybe deer next fall depending on velocity.

[Whiterabbit]

2' at 50 yards huh... :) Nice shootin' there Tex! :kidding: