7x57mm powder choices for 130 grain cast pills.

[Jeremy McLean]

I have the Lee mold C285-130-R and a herd of Spanish ladies that I want to feed with the 130 grain pills that I make with the mold. What are some good powder choices?

[Eddie Southgate]

Red Dot or Unique

[RickinTN]

As Eddie said, Red Dot or Unique for a gentle load. If you want to go faster then a slower number is in order. I really like IMR4227 for the medium loads.
Good Luck,
Rick

[Dutchman]

Red Dot or Unique

Add 2400 to this list.

Dutch

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I'm loading 145gn RCBS silly-wet cast boolits over 29.5gn of 3031, no dacron filler.

https://i.imgur.com/LuRm5kSl.jpg

[Jeremy McLean]

Thank you gentlemen. Now I need to find some unique or red dot.

[Eddie Southgate]

Herco is good also.

[RickinTN]

Herco is like a slightly slower Unique. I found some available recently. Take a look at Ammoseek.com under reloading supplies. There may still be some out there for purchase. I use International Clays as a slightly slow Red Dot. Works very well in my light 308 cas loads. Good Luck finding any of it right now.
Good Luck to you,
Rick

[P Flados]

For "just shooting", as low as 1500 fps can do the job. Here is a Quickload run showing charges that get 1500 fps in a 18"



Cartridge : 7 x 57 mm Mauser
Bullet : .285, 130, LEE C285-130-R
Useable Case Capaci: 54.858 grain H2O = 3.562 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.875 inch = 73.03 mm
Barrel Length : 18.0 inch = 457.2 mm

C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand
that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet
and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.
USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !

6 loads produced a Loading Ratio below user-defined minimum of 25%. These powders have been skipped.
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Hodgdon Clays 41.8 10.1 0.65 1500 100.0 25105 2949 1.404
IMR TrailBoss 79.7 13.6 0.88 1500 100.0 24285 2935 1.451
Hodgdon TiteGroup 25.9 10.7 0.69 1500 100.0 23032 3005 1.460
Alliant RED DOT 38.7 9.7 0.63 1500 100.0 22984 3038 1.462
Lovex S015 36.8 10.3 0.67 1500 100.0 22614 3023 1.473
Accurate Solo 1000 36.8 10.3 0.67 1500 100.0 22614 3023 1.473
Alliant GREEN DOT 36.0 10.2 0.66 1500 100.0 22120 3058 1.489
Lovex S011 30.3 10.4 0.67 1500 100.0 21613 3034 1.492
Hodgdon HP38 25.6 10.8 0.70 1500 100.0 21447 3060 1.501
Winchester 231 28.5 10.9 0.71 1500 100.0 21186 3074 1.508
Accurate Solo 1250 35.3 10.7 0.69 1500 100.0 20906 3067 1.517
Hodgdon Universal 31.6 10.3 0.67 1500 100.0 20545 3131 1.535
Lovex S020 30.3 10.7 0.69 1500 100.0 19737 3134 1.559
Lovex S030 30.3 10.7 0.69 1500 100.0 19544 3128 1.555
Lovex S035 35.3 11.1 0.72 1500 100.0 18749 3187 1.591
Accurate No.2 30.7 10.3 0.67 1500 100.0 18624 3189 1.587
Alliant UNIQUE 30.9 10.1 0.65 1500 100.0 18447 3246 1.600
Winchester WAP 25.5 11.2 0.73 1500 100.0 18042 3256 1.603
Alliant HERCO 33.5 10.6 0.69 1500 100.0 17543 3328 1.638
Alliant POWER PISTOL 25.6 10.3 0.67 1500 100.0 14441 3707 1.760


A little spicier would be to go for a load with an estimated 1800 fps



Cartridge : 7 x 57 mm Mauser
Bullet : .285, 130, LEE C285-130-R
Useable Case Capaci: 54.858 grain H2O = 3.562 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.875 inch = 73.03 mm
Barrel Length : 18.0 inch = 457.2 mm

C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand
that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet
and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.
USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !

Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Hodgdon TiteGroup 36.7 15.1 0.98 1800 100.0 37009 4162 1.172
Alliant RED DOT 54.9 13.8 0.90 1800 100.0 36485 4225 1.176
Lovex S015 52.1 14.6 0.95 1800 100.0 36300 4191 1.180
Accurate Solo 1000 52.1 14.6 0.95 1800 100.0 36300 4191 1.180
Alliant GREEN DOT 51.0 14.4 0.93 1800 100.0 35549 4231 1.189
Lovex S011 42.7 14.7 0.95 1800 100.0 35321 4174 1.191
Accurate Nitro 100 50.6 13.3 0.86 1800 100.0 35138 4269 1.192
Lovex D013 50.6 13.3 0.86 1800 100.0 35138 4269 1.192
Hodgdon HP38 36.1 15.3 0.99 1800 100.0 35005 4213 1.197
Winchester 231 40.1 15.3 0.99 1800 100.0 34661 4227 1.202
Lovex D032 33.1 14.0 0.91 1800 100.0 34526 4191 1.202
Accurate Solo 1250 49.5 15.0 0.97 1800 100.0 34467 4199 1.207
Hodgdon Universal 44.5 14.5 0.94 1800 100.0 33546 4298 1.218
Lovex S020 42.3 14.9 0.96 1800 100.0 32947 4252 1.230
Lovex S030 42.3 14.9 0.97 1800 100.0 32611 4251 1.228
Lovex S035 49.0 15.4 1.00 1800 100.0 31559 4299 1.250
Accurate No.2 42.5 14.2 0.92 1800 100.0 31399 4296 1.245
Alliant UNIQUE 43.2 14.1 0.91 1800 100.0 30530 4416 1.260
Alliant BULLSEYE 38.7 13.0 0.84 1800 100.0 30507 4442 1.251
Winchester WAP 35.6 15.7 1.01 1800 100.0 30194 4408 1.264
Alliant HERCO 46.6 14.8 0.96 1800 100.0 29239 4490 1.282
Winchester 540 31.0 16.2 1.05 1800 100.0 28684 4461 1.289
Hodgdon Longshot 31.7 16.1 1.05 1800 100.0 28486 4477 1.293
Hodgdon HS-6 32.6 16.3 1.06 1800 100.0 27747 4516 1.305
Accurate No.5 28.8 15.0 0.97 1800 100.0 26207 4644 1.330
Lovex D036 28.8 15.0 0.97 1800 100.0 26195 4645 1.331
Alliant POWER PISTOL 34.9 14.0 0.91 1800 100.0 24090 4877 1.376

[Jeremy McLean]

Thanks for the great information. That gives me a lot more options with the limited powder availability in my area. Additionally the data is specific to the mold that I have and the bullets I have cast.

[jonp]

I'm loading 145gn RCBS silly-wet cast boolits over 29.5gn of 3031, no dacron filler.

https://i.imgur.com/LuRm5kSl.jpg

I second the 3031. The reason I keep a healthy supply of it and 4064 is it will work quite well in most any rifle. 3031, 4064, Red Dot and Unique. Not much comes to mind I can't make one of those work in.

[P Flados]

Thanks for the great information. That gives me a lot more options with the limited powder availability in my area. Additionally the data is specific to the mold that I have and the bullets I have cast.

No problem at all. Working up lower power rifle loads with "shotgun / pistol powders" has been done a lot and is not typically considered "uncharted waters". Pressure margins are typically good and these kinds of loads are not very sensitive to seating depth changes. Having a tool like QL which can quickly compare what charges are needed for an approximate velocity just makes it so much faster and easier to get the desired end result.

Additional runs would be easy if you want to incorporate specific powders, barrel lengths, COALs, desired velocities, etc. If you want to dabble closer to "full power", runs can be provided, but using more accurate inputs is strongly recommended.