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.

[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.

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.