Originally Posted by RevMike
Originally Posted by roundoak
Originally Posted by Seafire
had two of those Rugers...

both shot like crap...

until I tried ONE load and it turned out to be the sweet spot for those Rugers....
with any bullet weight from 139 grains to 175...

40 grains of IMr 3031... got it out of an older Hornady Manual...

have passed it on to others on the Net, that have had the same rifle with the same problems.... and it solved most of their accuracy issues also....

I shoot everything from 100 grainers to 175 grainers in mine...most common deer load is 140 grain ballistic tips...
got a ton of them for cheap years ago at Nosler's shooters pro shop...

If I had to go generic.... Hornady 139 SP, or 154 SP....or Remington 140 gr Corelokt.


My Ruger 77 shoots respectable groups with various combinations of powder and bullets, but I was curious about Seafire's load recommendation and looked in my oldest Hornady Manual circa 1967 to see what he was talking about.

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Suffice to say, I saw group improvement on all bullet weights 120 grain to 175, except 160 grain Nosler Partition.

I would post up targets but, Shrapnel said "targets are for losers". laugh


Now why the heck doesn't Hornady still print that data? In some cases it's about 200 fps faster than in their current book.




Funny how loads change and disappear/reappear in various generations of reloading manuals. I decided to look back at the manuals I have on hand to see what I could find on IMR3031.
Neither Nosler #1 or #7 list any loads for IMR3031
Hodgen Powder #27 lists just a single charge..max?? 38grs with EITHER a 145 or 160gr bullet and velocity of 2430fps...SAME FOR BOTH
Sierra #2 with 140gr bullet 35.6 for 2400fps 40.1 for 2700fps then for 170gr bullet 32gr for 2200fps or 38.8 for 2500fps.
Hornady 1967 Hornady Handbook 139gr bullet 37.2gr for 2500fps 41.7gr for 2800fps 175gr bullet 35.3gr 2200fps 40.1gr 2500fps Hornady #3 manual 139gr bullet 40.2gr 2500fps 44.3gr 2800fps (quite a change from above) 175gr 36.8gr 2200fps 40gr 2400fps (also different)
Hornady #9 no mention of IMR3031 for 7x57
Speer #13 and #9 no mention of IMR3031 for 7x57
Speer # 3 and #6 lists identical loads with 145gr bullet 36gr for 2514fps 40gr 2695fps with 160gr bullet 35gr 2392fps 39gr 2596fps

I like perusing the older reloading books but always proceed with caution as data is sometimes all over the place. FWIW
Thanks again for all the replies above.