Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Looking for advice on 7x57 deer bullet from what i have on hand

My sons first rifle is a Ruger 77 in 7x57. I free floated barrel and bedded action into stock and now got it to shoot pretty good without the flyers I was getting before bedding. It shoots 5 shot groups now, of 1.5in or so if I do my part, which before bedding it would be some shots touching and another 3in away, sometimes 1st shot sometimes 3rd shot, but I digress. He's tired of me playing with it and wants it back. He moved to North Dakota and this will be his "deer rifle". So before I see him next, I wanted to work up a good load for him for deer. I kinda settled on 140gr bullets as a comprimise between velocity and weight.
Bullets on hand are: Nosler 140gr Partions, Sierra Pro-Hunter 140gr flat base spitzers, and Speer 145gr Hot-Cor flat base spitzers.
For me its a no-brainer to just go with the Partitions....but as I do final load development and find the Speers for example shoot really well I may want to send him those.
So...looking for real world experience of these bullets on deer sized game. Shoot thrus, no expansion, etc.
Velocity probably around 2700 fps.
Powders I been using are: IMR4895, H414, and RE19, but I did just get a pound of IMR4451 Enduran to try, thinking temp insensitivity in North Dakota might be a good thing.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You are over analyzing things pick one it's a deer
Hint Partitions are never a bad call

Yep, a bullet in the ribs is more important than which bullet is hitting the ribs.

Partition is always good but I've killed several deer with the 145 Speers and never been disappointed with them.

Your both right. I guess I overthink when it comes to my son, and I want him to do well. I suppose I wont find much accuracy difference between them. Ive always liked "old style" bullets as above rather than the newer "designer" bullets. Probably go with Partitions.

Pick one work up a load and he will be good to go

Try the Partitions first. If they shoot well you're done.



P

Not a gun writer but when I started hunting with 7/57 I used the 140 gr partition. It never failed but once I mistakenly used a solid base and it killed so well that I switched to Hornady 139 gr interlocks.(Solid bases had gone away) They worked perfectly too. At 2700 FPS you can feel safe that any of the mentioned bullets will work and work well. I would feel totally comfortable with the Speer 145.

I would try the Sierras first. If you find a good load for them (and in my experience you will) then the Partitions will probably shoot well with the same load, and probably to the same place. Then he can sight-in and practice with the Sierras, and use whichever bullet seems most appropriate for whatever game he's hunting.

The Speers might even shoot to the same place, with a little experimentation with the powder charge. All three bullets will easily kill deer, but in my experience the Partitions will exit more often, but that doesn't mean they'll kill any better. The Sierras may end up being the most accurate, but probably not enough to make any difference in killing big game.

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.

In my experience with several Ruger 77's in 7x57, whether or not they shot well depended on the individual barrel, and whether or not the chambers had the really long throats Ruger somehow felt compelled to put in 7x57's for a while.

The load I found shot best in one of those long-throated 7x57's was the 130 Speer Hot-Cor and, as I recall, IMR4064. But even the least accurate of those rifles shot minute-of-deer with more than one load. Or at least it did for typical deer hunting, but I haven't yet encountered a long-range hunter who picked a Ruger 77 7x57 to shoot deer beyond 600 yards. Though do know one who uses a Ruger 77 7mm Remington Magnum to kill elk beyond 600.

Partitions are never a poor choice regardless of the application.

Nosler makes three great 140 grain .284" diameter bullets, the AccuBond (AB), Ballistic Tip (BT), and Partition. If either you or he feel the need for more speed, the 120 grain BT has a good reputation and you could probably get another 200+/- fps, if 200+/- additional fps would make a meaningful difference.

Speers are tough bullets....an excellent choice.

Doc

In the 7x57 the 140 grain Nosler Partition and RL19 have worked very well for me. A good 8 point whitetail fell with a single shot this past season with that combination.

Thanks for all the input. I'm sure I can work up a good load for my son. Nice to hear good results with the Speers. I find Sierras can be very accurate, my 257 Bob shoots Sierra 100grs lights out fantastic. But, as stated above, If one bullet or another cuts group from 1.5in to 1 in. it really dont mean much on a deer. I think a long shot for him would be 200yds.
Anyone tried the Environ powder in a 7x57 yet? Looking forward to trying that one.

You can't make a bad choice so don't lose any sleep over your decision. Sierras have long been my favorite deer bullet so I'd probably go with the Pro Hunters, but like many others have said, Partitions are never a bad choice. Test all and go with whichever shoots the best in that Ruger. Good luck.

I guess my choices would be the Partition first, the Speer second (Somewhat tongue in cheek as I've never shot that bullet. Have used 165 gr. Speer Hot Cores in the .308 though with excellent results) The Sierra would be an extremely close third place. Would almost consider it a tie.
I'm currently trying to work up an elk load in a Winchester M70 Featherweight in 7x57 and it is very accurate with the 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic tip. Mine are the early version that were quite fragile. I understand the newer ones are tougher.
I once owned a Ruger M77 in 7x57. Never could get any bullets under 160 gr. to shoot worth a damn. From 160 up though it was very accurate. I sold it to a friend who wanted it. It was the tang safety version with the red pad. I understand the later version with the black pads are not throated so deeply. My Ruger #1 with red pad had a Wilson barrel with a long, way too long throat and I sent it back to Ruger who replaced the barrel. Good shooter now. Shoots decently with 140 to 150 gr, bullets but is still more accurate with the heavier bullets. I only mention this because I don't know which model of the M77 you have, the tang safety or the MkII.
Paul B.

I sure killed a bunch of caribou for a few years with 100 grain Pro-Hunters in my 6mm; very good bullets. The 85 Partition in the same rifle probably dropped them a bit quicker and from more variety of angles. I also used the 139 Interlock in a 7mm-08 so am familiar with what that weight does in a similar cartridge. I don't think you have any good excuses for failing among your choices.

Before ammo prices skyrocketed I bought a bunch of inexpensive S&B 7X57 with the 173 grain "soft point cut edge" which was the strangest bullet shape I had ever seen. They are the most deadly bullet I have ever used on deer and accurate too in my Ruger M77 tanger.

I have killed whitetails with my 7x57s using Hornady 139 gr.,speer 130 gr.,hornady 154gr., and sierra 160 gr. bullets.All died in short order.Pick any one of the bullets mentioned by the op and go kill your deer!

Partitions would be my last choice for a 2700 fps caliber, primarily because of cost. Better to use one of the other choices and be able to shoot the rifle a lot. That said, I would keep some partitions loaded up and know where they impact for the occasions that called for maximum penetration potential.

I vote for the 145 Hot Core. I've had a very long and very satisfactory relationship with that bullet ( can one have a "relationship " with a bullet??)

But as everyone has pointed out, at you velocity, any of them will work fine.

Nick -

At 7X57 vel I'd also think MOST bullets would perform okay for deer hunting.

However my first choice would be Hornady 139s. I use them EVEN in my 7mm R Mag and so far I haven't any bullet failures at mag vel.

Good Luck

Jerry

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.





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".

You gotta admit, it keeps component costs to a minimum.

Out of the bunch the 140 Sierra possibly works the best, I have been shooting 140 TTSX's in mine for a few years.

As asked above, the 7x57 is an old model tang safety red pad.
After some tinkering and juggling components I found a good one.
40gr of IMR4895 and the 145gr Speer Hot-Cor
3 shots at 100yds about 3/4"
gonna try and post pic....

Gongrats. Looks like you're done!

My Ruger 77 in 7x57 does pretty decent with 140gr. partitions and around 49.5 grs. of H414. Right at 2800 fps as I recall . Hope this helps with the components you listed.

There are no problems with how it's shooting those Speer's... I've never caught one of the 145's in a whitetail and have used them quite a bit in 7x57's.

Yeah I'm happy. Being the "reloading loony" that I am, I may try the 2 other bullets with the above powder. Probably should just leave it alone though.

I had excellent results with the Sierra 140g pro hunters in a .280 for deer and antelope. They worked fine even at about 2900fps so I can't imagine they wouldn't work well in the 7x57.

Though not 7mm, I've killed numerous deer with the HotCor flat bases, and they've done well. I like the bullets for moderate-speed rifles.

The Partition is never a mistake.

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.

+1

I've had great results from the Speer 145 BTSP in my 280 AI and I'm sure you'll get even better at the slower speeds of the 7x57.

NPT is never a bad option, but I hold those for bigger game than whitetails personally.