Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7mm Rem and the Berger VLD -- what gives?

Kique,

I corresponded with John Burns recently about 7mm Magnum loads. He quoted the same load to me, and was with BOTW a few years ago. But he also made sure to point out that his 7mm RM's (Greybull) have longer throats than factory standard, so can take a little more powder.

That noted, Retumbo is a fine powder with heavier bullets in the 7mm Remington Magnum, despite what QL may indicate.

You misunderstood my last post. I'm not advocating operating with pressure signs; on the contrary, I was lamenting that I'd ultimately have to step down from this load if a change in components or seating depth didn't cause the signs to go away. Maybe I wasn't clear.

If you look at the original post, this was an experiment in seating depth, and only at 0.010" off the lands did I have light ejector marks. At all other seating depths, they went away. Whether or not a change in primers would cause the marks to go away remains to be seen.

I could really care less about the velocity. I'm after accuracy. It just so happens that the VLD is shooting best right off the lands, and this is where pressure, naturally, is going to be highest. Life sucks...really no surprises here, I guess.

You really need to chronograph the loads you are using. That will clear up a lot of speculation regarding pressure.

Sooty necks and ejector marks could be high pressure that built slowly, or it could be FL sized brass imprinting a boltface. Or it could just be a boltface that isn't square with the chamber.

It's your best indicator that you're getting near max. Safe pressures. Especially valuable with pressure signs.

Im thinkin' youre running about 3k.

i like 7828 ssc, i am running 66.5 grains in once fired weight sorted cases, 3023 ave for 40 rounds, SD of 12, will shoot .5 moa out to 800 yds or so, kreiger #4 contour 26in long,,,,i tried retumbo and h1000, never got the accuracy and only a little more speed,, i know i weigh all cases, +or- 1 grain is one lot, heavier is a lot, lighter is a lot, out of a bag of 50 wincehster brass i get around 30 that are close to the same,,i adjust my loads to 3025fps or so with each lot of brass, if i get to 2950 or so my gun does not group as well, about 1.2 MOA,

What I was trying to say in the post from which this excerpt was taken is that I'm not loading the 7mm for max velocity; accuracy is what matters most to me. I acknowledge the utility of velocity readings as one approaches pressure limits.

The TOP said it all! I always shoot my loads using at least one Chrony and many times I use 2 of them just for the record.

My first move would be a different powder or a different primer if your stuck on Retumbo. Powder change usually makes the largest impact, but I have seen primer swaps bring things together as well. My first move would be to grab two more powders, r22 and IMR7828 would be high on the list.

The 162AMAX shoots outstanding in my SFII 7RM over just about any powder/primer/brass combo you throw at it. It's done so-so with 140VLDs thus far(.5-.6moa). Just bought a box of the 168VLDs to try, but they'll have to really shine to beat the 162AMAX.

Good Luck

loder