Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7x57 Mule Deer loads

Bugger,

The only problems I've seen with Sierras have been when they were driven too fast and then used at short range.

Most cup-and-cores or any type work best when driven no faster than about 2800 fps at the muzzle, and 2700 with a heavier bullet is usually better, because the bullet will retain more velocity at longer ranges so still expand, yet not have as much tendency to come apart up close. Have shot many animals with the 160 Sierra GameKing from the 7x57 at around 2650-2700 and never had a problem from 100 yards to almost 400.

Have seen the 130 Sierra .270 GameKing come apart a few times when driven at 3000 fps or more on closer game, though it usually works fine from 200 yards out. In general, if I want 3000 fps out of a cup-and-core and might shoot something under 150-200 yards, the Hornady Interlock is the choice.

When I used the 105 Speer Hot-Cor in the .243 the muzzle velocity was around 2800 fps, and only one bullet came apart--but the core still penetrated and killed the deer. When I used the 140 Speer Hot-Cor in the .264 Winchester the muzzle velocity was around 3200, but I only used it for deer in open country, minimum range about 200 yards, and the result was always a wound channel and exit of about 1".

Have only seen one softpoint cup-and-core not expand (or at least not expand much), a 120-grain Nosler Solid Base from a .257 Roberts at about 2850 fps. Shot a big mule deer buck in the lungs broadside, just behind the shoulder, and he went 200 yards before falling. The hole through the lungs was very small, as was the exit. In fact only found one tiny drop of blood, right where he was shot.

But anything is possible, and you never know when some bullet company tweaks the design, or somebody on the assembly uses the wrong lead alloy for the cores, or does something else to screw up some bullets. But those are the exceptions and not the rule.

160 Partition has been known to kill something now and then.




So has the 160 Accubond.




"Very powerful gun. Shoot very fast. Hit very hard."
Moses (in pic above) after seeing the 7x57 in action.

Gotta try me some more partitions. Most reports sound like they always expand and always penetrate. What more could one ask of a bullet? I usually go for the heavier cup-n-core bullets to get this kind of performance, but at the expense of trajectory. Sounds like the 160gr 7mm partition is a do-all in the 7x57. Who can argue with Moses?

Yeah, and even the lighter Partitions penetrate pretty well from the 7x57. Maybe a dozen years ago I got up on an eating-sized mule deer buck in lodgepole timber, and shot him at 30 yards as he faced me, right at the dimple in the bottom of the neck. He collapsed, and while field-dressing I traced the bullet's path through the diaphragm, but lost it past that. Figured I'd left it on the ground in the gutpile, but about a year later bit into one of his round steaks and thought I'd found a chunk of bone. Instead it was a 140-grain Nosler Partition, perfectly expanded! Don't know whether it was me or Eileen who cut the steak while butchering, but must have sliced perfectly on either side of the bullet.

Killed one of my two biggest-bodied mule deer bucks with a 160 at about 275 yards up in Alberta about 5 years ago. He was angling somewhat toward me, so I put it in the shoulder and we recovered it from under the hide toward the rear of the ribs, retaining 90% of its weight. That was one big buck: We got 130 pounds of boned meat off him, and the normal ratio is three times the boned meat just about equals live weight.

So,if my math is right,that mule deer weighed 390 lbs alive,correct?

Somewhere around there. Killed another one about the same size in the high country along the Rocky Mountain Front here in Montana in 1993, also using the 160 Partition, but used a really big cartridge--the .280 Remington.

All of this 7x57 talk has certainly caught my interest.

I have an FN-made Brazilian Model 1922 (98 Mauser) in its original miltary "carbine" configuration (18.5-inch barrel) and original stock. Last year, after many years of using iron sights with it (and due to the unavoidable effects of aging), I had the receiver drilled and mounted a 1.5-5x scope. At the same time, I had the bolt handle replaced to clear the scope. I ended up replacing the trigger with a Bold, too. The end result looks cool, is incredibly handy, and comes up to my shoulder surprisingly fast, and on target.

Over the years, I've settled on two loads for paper punching: 175-grain Hornady RN pushed by 49 grains of a surplus equivalent of the ancient H450; and 139-grain Hornady SP pushed by 50 grains of IMR 4350. Despite the long throat, the 139-grain load hovers around 1 to 1.5 m.o.a and about 2,670 f.p.s.; and the 175-grain load is giving me a solid 2,450 over the chronograph, and it averages in the 1.5 to 2 m.o.a range.

I call it my version of the .30-30 because it is a short, handy, close-range rifle.

I have never taken any animal with a 7mm bullet before (because I normally use one of my .300 Win Mags or .30-06s). Hopefully, that will change soon.

I have been told by many people that the 175-grain Hornady RN is a good all around bullet for close range shooting of animals from deer to moose, so this is the load I will use for hunting. I have also been told to be careful with the 139-grain bullet because it "blows up like a Ballistic Tip". I'm curious about what some of the experienced 7x57 users think about these bullets.

In closing, I don't need to use this rifle necessarily as my "all around rifle" -- I'll keep my Remington 700 Stainless Mountain Rifle in .30-06 for that purpose. Instead, I want to use this rifle for closer range hunting. This is not to say that the rifle is no good at longer ranges -- last week I put three shots with my 175-grain RN load into a 4-inch long horizontal "waterline" group at 300 yards, in a shifting wind, using the tip of the bottom Duplex post as an aiming point. (I will readily concede that there must be some element of fluke in this.) I just like the idea of something short and handy for the dense forests of British Columbia.

Ballistic Tips don't blow up and certainly not at 7x57 velocities.

Dang,the ones I shot down here are,maybe 150 lbs +/-.

Surprised you didn't blow the deer to pieces with such "really big cartridge."

P17,

Aside from seconding what Son of the Gael said about 140 Ballistic Tips in the 7x57, I have shot a bunch of big game with the 139-grain Hornady Spire point from both the 7x57 and .280 Remington, ranging in size from pronghorns and doe deer to bull caribou and eating-size elk. Have never seen one "blow up", and the very few that didn't exit were perfectly mushroomed.

Any love for the 154 Hornady in a 7x57?

Nothing.

Partitions do it all the time,and it doesn't matter if they are 25's or 375's. You get the same thing, time after time.....expansion and penetration.

They are among the most boring BG bullets I have tried.

Yeah, it works too!

It's actually hard to find a bullet that doesn't work in the 7x57, because the velocity isn't tough on jackets and cores, even on close-range shots.

I did have a factory Prvi 139 C&C go to pieces on a really small boar. There's a picture of it on the "Corn Eaters of Florida" thread in the Big Game forum. I was really surprised.

Mule Deer

I also noticed a lack of reloading data for the 7x57 in Ramshot's website so I asked them. This is their reply:

Hi Patrick,



Big Game is the best choice and I have listed some guidelines for you to use:



Caliber: 7x57 Mauser.

Barrel length: 24�

Pressure spec: <56565 Psi/3900 Bar (CIP) original



Powder: Ramshot � BIG GAME�.

Bullet weight: 100-110 grains.

Start load: 47.7 grains (2975 - 3075 Fps)

Maximum load: 53.0 grains (3275 � 3375 Fps).

Bullet weight: 120 grains.

Start load: 45.0 grains (2700 - 2800 Fps)

Maximum load: 50.0 grains (3000 � 3100 Fps).

Bullet weight: 130 grains.

Start load: 43.7 grains (2575 - 2675 Fps)

Maximum load: 48.5 grains (2875 � 2975 Fps)

Bullet weight: 139/140 grains.

Start load: 42.0 grains (ca 2550 Fps)

Maximum load: 47.0 grains (ca 2900 Fps)

Bullet weight: 150-154 grains.

Start load: 40.8 grains (ca 2450 Fps)

Maximum load: 46.0 grains (ca 2800 Fps).

Bullet weight: 160 grains.

Start load: 40.5 grains (2350 � 2450 Fps)

Maximum load: 45.0 grains (2600 � 2700 Fps).

Bullet weight: 175 grains.

Start load: 39.6 grains (2300 � 2400 Fps)

Maximum load: 44.0 grains (2500 � 2600 Fps).

Moby1,

Thanks.

I tried Ramshot's 7mm-08 data in my 21" barreled 7x57 (which has a throat on the short side), and with 48.5 grains of Big Game and the 139-grain Hornady Spire Point Interlock got 2875 fps and excellent accuracy, with apparently mild pressure.

Also tried 48 grains of Hunter with the 160 Sierra GameKing and got around 2675 fps and good accuracy, which is just about exactly what I get with 46.0 grains of H4350. Again, pressure is apparently mild.

In both loads the primer was the CCI 250. A different primer and throat length would make some difference.

Yes. Yes there is. I started shooting the 154 in a couple of my 7x57s a couple years ago, and they kill deer just fine. IME the 175 tends to blow bigger holes and not stop in the animal, but the 154 does work. I load them over 44gr of H4350. Some rifles can handle a bit more powder than that because of the variability of rifles chambered for 7x57, but it works in my bolt rifles. Still use 175s in the drilling.

Just came back from the prairie myself from checking the zero on my worn out Ruger 77 7x57,(1974 Manufact.) The 160 gr Noslers will be ready next month to try to fill the freezer. Nothing spectacular to mention just normal 1" groups and 2650fps, plenty of each to kill what needs killing.....

Anyone using any Ballistic Silvertips?

The most accurate hunting bullet in my 7x57 is the 140 gr Ballistic Tip. I believe that is the same bullet without the black coating. My load is 48.5 grs. of H-4350 at c. 2800 fps.