Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Shot of a lifetime - 7mm Magnum Bullet

My friend has nearly 22 preference points for Big Horn Sheep. He is currently building a new custom rifle in 7mm magnum, and is a very experienced hunter. The twist rate of his new rifle is 8.5".

I am on a mission to determine what bullet choices he should consider, should he get drawn in the next few years.

Items to consider.
He is comfortable shooting up to 450yds-500yds
Wind
Elevation
Drop animal in his tracks
Cape damage
Proven

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Sakohunter264;
Good evening to you sir, hopefully this finds you well and you're as ready for Christmas as you'd hoped to be by now.

Rather than suggest a specific bullet, I'll just say that in my personal experience hunting sheep locally and in talking to many successful resident sheep hunters, a whole lot of rams get shot at 100 yards or less.

When I found a legal California Bighorn ram on the mountain behind our house, it was by chasing them in the timber where we hunted whitetails later in fall and the shot was close and fast.

Again my personal experience is limited to a single ram, but in talking to folks there seems to be consensus that sheep aren't that hard to kill - very similar to a mulie or whitetail buck - certainly less "tough" than a mountain goat.

Cape damage can be pretty graphic and still made to disappear by a decent taxidermist and for me wouldn't even be on the radar.

I'd choose the bullet combination that the particular rifle I was going to carry liked the best - and the rifle would be one that I can shoot quickly and efficiently under pressure with.

Lastly, the complaint I've heard the most often from local sheep guides regarding their hunters is that they can't shoot quickly from field positions.

Anyway sir, hopefully that information was somewhat useful to you or someone out there tonight. Good luck to your friend on his sheep hunt and all the best to you this Christmas season.

Dwayne

Ny basic inquiry would be, WHY would anyone want a 1-8 1/2 twist in a 7mag?? that would seem to be for use with a 175 gr or so bullet. Might stabilize lighter ones, but why go for the long heavy bullets when not needed on Sheep. Also, though could just be personal preference, why a 7Mag? why not a 280 Rem or O'Connor's 270. He killed a number of sheep with that round. Warren Page used an (essentially) 7mmRem mag, and one load, with the 175gr bullet. But he was an experienced hunter, so using a perhaps slightly overweight bullet not a big disadvantage (Warren killed over 400 head of game with his rifle, so knew it well). Seems to me some people start looking at a project, and then don't get all the information they need on what will be needed. Like Dwayne noted, a whole lot of sheep shot under 100 yds. So why not a 280 or 06?

Whatever shoots best in his rifle. A few I'd look at are 160gr accubonds, 168gr vld, and 145lrx if he wants copper.

The twist is for long Bullets. My 7mm rem mag with a 1-9" Starts shooting well at 175gr. The Sierra SPBT Game King Is What I found it likes. Sheep Here are in Areas with lots of wind. Long Heavy Bullets Are not a bad thing. My Odds of drawing a Sheep tag are microscopic, But I do hunt Elk Exactly where Sheep live. Last year I watched a 5x5 Bull with no way to sneak into shooting range. I would hate to be sitting on a rim looking at a nice ram, Holding a rifle that could not make a 450yrd shot in a swirling 15mph wind. If I was holding the 7mm with 2900fps 175gr Sierra. I would Kill the sheep with out much self doubt of making the shot.

Why not a 7mm? I'd also twist it similar.I'd like twist for mono's and heavies. Sounds pretty well thought out to me, except having to ask what bullet.

With that twist I'm betting he had heavies in mind. I'd roll with 180 bergers or Scenar-L's. I use the 180 Scenars in my 7.

A Nosler Partition would be my first choice, because I don't think there is a bullet that would be more likely to work at all ranges with all kinds of shot placements (through shoulders, behind the shoulder, raking shot, Texas heart shot).
Bullet would be my last worry or close to it. I'd want a rifle the was DEPENDABLE in all kinds of weather, a bomb proof scope and mounts and I'd spend a few hundred rounds shooting ground squirrels with it. About 7 1/2 pounds would be the right weight, light enough to carry up the mountain but heavy enough to settle down when you are winded.
The three places I have hunted sheep (ewe tags) are also places I hunt mule deer and what works on one will work on the other.

My Remington KS likes the 140 TSX over 66 gr RL-19 3036 fps IIRC. That bullet is fantastic.

Thats not the question he asked.

Take your rants elsewhere azzhat

To the OP:

160 Accubond is about as good of a 7mm bullet that has ever been made for general purpose hunting

If he wants a bonded type bullet the 175LRAB would be a good choice as well.

Not that the 175-180's are needed for 500 yards, but they have great terminal performance along with their great flight characteristics.

I'm also a fan of the 145 LRX.

I adopted the philosophy a long time ago that every shot at a BG animal is the shot of a lifetime because once you pull the trigger, you can never call the shot back. So I don't treat a hard to draw tag any different from a whitetail in the back 40.

Plus I don't like over thinking these things....gives you heartburn and keeps you awake at night.

If I did not plan on shooting any further than 600 yards (that's it for me) my choice in the 7 Rem mag would be a 160 gr Partition in 7mm....on that sized game if I plant it on the shoulder I know he's going to fold like a rag doll and the cape will be in good shape....and if he presents something of a long angling shot the bullet will make it to the boiler room. Few things are as predictable, and reliable when it comes to killing.

A pal who used to post here has taken all species of North American game three times...that's three Grand Slams of sheep so he has more experience on lifetime shots than most of us could imagine.All this was done with Nosler Partitions and Bitterroot bonded cores.

He seems to be working on round #4 and has been doing it the last 4 years with a 7mm Mashburn and 175 gr TBBC,including a record book desert ram in Sonora last January. I'd grab the Partition myself out of long familiarity. A guy should shoot what he knows and has confidence in.

I certainly would not be experimenting. Once in a lifetime shots occur....uh....once in a lifetime.

Load them up and go with the most accurate.

My vote is for the 160 gr. Nosler partition as Bobin suggested. I've also had good luck with the Hornady 162gr. BTSP interlock..

Thank you everybody. Please keep the comments coming, the 160gr partition secretly was at the top of my list however IF by some strange chance they don't shoot well out of his rifle we need a plan B,C,and,E. In addition my experience, which is 15 years of reloading, the partitions sometimes aren't as accurate as some bullets at 200-300yds. I really like the idea of a well constructed boat tail bullet, vs. flat base but maybe my thinking is totally wrong.

A little more about the rifle:
Darcy Echols Stock: Edge Fill
Winchester G stainless Action CRF
Custom Aluminum bottom metal
1-8.5" Twist #2 benchmark Barell
Timney Trigger
Cerekoted Matte Black
Swarovski 3-10 Z3 scope
Talley lightweight lapped rings

Sako what happened to the original trigger (grin)?

Only kidding.

Anyway as far as Partitions not shooting is concerned we know they shoot in some rifles. I have never seen them NOT shoot in a good custom barrel.I have noticed they like to be seated straight meaning I've seen a problem load go from mediocre to very good if runout was kept low.

The other thing is I have seen them start to shoot as "top end" for the cartridge was approached,and often you can watch this happen on the target.

That said a combination I have liked the past few years in the 7 Rem Mag has been the 150 gr NPT and the 150 BT. Pushed to about 3150 both bullets have shown very good accuracy and in my rifles POI has been the same to 500 yards where the BT will hit very slightly higher (maybe the width of my hand).

Obviously the 160 AB would be another great choice.

Personally I'd use the Fed215 primers. Powders are 7828, H4831,and RL25. Have not tried the new RL powders designed to be less ten sensitive.

140 grain TTSX will git r done with ease. The 8.5 twist is good

I have a Grand Slam, a free-range aoudad, and a mountain goat on my wall.

I took the Stone with one shot at 200+ yds with the 7mmRM and the 140 NPT. Same with the aoudad, at 180 yds. The goat was taken at a bit over 100 yards with the 160 NPT.

Sheep are not difficult to kill; I'd say that most are born looking for a place to die. Caribou too. I took my Rocky Mnt ram with a 140 NBT from a .284 ULA, the dall with a 150 NPT from a .30-06, and the desert with a 120 NPT from a .25-06.

To be perfectly honest, all the above bullets worked just fine. I'd let your rifle choose its favorite bullet. Then go hunting.

Brain Leitz dominated his first F-TR match with a 9 twist 308 win

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...ever-f-tr-match-with-pierce-built-rifle/

Nothing wrong with the twist choice of 8.5.

Sounds like he'll probably just pick the bullet he likes as that rifle if it is screwed together decently should shoot everything pretty well.

Good luck, I'd be all over a 160 AB or PT. Hard to go wrong with them in a fast 7.