JB, I'm headed for a Cape buffalo hunt in Mozmbique in late July. If the buff hunt is over early I plan to hunt PG. I'm taking either a 7x57 or 284 Win bolt action for the light (2nd) rifle. PG I plan on is bushbuck, warthog, maybe bushpig. I'm thinking of a 139-140 grain .284" bullet. Assuming the rifle handles them similarly, any preference on your part among the 139 Hornady SP, 140 Nosler Partition, 140 Sierra Pro Hunter, other? Any favorite loads you'd recommend in the 7x57 with these bullets? Thanks.

Of the bullets you mention I'd go with the 140 Partition. The piggies are pretty solid animals, and ranges can be close, especially with bushpig.

Thanks I'll give it a try.

Okay so what if he didn't mention any bullets what would you use in your 7x57?

160gr Game King?

Nope, 140gr Nosler Partition

MtnHtr

I would be leaning more towards a 160gr partition if I know MD (which I don't I guess).

Maybe the 160 Partition. I mean, why not? Ranges aren't going to be long, and at any rate I have found 160's to be easy to hit with out to at least 400 anyway.

Actually any of the Partitions would do--140, 150, 160 or 175. The 160 GameKing works fine on the general range of smaller plains game from the 7x57 (at least I have never had any problem with it) but generally bushpig are shot at quite close range after cornering them with dogs. I might want a little extra insurance.

The 140 Partition would work fine on any of them, which is why I recommended it.

Well, since you are taking one of my favorite cartridges (7 x 57) I am partial to 160 gr bullets out of it of late. I killed most of my game with 140 gr Nosler Partition. I have killed some African Game with a 7mm RM with handloaded 175 gr Nosler Partitions. I would not think twice about stuffing a 7 x 57 with those for an Safari.

There is a well known and respected guy, can�t recall who it was :0 , but he advocates 2,700fps as the perfect bullet velocity for big game hunting. No huge need for expensive premium bullets. Meat loss will be at a minimum but trajectory and penetration are all plenty adequate. This seems dead on with my somewhat limited experience hunting as well. Dad hunted with a 280 using the accuracy load (51.5gr IMR4350) in the Nosler manual for 150gr bullets, he used partitions almost exclusively. This load has worked great way out yonder on deer and on an elk mixed in as well. I always told him, �Dad we need to work up another load for your deer rifle, I don�t think your using even close to the potential of the round.� He would never let me. I finally got around to shooting that load across the chrony, it was right at 2675-2700fps. Obviously without even knowing it he agrees with your philosophy as well. So to go one step further why not take the heaviest bullet that can be pushed around 2700fps for the cartridge and there you go the perfect load. Swap bullet type/construction possibly based on game size but keep the weight about the same. Works for me.

Sounds like a gun writer I know!

The older I get,2,700 FPS seems about right.

Well, yeah. Plus 4x or maybe 6x scopes.

As a slightly older friend explained to a (younger) guy when showing him a recent rifle he'd bought that had "only" a 4x scope on it: "It keeps me from doing something stupid."

What about the 160gn Woodleigh. I get them to leave a new custom 7x57 at just on 2700fps and with a bolt mounted aperture (like a Rigby) is good for most situations. Have a QD scope in back-pack if needed.

Von Gruff.

I have not herd any mention of the Barnes TSX,
My 7X57 puts them and nosler balistic tips into teeny tiny little groups , these are 140 grain bullets at about 2850.
Don't think I would use the balistic tip on anything bigger than a mule deer, but that tripple shock should at leat get some consideration ?
...tj3006

TSX bullets shoot very well in my Shilen barreled 7x57, I'm zero'd for 200 meters, shot my first whitey buck and 280 yards and my first mule buck at less than 50 yards, a pair of dead near now on the wall.Both of these animals were of the large sized animals we have here in Alberta, 250 to 300 lb. G

I'd ditto the 140 Partition in the 7x57.I've used it more than a little from the 7/08,7x57,280,and 7RM; and at velocities from 2700 to 3300 fps. Funny thing is that it's one of the very few bullets (along with the 160 Partition)that I have never been able to recover from a game animal.

The TSX and Woodleigh would work as well--as would the 154 Hornady Interlock or Interbond, the 145 or 160 Speer Hot-Cor or Grand Slam, or any number of other bullets. That's the beauty of the 7x57: Moderate velocity allows a lot of bullets to work well.

To tell the truth, though, I have used the 160 TSX and wasn't impressed with how quickly it killed at 7x57 velcoities. I'd probably run the 120 or 140 instead.

For a premium I usually use the 156 Norma Oryx, which shoots great in my rifle and works very much like a Woodleigh, or the old Bitterroot Bonded Core. It won't penetrate as deeply as the TSX or some others, but it penetrates plenty. I have shot wildebeest frontally with it and it worked fine, but also expand widely on smaller animals.

On an Alberta moose I used the 160 North Fork, which also worked fine. He was dead from the first shot but the guide insisted I shoot again because he was close to some thick stuff. I did, and maybe it maybe it made a difference and mabye it didn't. The bull only went 19 yards from where he was first hit. I found the bullets under the hide on the far side.

Actually, I wouldn't hesitate in doing most of my 7x57 hunting with the 150 Ballistic Tip. It is a pretty tough bullet, especially at a typical 7x57 muzzle velocity of 2800 or so.

Bob, I have recovered three 140 Partitions from deer shot with the 7x57--but all were frontal shots, one directly facing me and the other two at an angle. The bullets from the angling shots were found under the hide behind the rib cage, but the one from the facing shot was found in a round steak.

Me, too. I loaded the 140 gr. Partition, mostly the older "machine screw" design, over 47 grs. of IMR 4350 in the 7X57 for many years. Killed stuff from 40 yds to well over 400 yds. Only recovered one bullet. Big desert mulie that took one as he ran away. Entered right behind the rib cage, fully expanded. Stopped in the heart. Odviously hit something on the way to him. He went about 50 yds. and then, very neatly, simply lay down on the trail, upright, and died. Big deer. 100 lbs of cut and wrapped meat w/o the neck.
I've used them in the 7mm Magnum at almost 3300 fps. Same results.
I also used the 160 gr. Partirion at 2680 fps. Did not recover any of those either. Opened very well at well over 400 yds. Very well meaning the wound channel showed that it opened both quickly and fully. Great bullets. E

Here's what I've learned from this topic: if in doubt about which bullet to use, go with a Nosler Partition.

John: The fact that I've never been able to find one is just a curious situation....it just seemed to work out that they have all exited for me,or got so "lost" I could not locate them. In any event they are a great bullet in 7mm.....I'm not reading anything into it as I've found a lot of Partitions in game. The three that elude me are 140 and 160 7MM's,and 200 gr 30's.

The 30 165's show up in elk,but not much else...at least for me

I've only used the Bitterroots in the 280 and 7RM;have no clue what they do at 7x57 velocities,but glad you let me know!I have a bunch of them left to use....

Bob,

I wasn't thinking you were reading anything into it--and I'm not reading anything into my finding 3 140 Partitions, except that every one I found had gone a lot farther than through the front end of the deer where the vital stuff is!

John: We're saying the same thing...they go a long ways


GO CELTS! 3 OT'S

Hey John,

I am interested in the non-plastic tip bonded bullets. Curious why you like the Oryx over the Woodleigh. Both bonded non-partition type bullets. Was there an instance that makes you choose one over the other?

I like the Oryx but the BC is rather low in comparison to the woodleigh (or most any spire points for that matter). Surely that doesn't mean a lot but if I have a choice I'll pick the better BC.

Truer words are rarely spoken.

I have never tried a Woodleigh in the 7x57. Probably they would work just fine, but I just happen to have a good supply of the Oryxes.

Neither the Woodleigh or Oryx has a particularly high BC, but that doesn't matter as far at the ranges I shoot things with the 7x57. In fact you could compare the trajectory of the 160 Sierra GameKing and the 156 Oryx at 400 yards and not see enough difference to make a difference.

I use the 160 partitions, and the 175 gr. Woodleighs and Partitions in my 7x57s along with my favorite deer bullet the 130 gr. Speer..In my 7x57 they all shoot very close to the same POI fortunatly..the 130 is 3" high at 100 yds., the 160 and 175s shoot to the same POI at two inches high at 100 yds...Good gun!

Wow, my 280 Rem loads are doing 2820 fps average. Do I have a magnum ?

I originally started long gun reloading as a speed freak. Always had to have the fastest. I have hunted with a single shot all my days, 1983 to date. Somewhere around 2002 I decided I wanted a bolt gun. Bought me a Ruger All Weather in 280 Remington. It became my primary hunting rig because it was like a trusty old .22, just throw it up, pull the trigger & collect your kill. In fact, it worked so good I never wanted to chrono the commercial loads I used in it. I did about 6 months ago & found them to be doing 2820 average. I have collected over 40 head of game with it and four of those ranged 289, 300, 330 & 389 yards. The 389 yard shot was a running pig. I swung on him like a bird & rolled him like a flat tire. I was shocked at the 280's performance.

I am a 280 Rem man forever. So, I can't disagree with the 2700 fps theory. Look at the 308 Win and how many short barreled guns it has taken game cleanly with. Definitely some truth there.

You got that right. My two longest shots on deer were with rifles chambered to the .308. The first was with a Remington 660 (20" barrel) at 427 paces. (Distance was paced off by three people and averaged.) Game was a Mule Deer. Bullet was a 150 gr. Sierra Pro-hunter, velocity unknown. The year was 1973.

The second was at 250 yards, laser measured, the rifle a Ruger RSI with 18.5" barrel. Bullet was a 165 gr. Speer Hot-Core at 2550 FPS. Deer was taken about 5 years ago as I recall.

The .308 is one of my all time favorite cartridges. However as we're discussing the 7x57, I've used mostly the 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip at 2800 FPS in a Winchester M70 Featherweight. Seems to be a decent load, at least for deer. I got lucky at a recent gun show and score bullets in the 150 to 160 gr. range, some Speers and some Noslers. I haven't had a chance to work up anything with them yet, but I've seen some interesting comments in this thread and will be following it.
Since I trashed my right shoulder in a fall, the hard kickers are not as much fun as they used to be, although I still shoot them every once in a while. Never know when I might get lucky and draw another elk tag. Didn't get one this year.
Paul B.

I do most of my 'normal' hunting with the 7x57 and use the 160 partition and 140 TSX pretty much exclusively. The 2700 fps rule is a pretty good one, at least for larger animals, and gives you enough range for any reasonable distance. I shot quite a bit of plains game up to kudu size with the 160 partition at 2750 fps or so, and they all died fast.

4x and 6x scopes, 2700 FPS? I'll be damn the cream is finally rising to the top in gundome town!

These figures always seemed to work for me..Mostly because 2700/2800 FPS doesn't put a lot of strain on conventional bullets, less expansion gives more penetration, penetration gets in the good stuff and kill'um, and therein lies the "magic". Fact is those velocities make premiums work even premium-errrr ( a good thang )

I love to experiment, and my 7x57 and 257 Robts. have long magazines and long throats and I get 2913 with a 160 Nosler in my 7x57 and H414 powder and I can scare the 275 Robts. and 25-06 to death with my long throated 257, but I don't do that when I go hunting I shoot my hunting loads at the 2700/2800 FPS or even a tad less in some cases..Why? because it works.

I guess I must edit and take issue with Mule Deer who I have a world of respect for, but I don't see why he needs a 6X scope! I'll make that a 3x and 4x! :):):), but would never deny him choice!

Ray,

Evidently your eyesight is better than mine!

Well Well to say that a 140 to 180 gr bullet traveling between 2700 to 2800 fps with a fix 4 or 6 power scope is about perfect, who would have though let along write such a thing. The Mule has it right as usual, the problem with us as hunters and well loons in general, it that if we really admit to this bit of physics, a couple of things would happen, one The Mule would never sell any writing and would have to get a real job, two, they would end up only making one rifle and cartridge scope combo. And the rest would be dealing with the DT's for 10 months out of the year. Or this could be just what old guys need, and people who don't shoot need to shoot accurate enough to kill the deer most of us shoot. I saw 5 of them today around 2:30 after some thundershowers just eating like white tails do this time of year. I am so far gone, it beyond loon stage.

I prefer the 150 gr Barnes TSX BT bullet for anything/everything
I hunt with the 7x57. With a Pac-Nor 22" barrel fitted for the
M70 action, the cartridge does very well with 120-160 gr bullets,
in terms of both accuracy and velocity. But the 150gr TSX is my
solution over a lightweight bullet that gets pushed around a bit
at 300+ distances, and certainly has no difficulty staying together and finding it's way to the vitals, regardless of distances.

We are a 7x57 family, and about 20 years ago switched to 140 grain Nosler Partitions exclusively. Since then, no more lost Deer, which was the issue back then.

I have always been on the heavy end of the bullet choice with the 160gn Woodleigh at 2700fps but have spent some time lately studying on the GS Custom HV bullet and after another talkfest with the supplier will try either the 116 with BC .468 at 3350fps or the 120gn with BC.390 at 3200fps. Will post results when they are to hand.

Von Gruff.

I have a hunting buddy that shoots everything with a 145gr Grand Slam. His 7x57 works very, very well for him on deer and elk.

I just put together some loads for my 7x57. I used 140gr Barnes TTSX (Blue Tips.

I used H414 with CCI Benchrest primers. Load data shows 44.0-46.5 gr for 414 so I loaded 20 of each at 44, 45 and 46gr. Pleasant to shoot. Right at ~2700 Fps, I haven't found the most accurate of the 3 yet. I have some phone books saved and one day I am going to soak them and check penetration at 50, 75 and 100 yards.

I had a smallish deer stop a 175 grain Hornady last week from my early Ruger M77 in 7x57. Deer was quartering toward me and I caught her in the shoulder. Bullet broke the hip and stopped in the opposite side rear leg. Oh, the deer died alright. I was just surprised the bullet didn't exit.

-

How come we don't hear more about the Grand slams or are the hunters who use them just happy and....well, quiet.
I've never used them but the hotcors have long been a favourite of mine in a number of calibres.

I've used them with terrific results in 250gr .338 (in a .338 Win Mag), 145gr and 160gr 7mm (in a 7mm-08 and .284 Win). As mentioned, my buddy uses the 145gr 7mm for everything out of his 7x57...great performance every time.

I think they've gone out of favor since Federal acquired Speer, but I'm not sure why. the bullets just keep on working.

I've used the 130gr bullet out of my 270 with excellent results on deer. Have nothing but good to say about them. Also load 145gr 7mm in a 284 for a buddy and he raves about their performance. It has always seemed like the Grand Slams have flown under the radar for some reason.

Take note of the price difference between Grand Slams and the regular Hot-Cores. Actually even between GSs and Nosler Partitions. IMHO the GS is a way over priced cup core.

The HC though seems like a good option. I may try them out this Fall.

And how many animals have you killed with Grand Slams?

-

That bullet is my favorite , by far, in the 7mm-08 and 7X57.

The Grand Slams have varied considerably in construction since the 1970's when they first came out.

The originals were way too soft, but within a few years they were toughened up and tended to act very much like Nosler Partitions.

Then a few years ago the dual core (rear hard, front soft) was changed to one lead alloy throughout. I suspect it's the same as in the Hot-Cores, but the Grand Slams have a much thicker jacket toward the rear.

Would you view the current Grand Slam as a more streamlined Mag Tip?

Yeah, I would. I suspect the jacket is thicker in the rear than the Mag-Tip's as well, but must confess I haven't sectioned a Mag-Tip to find out (I have sectioned Grand Slams).

My Speer manual says the shank of the Mag Tip is roughly 45% thicker than the same area in the equivalent Hot-Cor bullet.

None, and I never will. Actually there will never be a Grand Slam ever hit my reloading bench because "I" do not think "I" will be getting my moneys worth. I have and still shoot many Speer bullets, just not the GS. I think they are a great bullet manufacture and have good luck with their other products.

The Mag-Tip is another fine hunting bullet. I just wish they were more streamlined. Maybe we could talk Speer into cramming a plastic tip in the mag tip. Maybe they could call it "Plasti-Mag-Tip." Then again, maybe not.

-

I use a 6.5x55 Swede with 140gr. NP. Velocity? 2700!

although I love the 6.5 x 55 I tend to grab my model 70 Featherweight in 7mm Mauser when heading out the door to deer hunt...

must be getting old, but the 154 grain RN and the 175 RN are appealing more and more, since where I am hunting, 150 yds is a long shot..

40 grains of IMR 3031 and the 175 RN is supposed to have an MV of 2400 fps... however my chronograph consistently thinks it is doing 2650 fps MV instead...

guess my chronograph is calibrated by our local police dept...
you know, the ones that write you up for doing 50 in a 35 mph zone, even tho your speedometer read 35 mph at the time...

I bought a thousand Nosler 150 gn partition seconds 12 years ago 46 gn of h4350 and 3/4 inch groups, great load for pigs. Very good calibre.

I haven't read all the posts, but I'm wondering if some of your 7x57's have the same problem as my Ruger 77 ts. That is it will not group anything under the 154 Hornady in bullet weight. The 154 and 160 grs are reliable and and accurate. I have loaded many loads and seating depths and different 140's and I cannot get any consistency with them. I know it's not the end of the world, because the heavier bullets work perfectly, but it irritates me that the 140's will not.

luke, dude, relax! There is nothing you can kill with a 7x57 that isn't killed deader with a 160 grain bullet than with a 140 grainer.

[What did he say?]

Abominably dead.

In my 7x57's, I use either Norma factory ammo (the 150 or 154 gr. bullets), or handloads with 150 gr. Partitions. Husqvarna 7x57's seem to be particular about bullet weight. The same rifle that shoots sub-MOA with 150's will keyhole 175's.

When Eleanor O'Connor considered her 7x57 too small for the task, she stepped up to her big rifle, a .30/06 which she shot up to elephant using 220gn Hornady solids.

Theres your answer Steve, get a .30/06 for back up and stay with your 7x57 for the other 99%.

Mule deer,
Your post to me "your eyesight is better than mine"..Nope, my math tells me your deer are 2 times bigger than mine..that has to be a plus!

Size matters?

Indubitably sir. Which is why you should all try a classic load of 175gr bullets in your 7x57 at some point in time. Me and a friend loaded some 175gr Hornady spire points in a Brazilian Mauser with a case full (I cannot remember the load)of IMR 4831. I believe it was doing around 2350fps out of that 28" barrel, and it smashed the 500m rams at the range with incredible authority. Laid them down like Goliath. I think that the idea of 2700fps and a 150-175gr bullet is perfect for 95% of all our hunting needs. The other 5% is longer rage and bigger animals.