Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles IMR 7977 test

I had a chance to test some imr 7977 today in my 300 weatherby.

Was using weatherby brass, fed 215s and the barnes 175gr lrx bullet.

82.7gr
2958fps, 2956, 2955

83.4gr
2977, 2977, 2980

84.1gr
2998, 2997, 2999

84.8gr
3014, 3014, 3017

85.5gr
3036, 3037, 3034

86.2gr
3083, 3081, 3084

Going to load up a few more in .7gr increases and see where that goes.

Sure is consistent. All groups measured .75-1".

Seems to be just about exactly what Hodgdon's data lists with 180 Speer BTSP's.

I looked this new powder up this morning on the IMR online data after seeing an ad in RMEF mag. It seemed to mirror H1000 in my log book. Might be a good alternative to H1000 if you can find it.

I mentioned that already in another thread--and that 7977 is very available.

So far in my use 7977 has been very slightly faster than H1000. Or I should say the lot I have of 7977 is very slightly faster than the lot I have of H1000.

Shot some loads with both through a .257 Weatherby the other day and the difference was about a grain of powder with both 100 and 115-grain bullets.

John, have you tried it in the 270 Win? Hodgdon's data shows excellent speeds with bullets from around 140 gr to 160's. As soon as some IMR 7977 and IMR 4451 come up for sale locally I'm really looking forward to trying both. The new IMR powders appear to be really good powders, if fact all 3 of the new ones would cover everything we own right now.

I've tried it with 150's in the .270, and it works great.

Accoridng to Hodgdon's data 4451 would be better--or at least faster--with 130's but I haven't tried it yet. Have tried 4451 in a few combinations where H4350 usually works well, such as 165-grain bullets in the .30-06, and it's been fine in all.

Have played around with 4166 in several cartridges and it works great as well, especially in the .308.

I'm just starting with 4166 in the 250 Savage. It may be a winner.

I shoot a 700 Classic and I duplicated Hodgdon's start and max loads with a 90 grain Sierra. The top load gave right at 3000 fps with no pressure signs to speak of. The Rem 9 1/2 primers looked unfired other than the firing pin dimple. Extraction was so easy it felt like I was working the bolt on an empty chamber.

Thanks, I can't wait to try them. Magnum has worked well with the 160 gr Partition in particular as looks to be promising with 140 gr Ballistic Tips and Accubonds. I have high hopes for 7977 with that range of 140-160 gr bullets.

The 4451 will work great with my 260 and my wife's 6.5x55 and a 308 Norma Mag that will arrive this year.

I tested 7977 in the Sako 25-06 22" barrel shooting 115 BT's

Burning 59.0 for 3,200 mv it printed a .5 group.

Very pleased to say the least!

I've been looking for some 7977 to launch 150 out of the 721 I just put a new 270 barrel on. Any hints as to your speed, accuracy, or loads with it, MD?

I tested it in my 22" barreled M70 Featherweight Classic, the Jack O'Connor Commemorative model, which shoots really well. Got about the same accuracy and velocity as with H4831SC, around 2900 from a 22" barrel.

The only problem I found with 7977 was running out of powder space, as it's slower than H4831SC. But the velocity is still plenty for anything I'd shoot with the .270, which is all but the big dangerous game in North American and Africa.

Thanks...I have H4831 on hand but thought that I'd try 7977 as they claim it to be faster. So you're saying it's not much better? Hodgdon's data claims about 130fps more with 7977 vs. H4831 if I recall correctly

Did a quick continuation of my 7797 test this morning. First test was overcast and virgin brass. Round 2 today was sunny and 1F brass from round 1.

86.2
3109 3107 3108

86.9
3148 3144 3147

87.6
3165 3165 3163

86.2 shot just under 1", like in round 1. 86.9 shot .86" and 87.6 shot .77". Easy extraction and bolt lift. Primers of 87.6 look the same as 82.7 so they aren't telling me anything. 87.6 has slight crunch when seating the bullets. Ogive is 2.995".