Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles T3 Superlite 7mm-08 and 150 ELD-X experiment

Magnetospeed results:

41 gr Varget, 2722, ES 25

42 gr Varget, 2777, ES 11

42.5 gr Varget, 2814, ES 29

44 gr Varget, 2877, ES 3


That's more like it.




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Very interesting...

I'd be curious if you shoot at distance to verify...

A 150 eld load at 2800+ is a really good spot to be...

BS. Post your load.

Yea...that's need 270 win territory.

I'm having a hard time with Varget producing well over 2800 fps using a 150 gr bullet and the load not being seriously over pressure in a 22-22.5" barreled 7-08. Maybe Hunter, maybe Big Game, maybe RL-17, maybe one of the 4350's, but not Varget. 41.2 grains is the max load I've found anywhere for Varget and 150 gr bullets, so anyone reading this please be aware of this and use caution.

Yeah - that's been my results too but rifles are funny things....

fwiw
In daughter's 22" 7mm-08, 47.5 RL-17 @ 2770 with 150g NBT. Turned in the best accuracy too, comparing RL17 to Varget and Big Game.

I'm loading them long, so I have more room. No pressure signs and velocity isn't crazy high.




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P,

Gotcha, not disputing you at all, I believe you, just want to make sure others understand. There may be some newbies that might get the wrong idea. And I've been loading awhile, but I remember some dumb things I did when I first got started before I really knew what I was doing (as if I do now :)).

Regards,

bludog

Some thoughts on the comparison between the load I'm using (140 Partition, 47.5 gr Big Game, 2870 fps) and the load I'm considering in my new 7mm-08 (150 ELDX, 41 gr Varget, 2725 fps).
There isn't much difference between them in velocity past 175 yards, and the 150 catches up at 350. The difference grows wider but it's not that significant.
What I noticed, however, was how mild the Varget was. It was really easy to shoot.
Maybe I'm on to something.




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Pharm you are motivating my to try and work up something decent in my 270 Win with that 145 ELD-X. I think it could be a rocket ship with RL26. Be a hevkuva deer load.

Range day this afternoon.

41 grains Varget at 2.276" (.03" off the lands) was again the winner. Not quite as good as the first time, but I'm not the best shot off a bench. Plus, I had "third shot jitters."





I tried 5 different seating depths with 42.2 grains Varget, and two OAL look promising. The good news, they were sequential, so if I play around between them I might get lucky.








Not quite the tight triangles I was looking for, but it's progress. I'm hoping for sub .75" accuracy at 2800 fps.






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How well do the cartridges feed out of the long mags?

Just fine.





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Magnetospeed chrono update:

I loaded a few rounds to shoot over the chrono this afternoon. Ramshot suggests 46.2 grains Big Game as max for both 150 E-Tip and 150 TTSX, both loaded rather short. Since I'm loading long, I figured I'd see what 46.2 gr would do for the 150 ELDX.

The average for 3 shots was 2828 fps, ES of 24. Interestingly enough, the one shot I chronoed of 42.2 Varget gave the same velocity.

Here's the kicker: the 140 Partition load my other Tikka loves ran 2925 for 3 shots with an ES of 12! That's 45 fps more than my other rifle.

Not only that, but the 120 BT load clocked 3189, but just one shot.

Tight chamber maybe?






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No way!

And this is what it looks like on the way out of a 5 3/4" Mountain Ash at 35 yards.











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I measured the groups, outside to outside, then subtract a diameter. All three are under an inch, the largest not by much, but the 41 gr Varget was a bit over 0.7". Speed is 2722 and I'm hoping for 100fps more, which is what 42.2 gets me. I'll play with the depth between the two 42.2 loads and see what happens.
Worst case scenario I have a good load at 2722, and accuracy kills.





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I like the idea of 2800+fps ... if you can shrink the group.
not that 2700 is bad

I'm ready for a range day.



That's 2825 fps worth of Varget at 4 seating depths, the two sub moa on the ends with the difference divided by three. Let's see where that takes us.

Here's the next iteration, with 2828 fps worth of Big Game. This one gets 8 bites at the apple, since I can seat as long as I want. The longest is about 0.005" into the lands, backing off around 0.040" each time. BG is the bee's knees for 120 and 140 grain bullets, I have high hopes.






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