Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Newbie Question about reloading

First off I wanted to thank everyone that helped me in my previous thread asking questions about reloading. They were all a big help.

Ok heres my newbie question... I reloaded two bullets 160 sierras and 160 nobler partitions for my 7mm rem mag and I am using Hodgdon H4350 Powder. The amount of powder ranges on the Nosler from 53.5 to 55 grains and the Sierras are using 59 to 60.5 grains of powder. I haven't shot any of them yet so I made ten rounds for each half grain to try and see if I can dial the gun in. Anyway, I have noticed that I can hear the powder move in the brass casing when I shake the bullet... I used a digital scale and it was zeroed with the tray on it and I measured each throw before putting it in the case.

Is this normal or would they be unsafe to shoot?

Any powder that doesn't completely fill the case will have air space. When you shake the rounds you will hear the powder, it's perfectly normal.


Slower powders fill more of the case resulting in less air space.

I suspect you have a typo somewhere in your above post.
Are both the Nosler's and Sierra's 160's?
Your load data for the Nosler's looks about right, but 59gr behind a 160gr Sierra would be dangerous. Would would get to learn what blown primers look like, and gain the experience of pounding your bolt open with a hammer and piece of 2x4.

If the Sierra's are 130's, your powder charge looks about right.

Typically I load 4 rounds per powder charge, 5 charges per bullet choice for a full box of 20 rounds. Gives a decent sample without burning too much powder. If the first 4 rounds produce a 6" group, what more are you going to learn from another 6?

H4350 is a repetitively fast burning powder for the 7mm, so an uncompressed load would be expected. Personally I typically prefer compressed loads so I'd opt for something slower behind the 160's in the 7mm, Of course you probably don't have a cabinet full of powder choices like I do,

If the Sierra's are in the 130-140gr range your H4350 should perform just fine.

Here is the load data I used for the Sierra 160s

https://sierrabulletsblog.com/2018/03/06/sierra-bullets-7mm-remington-magnum-load-data/

I am open to other powders and might try different powder before settling in. I am curious about trying Retumbo at some point. I am starting with this powder because a lot of people here have told me that its an all around good powder for multiple calibers.

I loaded so many just in case I had a bad three round group i could let it cool off and try again. Of course if one load doesn't work well after six shots then I would stop shooting that load and move on. I can always pull the bullet and save the powder. Also I am using my neighbors reloading equipment and the range is about 45 mins away from my house. My mind set was to have more than I needed.

The Sierra is a boat tail and has a shorter bearing surface so that will help. But as a new reloader, you need to be starting at the minimum loads and working up. Changing brass can have the same affect on pressure as adding a grain of powder or more. Primers can make a difference too. I've seen velocities swing 100 fps just on a primer change. Same gun, same day, same temperature.

Until you learn your gun and your components starting so close to max loads in not smart.

Antelope sniper has some good advice for you there. We've all done the "Let's see how fast she'll go" thing and those of us who still have our eyes and ten digits have learned that velocity is nothing without accuracy. Always start with the lower half of the powder charges and work up until you get acceptable accuracy OR pressure signs (if you have enough experience to read them) or max book velocity.
A chronograph should be an essential part of your reloading equipment. I paid the equivalent of what 2 rifles would have cost at the time for my Oehler. It has repaid me tenfold in the past 30+ years. At the price of chronographs today there is no excuse to not have one.

......................+1

with each bullet the sierra and the nosler partition I started close to the center. The reason I started at 59 grain and not 58.8 was because honestly I was getting impatient with trying to get 58.8 on the scale...

the people I have talked to here say they start at the middle of the recommended load so thats the advice I was following. I am sure that may sound cocky or arrogant and I certainly don't mean to come across that way. I have learned to learn from other peoples mistakes and learn from their experiences. The people I talked to at my local gun shops reload the caliber I am reloading and was using this as a starting point. They said to start in the middle and that most of the time you will end up close to the top end of the recommended load. I did not load any test rounds at the max, I stopped a half grain short of that.

Safety is my main concern! if its a risky load then I don't care to shoot it. Secondly I care about the wear of my rifle. I am not in a position to spend another 400-700 dollars on a rifle. Also I am not trying to chase a fast velocity per say. I just want to try to turn this gun into a sub MOA gun.

I also want to thank you all for taking the time to help me with getting into this. I still have some brass and some bullets left..... I very well may make some more rounds at the lower end of the powder charge and work up from there.

I usually don't start at the lowest powder charge but don't start in the middle either. If you start too high, you may miss the sweet spot.

In a cartridge the size of a 7mm Remington Magnum, my load increments are 1 grain until I approach max at which point I got to 0.5 grain increments in powder charges.

I also only load 3 rounds per powder charge and, if a particular load looks promising, load up some more.

Any scale can have error. I'd recommend investing in a set of check weights.

I have been reloading for more than 40 yrs., most of my loads that exhibit best accuracy are near the center of the data. Many of today's loading manuals give info on the load that produced the best accuracy in their test rifle. Another source that I frequently refer to when developing new loads is Ken Waters Pet Loads. I recently used some Waters data to assemble a load for my .35 Whelen, Ken's starting load showed promise and the next load he listed was 2 gr. more which produced a 3 shot group that a quarter easily covered. Just the kind of accuracy I was looking for, needless to say I was very pleased. I neck size my brass and weigh all my charges, don't do anything else other than that and with a little experimentation with charge weights have always been able to come up with good loads.

forgive the dumb question but what do you mean by "neck size" your brass?

baker, you are getting some great advice from everyone here. My only suggestion would be to try a slower burning powder like RL22 or RL25... Another thing I'll add is you stated you were, "getting impatient"... Try not to do that when you are loading your own.... Patience is of the utmost importance. Don't try to skip crucial steps either. Most of us here are anal about our handloads and we take the time to do it right..

Don't worry about neck sizing your brass. That's a ways down the road. Some do it, and some don't see the need. I'm one that doesn't see the need. Just stick with your FL sizing die, until you are proficient with what you are doing and then you can experiment with neck sizing if you want... Keep it simple in the beginning though...

For many years I full length sized all my brass, lately I had been getting some stuck cases and some of the opposite extreme oil dents. Thus I switched to neck sizing, the cases glide in and out of the neck sizing die and the ammo is more accurate. I use Imperial Sizing Wax on the outside and Motor Mica on the inside of the case necks.