Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 10 lbs of Reloader 7.......and a 26" barrel .223

Just put a Shilen 26" varmint barrel on it. Savage accutrigger. It was .308 win.

Reloader 7 Powder is coming.

Looking very forward to that set up for 40 grainers to 55's.

brass will be starline.

Any suggestions for a load that you have tried and liked? oh yeah........please suggest a deer load if you have one with that RL 7 powder....

I know the usual caveats apply of work up safe looking for pressure.

Heavy.

RL 7 is going to be on the fast side for a "deer load." That is, 55 and up. RL 10x is probably better for what you want to do, although 7 should be more than okay with 40s.

40g NBT and Rl-7 were made for each other. I use that combo out of a Rem 700 varmint with a 26" tube topped with a suppressor and I'm getting 3900fps over my chronograph with that load. I have a couple of rifles in .223 and each one will tolerate different amounts of the powder but I'm shooting with more than most in my loads with no signs.

Seafire is the expert in this combo and has posted a lot on these threads for his loads, I would refer you to him and his findings.

One of my favorite powders with the 40 gr Nosler BT's, I can't speak from any experience with other bullet weights. I use 40's for gophers through coyotes which covers about 95% of my shooting.

drover

I don't know about heavier bullet weights, but I've used Reloder 7 and the Sierra 50 Blitz (good coyote bullet) or 50 soft point for years. Very good accuracy in a much-fired Ruger 77 MK II with 12" twist.

Thank you guys.

The twist is a 1x8 so I was wondering if speeds would be less due to that. I really dont know.......If you have a twisted barrel of that like and you have used RL 7 what were your experiences?

I have never tried RL 7 but was looking at the economy and the speeds achieved in my reloading books (Lyman #48) and Sierra so I was intrigued by it.

Would a 5 grain increase make that big of a difference from a 50 grain to a 55 grain hornady cannuler?........as I have heaps of those......I suppose load development will let me know where to stop and what to do...


Heavy

my thoughts......why RE7 ? purty fast...............

H335..H4895....IMR8208........even H322

http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/

Tikka, thanks for responding

Its the economy of it.....by the books it does not take much to get good velocity....and yes I know its cracking fast

Just as a comparison its very close to IMR 4198 in charges looking at the Sierra pages for .223 bolt action,.. .1/2 grain in most cases... and velocity almost exactly the same. I have used imr 4198 and really liked it in my .223 sporter.

I understand they, imr 4198 and RL 7 are not exactly the same but again, RL 7 is cheaper so there is that too.

Plus, I just like trying new/ old powders for the hell of it....I have BL-C2, CFE223, TAC, H335, RL 15, IMR 4064, IMR 4198...(ONLY 1/2 LB LEFT).. ....

I have tried the blue dot loads by Seafire and L O V E those. Along with some 2400 in a .223 case worked extremely well at 16 grains and a 50 grain soft point and a 55 grain too......so I have some experience with "fast" outside the parameters reloading.

Its just fun too.

Heavy

Heavy...

PM sent.

Varget is your friend in a .223.

Grovey,

I tried some already and no fun could be had.. it was not grouping well enough. Plus I have another .223 ( sporter) and it too did not like that powder. Never understood all the hype for that stuff.

Thanks

Heavy

HD, Varget doesn't really come on the cam until 60 grains up to 69. My pet of pets at 60 is Varget. I had "issues" with Varget under 55s that pointed me at 4895 for both 55s and 50s.
That said, in another rifle, a case stuffed full of Varget crushed down by a 40 NBT shoots like a death ray. It shouldn't but it does.
R 7 should be peachy fine for your "40 full house, not gopher" load, I guess. But when I need "more than gopher," I'm going right for the 50 Blitz Kings over 4895 (or TAC).

So many good options.....

Dave and Heavy D.

for 'bigger than gophers" have you boys ever tried the old standbys
like a 63 grain SMP Sierra or a 70 grain SMP Speer over 28 grains of H 380
or 24.5 to 25 grains of H 322? or RL 15?

another pair of goodies are the same powder and charges, but the 68 grain HPBT Hornady or the 69 grain Sierra Match.....

if you haven't.... I'll give you both a suggestion of having very good luck this them..
great accuracy and great velocity...

yet they are shorter than 73. 75, 80 grainers....if a magazine length is an issue...

Seafire,
I have been looking hard for the Speer 70's. But they are sold out all over the place. Just waiting for them to be back in stock... they are at the TOP of my list to try.

I have some of the sierra 63's and the hornady 60's.......my .22-250 with the hornady 60's puts 4 shots into a spot covered by a dime.....I have 1,200 of those little beauties..


I have some sierra 69's and the 63's,.... they will get loaded up this weekend. As my 10 pounds of RL7 got here.. ...and I am tickled pink.

No sir, never tried the H322... I do have the RL15

Dave, I tried......really I did.....to like H4895....that chit was an aggravation in a bottle.....reduced loads my ASS....two 06's and a .308win did not like it....on the other hand the IMR 4895 was waaaaaaayyyyyy better in all three guns......not enough for me to want to keep it around all the time....
Since that time I have gone on to use alot of other powders and just skipped the 4895's as they are never on sale and....well....there are a very wide variety of choices to do the same job....at less cost too.

Oh, and

I found Lymans #47 and Hodgdons #26

both are on there way to my house as I write...............tickled pink again!!!

Thanks

Heavy

Heavy,

last time I looked, at Sportsman's Warehouse here locally, and several others up and down I 5 here in Oregon... The Speer 70 grain SMPs have been on the shelves, for $14 a box...

and every time I go in there, there has been a good supply of them...

I don't think they are a big mover, due not having the glitz of the newer plastic tip stuff...

if you desire I can check to see if they have some locally...

Deer load for RL7? Try a 45 TSX or even 50 TTSX.

Suggested a light load of Blue Dot ( like 10 grains) for a friend's grandson, with that 45 TSX...

yeah it was 100Lb blacktail so not real big...

kid shot it at 110 yds or so....but dropped it like a sack of potatoes...

and the light load was like shooting a 22 Hornet at most.

IIRC, the rifle was one of the Ruger 77 short barreled ultra lites....16 or 18 inches... 223 of course.

I'm thinkin' a 45 TSX at 3500 would make Roy Weatherby happy.