After owning several 7-08's over the years and trying many different powders with really good results from most the one powder I had not tried was Ramshot Big Game! After reading about it's virtues from "folks" on the "fire" I decided to buy a pound and see for myself!
The bullets I had on hand were Nosler BT's 140 and 150 gr, Sierra GK 140 gr and Hornady 139 gr SPBT!! With not a lot of starting point data I found a few loads from a trusted source and started there! Let me reiterate the ol "work up to if possible" adage!!
I started with WLRM primers for all loads due to most saying this powder likes "magnum" primers! My first trip to the range with loaded ammo was kinda uneventful. All of the loads, except one showed signs of HIGH pressure! I mean all the classic signs, flat primers, slightly cratered, and some slight extraction marks. However, two of the loads shot really well tho!
I hot-footed it back to the house, I only live 4-5 miles from the range, to "readjust" those charges. I didn't have a lot of time so I only dealt with those two loads that shot well, which were the Nosler BT's. I dropped the powder charge in both of the loads a little and decided to use a "standard" primer instead of the "magnum". I know, "you" changed two components at once but with the three pressure signs I had I highly doubt changing only the magnum for a standard primer and keeping the powder charge the same would have alleviated my problem, but I'll never know now!
Back to the range I went! After getting setup I sent a few down range. Most of my pressure signs went away! The only sign I had now was a slightly and I mean slightly flat primer with no other pressure signs. I do not know the velocity, I need a chronograph but both Nosler BT loads shot well with the 140 BT winning the accuracy prize.
When I get a few days off Im going to "work" a little more with Big Game!
Use load at your own risk!!!!
Last edited by Highoctane; 07/07/19.
"Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one that has it"
I am sure that folks on the Fire including MD have stated many times that reading primers for pressure signs is not even remotely dependable.
I understand that "reading" primers only is not dependable! I wasn't "reading" primers only. I had all three! If I was only seeing flat primers I could have chalked that up to maybe a "softer" primer cup and the cratered primer maybe a slightly oversize firing pin hole but seeing that I have never seen a cratered primer out of this rifle with any other powder I discounted that but when I saw the extractor mark along with the other two I KNEW I had high pressure!!
"Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one that has it"
Big Game and 7-08's is about as perfect a match as is made. I have a M70 Featherweight that loves 47.8g under a 140g Partition and a Kimber Mountain Rifle that likes 48.0g under the same bullet. Other powders work well too...Varget, H4350, etc. but none have been any better match for my rifles. I also use Lapua and Nosler brass in the two referenced loads with CCI BR2 primers. Per Nosler, I seat the Partitions with a bit of a jump at .050 off the lands.
At the risk of being the lone dissenter on 24HCF............ in my 7*08 Big Game loads if I want relatively high velocity, BG is easily the winner with both 120 and 140gr BT's and the AB, but Varget has been the easy choice in the accuracy department, as was IMR4451, RL15, and H4350. I'm sure Pharm will show up to dispute this and show us his BG targets for the 400th time ( :), but Varget is the runaway winner for me. I figure 3000' is just as deadly as 3200' for a 120BT, and 2820' is just as lethal as 2900" with the 140 AB. Varget easily gets me there.
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
At the risk of being the lone dissenter on 24HCF............ in my 7*08 Big Game loads if I want relatively high velocity, BG is easily the winner with both 120 and 140gr BT's and the AB, but Varget has been the easy choice in the accuracy department, as was IMR4451, RL15, and H4350. I'm sure Pharm will show up to dispute this and show us his BG targets for the 400th time ( :), but Varget is the runaway winner for me. I figure 3000' is just as deadly as 3200' for a 120BT, and 2820' is just as lethal as 2900" with the 140 AB. Varget easily gets me there.
My rifle likes Varget as well, along with RL-16 and H414. I really didn't need to try any more powders but as we all know, it's not about need tho....LOL There's something to be said for the power of suggestion....LOL
"Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one that has it"
At the risk of being the lone dissenter on 24HCF............ in my 7*08 Big Game loads if I want relatively high velocity, BG is easily the winner with both 120 and 140gr BT's and the AB, but Varget has been the easy choice in the accuracy department, as was IMR4451, RL15, and H4350. I'm sure Pharm will show up to dispute this and show us his BG targets for the 400th time ( :), but Varget is the runaway winner for me. I figure 3000' is just as deadly as 3200' for a 120BT, and 2820' is just as lethal as 2900" with the 140 AB. Varget easily gets me there.
You’re a sissy. That’s right, I said it. And no, I’m not gonna post any 7mm-08 pics.
This is a picture of two halibut. I caught the larger one.
P
Obey lawful commands. Video interactions. Hold bad cops accountable. Problem solved.
I tried big game on 150 gr eldx , I was seeing pressure signs at 45 gr, and velocity in the upper 2800’s. This was at 2.75 coal. My tikka must be fast. Barges is slow, but accuracy so far is better.
If it ever stops raining I have a few more loads to try
"Life is tough, even tougher if your stupid" John Wayne
Not sure what your "trusted source" is, but Ramshot and Nosler have pressure tested data on their websites. FWIW the 46.8 gr noted on your target is close to the maximum Nosler lists.
Nice fish there, Pharm.
'Four legs good, two legs baaaad." ---------------------------------------------- "Jimmy, some of it's magic, Some of it's tragic, But I had a good life all the way." (Jimmy Buffett)
Not sure what your "trusted source" is, but Ramshot and Nosler have pressure tested data on their websites. FWIW the 46.8 gr noted on your target is close to the maximum Nosler lists.
Nice fish there, Pharm.
Yep and on top of that he went with magnum primers when not called for by either, not a wise move.
Not sure what your "trusted source" is, but Ramshot and Nosler have pressure tested data on their websites. FWIW the 46.8 gr noted on your target is close to the maximum Nosler lists.
Nice fish there, Pharm.
Yep and on top of that he went with magnum primers when not called for by either, not a wise move.
My go-to load with 140 grain Nosler bullets, whether AB or PT, is the max according to Nosler of 47.5 gr BG, sparked by WLRM. Work up to it, of course. Magnum primers work for me.
And that halibut sure ate good.
Obey lawful commands. Video interactions. Hold bad cops accountable. Problem solved.
Not sure what your "trusted source" is, but Ramshot and Nosler have pressure tested data on their websites. FWIW the 46.8 gr noted on your target is close to the maximum Nosler lists.
Nice fish there, Pharm.
Yep and on top of that he went with magnum primers when not called for by either, not a wise move.
My go-to load with 140 grain Nosler bullets, whether AB or PT, is the max according to Nosler of 47.5 gr BG, sparked by WLRM. Work up to it, of course. Magnum primers work for me.
And that halibut sure ate good.
I had a damn good discussion with MD on this, especially Nosler data. Nowhere dating back to 2007 can I find where Nosler changed their data with Big Game to what’s published on the web, so can’t be trusted. But in any case I can’t find from RamShot or Nosler where they recommended a mag primer with that powder. So either you are spreading BS or know more than MD. Explain
Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Swifty,
As noted I looked up max loads with 52-53 grain match bullets:
Berger--24.8 grains Hodgdon--26.0
Hornady--25.0
However, the Hodgdon data is old, as evidenced by the pressure being CUP, rather than the PSI of electronic testing. Plus, CUP testing isn't as accurate as piezo, and even with today's powders there's still a good chance of a certain lot of powder being hotter by 2-3%. (Or milder, which may be why Nosler's max is the highest.)
That particular Nosler load is also pretty old. It's the same as listed in their 5th manual, published in 2002, right down to the muzzle velocity. But that was only for 50-grain Ballistic Tips bullets, as back then they didn't make any 52's. Apparently they assumed it would be safe for 52's as well.
There have been a technical glitch, along with the data originally being shot with 50-grain bullets: Nosler's max for Benchmark with 55-grain bullets is only 25.0 grains, which is a lot closer to Berger's max for 55's (24.2 grains) or Hornady's (24.5 grains).
The exterior dimensions of thin-skinned bullets do matter, but core hardness has a considerable effect as well. I do know that many Sierra match bullets are made with harder cores than those used in Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Brass hardness also matters, in my experience more than capacity. Maybe 4-5 years ago I finally wore out a 500-case batch of .257 Roberts brass purchased back in the 1990's, but a local store had one 50-case bag of the same brand. With exactly the same box of bullets and canister of powder I'd used for over a decade without any problems, the new cases consistently stuck in the chamber. (And yes, they weighed about the same as the older case.) Luckily, I also found a different brand bag of .257 Roberts brass at the same store. It extracted easily with the same load.
At the risk of being the lone dissenter on 24HCF............ in my 7*08 Big Game loads if I want relatively high velocity, BG is easily the winner with both 120 and 140gr BT's and the AB, but Varget has been the easy choice in the accuracy department, as was IMR4451, RL15, and H4350. I'm sure Pharm will show up to dispute this and show us his BG targets for the 400th time ( :), but Varget is the runaway winner for me. I figure 3000' is just as deadly as 3200' for a 120BT, and 2820' is just as lethal as 2900" with the 140 AB. Varget easily gets me there.
That's been my experience as well... I could not get BG to perform at high velocity, period. And I have an 8lb jug on hand so it's not like I'm not motivated...
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I've been using Big Game since it appeared in 2000. In cases the size of the 7-08 it doesn't need magnum primers, but the WLR primer sure doesn't hurt, as it's one of the hotter "standard" primers.
Have gotten great accuracy with Big Game in cartridges up to the 9,3x62, in accuracy and velocity, and in my tests its be the most temperature-resistant powders of the Belgian Ramshot group in a wide variety of cartridges. But it generally likes maximum, compressed loads.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
John, if memory serves, you've written that you got better accuracy with Big Game in a .220 Swift by switching to magnum primers?
Personally, when I started working up loads for my 7mm-08 last year I used both WLRMs and one of the standard primers, (probably CCI though I'd have to look at notes to make sure). Accuracy was better with WLRMs and near-max loads. Did the same thing with Hunter in my -06, standard primers gave better accuracy; ya gotta try both to really know, just don't start at the top.
'Four legs good, two legs baaaad." ---------------------------------------------- "Jimmy, some of it's magic, Some of it's tragic, But I had a good life all the way." (Jimmy Buffett)
I’m waiting for MD to state that sometimes, just sometimes, ball powders such as Big Game might, just might, generate better groups by using a magnum primer. Maybe.
P
Obey lawful commands. Video interactions. Hold bad cops accountable. Problem solved.
I ordered my last from Grafs, couldn't find it locally.
'Four legs good, two legs baaaad." ---------------------------------------------- "Jimmy, some of it's magic, Some of it's tragic, But I had a good life all the way." (Jimmy Buffett)
![[Linked Image]](https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/w84/pharmseller/IMG_1524_zpsakdilsn7.jpg)
![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/yYDjsxrQ/IMG-0124.jpg)