Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hand Loading for the 7x57

I'm working up a load for a new to me 7x57 98 Mauser I have never shot yet and want to load it with an old favorite bulet of mine, 140 Grain Ballstic Tip. Seeing that this is new to me I want to try a different propellant. But I want it to be consistently the best powder for that cartridge, if possible. I want the max velocity for max accuracy. What's the consensus here of the best powder and charge weight for a 140 grain bullet in a modern 7x57 bolt gun? This is a strong commercial 98 actiion.

I loaded with that same bullet and used IMR 4350 Powder. You can look up loading data on the IMR web page.-Mike

Old notes I have show 42.6 grs of IMR 4064 under 140 Sierras . Avg 2800 fps, very good accuracy. 98 Mauser, 23 inch Douglas barrel.

I shoot the 140 Ballistic Tip out of my Featherweight...

My load is 44 grains of 4064, or 4895/IMR...

If you have one that doesn't shoot real well... then 40 grains of IMR 3031...

I load 49gn H4350 with the 140gn Partition and Woodleigh PP in my Ruger 1A for around 2800fps give or take. It might have a longer throat than your bolt gun so work up at your own discretion.

Thanks Mike
Mike

Thanks Craigster

Mike

Thanks Seafire
Mike

RL17 worked really nice in my Featherweight with 140 Accubonds and Ballistic Tips. Both went over 2900.

In my push feed Model 70 Featherweight 7X57, I shoot 140 grain Partitions and 50 grains of H4350 in R-P cases and Winchester WLR primers. This load is safe in my rifle, maybe not in yours. As always, start about 3 grains lower and work up carefully.

[qhuote=Elvis]I load 49gn H4350 with the 140gn Partition and Woodleigh PP in my Ruger 1A for around 2800fps give or take. It might have a longer throat than your bolt gun so work up at your own discretion. [/quote]
Thanks Elvis
Mike

Well not really anything I haven't tried or had in mind but all these answers are confirming my suspicions that these are the go to powders.

I have 4895 and 4064 on hand though. Now that someone suggested 4350 I'm wondering about RL-17. Has anybody tried that? I think I'll try all these and see what the results are. I've been wanting to buy some 4350 anyway.

Thanks everybody.

This adds credence to my theory that RL-17 has a special property that 4350 or most other powders don't. This is something I discovered in loading my .250 Savage.

I like IMR4895 in the 7x57...for a 140 grainers Id say Johns load of 44 grains should be just right...

4320 and 4895 is what I hame used in the 2 or 3 that I have loaded for.

H414 has always given me excellent results, accuracy and good velocity under 140 and 150 grain bullets in my 7x57 and 7-08.

W760 (aka H414) has worked well for me, as well as JOC's load of 43gr IMR4320. Been using JB's load of 47-49gr H4350 of late. Works in the three I have currently.

+1 (I like H4895 too)

IMR4350 or RL19 have always worked well for me in 7x57 with 140s.

Filaman,

One major comment before discussing powders: As I have mentioned a number of times before in several magazine articles and books, there is no way 7x57 reloading data can be standardized in the same way as it can for, say, the .30-06, .270 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington and most other cartridges. This is because the 7x57 was introduced early in the smokeless-powder era as a military round, and like most other early smokeless military rounds it was designed for a heavy round-nosed bullet, so the chamber throat was very long. (Apparently heavy, round-nosed bullets were initially standard because that's what were primarily used in the black powder military cartridges of the day.)

Not too much later, most military rounds were switched to lighter pointed bullets at higher muzzle velocities, which flattened trajectory and reduced wind-drift at longer ranges. In some of the older military rounds, the chamber throats were shortened to better accommodate the lighter spitzers, good examples being the 8x57 and .30-06. But the 7x57 never went through this in its military days, though eventually when it was primarily being used as a hunting cartridge many rifles were given shorter throats.

There was never any real standardization done, even though organizations regulating such things, such as SAAMI (the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufactuers Institute) in the U.S. eventually settled on a much shorter chamber throat than the long military original. But even after that, American-made 7x57 throats have varied. I've owned several 7x57s made by Ruger, and throats ranged in length from the present SAAMI throat (which is relatively short) to one perhaps even longer than the original military throat. Plus, plenty of other companies have come up with their own variations. I had one custom 7x57 made by a company that uses a reamer with a throat even shorter than the SAAMI specifications.

As a result of all this, there is no way the same powder charges are going to produce similar results in all 7x57s. I've seen as much as three grains difference in the amount of IMR4350 required to produce the same velocity with 140-grain bullets. Any suggestions about powder charges on this thread can results in such widely varying velocity--and pressure, because pressure is what produces velocity. This is aside from the usual variations in powder lots, brass thickness and bullets themselves, and is exactly why I've long advised loading the 7x57 for to a general muzzle velocity for various bullet weights, rather than sticking to a specific listed powder charge.

Yes, there is something different about Reloder 17: It's a very progressive burning double-based powder, which is different than the single-based powders often recommended in the 7x57, such as IMR4064, IMR4895, IMR4350 and H4350. The dash of nitroglycerine added to double-based powders (which is why they are called double-based) provides a little more energy.

But 17 is not alone in this: Another excellent, modern double-based powder for 140s in the 7x57 is Ramshot Big Game, which is widely known as a "wonder powder" for the 7mm-08. It works just as well in the 7x57, and in my experience is more temperature resistant then RL-17. In my last 7x57, made by the company with the short-throated reamer, 48.5 grains of Big Game resulted in just under 2900 fps from the 21-inch barrel with the 139-grain Hornady Spire Point Interlock, and excellent accuracy.

But that does NOT mean Big Game will produce that much velocity in a 7x57 with a longer throat--and there are many such 7x57s out there, even among modern commercial rifles.

I see you live in the great state of Texas where extreme cold usually isn't an issue, so I'm going to recommend H414 with the 140BT. In my Mauser VZ I load 49 grains of it for about 2900 fps. I use a magnum primer. My typical five-shot will be an inch or so. The trajectory to 400 yards is not much different than my .270 Win. loaded with it's best 140 grain load.