Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hornady 154 SST or 162 SST in 7x57?

I am having a rifle rebarreled with an 8" twist Shilen #2 to 7x57. I want to use 150s to 175s and need some opinions? I shot a ton of the older 154 SP in the old Frontier ammo/7mm Rem Mag back in the 80s. I shot quite a few of the 154 SST a few years ago from a 7mm Express (280) and they shot very well indeed. However, I have never tried any 162 anything. For 7x57 speeds, is there any advantage of using the 162 ( SST or Eldx) over either a 154 SP or SST? I know these can all be kind of tough to use on mule deer ( I would shoulder shoot them anyway) but for cow elk, near to 350yds, which would be "better" if that's possible or is it a toss up? Question mainly for you 7x57/7mm 08 users, but all opinions welcome.

Based on some experience with the 143-grain ELD-X in 6.5mm and 150-grain SSTs, at similar velocities to what you'll be getting, I suspect you could either 154s or 162s for a long time and never see any difference in performance--which in my experience is good with both types of bullets.

Thank you sir. I have a good supply of 150 partitions also. Hopefully they shoot well enough to be my main squeeze around here. I am not a long range hunter, but the prairie winds give me fits! ha At 7x57 speeds, would there be much difference in the field with either 154/162 SST or Eldx?

I sure as hell would not have ordered an 8T, I am shooting the 180g eldm's in a 280 with a std 9T. Over torque the Hornady jackets is NOT a good thing.

154 sp is a great elk bullet, period. 162 SST is a tough bullet, friend went to Africa and killed the 6 plains game with a 7 STW loaded with the 162g SST at 3150, all animals including Eland and greater Kudu died in their tracks. 154g sst on mule deer is a perfect application.

Yeah, a 1-9 will stabilize about any 7mm bullet available.

But at 7x57 velocities I doubt the Hornady jackets will get over-torqued.

Understood, but I just figured at 7x57 speeds I would have a hard time stressing any cup n core bullet with an 8" anyhow, but get plenty of spin. I'm one of those loonies that believe faster twists kill well. At the very least, I can give the 150 TTSX a good spin! ha I want to shoot the heavier bullets from this set up. I bet, (well, how about a SWAG? ) at the 7x57s slower speed than your 280 is using, it would actually take an 8 " to get the accuracy your are getting with your 180. The old saying is ( supposedly) "speed is a slow twist barrel's friend", not that 9" is slow, ha. I also plan on using alot of 160-175s

8's will make the cup and core come apart faster and more sensitive on finding a tune....seen this over and over again. I would use a twist rate calculator and run a proper twist for the heaviest bullet you want to try. I shoot the 175g Nosler LRAB also...a bullet worth building a rifle around.

Action length on the 7x57 would be a serious issue for me, keep the bullet out of the powder.

I can tell you that a 280 with 180g ELD-M's is a monster with R#17, hard, hard combo to beat, mine is a 9T. Just a smidge of powder and a .800 BC just amazes all that shoot the rifle.

In your 7x57, a 160g Sierra BTSP is one heck of a deer killing bullet, along with a 154g Hornady SP for 300 yds and under. Our family has used these two bullets to harvest at least 300 deer over the past 30 years, if not more. Not telling how many hogs we have taken, and that 154g Hornady SP never fails on broadside hog shots, no matter how large they are, complete penetration. Everyone is chasing BC these days but the 160g Sierra and 154g Hornady just get the job done when you are talking 300 yds and under.

7x57, the std Hornady 139g flat base is one heck of a bullet.

I use the 154gr SST in a 7x64 with a 1:8.66 twist running at 2920fps. Very accurate and had no issues with penetration although most of my shots are > 200m (in the Karoo, South Africa). At 7x57 velocities I think both the 154 and 162 would work very well.

OK what happened is that I "ordered a 9" twist". My gunsmith "ordered" a 9" twist, but Shilen "sent" an 8" twist. I was going to keep it, but you guys have convinced me, ha. I spoke with him yesterday and he is going to get it all sorted out. Thanks for the heads up guys. I wasn't as worried as much about stressing the bullets as much as it not being accurate, or end up with a finicky barrel. As I've mentioned, only reason I am going with a new barrel is I "want" an accurate 7x57, ha. I've had such poor results in the past, my fault, rifle's fault, whatever. I don't have as much hair left to pull out now! ha Thanks for the replies guys! I appreciate it!

PS Keith- having shot alot of hogs myself, I agree, they are a "good substitute elk bullet tester", ha. Hard to kill enough elk for most guys to do alot of bullet digging, ha. I have found that if a bullet will shoot through a big hog , it will work just fine on elk ( all things being equal)

Interesting comments about the 1:8 being too fast for a 7x57. Browning lists the new X-Bolt Speed at 1:8 in their .280AI.

Yeah, there have been some 1-8 factory 7mm rifles made over the years. And apparently quite a few barrel makers do. I just looked the websites of four of the barrel brands that I've used. ALL make 1-8s, and one (which is often mentioned as one of the best by target shooters) makes 1-7 twist 7mms.

While a realize that Jim Knight is sending his 1-8 back to Shilen for a 1-9, I'll also point out that what "stresses" bullets is revolutions per second, which is a result of twist AND muzzle velocity. It's easy to calculate RPS, and if the same bullet is shot in a 7x57 as a larger-case, faster 7mm the RPS is considerably lower.

A good example would be a bullet around 160 grains, which can be started at around 2700 fps in a 7x57 and 3000 in larger cases , including the .280 AI. If we do the math, the revolutions per second are almost exactly the same for a 160 in a 1-8 twist 7x57, and a 1-9 twist.280 AI.