Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 7-30 waters bullets

Trying to reload for my 7-30 waters. Hornady obsoleted their cartridges and 7mm FTX bullets before I was able to secure some. Anybody have any 7mm flat nose in 120 or 139 grain or 7mm ftx?

No pun intended Rkbubba they are a bitch to find. You gotta bubba some spire points. 120 nbt, 120 Hornady spire pt, 139 Hornady sp, 130 gr Speer flat base. You use a small sharp side cutter above the jacket then dress the point with a mill bastard. They been working for me. Bigger problem was thin out of spec rims on federal brass..mb

The 7x30 Waters is based on the 30-30 cartridge, 90% of the time one pass in a 7x30 FL sizing die, with a trim is all it takes to create the 7x30 case. The 130-140s work just fine as offered by Speer, Sierra and Hornady. The 30-30 brass from Starline is created by them and tested at 60-65k. So making cats from their 30-30 brass gives you room for pressures well above those of a M-94 carbine when loaded in a stronger rated action. If this is a Thompson Center product, the case should be created so as to headspace on the shoulder with a hard close until fire formed. The 7x30 case should not headspace on the rim, for best accuracy.

No idea if this would work, as it was just a brainstorm I had for a brief period when I owned a .356 winchester and wanted to try some 250gr partitions: I was going to a adjust a file trim die so as to trim the spirepoint on a loaded round to a flatnose consistently. Somebody wanted the rifle alot more than I did however, and it went down the road before I got to into it.

I haven't seen 120gr FP's in a while, may be easier to simply buy loaded Federal ammo...its out there.

i have 139gr Hornady FN (discontinued) and their not for sale. my oldest son (7x57) and my dad (RIP) and i (7-08) use them. i have a TC Contender in 7x30 Waters (it was my dad's) and he had several boxes of Federal 120gr FN cartridges, i don't know if you can buy them anymore. he loaded up a 115gr Speer HP and it was a killer of deer.

i guessing that the rifle you have is a lever action? if so, you are SOL. if its a single shot, then its ok. i'd go 120 - 130gr plastic tipped or a spire point bullets and go from there.

manufacturers messed up by not making 7mm 120 or 139gr FN anymore. they could at least do a seasonal run on them.

i just got in my email for the 7mm 115gr Speer HP (limited quantiles) from Midway.

I am going to assume it is for a lever gun as there is no need to load FPs for a TC gun.

I agree with Magnum_Bob. Just file the nose down on a 139 grain SP, or pull the tip on a 120 or 140 grain Nosler BT. Easy peasy.

Hawk lists a 140gr flat point for $43 per 50.

I have not had any of the Hawks I'd bet they are fine bullets. If you don't need more than 150 yds they might be the best a guy can do. I put an m8 4x on my AE94 rifle to extend my use range to 250 yds so I'd like to keep the bullets in the 120 to 130 range. I'd still trade some 140 sierras for the Hornady 139 fn though.mb

Flat tipping existing 7MM bullets with a file may be the only option for jacketed bullets now-days.
Or invest in a bullet mold, cast your own and powder coat them.

Steve, I use a small pair of very sharp sidecutters then dress with a couple of strokes with a mill bastard..mb

Load 2 rounds in the mag and call it good.

Sounds good in theory but the reality is you have a 2.54" COL and just about any Spitzer out there will have the ogive back in the case neck. So you can forget a cart that will function worth a fug thru the action..mb

Just a thought, but I think I’d try using a sanding disc on a drill press to remove spitzer points. Just run it up until the desired flat nose is created, then set the stop and go into production mode. You could drill a piece of wood to hold the bullet, then split it across the hole and hinge the pieces so they grip the bullet. Wear a dust mask.

I passed up a very pristine 94 AE carbine once over the bullet supply issue. Very nice specimen of IMO the best of the post-64s, and I still regret it.

Well the hell of it is Sierra makes the 120 fn that Is in Federal loaded ammo but can't sell the bullets because federal owns the tooling.

Website shows these are in stock

Flat Point 7mm bullets

Another option would be to contact Hammer bullets to see if they would add a 7mm option to their lever action line. A buddy uses their bullets in a .32 Winchester with great success. I've used them in a variety of bolt guns and been very happy. After hunting season winds down, it's worth a phone call.

What website would that be?

my apologies, I thought I had the website link up but apparrently it's the screenshot

here's the website

Gold Country Ammo