Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7x57 bullet question for Mule Deer

JB, I'm headed for a Cape buffalo hunt in Mozmbique in late July. If the buff hunt is over early I plan to hunt PG. I'm taking either a 7x57 or 284 Win bolt action for the light (2nd) rifle. PG I plan on is bushbuck, warthog, maybe bushpig. I'm thinking of a 139-140 grain .284" bullet. Assuming the rifle handles them similarly, any preference on your part among the 139 Hornady SP, 140 Nosler Partition, 140 Sierra Pro Hunter, other? Any favorite loads you'd recommend in the 7x57 with these bullets? Thanks.

Of the bullets you mention I'd go with the 140 Partition. The piggies are pretty solid animals, and ranges can be close, especially with bushpig.

Thanks I'll give it a try.

Okay so what if he didn't mention any bullets what would you use in your 7x57?

160gr Game King?

Nope, 140gr Nosler Partition

MtnHtr

I would be leaning more towards a 160gr partition if I know MD (which I don't I guess).

Maybe the 160 Partition. I mean, why not? Ranges aren't going to be long, and at any rate I have found 160's to be easy to hit with out to at least 400 anyway.

Actually any of the Partitions would do--140, 150, 160 or 175. The 160 GameKing works fine on the general range of smaller plains game from the 7x57 (at least I have never had any problem with it) but generally bushpig are shot at quite close range after cornering them with dogs. I might want a little extra insurance.

The 140 Partition would work fine on any of them, which is why I recommended it.

Well, since you are taking one of my favorite cartridges (7 x 57) I am partial to 160 gr bullets out of it of late. I killed most of my game with 140 gr Nosler Partition. I have killed some African Game with a 7mm RM with handloaded 175 gr Nosler Partitions. I would not think twice about stuffing a 7 x 57 with those for an Safari.

There is a well known and respected guy, can�t recall who it was :0 , but he advocates 2,700fps as the perfect bullet velocity for big game hunting. No huge need for expensive premium bullets. Meat loss will be at a minimum but trajectory and penetration are all plenty adequate. This seems dead on with my somewhat limited experience hunting as well. Dad hunted with a 280 using the accuracy load (51.5gr IMR4350) in the Nosler manual for 150gr bullets, he used partitions almost exclusively. This load has worked great way out yonder on deer and on an elk mixed in as well. I always told him, �Dad we need to work up another load for your deer rifle, I don�t think your using even close to the potential of the round.� He would never let me. I finally got around to shooting that load across the chrony, it was right at 2675-2700fps. Obviously without even knowing it he agrees with your philosophy as well. So to go one step further why not take the heaviest bullet that can be pushed around 2700fps for the cartridge and there you go the perfect load. Swap bullet type/construction possibly based on game size but keep the weight about the same. Works for me.

Sounds like a gun writer I know!

The older I get,2,700 FPS seems about right.

Well, yeah. Plus 4x or maybe 6x scopes.

As a slightly older friend explained to a (younger) guy when showing him a recent rifle he'd bought that had "only" a 4x scope on it: "It keeps me from doing something stupid."

What about the 160gn Woodleigh. I get them to leave a new custom 7x57 at just on 2700fps and with a bolt mounted aperture (like a Rigby) is good for most situations. Have a QD scope in back-pack if needed.

Von Gruff.

I have not herd any mention of the Barnes TSX,
My 7X57 puts them and nosler balistic tips into teeny tiny little groups , these are 140 grain bullets at about 2850.
Don't think I would use the balistic tip on anything bigger than a mule deer, but that tripple shock should at leat get some consideration ?
...tj3006

TSX bullets shoot very well in my Shilen barreled 7x57, I'm zero'd for 200 meters, shot my first whitey buck and 280 yards and my first mule buck at less than 50 yards, a pair of dead near now on the wall.Both of these animals were of the large sized animals we have here in Alberta, 250 to 300 lb. G

I'd ditto the 140 Partition in the 7x57.I've used it more than a little from the 7/08,7x57,280,and 7RM; and at velocities from 2700 to 3300 fps. Funny thing is that it's one of the very few bullets (along with the 160 Partition)that I have never been able to recover from a game animal.

The TSX and Woodleigh would work as well--as would the 154 Hornady Interlock or Interbond, the 145 or 160 Speer Hot-Cor or Grand Slam, or any number of other bullets. That's the beauty of the 7x57: Moderate velocity allows a lot of bullets to work well.

To tell the truth, though, I have used the 160 TSX and wasn't impressed with how quickly it killed at 7x57 velcoities. I'd probably run the 120 or 140 instead.

For a premium I usually use the 156 Norma Oryx, which shoots great in my rifle and works very much like a Woodleigh, or the old Bitterroot Bonded Core. It won't penetrate as deeply as the TSX or some others, but it penetrates plenty. I have shot wildebeest frontally with it and it worked fine, but also expand widely on smaller animals.

On an Alberta moose I used the 160 North Fork, which also worked fine. He was dead from the first shot but the guide insisted I shoot again because he was close to some thick stuff. I did, and maybe it maybe it made a difference and mabye it didn't. The bull only went 19 yards from where he was first hit. I found the bullets under the hide on the far side.

Actually, I wouldn't hesitate in doing most of my 7x57 hunting with the 150 Ballistic Tip. It is a pretty tough bullet, especially at a typical 7x57 muzzle velocity of 2800 or so.

Bob, I have recovered three 140 Partitions from deer shot with the 7x57--but all were frontal shots, one directly facing me and the other two at an angle. The bullets from the angling shots were found under the hide behind the rib cage, but the one from the facing shot was found in a round steak.

Me, too. I loaded the 140 gr. Partition, mostly the older "machine screw" design, over 47 grs. of IMR 4350 in the 7X57 for many years. Killed stuff from 40 yds to well over 400 yds. Only recovered one bullet. Big desert mulie that took one as he ran away. Entered right behind the rib cage, fully expanded. Stopped in the heart. Odviously hit something on the way to him. He went about 50 yds. and then, very neatly, simply lay down on the trail, upright, and died. Big deer. 100 lbs of cut and wrapped meat w/o the neck.
I've used them in the 7mm Magnum at almost 3300 fps. Same results.
I also used the 160 gr. Partirion at 2680 fps. Did not recover any of those either. Opened very well at well over 400 yds. Very well meaning the wound channel showed that it opened both quickly and fully. Great bullets. E

Here's what I've learned from this topic: if in doubt about which bullet to use, go with a Nosler Partition.

John: The fact that I've never been able to find one is just a curious situation....it just seemed to work out that they have all exited for me,or got so "lost" I could not locate them. In any event they are a great bullet in 7mm.....I'm not reading anything into it as I've found a lot of Partitions in game. The three that elude me are 140 and 160 7MM's,and 200 gr 30's.

The 30 165's show up in elk,but not much else...at least for me

I've only used the Bitterroots in the 280 and 7RM;have no clue what they do at 7x57 velocities,but glad you let me know!I have a bunch of them left to use....