Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best bullet and load for deer/elk hunting with the 7mm rem mag?

Hey guys, I've got a 7mm rem mag coming my way and was wanting some suggestions on bullets and loads. The rifle I bought is a winchester model 70 SS/Synthetic classic with the 26" barrel. That also brings up another question: Should I cut it down to 24" or just leave it as is??? I went to the fun store the other day and bought a die set, 140 gr. and 160 gr. partitions, 154 hornady interlocks, 162 A-max's, and some RE22. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys....

After much testing with Barnes bullets and IMR7828, H4831sc, RE19 and 22 I settled on Barnes LRX 145s pushed by RL19. My rifle ran into pressure issues with 7828 just below max, H4831 was really slow but the RLs both worked great for me with an accuracy nod to the 19.

So many different loads out there that you can use for the 7RM. IMO if you don't care about the weight, keep the 26" and let'er rip.

Keep the barrel and run some 160 grain TSX's behind 60 grains of RL 22.

Just a suggestion.

BSA if I was you leave the barrel at 26 most are 24 but give it a chance with the extra 2". I think it will give better velocity on the 160-175 gr end of the cart. 139 gr Horn SP and 140 gr NPT with IMR 4831 will give you 3150 to 3200 fps easy with great accuracy. 160 gr NPT is also a good bullet in the mag. Last couple of deer I shot with it I used the 120 NBT and a max dose of RL-19 @ 3550+, drt and both good solid rib cage shots with solid pass thru performance.This load shoots flatter than the 257 Roy( Nosler # 6) and is pretty amazing. I would hazard a guess with slow burners and the heavy bullets you might be in 7mm Mashburn territory with the 26" bbl. Good luck Magnum man

How much elk hunting are you really planning on doing? For elk I would run the 175gn round nose under 200 yards switching to the spitzer for longer shots. For deer you should shoot whatever recoil/weight you and/or the rifle like best.

North Fork 140g and 160g, H1000
Barnes 140g TTSX, IMR7828SSC

Speer 160g Grand Slams have never disappointed but they are not as consistently accurate as the others and have a lower BC.

Man, BSA, you are a rifle-buying machine!

The 162 Amax's are as advertised by those who have been pimping them: very accurate, killer BC, cheap... big time fun bullet. Can't say how they do on game.

For deer/elk out to 600 yds or so, if I were running one bullet, it's the 160 NAB. As usual with Accubonds, it's a nice combo of BC, some insurance as to penetration, and yet it does make a brutal wound channel.

BSA, I've done load work on many 7s and find myself usually either going with R22 pushing 150-162 class pills or H4831 pushing 140 class pills more times than not.

My favorite hunting load for many 7RMs has been 66g R22 under 150NBTs or 160NABs lit by 215GMs in properly prepped WW or RP brass. I've had success with multiple other pills in that weight class as well, but usually go with them for starters. The 160NAB works great on deer sized game as well as elk. My favorite 140g deer load is the 140NAB over 68-69grn H4831 which usally yields 3150-3200fps from 24-26" bbls. Those 3 loads have worked in every 7RM I've loaded for lately.

A friend of mine has the rifle you describe. He asked me to go through it and come up with a load for him several years back. 1st on the list was the trigger, I knocked it back to 3lbs. Next was the bbl touching the flimsy stock. They put a ridiculous hot glue type bedding on the lug of those rifles, which many times stays glued to the lug when you remove them. I fixed the lug bedding to center his bbl. The load that particular rig thrived on was 140NABs over 68g H4831 in RP brass lit by 215GMs. IIRC it was good for around 3175fps in that particular gun. That rig has been quite wicked on many mulies, whitetails, and pigs since then.

For paper punching and occasional trips afield, I've had good luck with 162AMAX, 140 & 168VLDs, and 150MKs. I usually run the 140s over around 63g of IMR4350 shall my fav 68-69g H4831 load not produce. The others I've had success with both R22, IMR7828, and H4831, though I've never had much for MVs when pushing 150-160+ over H4831.

Having purchased 4 boxes of the 120TTSXs this year, I've been tinkering with them as well. Just haven't had the time to run them in more than one rig thus far(too many other new toys at the moment). In a 24" 700 I was able to push the little pills up to a 3450 MV avg over 73g of R22 and they have worked quite nice on paper thus far. With the season already in, I've moved that project to the back burner for now.

Good Luck with the new rig.

loder

Leave it at 26". 160gr Nosler Accubond, 64gr Rl22, fed 215m primer. Work up this load, find your O.A.L....go forth and fill an ark.

Kinda hard to beat 160 grs. out of a 7mag on anything worth shooting.

160 Accubond 66 gr rl22

So with 160 grain tsx, what kind of speed and energy are we looking at?

Dont need, or want, that slow of a pill when using a TSX or, better yet a TTSX. Go with a 140 TTSX or as was suggested 145gr MRX at 3200fps or a bit more with 7828SSC or R-22 and it will serioulsy and severely outperform a 160 AB, Partition or other lead core 160-175 gr bullet on any game at any reasonable hunting type range/distance. I load for several friends 7mm RemMAgs and they are good killers, made even better with todays excellent monometal bullets.

By outperform I mean flatter trajectory, more energy on target and deeper penetration / more likely to break stuff and get an exit wound. The holy triune of big game killing.

Don't know much about 7mm RemMag bullets, but if you cut the barrel you may as well have a 7mm-08.

I don't shoot Elk as we don't have them in Australia, but for Red Deer (500lb) and Sambar Deer (800lb) I found the 150NBT to be a great bullet. I try to settle on one bullet for each rifle for less messing around and less requirement for knowing whether the rifle is sighted in for one particular load or another. I gave up switching bullets a long tme ago and just figured buying more rifles was easier :-)

Many great choices here but mine is Barnes TTSX bullet.....................Hb

Lots good with 160 Nosler Accubond and Sierra Game King. I have not used the Amax. However lately there is a lot of buzz about the Amax. We haven't seen much on how it does on game. Do what you can to hunt with the 162Amax and report back on your findings. We need the info.....

26in barrels are fine and so are the 24in. Ballance can be better cutting to 24. If it was mine I'd cut to 25in and be happy with a fresh crown. Best luck to you and your new M70.

Keep the 26". I haven't had any issues with mine, with respect to balance, weight or maneuverability. The rifle seems to "handle lighter then it is", if that makes any sense. I can only attribute that to the balance of the rig, and losing 2" of barrel could (or could not) affect that.

My always go to loads are the 140 Nosler Partition or Ballistic tip (depending on the game) over RL22, and the 160 Nosler Partition over RL25. That said, I would now look at the 140 TSX (TTSX) for everything, find a load that shoots well, and go to it. Like the one poster above, I rebedded my Winnie getting rid of the hot glue ( I used JB weld on this particular rifle) and it shoots very well. That said, my next move on this rifle, is to bed it into a winlite stock I picked up awhile back....

+1 Exactly what my thoughts are about the barrel and mine doted on the same bullet with 62 grs, of Rel 22