I have a remington 700 in 7mm-08 with a 24" barrel. I developed a load arriving at 50gr H4350 with a 140gr. Nosler Accubond at 2950fps. I see no signs of pressure. No sticky bolt lift, no resistance on extraction, no shiny ring ahead of the case head. Primers are slightly cratered, but not excessive. I see Hodgdon shows a max charge of 50gr for the 139gr Hornady, and 48.5 with a 150gr. Sierra, but many other loading sources show charges maxed at 46-48gr or so. I know changing bullet styles has some effect, as does the individual rifle, but does anybody else shoot a 50gr H4350 charge in their 7mm-08 with 140s?

I loaded up some H4350 and went to 49 grains with 140 BT without any pressure signs using Lapua brass.

Just curious why you think you can hot rod a 140AB @ 2950 and not get high pressure. Hodgdon shows a max charge (compressed) of 48gr with 140's @ 2868. How do you figure you can get almost 100fps more out of an over-max load @ 2950fps and NOT have high pressure? Can't have excessive speed without high pressure....impossible.

What did the chrono say?

Im at 48grs @ 2772fps, 48.5grs was just over 2800fps both from a 22” barrel.


50grs is above my pay grade. I have a 7 mag if I need more.

If I was hitting the upper-2,800's with 140's and H4350, I'd be stopping there, even with a 24" barrel. 2,950 is likely a touch warm.

High pressure signs usually don't show up until you are well beyond the threshold. High pressure is like a rattlesnake, they don't always rattle before they bite!!

There is no such thing as a free lunch

The chronograph I used was a Caldwell.

I agree, 2950fps seemed a bit too good to be true. I don't profess to be an expert, hence why I'm asking others' opinions. Thanks for the responses. John has 49gr H4350 listed as his max in his Big Book of Gun Gack using 140gr Partitons and Ballistic Tips. My 49gr load gave me 2880fps, seems more in line with what is a reasonable expectation.

One other pressure sign I would consider was not mentioned, that of primer pockets in the brass you use for this load. Are they still snug?
Other wise, what your rifle is telling you is things are OK with that combination. Load manuals are a guide, and as you`ve noted, can be over or under what is working in your gun. Generally, I`ve found production rifle barrels have a wider spec range than custom, both in chamber and barrel dimentions, allowing for more, or less, performance out of one, than another "same" gun. One reason we hand load.

My opinion, as I`m not working with your rifle.

I can't say about the primers as I haven't reloaded any of the cases I have used so far, but I will check the pockets when i do.

In my Rem 700 7mm/08 with 23" bbl

48gns H4350 & 140gn Nosler Accubond produced a 3 shot average of 2818fps.

Depending on the brass, IME, that`s not an absolute, but an indicator. Pockets loose the first go round, back off a couple grains..should be able to go 4-5 loadings or more with normal pressure. Again, an indicator.

If all`s well, enjoy the load.

So somewhere in between the 2-5 loadings it's OK to shoot a high pressure load? As stated, there's no free lunch.....high velocities = high pressure, even if it's not obvious.

As I believe I stated, I, nor you, are working with his rifle.

How do you KNOW his pressure is high??? By velocity alone...too many variables in the mix.

As was stated by the OP, his rifle is showing no signs of excessive pressure. BTB, one way to get more velocity, safely, is to burn more powder. His rifle seems to be able to do that.

I`ve also had several rifles that allowed me to do the same thing, one a 700 Classic in 8x57. It happens. And sorry, IME, HIGH pressure is obvious.

I agree that we disagree.

You're right, we do disagree.

I guess I also figured that since Hodgdon shows a 50gr charge of H4350 with the Hornady 139gr bullet, Nosler's 140 shouldn't be too far off. Of course, I know different bullet construction can change things, and perhaps I was overlooking that fact. I certainly can live with a 140@2800-2850 or so. I'm sure no game animal will ever notice lol. I value everyone's opinion and thank you for responding.

RL17 with 140's works really well for me. If you're interested in that powder.

47.5 gr Big Game gives me 2880 out of a 22 7/16” Tikka barrel. Figuring 25 FPS per inch adds 40 FPS, so 2920 with a 24” barrel. He might not be that far off.



P

I would also keep the temperature in mind... warmer temps may bring a different result.

100fps less won't make enough difference to matter. If you need more velocity you need a larger cartridge. A proper shot and a bullet that reliably works trumps the extra velocity you're speaking about.

I like your BG loads, use them.

Another interesting option may be StaBALL. I have a couple of cans, just haven't tried it yet. Published data could be a bit over hyped from what I've read.

IMO, hard to beat BG in that round, speed plus accuracy and how it meters so well out of a Uniflow powder measure.

DF

2800-2850 is about tops for 140's , H4350 and the 7-08 in the 22-24" tube range...

I shoot 46.5 of H4350 and get 2840FPS out of mine Christensen Ridgeline .3moa with the Sierra 140 BTHP. Thats fast enough for me and plenty accurate.

Absa-freaking-lutely.

That bullet is the most accurate in my Hart barreled 7-08 M-700. Several 5 shot groups under half inch.

And, it kills deer quickly, a bit more expansive than the 120 NBT, my other favorite.

And it exits with good blood flow, plenty of internal destruction...

DF

If your gun really likes it up there on paper, I'd shoot it. If it'd be me I want to know why, but if what you said is true, it doesn't seem like it hates it pressure wise. Perhaps you have the perfect storm of a big chamber,long free bore, fast bbl, and cases with more internal capacity that those used in the load data you've found.

H-4350 seems to be the 7-08 standard.

BUT, when newer, better powders come along (if one believes such), it may be time to move on to other opportunities.

I'm waiting for StaBALL data to be confirmed (or not) by Fire contributors. I see what's posted by Hodgdon, but read that some reach pressure before getting to published velocities. It does sound a bit ambitious. (Look it up). Over hyped...? Don't know.

Although I have a big jug of H-4350, I'm onto BG in that round. To me, like Pharm, it offers optimal performance in the 7-08, even better than the old standard.

The jury is still out on StaBALL.. I'm wanting to try it. It's just been too hot and life seems to get in the way. One of these days. Would appreciate any info

DF

If you don’t use Big Game, the terrorists win.

They got no leg up on anyone around here....

DF

PP2000MR was the fastest and most accurate in my Tikka 2910 FPS using 140gr Accubonds and Starline cases CCI250 primer.

RL17 did 2901 FPS using 140gr Nosler Partitions and CCI250 primers.

Last week Hunter did 2904 FPS 140gr Nosler Partitions Starline case and WLRM primer.

W760 will approach 2900 with 140gr bullets and is very accurate. But if hunting with W760 I,d back off to 2850 FPS or so.

Also working on RL16 but getting enough in the case is the problem.

Lots of 2900 ish powders for 140's in the 7-08. H4350 is not one of them safely.

It really doesn't matter. Dial the turret 2 more clicks or add a couple of inches over his back of you wanna ghetto it.

Now, we have Hodgdon's new StaBALL, advertised to push a 140 out of the 7-08 at 2,976 fps, 48.5 gr. at 59+K psi...

I have a couple of cans, just haven't had the time to check it out. Other projects in the way.

140's at nearly 3K fps is stepping on out. And a temp stable ball powder to boot. Sounds good, hope it proves to be more fact than hype...

I guess time will tell.

DF

I think Hodgdon ran their tests with a 24” barrel, so knock 45 FPS off the mv.

Still, I’d like to see data with the 150 eldx.



P

I had some Nosler Accubond LR laying around so this morning I loaded 9 up using RL17, Win case , WLRM primers At 2.810 OAL.

We will see how the fly.

I loaded some RL26 using 145gr Speer #1628 BT WLR primers and Win cases at 2.780 OAL I got 2880 FPS for 5 shot..

My RL17 did exactly the same 2880 145 Gr Speer Win case 2.780 OAL SD was 10.8 Produced much better group than the RL26.

Tried RL16 with same load as above, everthing the same but got 2829 FPS for 5 shots SD was 8.8 slightly better group than RL17

I have some more loaded with WLRM to shoot tomorrow, plus a load of PP4000mr.