What's your preference?

160-gr Sierra BTHP or 175-gr BTSP.

If you are shooting a 140-gr at deer or sheep, all you need is a 7mm-08 or 7x57.

My dad started us kids off shooting his Browning BAR in 7 Mag in the late 60's with 160g Sierra BTSP with 61g of IMR 4831, one shot bang flops were normal. As we got older, we got our own 7 Mags and shot the 160g Sierra BTSP. Between us,we killed several hundred deer. I don't know of a deer that ran off...quite a testimony of a caliber and bullet.

Later on, I got bored of the 160g Sierra's and went to the 140g Nosler BT with 65.0-65.5g of IMR 4350 at 3250 fps. This load is flatter shooting than the IMr 4831 load with the 160g's, but deer will usually travel 35 yards or so unless shot through the shoulders.

The 175's were really accurate in one rifle that I had, I would think that they are more of an elk bullet than the 160g Sptbt. The Sierra 160g HPBT is tougher bullet than the BTSP.

Hope this helps!

Depends on the circumstances. You just hunting deer or bigger game? For deer and good trajectory, the 140 NAB is a good one. For the bigger stuff the 160 NAB or NPT are good ones.

Good Luck

loder

160 grn. Nosler Partitions are the do all bullet in my 7 Mag. pushed by IMR 7828.

145 Speers @ about 3050 for deer. 160Partition @ about 2950 for elk.

I've used both on and both work.I've heard these theories that there is no sense using 140 in the 7RM,but don't really agree.140's at 3200+ are very flat shooting and accurate to long range,and at least in the Nosler Partitions and BBC's I've used,very deadly as well.The 140 AB,too, is an accurate flat shooting load that seems to do well on deer sized stuff,and if I ever find 140 Partitions inadequate for the task, I would reach for those again.

A friend who posts here just came back from a month in Africa;shot a pile of game up to zebra and gemsbuk in size with 160 Swift Aframes and 140 BBC's;said he could see little difference between the two bullets; both did a great job.

The 160's are great,too.Nice thing about a 7 RM is that you get very good velocities with everything from 120's to 175's,and leave nothing on the table as you move up in bullet weight;they all go pretty fast,something the smaller jugged 7mm's can't quite do.

Well if you simply want to run one of them, the 160's are very universal....

CLB

I agree with CLB.

If you just want a "do-all" bullet for the 7mm RM, the 160 is the weight class you are looking for. It ultimately depends on what you plan to hunt and in what conditions though.

i use 162 gr btsp hornady and 66gr of imr 7828 with a cci mag primer warm load start lower and work up

I've got some 160's (Barnes TSX) but really still prefer the 150's. I'm getting ready to load up some 150gr Swift Scirocco's and give them a shot.

I'll give a vote to the TBBC for a heavy knockdown bullet. My dad shot everything from sringbok to gemsbok last September using 175gr TBBC's in my 7mm Mag.

i started out with 160gr.grand slams in my 7mm mag. worked great on elk, not so great on deer never lost any deer the would run off leaving an awsome blood trail. the last one i shot went a quarter of a mile. i switched to 140 gr nosler solid base bullets and have shot a bunch of deer no problems my son uses the 140 gr ballistic tip in his 7mm mag and has shot a lot of deer and loves the bullet
Ed

Many here overlooking some nice "tweeners": the Nosler 150 gr. BT and Hornady 154 Interlock.

I wouldn't hesitate to punch either through the lungs of any deer or elk outta my 7mm SAUM.

If your looking for one bullet for everything then go with the 160 premium bullets. 140s are excellent for deer size game and he 175 are perfect for elk.

mailman,
Let your rifle choose. I have two rifles one likes most 160's and the other likes 140 and 150 but not 160.

If you are lucky enough to have a rifle that likes either, I would suggest going with the 160 for long range because it is better in the wind.
To me bullet drop is easier to adjust for at long range than wind drift.

Thanks for all who replied. I'm still "on the fence" with this one as I am looking for the most accurate. I've heard and read that the 160's are the way to go for the 7mag and am willing to sacrifice speed for accuracy. I'm just trying to narrow things down a bit before dumping a chunk of change in supplies. Thanks again.

mmm

I shoot 140 gr. accubonds in my 7mm rem mag. I'm not a fan of the heavy for caliber bullet theory, especially since there are so many good premium bullets on the market. 40 years ago the heavy bullet theory might have been true because you needed the weight and slower velocity to get the bullets of the day to hold together, but not any more. Loading a 160 gr bullet into a 7mm rem mag turns it into the equal of a 30-06, which is not what I'm looking for. I mainly use the 7mm mag for it's flat shooting abilities and don't want to give that up by handicapping it with a heavy bullet. There's no reason to use a 160 gr 7mm bullet on deer when the 140's will shoot through them from any direction. You likely won't find any difference in accuracy between a 140 and a 160 gr bullet, either is just as likely to be accurate.

I used to load 160 partitions in mine and used it successfully on everything from pronghorns to elk. Gave the rifle to a son-in-law that needed it for a northern New Mexico elk hunt. He doesn't reload and I don't reload for him, so I have no idea what he's shooting in it now...

I'm with Rancho, I've used the 154 Horn a bit and the 150 NBT a ton load out of my 7 Mashburn Super. Have filled an ark or two with the 150 NBT and really like the bullet.

Dober

I'm usually a heavier bullet for caliber guy but I shoot the 140 AB in the 7 Rum at a sedate 3425 fps. It didn't impress the 6x5 bull I shot 1st gen. Oregon elk season. He just laid down and took a dirt nap. The bullet did its job. Wouldn't hesitate to use it again even though I usually use 300 rum 200 AB on elk. I can push the 140 alot faster but its very accurate with 7828 at this velocity. Retumbo can get you to 3550. So...I would not hesitate to use a prem 140 on elk. Cup/core I'd step up to 160 at least. Just my opinion

for deer out to 300 yards or so 139 horn or 140 partition. or any of the bergers 140 or 168

Although I agree that the 160gr. Accubond is probably the better all around weight, I currently use the 140 gr Accubond in my 7mm WSM. Hunting game heavier than deer is not in my immediate future.

Last fall I hit an antelope facing me in the chest at 100 yards. The bullet failed to make the diaphragm. Bang. Flop. Lungs and top of the heart were red goo.

This year I punched two sideways through another antelope at 315 yards. He humped up with the first shot and collapsed with the second. Damage to the organs looked a whole lot more like the damage I've seen from Ballistic Tips instead of Partitions, although it was obvious that the bullets were opening a bit later than BT's would have.

I plan on using the same load on whitetails next weekend. Guess I'll find out how well it works at about 50 yards. Field dressing may be a bit messy.

MicScott-tree stand hunting? If so, just take a 139 Horn flat base, load it to 2700 and you'll be just fine...

Dober

I have killed deer,pronghorn,bighorn,elk,and moose with 140gr bullets with no problems at all.My current bullet of choice is the 140gr TTSX.

The old advice, from the old days when all we had were CC bullets(and the only premiums available were Noslers and a few Bitterroots,if you could get them)was that 160's were best for all-round in the 7 RM.Also, Remington factory 150 CoreLokts killed a lot of game.

That may be true today as well, but if you watch your bullet construction, today you can use almost any weight in a 7RM,from a tough 120 to a 175 and do pretty good.Last year there was a fellow on here who posted pics of elk he killed with the 120TTSX from, I think a 7MM WSM.Same same.

Nice thing about the 7RM is that you get good velocity with about any bullet weight without a lot of recoil.If anything the cartridge is better now than when it came out,thanks to all the great bullets.Other 7mm's with similar capacity do as well.

My son just harvested a 10 pt buck yesterday with his 7mm Magnum
and a 120 Nosler BT @ 3300 fps muzzle velocity. He thinks it was about 250 yds away.
The deer only stayed on his feet for about 20 yds. His heart was broken.
whelennut

Pero,
You ever run the 154's or 150's with imr4350?
How much bigger or smaller is the mashburn compared to the rem mag?

Kique

Kique, 63.0g of IMR 4350 with a 150g Nosler, Sierra or 154g Hornady with a Rem 9 1/2 primer is magic with most 7 Mags. Seat the bullet to touch the lands.

The 154g Hornady Sp is plenty of elk or large hogs.

Bullets have changed but a lot of us luddites haven't. If you want to drive a light for calibre bullet at warp speed in a big 7 nowadays, you can probably find a bullet that is up to the task. And will hold together once it gets there. (much as it hurts me to say that ) But I still don't see any logic in having a half dozen loads and half a dozen bullets for one rifle. 120s for antelope, 140s for WTs, 150s for mulies, 160s for elk, etc. I am still a work up a good load with a good bullet and use it on everything. I just believe the 7mag was made to shoot a 160gr bullet and I have used it with excellent success on everything from antelope to elk.
IMO, if you want to shoot a lesser bullet, buy another rifle.

I agree,and that is why I use the 140gr TTSX for all of my big game hunting.

I thought the major differnce when all the magnums came out was to be able to drive heavier bullets faster, not necessarily lighter bullets. Heavier bullets + fatser velocity= more down range energy.

Having too many loads easily becomes counter productive. But when I ran the 7 mag as my "one gun" I had a 130 gr Speer load and a 160 gr Partition load. That was really like having two different rifles and covered the gamut from antelope to elk quite nicely.

No need for a half dozen loads, but the optimal bullet for our 100lb WT ain't optimal of 700lb elk. Besides, some of us enjoy working up loads and being able to use the same rifle for different game.

140's are fine for mule deer on down. ie bonded or TSX.
I currently use the 150 grain nosler E-Tip and have no doubt it will be fine on Elk on down. The solid coppers retain most of their weight, and many step down in wt because of that. No loss in game performance.

It was, Saddlesore, but then Roy Weatherby invented kenetic energy which meant if you took a light for calibre bullet and drove it fast enough, you didn't have to be able to aim, nor track, nor shoot, nor get very far from the truck, nor figure trajectory since Weatherby rounds actually rose during flight. If you hit the animal in the foot, that thar kinetic energy would blow his heart apart. Don'tchaknow
Kinda like the magic bullets of today that are supposed to out penetrate all others. That means when the magic bullet passes plum thru an animal, it will travel further than your bullet does when it passes plum thru an animal.

Thanks Stillbeeman.That splains it to me.

I don't have a bunch of loads but I do see wisdom in shooting 140's for deery creatures and 160/175 for elky/moose size creatures. 140's at 3250 is plain flat shooting, 160's at 3050 is about as flat as it gets without getting into serious recoil and portability.

Mine shoots 150 grain Nosler Partitions better than 140's or 160's. So, that what I use. But, my buddy's rifle shoots 160's best, so he shoots that bullet weight.
I know the 150's are like that hammer of Thor killing Deer, and I'd expect the 160's to do the same. Deer, and Bear are about the largest animal we hunt here, except for the annual Elk Draw we have. I've never drawn.. I don't personally know anyone else who has drawn either. But, I keep applying, as do my kids. Someday, maybe???

I'm with Saddlesore. I've always thought the big 7s were at their best with a 160 @ 3000 or even better the 175 partition @ 2800-2900 fps. Very high BC and SD, great performance on game, moderate recoil.

I wouldn't overthink this. I used to use 120's and 140's for deer and never had a problem. I had one load with a 139 hornady that I thought was moving at 3400 because it would just mow deer down. I got the chronograph and found that it was only going 3100. One bullet that I would like to try is the 140 grain accubond. It seems like it could do it all from deer to elk.

The answer is the 150TSX. What was the question?