Whats your favorite 7mm bullet at those velocities ? I have run hornady 139 , speer 145 , nosler 140btip and partition and 140 sierra and haven't really seen a lot of difference on deer size game except that the ballistic tip really makes a mess on close shots . The partition seems to be the most reliable , no matter the distance or angle . thinking of moving up or down in bullet weight this summer just to have a shooting project .

I've been using the 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip lately and it seems to work fine. I've also used the 140 gr partition, 145gr Winchester Powerpoint and the 170 Sierra RN .

My favorite all around is the 154 gr Hornady Interlock at around 2600 fps out of my 7x57 carbine. Seems to work well close up or at a distance.

Dan

I've shot mostly 140s thru my 7/08s and 7x57. With the nod going mostly to the partitions. However, I did shoot a couple or so deer with the 154gr Horn RN bullet. It will do a number on a deer. My furtherest shot was 250 yards with the 154 and it slam dunked the deer right in his tracks. Looking at the ballistic books, you're not really giving anything away with a RN bullet until you get out past 300 yards. And that's further than I shoot at BG.

any one I have used did well...

I do tend to have a soft spot for the RN ones those.. the 154 and 175 grain Hornadys and the discontinued 170 grain Sierra RN..

I've also used the 140 grain ballistic tip with success, and also the 115 grain HP Speer, with a charge of 4759 doing 30/30 speeds and did a heart shot on a 210 lbs blacktail...

I have been loading the 140 gr Ballistic Tip in mine for years, but based on some recent reports about the 120 gr BT having a stouter jacket, I've picked up a supply and plan on trying them this fall.

I prefer the 130gn Speer boat tail spitzer.

I've had great luck with Nosler 120 BT in my 7mm-08. It loves RL 17

I have good initial results with 168 gr VLDs in my 1:10 7mm-08. Shot most groups around 0.75 MOA. I'm hoping to end up pushing the 168 gr bullet between 2800 and 2900 fps although I still have plenty of testing to do.

I've also had good luck with the 160gr Accubond.

120gr TTSX shoots the best out of my 7-08

I havent been able to get the barnes 120 to shoot as good as the NBT 120, what is your load if you dont mind my asking?

139 Interbonds run very good in my 708 Rem MR.

175 Speer GS's in the old '09 Mauser in 7x57.

Gunner

Another vote for the 120 grain Ballistic Tip. My 7-08 loves it. And it looks extremely well on antelope. Haven't used it on anything bigger, but suspect it would do fine. Tough little bullet and very accurate.

I like the 120 ttsx also.

Mine likes 140 accubonds over RL15.

120 NBT for my 7-08. Ramshot Big Game, muzzle velocity around 3100. Death-ray for deer.

How often do you 120 NBT guys get exits when hitting a shoulder on medium game?

My buck last year was bedded when I hit his shoulder. No exito.


Travis

I always thought that a 140 at 2800 would do an outstanding job.

dye7barrel, how long is the barrel on your 7-08 and what powder are you using to get a 168 to go 2800 and 2900 fps.

The little I have used the 7mm-08 on game, it was with the 139 grain Horn..it worked fine on deer size game...

I'm with 68injunhead....120 TTSX on 51g of Big Game...3130 @ muzzle......it's smokin'...............

I've used 120BT, 139 Hornadys, 130 Speers, and 140 Woodleighs. All have been very good and the only projectiles I've recovered have been the 120 Noslers but they have caused the most blood shot meat also.

I've got a couple of boxes of Hornady 154RN and I'm very tempted to give them a run just for the hell of it.

Killed a lot of stuff with a 140gr NBT, 140gr NP, and 140gr TSX.
I will be trying the 120gr TTSX this year.

I was doing a bit of reloading for my 280 when I wrote that. I'm getting those velocities with the 140 VLD with H4350 out of the 280.

Wish I could get 2800-2900 with the 168 VLD from a 7mm-08 Actual velocites with the 7mm-08 are between 2500-2600.

Thanks for catching that.

This is my favourite bullet for my 7x57. A two part soft nose -hard shanked 165gn cast bullet, sort of like a partition except that it retains 100% of its weight at the 2415 fps that I run it at. Have taken game from up close to 185yds so far with results more than comparable with what I was getting with cup and core at 26-27oofps.


Von Gruff.

I have hand loaded only for the 7MM Rem Mag. The 150 Ballistic Tip is phenomenally accurate and it's an excellent performer on deer.

I like heavy for cartridge bullets. I like the 175 grain bullet in either RN or SP in my 7-08.

7x57 - 154 gr Hornady. They hold together pretty good.

I'm starting to think along those lines myself although I'm shooting a 7x57 and not a 7-08. Funny thing is my luck with the 7x57 has been all bad so far. I've only lost two deer in 54 years of hunting and both times I was using a 7x57. The first time was back in 1937. I'd picked up a neat little sporter based on a 1916 Oviedo Spanish Mauser that was customized in some British gun shop. Now at the time I was living in a small Nevada town and only two places sold ammo. Only one place had any 7X57 and that was the Federal 175 gr. round nose. The load was accurate but seemed a bit slow. I got a fairly close shot at a nice meat size Mule Deer and know for sure I'd hit it pretty soldily. the deer took off and after a bit of a wait I picked up a sparse blood trail that soon petered out. Finally, I went home and got my wife to help look. We looked for that deer till it got too dark to see anymore. For the record, I shot th deer about 8 in the morning. I went out the next day with a different rifle BTW and found what the coyotes hadn't cleaned up by the crows and magpies. That deer had run over a half mile with a solid hit. I sold that rifle off a short time later.
About 6 years ago, I'd bought another 7x57 rifle, a neat Winchester M70 Featherweight and I'd worked up a load with the Nosler 140 gr. Ballistic Tips. I got a very accurate load that did 2800 FPS and most groups ran in the .75" range. Time to hunting. Well I got a nice broadside shot and a small forked horn Mule Deer and hit hit right behind the shoulder, the bullet striking a rib for sureas I heard the loud snap at the strike and saw blood. The deer turned off down into a gully and as I went up to pick up the trail that damn malpais caused my foot to turn one way while the rest of me went in another direction. Walking ceased being any kind of an option at that point as I'd done some serious damage to my right knee. My hunting partner and his son literally carried me off that hill. They were so concerned about getting me to a doctor that they refused to go look for my deer. I have not hunted with them since.
Now I have to look at both cases and try and figure out what went wrong. I still had that box of Federal 175 gr. loads from that earlier hunt but wondered if they'd slowed down some. I bought a fresh box and ran them over the chronograph. They only did 2010 FPS, and that's from both boxes. I pulled a bullet from a shell from that old bix and sectioned and it had a very thick jacket. My thoughts are with that thick jacket and low speed, there was no way that bullet could have opened up properly. I think it just pencilled on through and that allowed that deer to go as far as it did before it fell.
The second deer I'm not so sure about. I know the bullet hit a rib and possibly came unglued without serious penetration. The fact that I screwed up my knee when I went to find it is just a lot of bad luck. In fairness to Nosler though, these ballistic tips were of the early variety and had thinner jackets than current versions. I seriously think that if the bullet had penetrated a little better, maybe that deer would have been in my freezer and not feeding coyotes. That one was a combintion of errors I'm thinking.
I got a smoking deal on a large quantity of 150 gr. Nosler Partitions in .270 caliber and in 7MM Six boxes of each at $10 a box. I also got from the same guy 5 boxes each of 120 gr. and 140 gr. Barnes TSX bullets for $15 a box. I also have a decent supply of 140, 160 and 175 gr, bullets to try. I have three 7x57s and a .280 Rem. to feed so when bargains show up, I'm all over them like stink from a skunk. All three rifles like the now long gone Sierra 170 gr. RNs and the Hornady 175 gr. RNs are very close second with all three being sub-MOA with those bullets. I'm hoping the 175 gr. Nosler Partitions I just bought will shoot good as I just might use one of the 7x57s for an elk hunt. That or maybe the .280.
My biggest problem right now is getting up early enough to do some reloading out in my shed before it gets too hot to work. If I turn on the A/C, my scales are affected buy the breeze from the unit so reloading has to be done starting around 0530 or 0600 if I want to get anything done.
I di believe that other than the two barnes bullets, from now on I will be using bullets of 150 gr. or heavier in my 7x57s for big game I'll save the 140 gr. and lighter cup and core stuff for paper and varmints.
Ater all, the 7x57 did make it's reputation early on with 175 gr. rn bullets at roughly 2300 FPS.
Paul B.

The 140 grain Nosler Partition has worked quite well in my 7x57 for many years. I plan to keep on using them.

I load a lot of the 139s but havent shot them in mt rifle, I like the 150NBT but will be testing for accuracy the 154SST, we'll see how it does very soon.

Favorite bullet in 7mm-08/7x57?

Something 160gr in a Nosler box for me.

140gr Accubond for me in my 7X57.

140gr BT in my 7x57AI @ 3050fps has killed everything in Texas I've pointed it at.Large Bucks,big hogs,javelina,Mexican buzzards,coyotes,turkeys,rattlesnakes,snappin turtles,and no they don't tear up anymore meat than CC if you hit 'em in the second rib where you're supposed to. powdr

For my wife, I load whatever is shooting best in her 7-08ai in 120 gr bullets. She really likes the faster, flatter shooting loads, so I've loaded 120 gr NBTs and 120 gr TTSX for her. Velocities have been between 3150-3180 fps and on game performance with both of those bullets has been very good. So far, we have not recovered a 120 gr bullet.

140 gr. Accubond or TSX in the 7-08 works great on deer.

140 B-tips shoot great and kill hard. I have since switched to 120's but yet to put one in game.

I'm gong to the range tomorrow to try out some new loads for my 7mm-08. I loaded up some 140 grain sierra pro hunters, some 150 grain gamekings, some 120 grain triple shocks and some 120 grain nosler ballistic tips. I am really looking forward to seeing how the 120 grain bullets are going to group and deep down I am hoping they shoot the best because I have been hearing nothing but great stuff about the 7mm-08 loaded with the 120 grain bullet.

When I was in one of my 7x57 and 7/08 phase I killed game with the 140 Nosler Partition driven about 2850 from both cartridges.Good load in both and I never was able to recover a bullet.

I used both the old screw machine bullet and the newer style but could neer see much difference.

Never did shoot any game with 140 grain Nosler partitions in my 7x57's. They couldn't cut the mustard in the accuracy department so they never went hunting.
Now the 160 grain Nosler partition is a different story. Good accuracy in all my 7x57's owned.

145gr Speer HC

WN

Only used 120gr nbt's so far. Can't imagine anything doing better for deer. I am open minded and may try somethin else some day if I get around to it?

Nosler 140 g. partition in my 7x57.

Went to that after having a 139g. Hornady blowup on a fat 3 point mule deer in 1979. I eventually killed the deer but two shots directly on the spine did not kill the deer, only disabled it. No penetration at all and when I gutted it you couldn't tell it was shot from the appearance inside the body cavity. Never shot another animal with a Hornady 139 g. again until last year when I used it on an antelope.

I've also used 140 BT, 140 Sierra and 154 Hornady on deer with no problems. Partitions are fool-proof in my experience (yes I am the fool that has tested it! )

Been trying to get 120 BTs to shoot well in my 7x57 but have not yet found a load that shoots as well as the 140 g. bullets.

139 SST's

roundoak: Funny.....I wonder why? I have had no trouble with them (actually both 140's and 160's have been good to me).

Last 7x57 I had was a Rem Mountain Rifle and it was the most accurate 7x57 I ever owned.....one of those guns that just clustered shots. Load was 51 gr RL19-140 NPT.

I have used that 140 Partition in the two smaller 7's, the 280 Rem,and the 7 Rem mag....velocities have been from 2700-2800 or,clear up to 3300 fps.I still have not recovered one and they kill really well.

I recall one nice pronghorn buck that died so fast at about 300 yards,his mouth was still closed on a hunk of vegetation he was munching....

The 140 Partition is one of my favorite hunting bullets because it easily handles a very wide range of velocities,and works well near and far (to about 500,as far as I have used it.To me, that's still "long"....

I've use a variety, 120, 140, and 150 BTs, 130 and 145 Speers, 139 SP IL (quite a bit), 140 PT, 100 and 140 XFBs, 120 TSXs and TTSXs, 170 RN Pro-hunter, 160 Failsafe. Every one of the many caribou and two(?) moose I've shot has died quite handily with whatever bullet has been applied. The 139 SP Hornady is quite simply a good general purpose, easy shooting hunting bullet. It would certainly be the best way to spend $100 on bullets for the cartridge if one was so limited......IMO.

I love using the 162 Amax and 180 Bergers in my 7-08 for hunting. I have an 8 twist barrel so the heavies work great for me.

CKW,

That's was an incredible story. Thanks for sharing it.

Deer aren't that difficult to anchor. If a bullet can't be relied upon to anchor deer, hunters should be aware of it.


Thanks agian,

R

I have never used anything lighter than 150 grains in my 7MM Rem Mag. I love the SD of .284 caliber. Theory being proved in application, long .284 projectiles fly flatter and penetrate like nobody's business.

BTW, I still hand load for my 7MM rem Mag. If this helps, years ago in the Cedar City WalMart I bought a bunch of boxes of Remington 150 grain CoreLokts. They chrono'd at better than 3100 FPS and grouped well under an inch. Had I known how well CoreLokts performed, I might not have gotten into the reloading business. I would not hesitate using 150 grain CoreLokts on any North American big game save really bug bears. That's why Remington makes 175 grain CoreLokts.

I used to hunt with a dude who used 175 grain CoreLokts in his 7MM Rem Mag for everything he hunted. Hard to argue with success.


R

Shot nothing but Speer 145gr SP BT's in my 7x57..a perfectly balanced case capacity/bullet weight combo IMO..A great bullet still using it in my 280.

Raisuli, that was many years ago and I presume it was just a bad batch of bullets that slipped through QC. The 139 g. Hornadys always shot a little better in my rifle than the partitions but the experience was sour. Partitions have always worked great.

Those bullets were about 3,000 fps at the muzzle. (3090 fps with 1 grain more powder than used in the hunt, which was 2 g. less than what I had worked up to.) Stiff load but cases last more than 10 loads and there were no signs of pressure on the case and bolt lift.

Remington 700 sps, 139 Hornadys over h-4350. Killed several deer from 120-170 lbs, most shots inside of 100 yards. Have broke sholders and behind the sholder shots, never recovered a bullet. The rifle likes the 120 bt over varget, just never have shot a deer with this load. Next to try on deer will be the 140 ab o ver 4350, shoots moa if I do my part. Believe they will work;).

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!!!

I tried out a bunch of different loads today and I must say I am very pleased. The 120 grain nosler ballistic tips pushed by 42.6 grains of IMR4064 grouped the best turning in an impressive .480 4 shot group. The 150 grainers came in second with a solid 1" grouping, the 120 triple shocks turned in 1.100", the 140 grain sierras turned in a bad 2.300", the factory fusion 140 grainers turned in a bad 2.750" and the 139 grain sst's turned in a horrible 3.700" grouping.

ps. I'm shooting a savage 7mm-08

130g Speer BTSP with IMR 4895, 9 1/2 primer will make you very happy.

Another vote for the Speer 130 BTSP for hunting. You can load it to nearly 3000 fps in the 7mm-08, and somewhat above that velocity in the 7x57. If there's a better deer load, I haven't seen it.

I use the Hornaday 139 grain flat base in my 7x57,but I have some of those 154 and 175 grain round nose bullets put back for special occasions.

Is it one of those they put a slow 11" twist in?

My friends 7-08 really likes 154 gr Hornady's as well as 140 Partition. Hoping my 7-08 Montana likes one of those as well. Two really great bullets for the 7-08 in my opinion.

140 Accubond in the 7-08 and 154 Horn in the 7x57

120NBT or 140NAB. Drive 'em fast. Hit heavy bone(shoulders). Bang flop. NO issues with either. 120NBT run at around 3100 from 7-08. 140NAB run at 3206 from a 280AI. 140NBT data will get you close for the NAB. Back off a tad and work back up. the 7-08 dotes on varget and the 120NBT. Mine loved 45grn which is book max.

Mine loves 160 Speer Mag tips. Should be good for short to medium work. I bought several boxes on Midway a year ago for $12 each on closeout.

mine seems to like 48 grns of RL22 and the 175grn. Partition seated out to 3.275", had it since last year and have not killed a moose nor a bear with it. My boys are doing the things I've instilled in them so maybe something down the road.

120TSX 44.4gr. R-15 in 7-08