Where is a good place to start for loading 154gr Hornady IL. I’ll be shooting deer out to 2-250 yards. Fun is a Winchester M70 XTR Featherweight.

So far, I have not shot these at all.

I am loading 50.5 gr of RL-19 with a 150 grain Nosler Partition for the wife 7x57 Rem. mountain rifle. Accuracy is very good, speed is approx. 2700-2750 (no chrono). Load is for an elk hunt in later Oct. Hornady IL will be a good choice.

Any loads for H4350?

T, I load 46 grains of H4350 under 160 sierras (one of Mule Deer's loads), in three different 7x57's with no signs of excessive pressures. Work up from below,of course. I have had great success with Hornady 154 psp&round nose with H450 in the 7x57,but that powder is a thing of the past!

Excellent. Thank you. I have seen some loads from here going up to 52gr. Is that crazy? I shot 154gr RN with imr4350 and 44-46gr with little success. I’m hoping the IL SP’s will be a bit better?

Tzone, IMHO, I would not go past 45 to 46 gr with H4350 and 154; 52 gr is .280AI territory. Let 7mm-08 data be your guide.

What was your issue with the 154 RN, lack of accuracy?

That’s what I was thinking! A little heavy.

Yes, the rn didn’t shoot at all really. 2.5” groups

Denton's loads provided good guidance for my 7x57. You could talk to him or look up some more of his posts

7x57 loads

As far as "reading" pressure sign, for my rifle I had none. YMMV...always work up.

Looking at a few of these loads, maybe I need to start playing with seating depth more as well.

Yes. Try the one most promising and kiss. If they have been loaded deeply the pressure will/may be higher. I do well with 140-150 BTs, & the HIL 139-154 in this particular rifle. Have a little free-bore left with the 139s.

--at least that is how I do it.

A lot of the posts on the Fire about this round taught me ONE big thing about the 7x57mm.

What your chamber and throat will preform best at is hardly ever closely related to most anyone else's. (Mine sure seems to be a freak so far.)

FOTIS posted some quickloads for the 139 and 154s in 2010.....and I saved that for one *ONE* of my references but my 700 Classic has a "mile" of throat. I've yet to find a bullet to reach the lands no matter how little it's seated. His post is helpful to me........but (for me in my rifle) it's not max.

I DO KNOW that when I get the SS custom barrel sitting here on a donor and finished, I'll have to start over.......AND keep loads separate. Throat on that is isn't long at all. The chamber's neck diameter isn't anywhere's close to the SAAMI chamber in my 700 either....which is HUGE.

With H4350 the quick load print out puts 51.7 grains at 60,000 psi. More importantly (for me) the list gave me a little more insight on powder choice "maximums" per se but the only exception I have made from using the "old timey" IMR 3031, IMR 4895 and H380 has been RL-17.......if I really want to push something but with the 7x57mm high end loading is more for fun and games than serious long range loads. Still, it opened my eyes a bit on what CAN be safely done (zero spiking, primer issues, bolt sticking..etc)

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3855630/Re_7x57_again



The above advice is spot on. Your rifle may (might/probably) be entirely different so the advice of STARTING with 7mm-08 load data and working up to what you want is and has been sound advice, for me........but I don't shoot H4350 so...........just sticking this link in for you to take a look but what YOUR rifle's chamber/throat is can easily produce other results. I've zero info on how much Winchester's chambers change, what kind of throat length they have etc. So far, with my rifle, load date is "ball park estimates" at best.

2 cents.
God Bless

I can't help the OP with 4350 data but if he wants to look at Re17, I have a sweet load that pushes the 150 gr. Nosler Partition to 2700 FPS and change. Pressure seems quite mild.
Paul B.

Thanks for that list from Fotis, Steve. Missed it. My rifle was custom throated specifically for the 139g for its original owner (but is a touch long anyway) and interestingly the QL loads are very close to what I get with same powder charge of 4350.

Have not tried RL17 in the 7x57. But it certainly does a great job accuracy-wise with 150s in daughter's 7-08.

Second the R17. My R#1 in 7x57 loves 150 Solid Bases in front of R17.

I also use Mule Deer's load of 46 gr of H4350 with the 156 gr Oryx. Accuracy is sub MOA and everything I've shot with it went down pretty quick, even a 300 # hog. Rifle is a CZ 550 with factory 24" barrel.

Tom,

Steve's Reloading pages, for the 7 x 57 and H4350,
with 154 to 162 grain bullets, with a starting charge as low as 35.6 and top charge of 49 grains.

of you are not familiar with Steve's pages, he basically cataloged loads from ALL major manuals
into a comprehensive web site...

he's passed on.. but his site still is maintained...

I refer to it often for quick reference.

best of luck on your hunt this year.

Many years ago Hornady produced a factory load with the 154 grain Interlock in the 7x57. My Mauser carbine loved it but after several years Hornady discontinued that factory load. I called the Hornady (pre internet) and a gentleman actually told me to duplicate the load , it was 46.5 grains of H-414. That load is now over max by Hornady's current loading manual so approach with extreme caution.


Speaking of H-450, way to slow for my carbine with a 154 grain bullet. It turned my mild mannered rifle into a Howitzer. H-450 worked very well with 170 and 175 grain bullets though. Extremely accurate. I did find that the H-450 was super sensitive with temperature though. Once I was shooting my 7x57 during the summer and the ammo was out in direct sunlight for awhile. Those loads in the summer heat became over pressure. Cratered primers, stiff bolt lift and much harder recoil. I still have some but haven't used it in many years.



Dan

Thank you,

I'm glad I checked with you fellers first. I know that 52 gr'r seemed a little stiff. I'm not trying to knock trees down behind the deer.

I'll start working with something in the 44-46 range and see what happens.

Any idea why the 154 RN wouldn't shoot as well? The 175gr RN shoot OK. 1.5" at 100. The funny thing was they were shooting 2" at 200.

Tom,

on my Ruger, I was ready to rebarrel it or throw it in the river...

one last load I decided to try was 40 grains of 3031, with a 175 grain RN and it went from 5 inch groups down to under an inch.. reloaded those and got the same thing...

I tried it with different bullets from 139 to the 175... the load came from an older hornady manual..

but if you have any 3031, try a couple of rounds and see how the 154 RN works out....

others have told me that their 7 x 57s shot a lot better with that load...

my Featherweight shoots about anything... not the Ruger...but it sure likes 40 grains of 3031.

I loaded 48gn H4350 with the 150gn Sierra BT for 2772fps in my 22" brl 7x57. In my rifle at least, I'd feel comfortable loading the same charge with the 154gn Hornady. Mule Deer has written before that the Hornady Interlocks have a shorter bearing surface and can often be loaded a 100fps more than other similar weight bullets. Chrony your loads and let the velocity tell you when you reach up near max. I'd keep loading a grain more H4350 until I got to 2700 - 2750fps and call it quits there.

I’ve spent a lot of time the past several months working with this exact powder + bullet combination in two different rifles.

I relied heavily on Mule Deer’s advice (published multiple times, most recently in his Gack book) to approach loading levels from a speed perspective. Because throats vary so widely, some rifles may require 3 or more grains of powder in a given load than another rifle would need, to achieve an equivalent velocity. He maintains that so long as the velocity falls in a certain broad range for a given bullet weight, the hand loader can be reasonably certain of being at a safe pressure.

Both rifles I’ve worked with were well above book loading levels, and still lagged a bit for velocity. I’m away from my notes, but can post some information tomorrow.

FC

Tom Im not using the H4350 powder but shot that bullet for the first time today...seemed to be easy to work with...

T, the 154 gr Hornady Inter-Lock is my favorite bullet in My Ruger M77. 48-49 grains H4350 in a 22" barrel gives me 2750-2800 fps. It has not disappointed me on deer, elk and mountain goat.

Tzone, regarding the 154 RN, I used a different powder (H4831) with it and got acceptable hunting accuracy in my prior No. 1. Not sure why you aren't having success. BTW, since I could in that rifle, I seated the bullet way out.

I worked up a < 3/4" grouping load in one rifle with 48.9 grains of H4350 and the 154 SP Interlock. Naturally, I soon had to switch to a new lot of H4350, and this time it settled at 48.3 grains. Velocity in a 22" barrel hovers around 2,650 fps. I can safely push it faster, but the velocity goes all the hell.

The other rifle showed promise at 48.4 grains, getting the same velocity. However, it's an inconsistent-shooting SOB, and I strongly suspect bedding issues.

Another note: both rifles are Remington 700 Mountain Rifles, with the whippy, thin barrels. Minute COAL adjustments have made huge accuracy differences in both rifles. It's been quite the PIA to figure out where each rifle wants to have the bullets seated.

Hope that helps,

FC

It does help. It's something I'm going to have to play with because the loads I'm using are what others are shooting with success. Don't get me wrong...I can get 1.5 MOA with some of the loads. I was hoping for less than MOA. I can now for a fact say it does NOT like Nolser Partitions. But that doesn't really bother me much. If I can get a 154gr load it likes, I'll call her good and rock with it.

RO,

I will fire some of these up. Looking on my notes, It looks like I did have a load that showed some promise with IMR 4350 at 46.5gr. I'll start there and work up...or not if what my notes say is correct. I don't remember a group as good as I have written down.