Anyone have a go to load for the 7mm mag with H1000 and the 160 Accubonds? I'm shooting a Tikka T3X and have been having great results with Reloader 26, except the powder is a little scarce at the moment. Need to work up something else in case the powder doesn't show up on the shelves soon.

Thanks,
Andy

I just went with the Nosler max and it turned out to be plenty accurate. Not as fast as H870 or R26 but not enough slower to matter. US869 is another alternative plus VV560, and 7199. R25 is not too shabby either and R22 was my go to for several years so maybe R23 should be on the list too. MRP is a winner too. Plain old 4831 is not a bad choice either. Haven't tried it but Ran Shot magnum is in the right burn speed.7828 is what the factories were using at one time. That ought to give you enough alternatives to stay busy.

Are you using the max listed for the 168? I don’t see H1000 listed for the 160 online or in my printed manual.

Retumbo will make those 160's sing, up to 3125 or so in my Tikka.

May have to try that.

JG,

Getting my buds 7RM ready for Africa PG, following your lead with 160 NAB’s. He likes them, too. Have several powders, RL-26, Retumbo, MagPro, H-1000, 7828 among others. I know you used Retumbo. Would you load it again or one of those I listed?

I got 50 Fed Tipped Bonded Trophy 160’s to try. They now hard to find. May not have enough to test then load 50 for the trip. Have enough 160 NAB’s. Using Fed mag 215 primers.

DF

My rifle loved RL22 equally as well as Retumbo, and they were both very accurate with the obvious velocity advantage to Retumbo and the 72g load. I never tried Rl26 or any of the others you listed DF, sorry I can't help more with that. Where I hunt I've never particularly worrled about the temp sensitivity issues (if any) with RL22. I do like Fed 215M primers best.

I have a big jug of MRP, said to be very similar to RL-22. Works well in my Swede and .240. I'm not buying any more RL-22, will get RL-23 instead or use my MRP.

Think I'll start the 160 NAB 7RM loads with RL-26, as it seems to be a good performer and I have some (as you well know)....

You got some really great numbers with Retumbo, not sure RL-26 can top those velocities. Guess it depends what the gun prefers.

DF

What throat length in the rifle? OAL for the cartridge?

Using RL25 in mine, but have modified the throat a bit to give longer OAL.

Let me know what you figure out if you don't mind. I'd also add that if I were doing load development again for Africa, based on what i know now about hunting over there, I'd probably stop and be satisfied with any super accurate load @ 3000fps. At the ranges I killed animals, I think you'd see those weight retention #'s go up some. Not that it matters that much......dead is dead, and that 160AB was a fantastic performer over there.

Will do.

I'm thinking Retumbo should be about as temp stable as RL-26. Performance would dictate which.

Don't think most of the other named powders can run with those two velocity wise. I'm shooting for 3K fps with the 160 without pushing the envelope. Some powders will be close to their limit at 3K; I'm looking for ones that will go 3K without breaking a sweat, and still group well.

What's the best jump, 160 NAB's in the 7RM? I generally start with .02" with NAB's and NBT's.

DF

AH, I just used the max load listed for the 168s behind the 160 AB. With a 26" barrel, I was seeing 3000 fps with the load. I believe OAL was 3.34". Shoots great, kills elk.

I tried MagPro and Retumbo in my brother’s T3. Retumbo got crunchy at the velocity I was looking for (3k) but MagPro delivered better results.





I have plenty of R26 and I use it with 162 Eldx.





P

How do you rate RL-26 vs MagPro with 160’s in the 7RM?

DF

I know it's not Retumbo but my Tikka 7 mag superlite likes 66 grains of IMR 7828 regular.

What velocity are you getting?

Mine likes 62gr of IMR-4831 or 66.5gr of 7828SSC with 140 TTSX and AB’s and WLMR primers.

When I switched to R26 I also switched to 162 Eldx. I’ll have to check if I tried R26 in 160 AB.


P

Last year I loaded for two 7mm RMs. I started with the 160 ABs and had 3 powders to try: H1000, H4831sc, and RL26.

The custom 7MAG (700 action & 26" benchmark barrel) did not care for H1000. I tried 3 or 4 different loads, separated by 0.5g. I switched to RL26 and had 3 bullets touching pretty quick. Velocity was just over 3,000 FPS. I could have pushed faster, but that was most accurate load.

The Browning Xbolt 7MAG didn't care for H1000 or RL26. This gun preferred H4831sc and group was 0.4". I remembered it being the Nosler max load and it was right around 2,950 FPS in this gun.

I used the same OAL on all loads and never went back and tried different seating depths since the powder changes alone got us under 0.5" in both rifles.

I tried the H1000 at the recommendation of the guy who built the custom gun. He shoots a 7MAG at 1,000 yard competitions. I know others who do the same that prefer Retumbo, and this powder seems to shine with on 160g and heavier bullets. I would probably start with RL26 since it seems to be capable of better velocity and most seem to get accuracy out of it, too. I am not positive, but I believe RL26 is slightly more temp sensitive than H1000 or Retumbo, but it is still overall pretty temp stable.

Not in 7mm Mag, but 7 Mashburn, 76 grs H-1000 boots the 160 AB's out at 3220 fps from my 25" barrel, bughole accuracy with no wind, i'll test the load, rifle, bullet and scope tracking on the next wild pig that steps out, I've shot three in the last month, so another is hopefully to be along soon, I also want to see how the 160 AB's act on game at 5 to 6 hundred yards.

That's a freaking beast right there, the load and shooter both!

Pretty good little banger JG, if it runs into any trouble it has a cell mate that boots the 300gr .338 cal Accubonds out at 3000 fps, now that's a HAMMER!

I think you got that right, x2...

DF

[/quote]

Not in 7mm Mag, but 7 Mashburn, 76 grs H-1000 boots the 160 AB's out at 3220 fps from my 25" barrel, bughole accuracy with no wind, i'll test the load, rifle, bullet and scope tracking on the next wild pig that steps out, I've shot three in the last month, so another is hopefully to be along soon, I also want to see how the 160 AB's act on game at 5 to 6 hundred yards.[/quote]

I bet it will work just fine but if not the 168 ABLR probably would. I have only used them for shorter ranges but they are perfoming well in each caliber I have tried them in so far.

RE H1000:

I used the first loads Hodgdon published for H1000 and was pleased with accuracy and velocity. Then the next annual load data they put out dropped back 2-3 grains from their previous load. I called the technician at Hodgdon about this and all he could offer was "different guns". When I dropped down to the new data I was disappointed. It seems like I lost the accuracy node or sweet spot I had found before. I went back to H870 but am probably going to switch to R26 for the next rounds with the 168ABLR.

I,m using 71gr of H1000 160gr Accubond Hornady case CCI 250 primer 3.315 OAL 3057 FPS in my Vanguard S2. Start lower.

3000 fps shoots good with 160 partitions also

What was your best RL-26 load at 3K fps?

DF

Ok here is the rest of my 7mm Mag loads for 160gr Accubond or Trophy Bonded Tipped. All used Hornady cases and Federal 215M primer OAL was 3.300
Norma MRP 67.0 gr at 3080 FPS. Retumbo 73gr at 3067 FPS. RL23 66gr at 3067 FPS Very accurate. May change to this load in the future. Mag Pro 70.5gr at 3004 FPS
RL26 first 5 shot was 3128 FPS second 5 shots an hour later was 3107 FPS. You have to work up your own loads. All were safe in my Weatherby Vanguard S2 with 24" barrel.
I have used the 73gr Retumbo load the longest and the MRP second longest. Reduce these loads and give them a try, they might be to hot for some rifles. I have a new Tikka
7mm-08 and I have to stay a full grain below max on most published loads with it. So start low.

How much RL26 were you running? Didn’t see it listed.

Thanks,

Just researching on line and looking at QL, it seems that 67 gr, 67.5 gr, 68 gr. of RL-26 will all reach or beat 3K fps with 160 NAB's in the 7RM, pressures in the 52K to 58K psi range.

I'm wanting to reach a solid 3K with the 160 NAB without pushing the pressure envelope. There are other powders that will reach or beat 3K psi, but most do so at higher pressures.

And, from what I've read, these mentioned loads are generally pretty accurate. From a performance/pressure standpoint, RL-26 is pretty good.

Gonna check'em out when the rain quits and will report. If RL-26 isn't the most temp stable powder, operating below max pressure should compensate for any fluctuations in weather, heat, etc. I think RL-26 is fairly temp stable, good enough for what we're wanting to do, especially with a pressure margin.

DF

It was a little warmer than I would like to put on the internet. I,d start at 67gr of RL26 and go up. All of those loads were accurate in my rifle.
It only has about 300 rounds thru it. I thought that RL26 was the least accurate. But may just be me. It works better than anything in my 30/06 with 165gr bullets.
Also shows promise in my 7mm-08 with heavy bullets. Loads a very compressed in the 7mm-08. I liked RL23 in my 270 with 140gr bullets and MRP with 150gr Nosler
Partitions.

A 160 accubond will kill a lot further than I can hit em.

I can offer 160 partition results; should be similar to 160 AB.

rem 700, 26" factory tube, McMillian stock, glass bedded. Not the most accurate rifle; shoots 1/2" with the right load, and 1-3/4 to 2" when not the right load.

Poor uniformity Win brass and Fed215, 20 tou off lands.

While not a speed demon, H4831 is the most accurate powder.
I shot from 63.1 to 68.0. All the groups averaged together 1-1/3", best 1/2 and worst 1-1/2.
64.5 to 65.2 is my call on max, and where you need to be, 2,930fps.
A good fall back option for checking rifle problems or back up ammo.

RL22 was the 2nd most accurate powder
I shot from 61.1 to 66.0, and consider 66.0 max based on case head expansion, 3,050fps.

I had scope mount issues with H1000, so my group info is highly questionable.
Case head expansion told me 71 grains was max @ 3,080fps.
69.3 did print a 7/8" group @ 3,000fps.
Retest is needed: front scope ring was completely loose.

RL26 testing was tense.
I started at 66.8 grains, and the case head expansion was between 5/10 and 6/10 of thou, which is my consideration of max.
I continued to work up (curios like a cat), and case head expansion remained constant until 69.6, when it spike to 9/10th for all 3 rounds!
Stepping back in charge weight to 68.9 got me 3,090fps and a 1-1/4" group.
Similar to RL17 in other cartridges, RL26 is "peaky".
I read about people shooting 70+ grains of RL26 behind a 160, which would be well over max pressure in my rifle.
Bullets and barrels make a difference; just be warned that pressures spike quickly with this powder.

IMR7828 delivered 1/2" groups at the starting charge of 62.1 grains, 2822fps.
Remaining groups were 2". I considered max 66.3 grains @ 3,015fps.

The barrel on this rifle is rough as a cob, so it may build pressure quicker than others.

68.0g of RL26. OAL was a little over SAAMI max. 26" tube. 3,000-3,050 FPS. Went up to 69.5g, but it liked 68.0g best.