What bullet - 7 RM on Whitetails

aim4gold · Rookie Member Joined: Oct 24, 2006 Posts: 10

Using 7 RM, what bullets to you all prefer?

Last year I used a Nosler 160 accubond â€“ when right through, exit hole the same size as the entrance hole.

PaulS

The problem most often quoted about the &mm RM is that the heaviy bullets go through and the light bullets blow up. There doesn't seem to be any winning round but I bet if you down load the cartridge a bit to find a real accurate load well under the maximum load and use a moderate weight bullet - say a 140 grain Speer spitzer, you will find that iit is not only a lot nicer to shoot but the bullet will actually expand and go through your game.

lince

Hi all.
You're all right, this caliber is very powerfull, specially for very long hits, but for near shots or for not very big animals it sometimes can become excessive.
Anyway, I'm very happy with next comercial bullets:

DYNAMIT NOBEL RWS - TEILMANTEL SPITZ GESCHOSS, 9,4 g, 145 gr
Spectacular for long shots, very accurate. Its tip is relatively soft to get good shots at short range.

REMMINGTON PREMIER BALLISTIC TIP, 9,72 g, 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
Also very good for long shots, but its plastic tip makes it with very quick expansion in terminal ballistic, which tends to avoid to "pass trough" when used in short shots.

Because of having a little bit "hard" tip, I've stopped to use other models like Remington Express Core Lokt, 11,34 g, 175 gr. This for example was passing through too many times.

As I said, I'm very happy with 7RM, I think it's valid for every game over here (I'm from Spain).
Unfortunately, I'm not a realoader, so I cannot give to you my impressions for hand loaded bullets, but I hope my experience can give you some hints to try.

Hope that helps.
BR/lince

aim4gold · Rookie Member Joined: Oct 24, 2006 Posts: 10

Have any of you had experience with the Barns Triple Shock? Barnes literature claims that it retains 100% of it's weight (rolls back a 4 leaf clover and doesn't come apart)

kentucky hareraiser

aim,,,, i've not yet had a chance to down game with the triple shock yet,but i am reloading them. good results on the range though. at 240 yds, and a paper deer target,my hits would have led me to singing;BACK STRAP FEVER hahaha

SwampFox

I use the Sierra 140 Pro Hunter over IMR 4350 which works out pretty well. I have two 7 RM guns, a Model 70 and a #1 both shoot the 140 very well.
Ed

Grant

I've always been a big bullet fan. I use 175 grain Speer Grand Slams being pushed by 63.5 grains of IMR 4831. I've had great results on both large and medium game, either at close or long range. The only small inconvenience I find using the larger bullet it the drop at 300 + yards.

d_hoffman

I shot a deer with a 140gr Remington Corlokt at about 180 paces, (did'nt have a range finder) which was quartering sharply to me. I hit it right on the point of the shoulder. The impact knocked that deer about 8-10 feet backwards. The entry hole was small as expected but when I opened it up it looked like a grenade went off inside it.

Shot another at about 75 paces with a 150gr Remington Corlokt, looked like someone through a baseball straight through it. There was pink mist sprayed a good 20 yards out through that swamp. The deer went straight up about 5 feet in the air and fell in a heap. So take your pick. Straight off the shelf Remington ammo did the job!!!!!!!!

P.S. What ever you do, don't use Barnes X bullets. Shot a deer at 150 paces and the bullet (140gr) fragmented and a major piece of it came straight back at me. I knew this because there was an exit hole about 2 inches from the entry hole and no entry hole on the other side (scary thought). Needless to say I promptly got rid of them and went back to Remington.

Bushmaster

Remington Cor-Lokt ammunition has always been an excellent choice. Until I started reloading it was my number one choice...But it's not as much fun as loading your own...That and there are bullets out there just as good or just a bit better then the Cor-Lokt.

buffybr · Last edited by buffybr on Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:14 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hi all,
I just found and joined this forum, and although this thread is several months old, I've had a little experience with the 7 RM, so I'll make my first post about it.

I've been hunting about 40 years, have shot a ton of critters from Alaske to Africa. I got my first 7 RM about 5 years ago, a plain Jane Rem 700 ADL. I had booked my first trip to Africa, and my old standby, a .30 Gibbs, broke down a month before the trip. I had always wanted a 7 Rem Mag, so this was a good time to get one. I only shoot handloads in all of my guns, and with less than a month before my trip, I only worked up loads for 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips and 150 gr Nosler Partitions. The BT's proved most accurate, so I took them.

The 140 gr BT is on the light side for the larger antelope, but I took 9 animals ranging in size from a Bushbuck (about the size of a Whitetail doe) to a Kudu (about the size of a spike Elk). Most were one shot kills, and most shots were complete "behind the shoulder" pass throughs, with about a 1 1/2" exit hole.

I also used that rifle/load for Pronghorn antelope here in Montana, and again, one shot kills, and the animals basically dropped in their tracks.

I then worked up a load with 160 gr Nosler Accubonds. I find it a superb bullet for this caliber. It worked great for me in Canada's Northwest Territories in 2004 for two Caribou and a B&C Musk Ox.

I then "upgraded" my 700 ADL to a Rem 700 BDL Stainless 7 RM. I used it with the 160 gr Accubonds in Africa in 2005 for a half dozen Plains Game antelope varying in size from Mountain Reedbuck to Black Wildebeest. Again, most shots were complete pass through's and one shot kills. They left HUGE wound channels inside the animals, but only 1 - 1 1/2" exit holes.

As to how all this rambling relates to the question asked on this thread as to what bullet to use in the 7 RM for Whitetail deer, well, I've only killed a dozen or so Whitetail, and none were with a 7 RM. All of my Whitetail were shot with my .257 Ackley with either 117 gr Sierra Spitzers or 120 gr Hornady Hollow points. All were one shot kills, and complete pass through's. A little lighter than my 7 RM pills, but approximately the same velocity of about 3000 fps.

My point is, I have found that my 7 RM is accurate and powerful enough for any deer or antelope size animal in North America or Africa. I have settled on one load for my 7 RM, the 160 gr Nosler Accubond, and I will use that load for anything I wish to hunt with this rifle. That said, if I was ONLY to hunt Whitetails with my 7 RM, I would probably NOT use a "premium" bullet. As I mentioned with my .257 AI, I think any "standard" expanding bullet (Sierra, Hornady, Nosler, Remington, etc) in a 7mm Rem Mag will adequately and quickly kill a Whitetail deer IF PUT IN THE RIGHT SPOT. I feel that accuracy and bullet placement are the most improtant.

d_hoffman

Bushmaster wrote:

Remington Cor-Lokt ammunition has always been an excellent choice. Until I started reloading it was my number one choice...But it's not as much fun as loading your own...That and there are bullets out there just as good or just a bit better then the Cor-Lokt.

I agree, loading your own would be better all the way around but if you don't you can't go wrong with Cor-Lokt's. They're pretty good price wise too.

Handloader

aim4gold wrote:

Have any of you had experience with the Barns Triple Shock? Barnes literature claims that it retains 100% of it's weight (rolls back a 4 leaf clover and doesn't come apart)

The TSX has propelled Barnes to new heights in quality bullets for big game. Their record of reliable expansion and deep penetration has been superb and the new TSX corrects some of the issues of fouling and pressure of the earlier X bullets.

To get the testimonials, visit any of the African or Alaskan forums and you will find many dedicated and experienced hunters choosing this bullet over most others. Myriad articles have extolled their performance and improvements. Weight retention has been superb. (I have 12 recovered TSX, all with over 88% retained weight, most with more.) Accuracy is good enough that some even use them long range match shoots (the 168gr 308 cal TSX Match).

The bullet is well constructed enough that it is often possible to use a lighter weight bullet with more velocity/flatter trajectory. It is a boon to those that select Magnum capacity cartridges in that the TSX is great at close or distant hits without concern of fragmentation. Once in awhile one or two of the petals may shear, but the main body will continue intact.

My personal experience has reflected all the above points. I have guided elk hunts for nearly a decade and while good quality bullets of most brands will do a good job, the TSX is notable for consistency, for lack of excessive meat damage and for unequaled penetration.

SwampFox

Sorry, but my experiance with TSX has been awful.

I bought my fist and last TSX bullets in one box. They were 140 grain 264 bullets for my 6.5x06. Shot through a paper target into moist sand. They bent rather than expand, they broke in half rather than expand, they would not group worth a darn and left copper fouling in the barrel that took cleaning after cleaning to remove. The inside of the bore looked like a copper pipe (Douglas air gage premium 1-9 twist).

I went to the shot show, looked them up, on the first day, and gave the whole bunch down the road for selling Junque' (high dollar junk).
Ed

longshots · Member Joined: Feb 12, 2005 Posts: 29

I have been shootin the 7 Mag for 13 years and have always reloaded. I have never had a problem with 140gr Nosler BT's over 65gr IMR 4350, it has taken quite a few whitetails as well as mule deer. The only thing close to a failure was on a mule deer at 200 yards. He was quartering away going down into a cut and the spine was all I had to shoot at. The BT hit half-way back on his spine and when I caped him out the bullet had followed the spine all the way to his left front shoulder. The recovered bullet weighed in at 93gr and the deer is on the wall.

sniper

[quote="aim4gold"]Using 7 RM, what bullets to you all prefer?

The least expensive one that gives acceptable accuracy. On a small animal like deer, none of 'em will bounce off, and even a round nose will do within 300 yards.