Heavy 7mm Projectile Expansion Test for my 7x57

[Code4]

With my newly 18yo camera man still sleeping it off and the handbrake at Mass with the monster-in-law I was left to my own devices this morning.

I am looking for a 'soft' fast expanding heavy weight projectile for my 7x57. My rifle does not shoot light weight projectiles as accurately so I'm stuck with the heavy weights. Testing was done at a measured 100 yards and all penetrated.

I also found an accuracy load with the 173 H-Mantels. Velocity would be in excess of 2,340fps.

173 RWS H-Mantel

It was the first to expand and is the same weight as the the original FMJ load that made the reputation of the 7x57. I was expectiong the nose of the projestile to shear off early, as it is designed to do but was hoping for a larger would channel.

175 Hornady RNSP Interlock.

This one performed exactly as I expected, possibly expanding a little earlier and the least of all three. It kept on penetrating and I assume in the 7x57 would be capable of taking any game out to the limits of it's trajectory with this projectile.

175 Sierra SptBt

A real surprise package, I was expecting this to be a lot tougher and designed for the larger magnums. Its exit hole from the test medium was explosive and in the 7x57 would be perfect for larger deer and antelope such as Kudu and Elk.

175 Woodleigh PPSN

I have field tested this round in the 7x57 on large camels and all achieved full penetrated (except for one frontal shot) and did not expand. It is better suited to the 7mm RM and would probably be better in the 7mm Weatherby and faster for the largest game.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Never though of using wet newspaper to shoot through before. Interesting idea.

The damage from the Sierra, although not opening the soonest, is pretty impressive.
I didn't ctach the FPS on that Sierra. Was it going faster than the Hmantel?


By the way, thanks for the idea for testing.

 

[DOC-404]

Excellent post, Code4, nicely done. I am a big Sierra fan and now you can SEE why. I hunt PG with hand loaded 250gr Sierra's from my cz .375 and have never had any problems with them. They are excellent on the big cats as well. A friend of mine dropped a Buffalo on the spot with a 300gr Gameking through the engine room, and the wound channel was almost unbelievable. They are super accurate in my .308 and .375 as well.

 

[Code4]

Sierra has all but been forgotten in the marketing hype of the super premiums. I used a 7mm 140 SptBt in the same 7x57 to take a 14 pt Red Stag in New Zealand in April 2011. Here is the entry hole angling towards the front right leg with the hide peeled off. It did not exit and the stag was dead on its feet and fell down hill. Range was 200 yards.

Shooting wet paper is only that, shooting wet paper. It is a quick and easy way to make some kind of comparison and has usually confirmed most of my in-field observations.

 

[enysse]

Thanks for the post, Sierra bullets are very underrated.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Sierra has all but been forgotten in the marketing hype of the super premiums. I used a 7mm 140 SptBt in the same 7x57 to take a 14 pt Red Stag in New Zealand in April 2011. Here is the entry hole angling towards the front right leg with the hide peeled off. It did not exit and the stag was dead on its feet and fell down hill. Range was 200 yards.

Shooting wet paper is only that, shooting wet paper. It is a quick and easy way to make some kind of comparison and has usually confirmed most of my in-field observations.

@Code4
I gave up using the sieras in my 25 and chose the Hornady 117grain SST and 100gn TTSX. I've still to try the 115gn nosler balistic tip.
The reason I gave up on Sierra is that they were just far to soft for the velocities I send them at. Did they kill game, yes very well but the meat damage was not worth it. A side on shot on a fallow doe at 150 odd yards completely destroyed the internals into a red porridge. Problem was when skinning the off side leg came off with the skin. It was just a jellied mess. That was with a 100gn set. Bullet disintegrated.
The 117grain sbt frontal neck shot about two thirds the way up on another fallow doe. Range a layered 200 yards bullet smashed the neck but did not exit disintegration again. The meat was bruised right down past to the shoulders. Ruined a lot of back strap. Accurate yes very zip kills game yes very quickly meat damage of prime eating meat unacceptable.
The 117grain SST kills quickly, gives pass thru penetration most times and far less meat damage.
Just my observations. The Sierra's don't seem to like high velocity over 3,200 fps. The 100gn were 3,440fps and the 117s at 3,270fps. Those speeds are hard on most projectiles.
Bob

 

[meigsbucks]

My success with Sierras is mixed. Mostly good, but some serious failures: The 250gr out of a .338 Win on a mule deer at ~60 yds. Broke apart but fortunately pieces shredded the lungs.
A 150gr SBT from a .308 on a hog: all three bullets pretty much blew up on impact.
Several failures involving several Sierra handgun bullet’s.
Had success with 85gr HPBT and 100gr SBT in a .243. 117gr SBT in a .25/06. 130gr SBT in a .270. 140gr SPT in 7mm-08. 160gr SBT and 160gr HPBT in a 7mm Rem mag. 180gr SBT in a .30/06.

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Recall having to handload for my first .300 WM as a teen, and all there was available in reloading departments of (RIP the old, small-town gun/outdoor shops-Thx Big Box & mail order warehouses, now the $$$$$ goes elsewhere and the media mu$t perpetuate it) was Sierras (v. few original Hdy, orig Barnes, no Nosler.) Anyhow, sierras were super accurate and more than did the job on big whitetails and black bear way out (<500 yds). No advantage to modern plastic tipped bullets until extreme distances. I found out right away that damaged lead tips don't group as well at distance, so they got relegated to short shots, coup-de-grace, fouling shots, etc. I did have some experience with Hdy RNSPs in Africa and they tended to expand too rapidly on thick-skinned, heavily constructed animals. Last shot was a Zebra and it ran a ways and required a follow-up. With better penetrating bullets (Nos PTs, Barnes, Accubonds,) the animals expired rapidly. For typ deer-blk bear-elk-moose, they are more than adequate! The SD of a bullet has much to do with how it behaves upon impact, notwithstanding construction differences. A low SD tends not to penetrate (expands rapidly) and a high SD (moment of silence for that!!!), typically in heavy-for-caliber bullets penetrates wonderfully. What will you be shooting with the test gun?? If it's small/lightly constructed, the bullet is going to pass through like an arrow, but also kill the animal! 'Love Nos PT 175s in 7.

 

[steve white]

Check out Hawke's offerings, soft copper gilding, accurate.

 

[WAB]

Awesome post, thank you for sharing. The Speer Hot Cor is worth trying out as well. In my experience, it shoots to the same poi as the swift A-Frame of like weight.

 

[shark_za]

Sierra has all but been forgotten in the marketing hype of the super premiums. I used a 7mm 140 SptBt in the same 7x57 to take a 14 pt Red Stag in New Zealand in April 2011. Here is the entry hole angling towards the front right leg with the hide peeled off. It did not exit and the stag was dead on its feet and fell down hill. Range was 200 yards.

To some this is a failure, lots of bloodshot meat and lucky no bone was hit.
To others this is perfect as it falls DRT.

I prefer less bruising and more penetration. I'll find most things in the bushveld, I guess in the mountains its better to fall where it stands.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I currently use 175Gr Nosler Partitions loaded by Sellier & Bellot in my 7x57mm Mauser Churchill Model Deluxe. In the past, I used to employ (the now discontinued) Winchester Super X 175Gr cup & core soft points which achieved a velocity of 2442fps out of my rifle barrel. Unfortunately, RWS stopped offering their 173Gr H-Mantel bullet in factory loaded form for the 7x57mm Mauser in 2009.

Both the old Winchester and current Sellier & Bellot loads have been performing superbly on all manner of game animals taken in six of the world’s seven continents ever since 1989. I was quite pleasantly surprised when one of those Winchester 175Gr cup & core soft nosed bullets actually managed to break the scapula of a large male Royal Bengal tiger. I have never used any projectile lighter than 170Gr in my 7x57mm. The rifle is incredibly accurate with the heavy-for-caliber fodder.

 

[jwp475]

Good jog with the penetration test

 

[F. Vaccaro]

I also like the 175gr bullets in the 7X57.

 

[Sika98k]

Everything I have shot in Namibia with my 7/57 has been with 175gr Nosler Partitions. They’ve performed admirably.