Modern loads for 7x57 but using Supplies I have

[TroyF]

Speaking as a 7x57 owner, I can say what you NEED is GS custom banded bullets--you can safely increase velocities at least 100 fps without raising pressures AT ALL. That makes a big difference. Plus, custom orders are probably a lot easier to come by than off the (empty) shelf. Try it, you'll like it.

I'd like to try the hammer bullets but money is so tight and will be worse going in to winter.

 

[TroyF]

HDY 154 ideal for longer range deer and the Nos 175s for deer and bear. IMR 4350 was made for the 757 and 06 sized cases. What ranges do you intend to shoot? What part of USNY? For the 150s and 160s book max is 48 and 46 gr (so 47ish) and 45 gr for the 175. Seating depth will determine accuracy, though you can't go wrong starting with a factory std COAL. Even that 175 at 2550+ fps (4350) is good to well beyond 300 yds AND its SD (penetrating power) is precisely the same as a 220 gr bullet out of a .30 cal. If you're not going to encounter any big bear, the 150ish gr is fine (the Nos PT is a better terminal performer than the others, however.) I really like my 757 AI. Loading up a bunch of 175s this summer for black bear with the son in the Fall (using my AI and his SAUM.) You'll find the 154 will outshine the 175 at distance (less drop, increased V and E) but the 175 will be a better performer when the bullet strikes (again suggested at <300, but run a ballistic calculator and you'll find it's likely good to 500 with such a good BC-0.520.) Nobody's going to shoot a 600-<900 lb black bear by me at more than 300 yds (let alone 50-150 with the ground cover they prefer.) Deer are another proposition altogether, out in the farmlands...If longer shots on deer, considering working up separate loads for each bullet and simply record the scope adjustments necessary to dial from one to another (likely a simple elevation adjustment.) You may find that the 150s are 3" high at 100 and the 175 is closer to dead-on (in which case-no adjustments are required in the bear vs. deer scenario.) Good luck! The loads below were chosen, as the V approximates same of max book loads using IMR 4350 (which is often the most accurate powder for the 757 case.)
View attachment 471473

thanks for the data, I'm in orange county by by the ny/pa/nj tri state line. I've shot does just over 200 pounds and a few bucks close to 240. We have big bear to, much more when nj closed the season. My buddy shot one that was over 500 lbs dressed that year.

I was actually just about to shoot that bear I shot a doe on the upper field and seen it in the lower field about 300 yards out. Waited like 10 minutes for my buddy in the tree stand in the lower field to shoot. Had 16" of snow the day before so the drag sucked, of course it ran into the one spot on the farm the tractor couldn't get in.

I don't see bear often in the spots I hunt, really need to be in the thick stuff and honestly think the only guys that shoot them often are baiting them in. But between nj closing the season and they are planting a lot of soy bean the last 4-5 years the numbers of bear are higher. Can taste the difference in the deer meat if they have been eating corn or soy beans.

My hot 140 load was 50.0 4350 but went to 48.0 to save on brass. That ruger will shoot everything very good. Even factory 139 ppu is 3/4 moa. Shots out to 400 are pretty common in the farm fields, I don't really like shooting much past that since there's enough time for the deer to move some and wind. Shot a buck at 540 one year with my 270win but I was hunting are old shooting range I used to shoot. I knew the range and the deer was still for a long time.

 

[TroyF]

Our (Son & I) favorite, short-bbl woods deer/bear combo uses 200 gr NPs in an 06. That 175 7mm is actually more bullet (ballistically, in every way than a 180 gr .30) but our load at 2550 fps (precisely what you'll get out of the max handload of 4350 in the 7) performs PHENOMENALLY, because the (virtually similar) bullet performs all of the work...We've taken deer to 300 (1x scope is the limiting factor) and never scoped a bear beyond 25-150 in the thick swamps and woods.

The 175 partition is really overkill but dead is dead, I've shot a lot of deer with 222-223'22-250-243-6mm without any problems but needs to be in the proper place.

 

[TroyF]

*120 gr std bullets not recommended in 7 for either deer or bear (but you'd get away with deer, esp. if the shoulder wasn't hit.) It's a very low SD varmint bullet that may fragment to hell on the surface upon impact. Could be a very short drag (you) if used on bear in the thick stuff!

I've shot a few with 120s and they do blow up so I load to about 2700 ish but I mostly have them for a 7-30 waters I was going to build. If I know I'm going to be hunting spots with 300 yards plus I'll use my 7wsm or the 6.5 prc. Need a longer range load for the wsm, hard to fit anything real slick over 150 grains since I'm limited to 2.860 coal in my A-bolt. I'm texting some 147 eldm in the prc that will be my longer range gun, but I still don't really like shooting animal after 400 yards.

I'd like to stretch it's legs out some day but it's very hard here anymore to find places to shoot. Even my buddy's small farm 300 is about max and I can't shoot there very much. Over the last 10 years I lost access to the to 100+ acer farms I grew up hunting, the owners died and pos kids sold the farms.

 

[C.W. Richter]

yes, at lower velocities there is less tendency to blow up (would be great for varmints.) I've lived what you said re: loss of farmland. All the other farms i had access to growing up were made into developments, then another ancestral farm was developed by my elders (for vacationers-cabins around a big lake), and finally, they caved and gave my son and I a separate one when my Dad passed, as we'd been taking care of it for nearly our entire lives. Taxes are up in NY. PA is still very good. That's a big factor in large acreage ownership. I could charge a pretty penny to allow "outsiders" to hunt here, but I'd rather have quality hunting for myself, my son and just a couple friends. All the big landowner neighbors seem to be on-board with the same plan. It makes for big deer and little problems...We once joined a big club, took over and dissolved it (for the sake of the area deer herd! Folks from NYC not following any rules.) If you keep asking around, you will find something (even if you have to volunteer a little bit of time and show them respect.) Where in NY (i may have asked you before??) I have purchased property from those pos kids. It can work in your (or a small group's favor-all the kids want is $. They don't care about wildlife conservation...)

 

[TroyF]

yes, at lower velocities there is less tendency to blow up (would be great for varmints.) I've lived what you said re: loss of farmland. All the other farms i had access to growing up were made into developments, then another ancestral farm was developed by my elders (for vacationers-cabins around a big lake), and finally, they caved and gave my son and I a separate one when my Dad passed, as we'd been taking care of it for nearly our entire lives. Taxes are up in NY. PA is still very good. That's a big factor in large acreage ownership. I could charge a pretty penny to allow "outsiders" to hunt here, but I'd rather have quality hunting for myself, my son and just a couple friends. All the big landowner neighbors seem to be on-board with the same plan. It makes for big deer and little problems...We once joined a big club, took over and dissolved it (for the sake of the area deer herd! Folks from NYC not following any rules.) If you keep asking around, you will find something (even if you have to volunteer a little bit of time and show them respect.) Where in NY (i may have asked you before??) I have purchased property from those pos kids. It can work in your (or a small group's favor-all the kids want is $. They don't care about wildlife conservation...)

Orange county, 6 miles from pa and 6 miles from nj. You may now the rt84 bridge where it goes into Milford and Matamoros pa.

Land owners are so scared of being sued even tho there protected from that. Plus anytime you shoot around here the city people call the cops. Can't even hang deer here anymore.

 

[C.W. Richter]

re: your comment on overkill. LOL perhaps. I once shot a doe at 150 yds, kneeling in the snow..just a perfect day hunting. I walk up (w/ my heavily handloaded 300 WM) and see 2 blood trails; 1 uphill 30', 1 downhill 30'. I did NOT see the deer run up the hill and then back down (I was stalking along an old logging road on the side of a mountain.) Then I saw the 2 deer (that were feeding side-by-side.) At least I had 2 tags. What a drag that was in 1' of snow. Neither truck nor tractor were going to make it on the side of the hill and we don't have a log skidder (and no ATV/UTV at the time.) LOL Stupidly, I got rid of the gun (only to replace it with 3 more over the years.) Great for longer shots on anything in NA, and great for African PG. 757 is legendary for PG in Africa as well (using that 175!!!!!!)

 

[C.W. Richter]

Orange county, 6 miles from pa and 6 miles from nj. You may now the rt84 bridge where it goes into Milford and Matamoros pa.

Land owners are so scared of being sued even tho there protected from that. Plus anytime you shoot around here the city people call the cops. Can't even hang deer here anymore.

Ok, now i recall. Yeah, that's fast become a NYC suburb. Good friends are taxidermists over there and know a few police that shoot/hunt. The Hudson valley is no longer "upstate NY." It's just another high-cost suburbia. Consider buying land or getting on a lease in the S. Tier region (catskills are really shot out by slobs in many areas, and you'll hunt hard to get a big one. Also too many predators. They exist, but you might sooner find Sasquatch!) I drive through there otw to jobsites on the NY/NJ border. 'Love Davis' 100 yd indoor range to dial in guns when the weather is bad and 'have limited time before a hunt. GF saw 3 dead bear on 84 just the other day. NJ's ban on public land hunting is partly responsible. 6 mi would be like Mtn. Rd.'ish? Love the firehouse deli. Used to motorcycle over that way all the time (until i racked up 4 deer at night.) 'Had kids and had to prioritize. Hunting is now priority! I know a lot of hunters w/ land in NY. 'will let you know if I hear anything...'Almost bought another farm in NY but bailed due to the fact that the tax savings over the border would buy me more land over time...That, and we don't allow semiautos.

 

[C.W. Richter]

*fastest book load i see for 757 150ish (2850) is using RL19. I know I have 1.something pounds of it at the farm (i used it for 375. I gave mine to my son in AK but he uses factory ammo-only recently asking me to make some bear loads.) Let me see how much I have. IF you have IMR4350 I'll trade you pound for pound if unopened. 49ish gr for 154. That's better than std. factory 06 (and that 154 in 7 behaves like a 180 gr in .30).

 

[TroyF]

*fastest book load i see for 757 150ish (2850) is using RL19. I know I have 1.something pounds of it at the farm (i used it for 375. I gave mine to my son in AK but he uses factory ammo-only recently asking me to make some bear loads.) Let me see how much I have. IF you have IMR4350 I'll trade you pound for pound if unopened. 49ish gr for 154. That's better than std. factory 06 (and that 154 in 7 behaves like a 180 gr in .30).

I'm on rt6 in Greenville close to the Trooper Barretts, Davis( knights old place) is nice but $28 a hour last time I was there but is nice if the weather sucks. Got to watch the deer standing behind each other lol, I once shot thru a 8" hickory I didn't see when a deer was walking past that spooked. Deer dropped in its tracks tho.

Think I have a unopened 4350 but it's about all the powder I have for anything bigger the 308 case size, I'm so low on Components it's not funny. My other can of 4350 has enough for like 10 loads, have some h-1000 and 4831sc but that's low and for my magnums anyway.

Perino's market used to be really good for quick cheap food but he daughter ran it into the ground after her dad died. Not even a good pizza place anymore here, the one by the school is ok but it was last choice when the good older pizzeria were good.

Wish I had the money to move to pa I always liked it Over there, maybe someday

 

[C.W. Richter]

'Used to hunt rabbits on that farm across from the Minisink school, with an old-timer client that loved bird and rabbit hunting over dogs. He's like the crying indian today, also losing a lot of past, great hunting spots in NY. We were pheasant hunting in the Pine Is area and found it very entertaining to see a Rabbi blessing vegetables at the opposite end of the field-we waved and he smiled and let us pass...LOL They raised and released pheasants on some of the area farms (and even sold 'em to DEC and clubs with big land.)

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Been following this thread with interest. I loaded up some test loads for my Winchester 7x57 and might go to the range in the next few days and measure some velocities with the MagnetoSpeed. I loaded 160 gr Swift A-Frames and 175 gr Sierra SP. Using Ramshot Big Game powder. Once I get comfortable with velocities with the 175 gr Sierras, I will then try 175 gr Nosler Partitions. I don't have a lot of NP, so I doing the two step process. Not a lot of published date for the 7x57 and Big Game either.

 

[TroyF]

Been following this thread with interest. I loaded up some test loads for my Winchester 7x57 and might go to the range in the next few days and measure some velocities with the MagnetoSpeed. I loaded 160 gr Swift A-Frames and 175 gr Sierra SP. Using Ramshot Big Game powder. Once I get comfortable with velocities with the 175 gr Sierras, I will then try 175 gr Nosler Partitions. I don't have a lot of NP, so I doing the two step process. Not a lot of published date for the 7x57 and Big Game either.

You may have to drop a grain when switching to the 175 np, bullets a bit tougher so pressure maybe a little higher over the Sierra.

 

[steve white]

Speaking as a 7x57 owner, I can say what you NEED is GS custom banded bullets--you can safely increase velocities at least 100 fps without raising pressures AT ALL. That makes a big difference. Plus, custom orders are probably a lot easier to come by than off the (empty) shelf. Try it, you'll like it.

OH NO!! GSC is no longer in production--they decided not replace their worn out manuf equipment and call it quits except for Cheytac contracts. They have a very limited supply of existing stock. If you want it, better get it. (I did) There ARE two boxes of 7mm 130 gr at this time (I got the rest...)