Does anyone know who's bullet Federal loads in their cheaper Power Shok ammunition? In a 7x57 their (red & white box) 140's worked great on white tail in Wisconsin. Assumed it was Speer but they do not a catalog a .284 dia 140 grain hot-core bullet. I would like to use this bullet to work up loads for my daughter in-law. She is going to hunt with my old Ruger #1 7x57. This is the same rifle that her husband and his brother started with.
7mm Mauser 140 gr Federal Power Shok
- Thread starter grry10
- Start date
nvbroncrider
Handloader
- Aug 20, 2011
- 3,085
- 4
Just go a 140 PT or AB they will perform well for you.
No idea what bullet Federal used but if you want a GREAT deer killing bullet for your 7X57 get some Hornady 154 SP interlocks and some IMR 4350. This bullet is awesome on deer from most 7mms. I built a nice hunting rifle for a buddy out of a barreled action that he had of a small ring Spanish Mauser in 7X57. Cut barrel to 22" welded a new scope friendly bolt handle on and made an adjustable single stage trigger out of the old military trigger and slicked it up and set it at 3 lbs. I drilled and tapped it and put Leupold mounts and rings with a nice 3-9X50 scope on and put it in a sporter style composite stock. I chose 45 grs IMR 4350 and the 154 gr Hornady bullet and loaded them up and they shot a ragged hole at 100 yards and did right at 2500 fps. It is within the pressure limits of the small ring Mauser. This load and bullet is a real killer on deer for him.
gerry
Ammo Smith
- Mar 1, 2007
- 7,065
- 2,240
Speer might have made a 140 gr bullet just for Federal, they have done that before. The 145 gr Hot Cor should work exactly the same.
Yeah, I am with Gerry, Jake and 1Shot, don't worry too much about the bullet. Any of the awesome 140's will kill deer really well. I wouldn't overlook the 140 BT either for deer hunting. My son's rifle shoots a mild load of RL19 and the 140BT at 2750 and accuracy is amazing. I am working with RL17 and the 140 AB right now, but for deer, that 140 BT should swat deer really well..
The 7x57 Mauser is just one of those really cool cartridges. The loading manuals don't do it justice since they were made for rifles like 1Shot built, but man, in a modern Ruger, M70, Remington, etc, they can really nip closely to a 270 and recoil just feels like a slight bump on the shoulder.
I wasn't super keen on them till I got my son's M70 Featherweight, now I am looking for one of my own..
The 7x57 Mauser is just one of those really cool cartridges. The loading manuals don't do it justice since they were made for rifles like 1Shot built, but man, in a modern Ruger, M70, Remington, etc, they can really nip closely to a 270 and recoil just feels like a slight bump on the shoulder.
I wasn't super keen on them till I got my son's M70 Featherweight, now I am looking for one of my own..
I think that I would just go with a 140 gr. Sierra loaded to the same velocity as the Federal ammo nad go hunting. I'd try the Pro-Hunter and Game King and use whichever one shot best. The only 140 gr. Federal ammo I have on hand is a box of their premium all with the Nosler Partition a friend gave me a few years back. Maybe I ought to pick up a few more boxes and use them for a deer hunt, should I draw a tag. Better yet buy the bullets and load to duplicate of better the load.
Paul B.
Paul B.
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,857
- 7,633
For deer-size game, 139/140 grain bullets of the cup-and-core variety will work just fine in the 7X57. I used 139 grain Hornady SP in my .280 for many seasons; it never failed to drop both mule deer and whitetail with boring regularity.
- Thread starter
- #8
wildgene
Handloader
- Jul 4, 2011
- 1,597
- 3
...just to add to the confusion, another option is the 140gr. Sierra HPBT GameKing. I don't use 140's in my 7mm's, but I've killed deer & antelope w/ the 120gr. .25's, mule deer & elk w/ the 160gr. 7mm's & 165gr. .30's, massive energy transfer (hydrostatic shock) followed by very good penetration. Relatively cheap, very accurate, my experience loading them has been consistent in that they don't seem to require much "tweeking" to find an accurate load...
That 140 HPBT was one I have wanted to try, but with the shortages around, I just haven't found many of them. I hear great things about the Sierra's of that style, just not a ton of experience with them. It'd be nice if one of you all would put a few of them in the water jugs for us! Love to see what kinda bullet action they give!
wildgene
Handloader
- Jul 4, 2011
- 1,597
- 3
