Mountain Goat
Handloader
- Dec 14, 2010
- 386
- 12
I've been playing with a friend's new XCR II in 7 Rem Mag after he asked me if I would get some loads worked up for him. He conslulted his uncle who loads for the 7 mag and has handloaded for decades, and also shoots the 140gr TTSX which my friend wants to shoot in his rifle, too.
His uncle recommended H-1000. I wanted to try a few powders that I have on the shelf, this helps get the feel of a new rifle and what it will do without the need of a new powder purchase right off the get go. Anyway, after looking at several load manuals and online resources, it looked like 72-73gr was a target maximum load. After 3 range sessions trying various charges and seating depths, 71.5gr was showing consistent 1" and smaller groups, many with two in one hole. 72.5gr was the next best, but I felt it was a little hot. There were no signs. It was just a hunch.
After narrowing down the seating depth, we wanted to run a series of loads over the chrono to confirm further consistency. I know speed isn't everything, but if one is shooting a 140gr bullet out of a 7 mag, why settle for 2950 fps, right?
The first 3 at 71.5gr were just over 3000 with 3021 being the fastest.
The first one at 72.5gr clocked 3236! Yes, the barrel was cool.
I did not like this, but shot another through just to be sure. Yikes, 3252. I read this as a huge pressure spike that is too much velocity gain for just one more grain of powder. I recommended that we stop and note the 71.5gr load as a fall-back if nothing else works in future load development. My friend agreed, but was not satisfied with 3000fps. I agreed. My 280 Rem shoots the 140 TSX at 2930 out of a 22" barrel.
He called his uncle right then and asked again exactly what his load was that was used by him, his son and his hunting buddy. Three guys use the same handload in 3 different rifles. Here's the scary part. His uncle said the load was 75.5gr of H-1000! They shoot 73.5gr with the 160gr AccuBond! This is the reference to my thread title why you can't always trust friend's load data, or anyone's for that matter. It worries me a little that I was elk hunting with a guy that was packing 75.5gr loads. Had that gun blown up on opening morning when he pulled the trigger on his bull, he might still be in the bottom of that canyon, my hunting partner, not the elk. We packed the elk out.
Since I was not real confident in H-1000 in the 7 mag with 140gr bullets, I decided to step out on my own with some IMR7828 since I had it on hand. Each charge was showing promise and groups were getting tighter as I reached loads that were 1 grain below published max. My friend agreed that these were worth revisiting, but he wanted to see some chrony numbers first. So, I took the last 6 that were loaded at 68.0gr and ran them over the chrono. We both smiled as the 6 shots averaged 3149 with a S.D. of just 17. I plan on working up to 69.0gr and feel I can safely reach 3220. Hopefully accuracy will stay. I'm not one to chase the last 80fps, but as I stated earlier, why shoot a 7 mag at 3000fps if you don't have to? The cartridge has much more to offer.
I just wanted to share with everyone that there are shooters out there that are not practicing what I consider safe handloading. In this case, it was a very close friend's uncle. This should also serve as a reminder to everyone that just because someone else is or says they are shooting xxx grains of powder or are getting xxxx fps, doesn't mean that it is true or safe or that you should attempt to accomplish the same.
When my friend asked if he should get some of those loads and try them, I said, "Hell no!"
His uncle recommended H-1000. I wanted to try a few powders that I have on the shelf, this helps get the feel of a new rifle and what it will do without the need of a new powder purchase right off the get go. Anyway, after looking at several load manuals and online resources, it looked like 72-73gr was a target maximum load. After 3 range sessions trying various charges and seating depths, 71.5gr was showing consistent 1" and smaller groups, many with two in one hole. 72.5gr was the next best, but I felt it was a little hot. There were no signs. It was just a hunch.
After narrowing down the seating depth, we wanted to run a series of loads over the chrono to confirm further consistency. I know speed isn't everything, but if one is shooting a 140gr bullet out of a 7 mag, why settle for 2950 fps, right?
The first 3 at 71.5gr were just over 3000 with 3021 being the fastest.
The first one at 72.5gr clocked 3236! Yes, the barrel was cool.
I did not like this, but shot another through just to be sure. Yikes, 3252. I read this as a huge pressure spike that is too much velocity gain for just one more grain of powder. I recommended that we stop and note the 71.5gr load as a fall-back if nothing else works in future load development. My friend agreed, but was not satisfied with 3000fps. I agreed. My 280 Rem shoots the 140 TSX at 2930 out of a 22" barrel.
He called his uncle right then and asked again exactly what his load was that was used by him, his son and his hunting buddy. Three guys use the same handload in 3 different rifles. Here's the scary part. His uncle said the load was 75.5gr of H-1000! They shoot 73.5gr with the 160gr AccuBond! This is the reference to my thread title why you can't always trust friend's load data, or anyone's for that matter. It worries me a little that I was elk hunting with a guy that was packing 75.5gr loads. Had that gun blown up on opening morning when he pulled the trigger on his bull, he might still be in the bottom of that canyon, my hunting partner, not the elk. We packed the elk out.
Since I was not real confident in H-1000 in the 7 mag with 140gr bullets, I decided to step out on my own with some IMR7828 since I had it on hand. Each charge was showing promise and groups were getting tighter as I reached loads that were 1 grain below published max. My friend agreed that these were worth revisiting, but he wanted to see some chrony numbers first. So, I took the last 6 that were loaded at 68.0gr and ran them over the chrono. We both smiled as the 6 shots averaged 3149 with a S.D. of just 17. I plan on working up to 69.0gr and feel I can safely reach 3220. Hopefully accuracy will stay. I'm not one to chase the last 80fps, but as I stated earlier, why shoot a 7 mag at 3000fps if you don't have to? The cartridge has much more to offer.
I just wanted to share with everyone that there are shooters out there that are not practicing what I consider safe handloading. In this case, it was a very close friend's uncle. This should also serve as a reminder to everyone that just because someone else is or says they are shooting xxx grains of powder or are getting xxxx fps, doesn't mean that it is true or safe or that you should attempt to accomplish the same.
When my friend asked if he should get some of those loads and try them, I said, "Hell no!"
