7mm Weatherby load recommendations, please

[Horsethief]

I'm getting a 7mm Weatherby Magnum and am asking you 7mm Wby shooters for your recommendations on hunting loads for deer and elk. I know every barrel is different and what shoots very well in your rifle might not do so well with mine. The bullets I have and would like to test are 150 grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range, 150 grain Nosler Partition, 160 grain Sierra Game King, and 162 grain Hornady Interlock BTSP. At some point a buddy is giving me his 150 grain Swift Scirocco bullets.

Given the fact that the usual shooting ranges for deer is around 250 - 400 yards for deer, I want a load that will reach out with one-shot accuracy so the shooting part of the whole deal is quick and over.

 

[SJB358]

Just my opinion but I'd stay away from anything like a Hornady or Sierra in a 7mm WBY. With the speed a WBY can put on a 150-175 grain bullet I'd want something that will hold up when it's directed at bone.

Saying that I run the 7mm MSM which is similar to the Weatherby, and H1000 has been excellent in accuracy and very decent for speed.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on the 7mm Wby.
The 150 gr ABLR and 150 gr PT would be the bullets to work with.

JD338

 

[Dr. Vette]

The only one I've yet handloaded for is Dad's 7mm Wby, though mine is on the "to do" list.
Never could get 160 AB's to work despite a lot of trying, same with Bergers.

As soon as I tried the Barnes 150 TTSX I knew I had a winner. 75.0gr of H-1000 and it will shoot consistently well under MOA out to 500 yards. So far it has been deadly on deer and elk and antelope. MV is 3060 as I recall.

Let us know what works for you.

 

[SJB358]

The only one I've yet handloaded for is Dad's 7mm Wby, though mine is on the "to do" list.
Never could get 160 AB's to work despite a lot of trying, same with Bergers.

As soon as I tried the Barnes 150 TTSX I knew I had a winner. 75.0gr of H-1000 and it will shoot consistently well under MOA out to 500 yards. So far it has been deadly on deer and elk and antelope. MV is 3060 as I recall.

Let us know what works for you.

That sounds like a pretty nice load for the 7 Wby.

 

[Dr. Vette]

The only one I've yet handloaded for is Dad's 7mm Wby, though mine is on the "to do" list.
Never could get 160 AB's to work despite a lot of trying, same with Bergers.

As soon as I tried the Barnes 150 TTSX I knew I had a winner. 75.0gr of H-1000 and it will shoot consistently well under MOA out to 500 yards. So far it has been deadly on deer and elk and antelope. MV is 3060 as I recall.

Let us know what works for you.

That sounds like a pretty nice load for the 7 Wby.

I've been tempted to load up a few and see if my 7mm shoots them just as well. I have yet to do it, but I just might...

 

[DrMike]

The only one I've yet handloaded for is Dad's 7mm Wby, though mine is on the "to do" list.
Never could get 160 AB's to work despite a lot of trying, same with Bergers.

As soon as I tried the Barnes 150 TTSX I knew I had a winner. 75.0gr of H-1000 and it will shoot consistently well under MOA out to 500 yards. So far it has been deadly on deer and elk and antelope. MV is 3060 as I recall.

Let us know what works for you.

That would certainly be a good all around load for the 7 Bee. You could tackle about any game in NA with that load.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

I have loaded and hunted with a 7mm Wea Mag for over 30 years now with great success. Primarily for whitetails but have killed 3 Nilgai as well. Bullets I have used successfully are 150 gr Ballistic Tips and Partitions, 162 gr Hornady SST's, 160 gr Accubonds. Here are the best loads that I found:

150 gr NBT 68.0 gr IMR 4350 3.340" oal Rem 9 1/2m 3200 fps 24" barrel

162 gr SST 73.0 gr RL 22 3.300' oal Rem 9 1/2m 3050 fps 24" barrel

160 gr NAB 71.0 gr RL 22 3.335" oal Rem 9 1/2M 3100 fps 26" barrel

160 gr NAB 67.0 gr VVN160 3.335" oal Rem 9 1/2m 3100 fps 26" barrel

all of these loads were 3/4 to 1 MOA loads in the 2 rifles that I have had. The 24" barrel was a standard Mark V, the 26" barrel is same rifle redone as an Accumark.

I have killed many deer from the muzzle to 550 yards with these loads. Despite the reputation of the Ballistic Tip as being "soft" I have killed plenty deer inside of 50 yards with it and never lost one.

Hope these loads work out for you.

Standard disclaimer - work up to these loads carefully in your own rifle.

Good luck

Jimbeaux

 

[FOTIS]

I load RL 22 and IMR 7828 with 150 and 10 NP's

 

[Horsethief]

Thanks for the loads and info on how they worked. I know this is not the top-selling Weatherby cartridge. That doesn't matter to me. I am looking forward to a lot of load work ups and and lot of range time.

I'm a bit tempted to get some 175 grain bullets but I don't think they'll work any better than the 150-162gn range bullets I have now. The temptation of a 3200fps load with 150 grain bullets is strong, as long as they're accurate.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Thanks for the loads and info on how they worked. I know this is not the top-selling Weatherby cartridge. That doesn't matter to me. I am looking forward to a lot of load work ups and and lot of range time.

I'm a bit tempted to get some 175 grain bullets but I don't think they'll work any better than the 150-162gn range bullets I have now. The temptation of a 3200fps load with 150 grain bullets is strong, as long as they're accurate.

The problem with longer/heavier bullets is that they can require a faster twist rate to stabilize them. Weatherby has 175gr factory loads, but I believe they "work" because of the speed that the factory gets out of them. Dad's snow camo 7mm Wby shoots the factory 175gr loads well, though I have not tried to work up a load for that rifle. He doesn't shoot that one enough.

Not sure how Jimbeaux82 does it, but those are screamin' velocities that he posted.

 

[SJB358]

Thanks for the loads and info on how they worked. I know this is not the top-selling Weatherby cartridge. That doesn't matter to me. I am looking forward to a lot of load work ups and and lot of range time.

I'm a bit tempted to get some 175 grain bullets but I don't think they'll work any better than the 150-162gn range bullets I have now. The temptation of a 3200fps load with 150 grain bullets is strong, as long as they're accurate.

The problem with longer/heavier bullets is that they can require a faster twist rate to stabilize them. Weatherby has 175gr factory loads, but I believe they "work" because of the speed that the factory gets out of them. Dad's snow camo 7mm Wby shoots the factory 175gr loads well, though I have not tried to work up a load for that rifle. He doesn't shoot that one enough.

Not sure how Jimbeaux82 does it, but those are screamin' velocities that he posted.

To be totally honest I never struggled much to get those speeds out of a plain old 7mm Rem Mag with 22 and 25. Does your 7mm not like those sorta speeds? They actually seem sorta mild for most of the WBY data I've seen. Especially with a 26" tube.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Weatherby shows 3200 with a 160 Partition, 3300 with 150 BST, and Hornady states 3200 with their 154gr Interbond.

http://www.weatherby.com/media/weatherby/ballistics.pdf

Given that Weatherby numbers are considered difficult to obtain, once I hit an accuracy node with Dad's rifle at 3060 I stopped, though did discuss with DrMike offline whether or not to try for the next higher node. I have not, as I'm not sure it is worth the effort.

I'm just impressed with his 24 inch barrel numbers. I'll have to see what I get with my next load workup. For that one I have some MRP ready to go.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

Not sure how Jimbeaux82 does it, but those are screamin' velocities that he posted.

My philosophy with all of the calibers I load (over 25) is to get book velocity for each load so if I need to shoot factory my zero's are pretty close. I never try to exceed listed velocity with each cartridge and I work up carefully with a chrono. That said, sometimes it takes a little more powder to get the book velocity than the manuals list.

Regarding the velocities with the 24" barrel, I have a lot more load data with 24" than the 26" barrel as I just last year had my Mark V redone as an Accumark with 26" barrel. I hunted with the 24" barrel for 20 plus years until my accuracy started getting worse, believing I might have shot out the barrel. I estimate that I fired approx. 1000 rds thru that barrel.

Back to the point , I have loaded the 150 gr NBT loading and the 162 SST loading over 5-6 times per case without primer pockets becoming loose nor any other pressure signs that I can detect. My case failures usually come from split necks as I have not yet explored annealing well used cases.