7mm 145 Grand Slam

Would this bullet perform good out of a 7-30 waters 23 inch barreled contender carbine?

It's a little heavy for the Waters, but if pushed, as long as range is on the close side it would probably do OK. I think the Speer 130gr would probably be a better suit.

Heavier jacketed bullets at low velocity will have minimal expansion and that at closest ranges. A regular “cup and core” type bullet such as the 139 grain Hornady Interlock or Speer Hotcor would work much better in my opinion.


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For the 7-30 Waters, I would be more inclined to go with the 145 gr. Speer Hot Core rather than the Grand Slam. The jacket of the Grand Slam might be a bit too tough for the Waters. Probably something in the 139/140 gr. region would be more appropriate but as I do not shoot that cartridge I'm only venturing a semi-educated opinion FWIW.
Paul B.

I talked to a tech at speer today ,he seemed to think the g.s. would work for me he said as long as that bullet had 1000 ft. pounds of energy it would open and work like it should .Now I just have to figure out how far that bullet will shoot and maintain 1000 ft lbs of energy ..

The 145 GS made a good 7mm Rem Mag deer bullet but from my personal experience I believe it probably is too tough a bullet for the 7-30 Waters. A really good 7-30 Waters bullet for deer is the 120 Nosler BT but is not tubular magazine friendly unless you what a two shot. One in the chamber and one in the magazine.

I'll take you fellers advise and leave the 145 g.s. in the box for the 280 rem .I have a box of 120 nos. bt's setting on the bench and ordered a box of speer 130 boat tails ,surely i can figure something out that will work to kill a whitetail or a coyote .

wildman":3cunlwjx said:

I'll take you fellers advise and leave the 145 g.s. in the box for the 280 rem .I have a box of 120 nos. bt's setting on the bench and ordered a box of speer 130 boat tails ,surely i can figure something out that will work to kill a whitetail or a coyote .

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Either of those should work really well. Dad used to run 130 Speer's out of his 7 Mag Mauser rifle, at less than max Velocity. Stuff just fell down dead. I would think they will work well.

A former forum member, Bob in TX swore by 120 BT's in his 7mm-08. he shot all kinds of stuff with it. Let us know how it works out. CL

wildman":2wlm0qz7 said:

I'll take you fellers advise and leave the 145 g.s. in the box for the 280 rem .I have a box of 120 nos. bt's setting on the bench and ordered a box of speer 130 boat tails ,surely i can figure something out that will work to kill a whitetail or a coyote .

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You'll find it a fine bullet for whitetail sized game in the .280 Rem. I've been using it for years. Excellent expansion without the meat wrecking "poof" of ballistic tips, and a little better penetration than conventional cup and cores.

Concur with others above, a softer bullet is called for in the 7-30, preferably with a blunt metplat if you're not pushing the range too far out there. IF you're looking for a coyote specific bullet and for general practice with reduced riccochet, look at the Hornady 120 V-max. Devastating from my .280.

As the OP has stated he's using a Contender, I don't think spitzer bullets are a concern. However bullet weight and type could be. The early 140 gr. Nosler ballistic tips would probably been perfect in a 7-30 Waters. They were a bit too frangible from a 7x57 at 2800 FPS. A very accurate bullet though. I think a flat base Sierra 140 gr. would also be a good bullet in the 7-30W.
Paul B.

I'm having trouble getting varget to shoot good out of this barrel .Also having a little trouble with the primer pockets on this once fired federal brass..

I did some checking around and I would give IMR 4895 and WW748 a try. I have a buddy that has a 14" Contender 7-30 and he shoots IMR 4895 with 120 Nosler BT which I can't remember what he told me was the charge but it is listed as the Accuracy Load in the Sierra Manuel #5 with their 120 gr bullet. This combo shoots lights out and he has killed deer out to around 200 yards with NO PROBLEM.

1 Shot I have some cases load with 748 and imr 4895 on my loading bench now just waiting to be tested with 120 nos.bt and speer 130 spbt ..

This rig is about to drive me nuts , every load I try it is putting 2 bullets cutting one another one will be about 1 inch to 11/2 from the other 2 .Chronograph readings are in line with one another ,I have cleaned and polished the inside this barrel till it looks like a mirror ..

Hope that you figure out your rig’s behavior issues. A note on the 145 grain hot cor and BTSP. I have used them for some time and it was my dad’s favorite bullet for deer in his 280 Remington. I used it in a 7-08 and loaded with W760 and a CCI 250 that gave me a string of eight DRT deer. It was a magic combination it seemed like. I think it would be a good bullet in your 7-30 Waters pistol for deer at any practical range you’d hunt at with it.

wildman":212j939m said:

Would this bullet perform good out of a 7-30 waters 23 inch barreled contender carbine?

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>>>> For yotes and deer either of the 2 bullets you have will be great. Let the more accurate bullet make your decision. That 23" should produce some good velocities !!

wildman":2pwv31o7 said:

This rig is about to drive me nuts , every load I try it is putting 2 bullets cutting one another one will be about 1 inch to 11/2 from the other 2 .Chronograph readings are in line with one another ,I have cleaned and polished the inside this barrel till it looks like a mirror ..

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>>> let the barrel cools a bit more between shots....