lancetkenyon

Chambered 5.56 Nato/.223 or .223 Wylde? Barrel length? Barrel twist rate? Any mags with it?

Ttt

I get 3000 fps pushing 180s & 183s in my 7RM, and 3075 fps with the 168s out of a 26" barrel. Those are not even close to max loads in my rifle either.

If your buddy has the recipe you are shooting, I will duplicate the load for you. I have dies and about 70 .270 Win brass.

I am not one to complain much...but I have to rant about three totally unrelated occurances I have observed in the past couple days. 1. Yesterday, at Cabela's. While perusing the reloading components near the gun counter, I overheard one of the most irresponsible comments come out of a salesman's mouth. I know they are there to sell guns, but come on. A customer was looking at a Remington Sendero in .300WM. Now I don't know the customer or his shooting experience. But the salesman, as he is passing the rifle to the customer, asks another salesman standing outside the gun counter, "The Sendero in .300WM will make anyone able to kill an elk at 1000 yards, right?" To which the response from salesman #2 was, "No question about it." 2. Sitting in Taco heck this morning grabbing some breakfast between sites, I see 3 "homeless" guys inside. Dirty clothes, cardboard signs by their feet, dogs waiting outside, the whole 9 yards. They are all playing online games on their iPads. Each one. Then they leave and climb in their newish Chevy Tahoe. 3. Last Friday, I went to get some subs at Jimmy Johns. I saw a guy walking around the parking lot when I went in. When I came out, he approached to ask for money because, "I haven't eaten in a couple days." I don't give money out, but I dropped my subs in my truck, and said, "I will buy you some lunch. Let's go into Jimmy Johns." He said, "Never mind." And walked away. My disappointment in the masses increases daily.

Looking awesome!

Layers are your friend. I have been on late season elk hunts where it is 65°, or -15° in 7W. Sunny and clear in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, or rain or snow in 5 warm layers. Windproof gear is essential in my opinion. Waterproof is nice when needed, but seems like in AZ, that is not often except in the monsoons. Buy one good set of outerwear, and then layer under it.

Do you have 5 rounds of each charge weight? You only need one round of each charge weight for a ladder test. Unless you are just going to shoot for groups. Or shoot 5 different ladder tests to check consistency. Good choice on the brass. Primer choice is spot on too. RL17 is a popular one for that cartridge. Just watch the temp sensitivity, about 1fps per 1° of temp change. So if you get a hot node, realize you might get pressure when temps rise. Or lower velocity when temps drop, possibly getting out of your accuracy node. Especially with the high temps this time of year, velocities can change drastically when on a late elk or deer hunt. Losing 80° in temp can mean losing 80fps. Bullet choice might work fine. I personally have not found a super accurate NABLR load yet, but those are the 6.5mm 142gr. flavor.

I am on the other side. If you will use it more often with a little change up, do it. Better than sitting in the safe because it is not something you would use. I think Gramps would rather you use it and enjoy it than for it to sit in a dark safe forever.

Good luck. Prayers for you.

What do you consider "capable of long range"? Hunting elk and deer @ 500? 750? 1000? 1250? 7RM is very capable in the hands of a skilled shooter and with a proper bullet choice. Many cartridges are as well. Some more so, some less so.

I use H1000 for my 7RM w. 168/180/183 gr. bullets. Not the absolutely highest velocities, but great accuracy, clean burning, and temperature stable. I ahve also worked up loads for a few other 7RM for other guys and RL22 seems to always work very well. Good speed, good accuracy w. 160 to 180 gr. bullets, but pretty temp sensitive. About 1fps per 1° of temp change. But get a good accuracy node worked up, and the velocity change doesn't mess with accuracy, and your ballistic program can compensate for the velocity changes.

I did not specify components. The owner of the rifle delivered what he wanted his final load to utilize. While some of the components would not be my first choice, the overall results worked very well, and should put anything in AZ down with authority. The brass was an excellent choice, and I use some of the Nosler brand brass myself for other cartridges. Primers were a great choice, hard to beat Fed GM215M for a magnum primer. Bullets fly great. Good weight for an all-around hunting bullet. Good construction as well. BC is decent. So should perform at reasonable hunting ranges. I have had better accuracy results from the Accubond than the Accubond LR in every flavor I have tried. My personal preference for bullets tend to lean towards a green, yellow, or orange box. But the results don't lie for accuracy in this load. Powder is not my first choice, but works very well for this application. It is a viable choice however. Temp insensitivity is not as good as some, but much better than others. From all I have read by numerous experts and tests, I think IMR7828 varies about .5fps per 1° of temp swing from testing temps.

Bushing dies just allow you to play with actual neck tension. An adjustable die vs. a fixed neck size.

Hornady has had some issues in the past year or so from a lot of what I have read. I like Redding dies myself. Their basic FL die set is just a bit nicer and easier to adjust than RCBS. And the competition set is really nice. The only thing I prefer on RCBS dies is the set ring on the die body is a hex nut vs. a knurled ring, so you can lock it down tight with an adjustable wrench vs. a pipe wrench for the Redding. But either one will get the job done just fine. If you plan on shooting a lot, and really gettjng into precision loading, I would suggest the competition seating die. While not mandatory, it makes seating depth adjustments much easier and more accurate. You can do the same with a standard seating die, but it just takes a bit more practice. I measure each CBTO for my rounds, and adjust by .001 or even .0005 if needed to stay consistent. Easier with the competition seater with the graduated marks for ever .001".

I have found RL22 to have approximately 1fps per 1° in temp changes. So a ladder test is critical to determine a range of velocities for your accuracy node, and try to work your load somewhere in there to correspond with temp and velocity variations to keep them in that range. I have worked up numerous 7RM loads for different rifles using RL22 and a 168 gr. bullet. But I personally prefer H1000. H1000 is known for fantastic accuracy potential. RL22 can usually get slightly higher velocities, but you get the temp sensitivity. Retumbo will also yield slightly higher velocity than H1000, but it is a dirty burning powder. I think you are on the right track with your progress. All of the steps of brass prep, and reloading steps might only net .05" better accuracy potential each, but combine them all and it adds up. Another thing that really adds up in accuracy is the rifle set up. Proper torque on all bolts, bedding, floating, etc. Trigger pull weight is a big one too. The final step to accuracy is proper shooting set up, form, and a lot of practice utilizing the proper form. One fantastic set of videos for reference is "The Art of Precision Rifle" by Magpul. I have watched it probably 6 or 7 times, and still learn from it. I have it saved on my computer if anyone wants to download it on a flash drive.

Sounds like the bullets are jammed hard into the lands with a tight neck.

Here's my report....I still didn't get drawn.

I have one of these that I got from my great-grandmother when I was 5 or 6. I have killed hundreds of lizards, rabbits and squirrels with mine. Super accurate.

Something Accurate. Long range or all day carry mountain gun? Personally, I would pick something in the .257, .264, .284 range, fairly low recoiling. Not much different than my muley guns. I have a couple. .25-06AI, 6.5 SLR, .260 Rem. If I needed to really stretch it out, I have a 7RM or .300RUM, both pushing heavies at a good clip.

You can't go wrong with taking the entire front half into your taxidermist. I basically tube them out, and cut the leg bones below the knees, and tube it to the base of the skull. Leave the lower legs and skull inside.