Hodgdon now has the 180 VLD listed for 7 Rem Mag. What's your take?

[Garvey]

I've almost got the rifle finished. 26" Rock 1:8.5" twist screwed into a Rem 700 action, JEC brake or a Tiger Shark suppressor will be attached to the muzzle. It seems as though the 180 VLD wasn't listed a couple of months ago when I looked, but I just saw it on their chart.

It lists (for H-1000) 63.2gr yields 2605 fps up to 69.5C yeilds 2884 fps.

My rifle will bang some steel, but will primarily be my hunting rifle. I'm not concerned about recoil given the two recoil reduction devices I have to choose from. I've looked through the Reloading Depot here and don't come up with much information for my load combination. Where is the general powder charge area where pressure signs start to show? Hodgdon's MV is typically lower than actual. What speed have you achieved for a given powder charge?

Skip telling me to start low and work up on the powder charge watching for pressure. This aint my first rodeo, just my first time with a 180 on a 7 Rem Mag. I just need to know a "typical" max charge.

 

[Garvey]

Crickets? No one?

 

[Squid284]

Garvey,

66.5gr of H1000 has always been good to me. 26" Sendero, 9.25" twist, 180VLD, 2800fps.

67.0-68.0gr gets me up closer to 2900fps but this is a little hotter than I would like. (by way of the usual symptoms)

I believe Berger says 66gr max @ 2830fps.

 

[Garvey]

That's very helpful. Thank you sir!

 

[Garvey]

Anyone have something with H-Retumbo?

 

[El Cid 92]

67.5gr of Retumbo got me 2830fps and some accuracy.

Andrew

 

[Garvey]

Great! I'm hoping for 2800 fps at least. The faster the better, but consistacy is more important, of course.

Where does pressure tend to start showing?

 

[Big Z]

Wow. If this wasn't your first rodeo, you'd start "low" and work up.

 

[Capt Academy]

I use 71 grains of Retumbo, which shoots under 1/2" MOA with the 180 VLD's 3056 FPS It's an RBros 7mag with a 27" Sendero contour, Broughton barrel.

 

[Garvey]

Wow. If this wasn't your first rodeo, you'd start "low" and work up.

Berger's max is too conservative. Hodgdon is too conservtive or too ballsy depending on the cartridge. I would rather have a "max" to work around based on handloaders experience. In case you havn't noticed loading components are tough to get. I have plenty for this rifle but I don't want to waste time and components starting from scratch. That's what this forum is for.

Capt. Academy, thank you for the help!

 

[Garvey]

Anybody else?

 

[30338]

Just shot my 8.5 twisted Rock today out to 775 yards. 67 grains of Retumbo, Rem brass, WLR primer, yielded half moa accuracy out to 500 yards before the 6x Leupold and my eyes started having trouble. Stayed 1 moa to 775 though. That load of 67 shoots really well in my son's rig also and is in the low 2800s.

I have run H1000 up to 71 grains with CCI mag primers and had reasonable accuracy and 2940 fps. Tried WLRM primers and hit pressure at 71 grains so use caution with that max.

Thinking I am going to call it good and print up drop charts. Might invest in a bigger scope shortly as well. The 6x is leaving too much range on the table.

 

[Garvey]

Yes, you need more magnification. The higher magnification will allow you to see what you couldn't before, but more importantly, it will show you any flinches you may have. Your groups may shrink once you get into the 20X range.