7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

[Baconator]

Hello. I built a savage 110 in 7mm mag months ago and have been having fun shooting golf balls at 300 yds with my 139gr sst reloads and shooting horse apples and pears and ~1.25" groups at 400 but now I am getting the long range itch.

I built my rifle with 1-10 twist for shooting factory ammo but now learned the advantages of the heavier vld bullets.

My question is, what loads can I use to get the 168gr and 180gr vld to 3000+ to stabilize correctly.

I have a 28" barrel if that helps. Also a good supply of once fired winchester chrome/brass for reloads. I can buy what ever powder is recommended. I was thinking retumbo or h1000 but I have no clue as of what is minimum starting and max loads.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[BobinNC]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

Here's a source for some load data:

Hodgdon Data Center

Second, due to your twist rate, I would look strongly @ Hornady 162 gr A-Max, Sierra's 168 and 175 SMK's, and Bergers 180 grain LRBT (non VLD). These designs are significantly shorter in OAL than VLD designs.

For example using the JBM stability calculator, a Berger 180 Gr LRBT needs only 2850 FPS to stabilize in a 1-10" twist barrel. Where as the 180 Grain Berger VLD is only marginally stable @ 3150 FPS in the same 1-10" twist barrel.

It's the OAL length of the bullet at weight that kills you, not the weight per say.

Bob

 

[Baconator]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

Ok thanks for the info. Do you know the bc of the other compared to the vld?

 

[BobinNC]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

Here you go:

Berger Quick Reference Sheet - PDF

Short answer:

180 Gr LRBT G1 BC 0.613 G7 BC 0.314

180 Gr. VLD G1 BC 0.659 G7 BC 0.337

Yes, the 180 VLD is better BC wise, but if it doesn't stabilize, all the good BC in world will not help you.

 

[Smokin99]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

I had a 7mmRem in a 1:9 and it was a hell of a shooter out to 1500yards with 64.5gr of H4831 and 168gr VLDs,,,, of course work up to it

 

[Bacarrat]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

If you are having good luck with the 139gr SST, then I would rock on with them. You should be able to push those things at 3200-3300 FPS pretty easily out of a 7RM. I think the last I looked, the 139s had a BC close to that of .5. What it lacks in BC compared to the heavier VLDs, it makes up in speed.

 

[Baconator]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

Ok looks like I'm going with the lrbt then. I want plenty of punch at long range. I only have 10 sst rounds left and have been using h4831. But I want to step up to the 180 and whatever powder is recommended? Retumbo, h1000, magpro? Seems 2950-3000 is the number to shoot for

 

[Baconator]

Re: 7mm 168-180gr Berger vld questions.. Please read.

After more reading i am going to be ordering the 162 a-max. Lots of praise on that bullet and should be easy to find a load for it.