7mm mag loads for deer

[savagewsm]

I know I could look all of this up and go out to the range and spend hours testing but I am cheap and inherently lazy So I thought I might ask some of your opinions and real world experiences so I could get a start on developing a load for my 7mm rem mag.

I want a fast shooting ( preferably 3000 fps + ) deer load that I can be comfortable with out to 400 yards. ( probably in the 150 gr range )


What combos have you fellas tried and what results have you found. I don't have a chrony and the data in the books always seems a bit off in terms of speeds. The rifle is a TC venture and they are built like tanks and so far shoots very accurately with my 175 loads but I'd like to shoot something a little flatter for deer.


Thanks in advance for your input

[marlin1]

I've had pretty good sucess with 140 grain ballistic tips for deer. Accuracy wise they are great but I am thinking of trying some TSX for next year for better penetration .

[elkhunter11]

I have killed between 25 and 30 deer with the 140gr ballistic tip.Kills are quick and clean if you use lung shots,but shoulder shots do considerable damage,

[rottie]

I have had real good luck with the 150 grain Swifft Scirroco and a charge of Reloader 22,shoots flat,hits hard and so far seems to give complete pass throughs

[sbtennex]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I have killed between 25 and 30 deer with the 140gr ballistic tip.Kills are quick and clean if you use lung shots,but shoulder shots do considerable damage,

Used to shoot 160 Game Kings at everything, full load of RL-22, and on deer the far side usually looked....well, kinda missing. Looked like they'd been shot with a bazooka. Don't know what it is about a 7 Mag - seemed to create a lot more destruction than the .300 Mag I now use. If I had a single shot 7mm I wanted for long shots (don't know how accurate a T/C is for that purpose to be honest) I'd probably use a 168 Berger hunting bullet seated way out there and probably start with RL-19. Check out the "OCW" stuff at Practical Riflery's website - it can save you a lot of trial and error.