Caribou Gear

Off-season project - 7mm Rem Mag

Gonna hold out for a rock chucker if I do it. I appreciate it though! I am drawing a wyoming tag this year. (I hope).
Smart choice! I’ll keep my eyes peeled. I’ve probably bought and sold a half dozen of them in the last few years. Found them cheap and passed on the deal to a new reloader.
 
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Man, after thumbing some of these threads I'm regretting not reloading. Tons of info from helpful hunttalkers I feel like I'm wasting it by not using some of it to my advantage.

(Confession: part of my goal in convincing folks to reload is to have more eyeballs on the lookout for hard to find components for me)
 
Question for the folks: you see that we have lots for powder, primers, etc. I assume there is one for bullets as well? I ask because I ran out of TTSX so I had to buy a new box. There’s some different numbers on there that I assumed to be lot numbers but they’re different assortment of numbers compared to others. I don’t want to ladder test new bullets but will if I have to.

Also, do you really need a new stem for Berger bullets?
 
Question for the folks: you see that we have lots for powder, primers, etc. I assume there is one for bullets as well? I ask because I ran out of TTSX so I had to buy a new box. There’s some different numbers on there that I assumed to be lot numbers but they’re different assortment of numbers compared to others. I don’t want to ladder test new bullets but will if I have to.

Also, do you really need a new stem for Berger bullets?
I don’t really worry about lot numbers, even for powders. Weigh a sample from the new box of bullets (say 5–10) and confirm they’re all within a grain or so either side of the designated weight and you should be fine. That kind of detail is probably much more important to benchrest shooters than those of us looking to build serviceable hunting loads.

Standard stems will work for longer projectiles like the Bergers but will sometimes leave a slightly pressed ring toward the tip. I’ve not noticed any degredation of accuracy using standard stems but, again, you might be able to eke out another .1 MOA by using the designated stems.
 
I don’t really worry about lot numbers, even for powders. Weigh a sample from the new box of bullets (say 5–10) and confirm they’re all within a grain or so either side of the designated weight and you should be fine. That kind of detail is probably much more important to benchrest shooters than those of us looking to build serviceable hunting loads.

Standard stems will work for longer projectiles like the Bergers but will sometimes leave a slightly pressed ring toward the tip. I’ve not noticed any degredation of accuracy using standard stems but, again, you might be able to eke out another .1 MOA by using the designated stems.
I did seat one on a 30 cal and saw that ring. I couldn’t feel/catch it with a fingernail so I didn’t think anything of it.
 
The "only" time I ever insisted on the same Lot# was if I found an accurate factory load for the rifle I had. I would then buy as many boxes as I could, which way back then, might be 2, hopefully 5. Never worried about it for anything else. However, LR Hunters/shooters benefit by watching every little detail. But for the rest of us 99.99% of Hunters, no problem! :) P.S. I traded a rifle for a new RCBS Rock Chucker Loading kit back in '81. Four years before that I just used the LEE Classic Loader, ( I weighed my charges though) worked just fine!
 
The "only" time I ever insisted on the same Lot# was if I found an accurate factory load for the rifle I had. I would then buy as many boxes as I could, which way back then, might be 2, hopefully 5. Never worried about it for anything else. However, LR Hunters/shooters benefit by watching every little detail. But for the rest of us 99.99% of Hunters, no problem! :) P.S. I traded a rifle for a new RCBS Rock Chucker Loading kit back in '81. Four years before that I just used the LEE Classic Loader, ( I weighed my charges though) worked just fine!
I did measure the new lot compared to one I had to pull due to seating too far in. 0.2g difference. I could get bratty and say that might be too much but meh. Counting pennies imo.
 
I reload for every cartridge i shoot but have been known to use factory ammo on the very rare occasion. A trick that would often make a difference, and sometimes more than a little, is to the pull the bullets (with a kinetic) "just enough" to reseat them with my press, then straighten them for a more consistent concentricity. I noticed some manufactured ammo that was very inconsistent. Grab a box and look at the case mouth-to-cannelure junction.
 
I did seat one on a 30 cal and saw that ring. I couldn’t feel/catch it with a fingernail so I didn’t think anything of it.
You can remove the seating stem and first drill it out so the plastic tip of your bullets don’t contact.
Next you can use a bullet with some lapping compound on it and spin the seating stem in a drill and lap it for a much better fit.
 
I reload for every cartridge i shoot but have been known to use factory ammo on the very rare occasion. A trick that would often make a difference, and sometimes more than a little, is to the pull the bullets (with a kinetic) "just enough" to reseat them with my press, then straighten them for a more consistent concentricity. I noticed some manufactured ammo that was very inconsistent. Grab a box and look at the case mouth-to-cannelure junction.
I do this with one of my 308 factory loads. As is I am just at 1 MOA; tweaking the seating depth for better consistency puts me around 0.75 MOA. Good enough for what I need it to do.
 
I use one of the those old Pacific presses and sometimes think maybe I should upgrade but if I'm making ammo that generates sub moa groups at 200, do I really need to? I dont think so.
 
Through all the chaos on the forum, it’s time to update with some relevant stuff here!

The 7 mag likes heavy bergers, 168g. I did start the loads a bit hotter and they got worse. I learned heavier bullets shoot better with less powder through muzzleloader so I should have not started so hot. Going back to load another ladder of 3 to get MOA….

The Roy will be shot tomorrow though, going to see how far I can stretch the bullet next.
 
Through all the chaos on the forum, it’s time to update with some relevant stuff here!

The 7 mag likes heavy bergers, 168g. I did start the loads a bit hotter and they got worse. I learned heavier bullets shoot better with less powder through muzzleloader so I should have not started so hot. Going back to load another ladder of 3 to get MOA….

The Roy will be shot tomorrow though, going to see how far I can stretch the bullet next.
You did not read your reloading manual!!
Otherwise you'd have seen that heavier bullets use less powder!

And 168gr are not "heavy".
The 195gr Berger and 197gr Sierra are heavy!! Lol

Then there is which 168gr Berger?
VLD?
Classic Hunter?

The Classic Hunter is very forgiving with jump.

The VLD is not. I found the VLD likes it right up on the lands with all my rifles.
 

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