7WSM and 180 Bergers

[JakeGraves]

I am working out of town and cannot look at my Sierra load manual. If anyone has the Berger book, can you please tell me velocity of the 180's in a 26" barrel? I'm wondering if it hits 3k and trying to decide what to chamber my custom build. Thanks.

[az2tx]

Probably not, closer to 2900

[JakeGraves]

Ttt for someone with the Berger reloading manual.

[Lungbustr]

You can always call or email berger. Very helpful people, they will email you data.

[LWD]

6mmbr.com has some info on the 180 Berger in the 7WSM. A couple of the loads show 3000 fps; a couple closer to 2900. http://www.6mmbr.com/7mm284.html#7WSM

LWD

[boomer453]

i chambered mine 7/300wsm and get 3050 from a 24" barrel with Reloader 25.

[cbd10pt]

Ballistics are better on the 140 grain and will definitely bust 3000, and Still have enough pop for long range elk

[JakeGraves]

Good info boomer. How many grains of RL 25? That velocity is impressive out of a 24" bbl. I have a MTU contour Krieger 5R on the way that I will either finish at 26" or 28". I am trying to decide between 7/300wsm and 7lrm. Decisions, decisions...

[Capt.Bryan]

Ballistics are better on the 140 grain and will definitely bust 3000, and Still have enough pop for long range elk

You may reach higher velocity with the 140's but the ballistics don't even come close to those of the 180'S even if you are pushing the 140's 300 fps faster. With 180's at 3000 fps you still have 1200 pounds of energy at 1000 yards.

[boomer453]

Good info boomer. How many grains of RL 25? That velocity is impressive out of a 24" bbl. I have a MTU contour Krieger 5R on the way that I will either finish at 26" or 28". I am trying to decide between 7/300wsm and 7lrm. Decisions, decisions...

do all your due dilligence and start 10% lower and work up but my sweet spot is 66.5 grains. i turn the necks to .014 and use moderate neck tension.

[bowhntrmatt]

Nothing in the Berger book even shows over 2900 at max load with the 180's and a 25" barrel.

[boomer453]

one of the best groups ever shot was done with the 7/300 wsm in the UK (2.67@1000). you can find the article and load workup on 6mmbr dot com, he ended up at just over 3000fps at 66grs of R25. ive been as high as 3125 fps but started showing pressure signs. 66.5 is the sweet spot in my rifle.

Point being that 3000 with the 180 berger is not only possible but easily and safely achievable. the question will be if its an accuracy load in your rifle-accuracy trumps speed everytime

here's a bit from the article

"Oh how I would have loved some custom bullets such as Cauterucios, but this is the UK and it initially looked as if I would have to make do with the Sierra 175s, until a shooting buddy visiting the 2006 Shot Show brought me 500 new 180-grain Bergers!

Reloading for Accuracy
We only have a couple of dozen Light Guns in the UK and one other UK shooter, Scottish gunsmith Russ Gall, is also using the 7mm WSM in 1000-yard BR and he kindly shared his load data with me: 66 grains of Reloader 25 (RL 25). This gives an MV of just over 3000 fps. You can go higher if you want more velocity but I like easy bolt-lift for rapid shooting and my own tests left me with an accuracy load of 66.7 grains using Federal Magnum primers. This was grouping around an inch for five-shots at 300 yards, which I was happy with but I never got my MV spreads better than about 25fps over ten rounds. All my loads are weighed (as accurately as I can) on RCBS 10-10 scales.

I've sorted and tweaked bullets many different ways in the past--measured bearing-surface length, weighed 'em, checked diameters, trimmed meplats. But this time, I thought I would see how the Bergers performed right out of the box. For neck-sizing and bullet seating, I employ Wilson 300 WSM hand dies with a .308 diameter neck bushing. This gives a fair bit of neck-tension but the reamer was designed for a Cauterucio so the Berger isn't seated as deep as I would like. I check every loaded round with a NECO concentricity gauge and I like run-out to be no more than .001". For a full-length body-die, I use a standard Hornady 300 WSM die but I had to turn about .040" off the base before it would bump the shoulder. Although the dies are hardened, this is easy to do with a carbide-tipped tool."