Thread: Too fast and dangerous? 7mm Rem Mag, 180gr ELD-M, RL26

Hi Team,

I'm in need of some wisdom from the forum.
I have worked up a load for my 7RM that can shoot the hair off the nut of a fly at 100y (exaggerating a bit).
However the load is a lot faster than what the hornady reloading guide says. The test rifle from the book had a 2" shorter barrel and a slower 1:9 twist rate. Mines a suppressed 26" 1:8 twist.
From your wisdom, should I be concerned that my speed of 3070fps is a lot faster than what the book says I should be getting of 2900fps with a book max of 67.3gr of RL26?

Nosler Brass
Fed Match Mag Primers
Hornady ELD-M Projectiles
68gr of Reloader 26
COAL: 3.380
Average Speed: 3070fps (10 round test)
ES: 17fps (10 round test)
Average group size 0.27" (2x 5 round groups)

Primers are not showing signs of flattening, and no sticky bolt, a single case of 10 showed a faint extractor mark.

The load of 68gr is .7gr above hornady's book max which is at 67.3gr of Reloader 26.
The COAL of 3.380" is longer than the hornady COAL of 3.290.

I'm keen to hear what your thoughts are, should I be concerned and back off my load back to where the speed aligns with the book recommended speeds?

That's fantastic!
Book max loads are very Conservative so I wouldn't be concerned.
Job done. Go out and shoot some shit!

How much jump are you giving the 180's out of interest? I'm finding them a bit finicky in my 284.

Aye, job done go hunting & enjoy.

Greetings Kiwiazonic,
If you are getting more velocity than Hornady then you are getting more pressure. I assume that with an eight inch twist it is not a factory barrel. If so this could account for part of the difference. Your additional two inches of barrel would add about 60 fps so the remaining extra velocity would equate to about 2 to 3 grains of extra powder. The max pressure for the 7 mm Rem Mag was reduced about 25 years ago due to erratic pressures in the cartridge. In my opinion, at least, primer appearance and bolt lift are worthless as pressure indicators but I would be concerned about the light ejector mark. To me this would indicate that the elastic limit of the case is near. To an old and cautious Fudd like me it is more risk than I would take but you must make your own decision. A round 3,000 fps sounds doable, You may wish to check how much flatter trajectory the extra 70 fps makes.
Regards Grandpamac.

Wow that is great performance alright, 180gr 7mm at 3000fps, with great accuracy, that will work on a bit of stuff !

What chronograph please and/or has the velocity been compared to any drop data yet?

I have always been able to achive book max at least. However.... the other day I loaded up a pet load I have of 51.7gr 2209 with 140 Interlock for my new Kimber, this load has shoot really well in every 270 I have had, it shot well in the Kimber also, but... I loaded up a couple at the book max of 52gr 2209 (only .3gr more than the pet load) and fired off the first one, it was wildly off target compared to the lower load and the bolt was very very stiff, primer was super flat. This makes me a bit nervous about using the pet load now in this rifle so I will start again or possibly just back off to 51gr and see if its still nice and accurate. Amazes me how it can go from fine to crazy with .3gr more powder

I agree tha book max are conservative for 7RM, Ive always been at max or over after careful load development and case obsevartions. +3k with 180s is stellar for a 7RM even with 26in. That RL26 ha a hgh densirty compared to 2217 or 2225 so you dont usually get to 100%+ case loads in my experince.

You may also have fast barrel, some rifles just do. I had a 24in 7RM 9.5 twist Blaser whcih just wouldnt safley get beyond 2900 with 162s and now have a 7SAUM 8 twist with 22in which can eassliy get into the 3k with Berger 168s. I alwasy go for accuracy over velocity these days. Great result for a 7RM well done.

If you are not getting any heavy bolt lift, or ejector stamps on the case heads to really speak of you should be pretty ok. However you have developed this load in winter, and its likely pretty hot, so once we get into the warmer months you may find you start to get excess pressure signs with heavy bolt lift and ejector stamp marks on the brass.

I run 175 eldx's at around the 2900-2950 out of a 24 with less optimal powder, so a fast, tight twist barrel that powder and nosler brass sounds about right

I believe about 35fps per inch of barrel length, for 7mm mag. if no real high pressure signs, your good.

https://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38851

you might find this interesting. I usually search for a quickload workup of something i am looking at running which gives you chamber pressures for a given powder projectile combo and velocities. it seems to be pretty accurate.

How warm was the day when you shot?
May need to be carefull in high summer. (Covered by GWH) ^^
Also I wounder how much this will effect brass life, if that is even a concern. But it dose look like you have a ball nat shooting rifle

Also be how are your primer pockets for the next reload?

Thanks @Benj nice link.

67 grains of RE26 with 180 ELD-M yields 2840 fps in my 7RM with a 25” 8.7 twist barrel, so yours is fast alright. With a BC as high as the 180, there’s no need to chase high velocity and diminish case life.