[Leeroy]

looking to reload 7x30 Waters in a Winchester 94 lever gun
can anyone tell me which manual/s would be best?

[FROGO207]

The bullet manufacturers reloading manuals are the ones I rely most heavily on. They will give the best data for the cartridge and their own particular bullet. The propellent manufacturers give the data for a range of bullets and will often generalize to a weight only not taking into account the ballistic coeffecient of the various styles of bullets. I like the Hornaday, Speer, and Seirra data books the most as my go to source.

[Smokey Joe]

Leeroy--My go-to manual is the Lyman Reloading Handbook, 49th edition. I checked the Lyman Cast Bullet handbook, and they don't cover the 7-30 Waters. But sure enough, the 49th has a spread on it.

In a straight-tubular magazine rifle like the Winchester 94, remember that you must use flat-nosed bullets, and since the 7-30 is the only 7mm cartridge one of those, and the 94 the only model that shoots it, bullet selection is rather limited.

I imagine that you may end up casting yr own bullets--which in itself would not be a bad thing.

ETA--Ken Waters' mammoth Pet Loads book, from Handloader magazine, of course gives extensive coverage to the 7-30 Waters, and why not--it's Ken Waters' baby. That book is a little dated, but I find it to be a fine reference.

[rcmodel]

Hodgdons website & manual has 7-30 Waters data.
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

Alliant website & manual has data.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/RecipeList.aspx?gtypeid=2

Lyman #49, Speer, and Hornady manuals all have a chapters on it.


rc

[jmabbott888@aol.com]

pg 784 of petloads 6th edition shows
139gr Hornady FN 34.0gr W-748 2500fps max case expansion as most accure 139gr load
120gr Nosler FN 34.5gr H-335 2712fps near max case expansion most accuret 120gr load
hope this helps some

[ArchAngelCD]

The Hodgdon site as suggested by "rcmodel" lists 6 different powders and 7 different bullets. The bullet listings will also tell you who is making the bullets you need for that caliber. (although they may not still be in production) I did see a 154gr RN 7mm bullet on the Hornady site.