7-30 Waters for silhouette

[bullethead]

I am giving silhouette shooting a go and trying to get a 145gn lead bullet load for my Contender in 7-30 Waters. I'd like to try a reduced load with Unique or 4227. Anyone have any load data other than Lyman?

 

[Reloadron]

If I were to think about a "reduced load" in the 7-30 Waters cartridge I would consider a load using a powder like H4895.

Find the H4895 load in the Reloading Data Center for your caliber and bullet.

Take the maximum H4895 charge listed and multiply by 60% (.6). The load may
be adjusted up from there to achieve the desired velocity and accuracy.

This works only where H4895 is listed. DO NOT use in a cartridge where H4895
is not shown.

H4895 being a suitable powder for the 7-30 Waters I would consider loads using it, especially for "reduced loads". Powders like Unique or IMR 4227 just are not wewll suited for reduced loads unfortunately.

Just My Take....
Ron

 

[243winxb]

145gn lead bullet load

Gas checked or plain base, makes a big difference. If GC, i vote for 4895. I used IMR 4895 in 30-30 Contender, worked well with a GC bullet. Almost the velocity of jacketed in a 10" barrel.

 

[WestKentucky]

Is there any reason your going 145gr? My 10" seems to prefer lighter bullets, but I don't shoot it in any kind of competition or over longer ranges. Are you looking to buck wind or get a better bc? For what it's worth 120gr over 3031 does not recoil very heavily at all...but I'm using it as a hunting handgun where your running it for a totally different purpose.

 

[Patocazador]

I never could get loads as accurate as 120 gr. with the 140's. I have a 14" and use it for hunting not silhouettes.

 

[bullethead]

I used the 145gn GC bullet since that was all I could find on line, although I didn't spend hours looking around. I have 3031, but no 4895, which I think I can get locally. The loading information for a cast bullet in this cartridge is kind of scarce. I have almost all of the loading manuals and could only find one load, in the Lyman pistol and revolver book, and it's for a lighter bullet but it will work.

 

[41 Mag]

I would also at least give the H-4895 loads a try. Make very shure you have all of the copper fouling out of your barrel and give the bore a light coat of Johnson's paste wax on a patch before you fire the first round out of a clean barrel. This will give the first round a little head start on the lube. It doesn't take much just a very light film.

I would start the lowest load as well. I loaded some cast up for my .308 using the reduced data and they are fairly stout. At least more so than I thought they would be.

You might also do a search for "The Load" by C.E. Harris, or search for articles by him. I'm not sure how much energy your are looking for or the ranges your going to be shooting, but he has some great info on cast bullet loads for a LOT of calibers and that particular one above has been used in a LOT of calibers in the same capacity range as your using.

 

[Steve in PA]

I shoot, hunt and reload for a 14" T/C Contender in 7-30 Waters and cannot recall ever seeing any lead bullet data.

Personally, I get excellent results with either the 120 grain Nosler BT or the 139 grain Hornady SST bullets.

 

[stubbicatt]

I don't know if it will help or not. The 7-30 Waters has a skosh more case capacity than the 30-30. There is cast bullet data all over the place for that cartridge. Perhaps try a 30-30 starting load in a similar bullet weight in your Waters? Again, this is in the absence of any verified load data.

Reloadron doesn't like 4227 in reduced loads, however I have found that it is quite good in my 32-40 and 30-30 using cast bullets. Hard to say whether they are "reduced" loads, or just suitable loads, but I like shooting 4227. An inch at 100 yards with plain based cast bullets in 32-40 is nothing to sneeze at, and it does a little better breach seated.

 

[bullethead]

That's some good information on 4227, a powder I always have on hand. Worth a look.
I tried all morning to load a few rounds for the range tomorrow, but nothing went right. :banghead: Giving up for the day.

41 Mag, that is a very interesting read. I'm am about half way thru it and have learned a lot. Mr. Harris spent a lot of time working on these loads, figuring out what will and won't work. Good information. Thanks for the tip.

 

[41 Mag]

Yes he has more experience with cast probably than I do with loading in general. He is a wealth of information and a very nice fellow. I have corresponded with him on a couple of things in the past and his advice was right on the money.

When you said,

I tried all morning to load a few rounds for the range tomorrow, but nothing went right.

What were the issues you were having?

If your having issues with seating the bullets and shaving lead off the sides, you will need to use either a Lee Universal Expander or one of the Lyman "M" dies to bump the case mouth open just a touch to allow the bullet to get started. If you do not have, or do not want to wait for one to show up, you could use a 30 cal sizing die set so that your only bumping the very edges of the mouth to flare it. You only need enough so that the base of the bullet sits inside the lip of the case instead of on top of the edge.

If you do a search on "flaring case mouths for cast bullets" you will come up with plenty of info and images to see what I am referring to.

Post up what issues your having and maybe we can help you get some loaded up for the weekend.

 

[bullethead]

I was able to expand the case mouths enough to get the bullets seated correctly, but then I quickly ruined the bullet plastic seater insert (Hornady dies). It doesn't fit the bullet nose anyway, so I will work on "improving" it today. I had an issue with my powder throwers, dumping a grain or two, then the next time dump a full charge. Static is what I am thinking. I gave it a quick shot of anti-static spray, so I will give that a try today. Just when I figure I have things going well, something else comes up. It happens that way sometimes.
On a good note, I was able to load a couple hundred rounds of 41 Mag, one of the other guns I am using for silhouette.

 

[41 Mag]

Yep sometimes just touching things just seem to cause them to head south in a hurry, and the more you try to fix the more gets sideways on you.

On a good note, I was able to load a couple hundred rounds of 41 Mag, one of the other guns I am using for silhouette.

Heck yeah, that's always something good to do, and in a great caliber I might add.