OK, time for educate the retard...

[Schleprok62]

OK, being fairly new to the reloading hobby, I was just reading another thread about 7mm bullet choice and this question just popped into my head...

For the purposes of keeping things simple, we'll use the popular 7mm as a base for the question. Keeping in mind that we all know that there are numerous caliber bullets used in many different chamberings. i.e 7mm Mauser, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem Mag, 7x30 Waters, etc...

OK, the average store bought rifle comes with the usuall 22" - 24" barrel... 7mm-08, .280 Rem, and some 7mm Rem mags. Being that all three are capable variations, and versitile. Why couldn't the .280 be loaded to fire at 7mm-08 velocities? Or, the 7mm Mag to fire at .280 Rem velocities??

This question came to mind reading about how one make of bullet will expand too quickly and not penetrate as well as another.

I know this is a question on pressures and bullet design, and I guess I'd like a little more education...

Thanks

Tom

 

[dakotasin]

you can - and you could even load down to near 22-lr levels w/ sr4759.

few people do, though, because best accuracy tends to come at higher levels - maybe not max levels, but levels closer to the design intention than say 1400 f/s.

the only time to really worry about bullet selection is at the extremes... high velocity at extreme close range is disastrous for cup-n-core bullets. likewise, low velocity (say, 7-08) at ranges approaching 1000 yards will be tough for a premium bullet to expand...

 

[griz]

Yep, you can load down any round to surprizing low velocities. If you go too slow you might run into problems stabilizing a heavier bullet, but the only safety issue is going so slow that a bullet sticks in the barrel. That will not be a problem until you get much slower than 7-08 velocity.

 

[Ol` Joe]

One can always load down a larger case. The 7m Mag, as an example, loads in the manuals may start at 7x57 velocities and go up with the powder charge to the magnum level.
It`s much more fun though to own a rifle that takes a cartridge of each velocity level we want to use

 

[snuffy]

with care

A note of caution here; DO NOT reduce any loading data BELOW what the reccomended starting load is given in any manual! Especially with the slow burning powders and all ball powders. Low loads can destroy a rifle and injur the shooter. The faster extruded type powders like IMR 4198 and IMR-H-4895 have been loaded down with great success.

Check Hodgdon's website for reduced loads using H-4895. These would make great reduced recoil youth loads, also would just about eliminate barrel wear and stress on the bolt.