7-30 Waters pet loads

[chasw]

Anyone reloading this round? I'd be interested in hearing about your pet
loads. My rifle is a Contender Carbine with a 24" barrel and 1 in 9 twist
rate. My best loads so far are nearly full cases of RL-15 (a bit less than
37 grains in my rifle) with Sierra Prohunter 120 grainers (a flatbase
bullet) and BR-2 primers. Velocity from my 24" barrel is about 2725 fps.
Very accurate and potentially a natural for Blacktail deer and Antelope at
ranges under 250 yds. What do you think? - CW

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[Montego]

I've recently been working with the 7-30 Waters in a 21" Contender carbine.
I tried 37 grains of Varget, which put me around 2660 fps with decent
accuracy. I tried the 120 gr. Sierra ProHunters and the 120 Nosler
Ballistic Tips. Both had the same muzzle velocity and accuracy, but the
Nosler's printed 2" higher at 100 yards. This load kicked like a mule.

I also tried 40 grains of H414. According to Ken Waters "Pet Loads" this
could be bumped up a little more. I wanted to like this load, because the
recoil wasn't bad, but the velocities were all over the place. From less
than 2600 to over 2700. Once again, the Nosler's printed 2" higher, but
neither bullet showed stellar accuracy.

My last load was 35.6 grains of 4895. The velocities were weak - around
2560. Other than that, not a bad load, I'm just looking for more zip.

Next I'm going to try BL-2(C). According to Ken Waters this should show
some decent velocity and good accuracy with 120 grain bullets. I'm
intrigued by your RL-15 load. I wonder how much velocity I'd lose with a 3"
shorter barrel?

I'm going on a deer hunt to Anticosti Island this fall, and I'm planning on
taking the 7-30 Waters Contender. So I want a load that I've really wrung
out for the trip...
-T

[dhporter....@gmail.com]

On Jul 9, 6:57 am, "chasw" <chas...@comcast.net> wrote:
> ...

I no longer shoot the Thompson Contender, but when I did my favorite
load was 130 gr. Sierra , paired with 38.5 gr. H-380 or 36.0 gr.
W-748. I have some of the 120 gr. bullets (which I think is no longer
produced), but never used them in my Contender. By the way, I do have
several boxes of new Federal Brass in 7-30 Waters, which I feel
certain that Federal no longer has available to reloaders.

[chasw]

Thanks, M. I ordered my 7-30 W barrel and some brass from EABCO, but they
just placed the barrel order with Thompson-Center Custom Shop. That way I
got some latitude in choice of barrel length and material (stainless). Fit
to my frame is excellent, accuracy is same. Last week, I shot a 5-shot,
3/4" group at 100 yds from a rest with the 120 gr Sierra Prohunters and the
aforementioned load of RL-15.

At the EABCO web site their reloading guru (Mr. Brown?) cites two powders as
being suited for the various wildcats based on the .30-30 case: IMR 4064
and RL-15. Since I already had some 4064 left, I started with that and
several other powders on hand. Good old 4064 turned out to be the best of
all I tried, until I bought a pound of RL-15 and presto, it became number
one. Charge weights and velocities for the two powders are almost
identical, with RL-15 being denser, double-based and perhaps having a little
more energy per grain. Both ignite easily with Fed 210Ms and CCI BR-2s,
with the latter giving a little better accuracy.

The flat-based ProHunters almost fille the case and the longer 120 grain
Ballistic Tips leave no air space at all. Nonetheless, the ProHunters are
easily the most accurate in my barrel with its 1in9 twist. I also tried
Speer 130s and Sierra 140 gr Prohunters. They all did well but I finally
settled on the 120 gr Prohunters. In my 24" sporter weight barrel, I can
easily get 2700 fps with the 120s and 2550 with the 140s. The latter
obviously delivers more striking power, but for the intended game here
(little blacktail deer at up to 250 yds), the 120 is perfect. Its slightly
more accurate, plus the 140s start to kick a bit, while the 120s are a pussy
cat. To me that adds up to a pet load. I say give R-15 a try with your
favorite 120 grain bullet. Good luck - CW
_________________________________________

"Montego" <Mont...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:g57ife$480$1...@grapevine.wam.umd.edu...
> ...

[chasw]

You are correct, Federal offers loaded ammo but not empty cases.
Fortunately, forming them from .30-30 cases is a snap. - CW