I have shot a 7 mag for years and to me it’s the ultimate cartridge but thats just my opinion based on what I have used it for and the ballistic tables I have read on it. I know that mine has sent alot of deer and hogs to the freezer, and bobcats and coyotes to their demise!

To be honest the place I hunt really doesnt require a magnum rifle because 150 yards to 200 yards is about the longest shot you will get and most bein alot closer but I have takin a few deer over 300 yards with it before neighbors bought and moved on the property next to ours. Most shots are about 85 to 100 yards in our woods and over our small food plots we have for hunting.

So there you go, Yep my mag is probably overkill where I hunt. But one thing I do believe and will always believe, “It’s better to have it and not need it,than to need it and not have it”! And there ain’t no such thing as killin somethin too dead!

Even though I love my 7 mag I have been thinking  about gettin me a 7mm-08 also because I like the 7mm caliber so much for one thing ,and I could also use the same powder and bullets to handload for the 08 that I use for my 7 mag.  But after reading an article about reduced loads and managed recoil loads in a handloading magazine I decided to start experimenting some on my own!

Now my own tried and true load for my 7 mag is 64 1/2 grains of IMR 4350 powder, 140 grain Sierra Soft Point bullet, a CCI 250 mag primer, and Federal brass. This load gives me 3150 fps velocity and dime sized groups at 100 yards and is a total nightmare for deer and hogs. I also have some IMR 4895 powder, (which is a faster burning powder), that I had been playin around with and found that 56 grains of 4895 gave me the same velocity and bullet groups as my 4350 load. That was awesome to me because since I can get the same exact performance with 8 1/2 grains less of 4895  that means I can get 17 more loads out of a pound of 4895 than a pound of 4350!

So today I decided to try experimenting some more. I started playing around with reducing the load a grain at a time until I could get it around 7mm-08 velocity. I would load 3 rounds up the same and shoot thru the chrony to check for consistancy starting with 54 grains. What I eventually found was that 51 grains of IMR 4895, pushed the 140 grain bullet at 2790 which is like 7mm-08 velocity! Now all I had to do was load 3 more, shoot a 3 shot group from 100 yards and see what happened on paper!

I keep the scope on my rifle zeroed in to be  1 inch high at 100 yards for my pet load and I was determined I was not gonna touch my scope  for this reduced velocity load.  If it was way low or left or right I was just gonna forget it because after all I was just playin around. My rifle shoots way too good for me now to be screwin around with the scope. 

I taped a paper plate to our target backstop,  placed a 2 inch red sticker in the middle of the plate,  and drove down to the 100 yard point. I shoot  resting across the hood of my truck using my sandbag. I fired three shots aiming at the red sticker on the plate waiting 2 mins between each shot. I would turn my scope up to 9x between shots trying to see if i could see any holes in the white plate but couldnt see any. Figured that they were way low.

When I got back down to the target I found that the reason I couldnt see the bullet holes they were all 3 in the red sticker! One dead center and the other two holes were touching just inside the top edge of the sticker! Bingo! I got my 7mm-08 and my 7 mag all in one rifle and dont even have to touch my scope settings! If I am hunting somewhere I need the full power mag loads I just stuff one in and and its good to go still a inch high at 100 and  if  I am just huntin deer and hogs in our woods I just use this load and save on powder. I can get 137 of em out of 1lb of 4895!

Cant wait to try ‘em on some pigs and deer this fall! Bad news is that I no longer have an excuse to buy a 7mm-08! Except maybe,  Michele needs one! Yep that’s a good excuse, thats what I will use! I,ll convince her she needs one! Let ya’ll know how that turns out later on.

For myself there are several advantages to handloading and #1 is cost.For a person who shoots standard cartridges like the .308 , 30.06 , .243 etc , they may not notice a big savings on handloading but for the ones that shoots a magnum rifle like myself I believe that you can handload your ammo for almost half the cost. Example you can pick up a 1lb can of smokeless powder for around $22.00.  Bullets vary in price depending on what you select but the sierra gamekings I use run about $25.00 for 100 and about $4.00 for 100 primers. Im not sure how much brass runs on cost because I have never had to buy any I kept all mine from factory loads I have shot and have gotten some from the other guys I know who shoot the same cartridge as me but don’t handload. If you do have to purchase some brass though as long as you don’t try to load your loads to hot, (which is dangerous and shouldnt be done anyway), you will get several loadings out of it and shouldn’t have to purchase it that often.

I shoot a 7mm magnum and the cheapest factory ammo I have found for it is $20.00 for a box of 20.  For the premium ammo that uses the premium bullets like the Nosler Ballistic Tip or the Sierra Boattail Gamekings like I use in my handloads are around $40.00 for a box of 20! For $51.00 I can reload 100 rounds of the load I shoot! Now even with the cheapest factory ammo its saving over half the cost but a huge saving over the premium stuff!

Now for the guys who shoot standard cartridges who may not see as much difference in cost there are other advantages also. It means you can be assured you are always gonna get to shoot the same load and not have to hope they have some of what you shoot down at the local wal mart or sporting good store. You can experiment with different loads and tune a load to your gun and get greater accuracy. Believe me when you have 3 bullet holes touching each other at 100 yards from loads you handloaded yourself you feel pretty good. Also its pretty rewarding and satisfying when you take a animal with your own custom load you created and tuned! And its FUN!

Now I wont suggest that a guy who shoots his rifle 10 times a year to get it sighted in and take a deer with it start handloading because it will be of little advantage to him and it costs a little bit at first to get set up. But for someone who likes to shoot and hunt alot its  fun and rewarding. Also you can get as technical about it as you want (digital scales, electronic powder dispensers,etc ) but me I just like to keep it simple! My loading setup includes a RCBS press,  redding beam type powder scale, powder measure, and a case trimmer mounted on a work table I built myself. You can get a loading setup like the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit  for around $300.00 from cabelas, basspro, or amazon , then all you need are the die sets for the cartridges you want to load. Die sets run all different prices, just depends on what you wanna spend. For me I like to use the RCBS die sets, loaded hundreds of rounds with my 7 mag die set and have never had a problem with em yet.

Another useful tool in reloading that comes in handy but is not a necessity is a chronograph. I handloaded for years without one just going on what the books say about the ballistics and velocity of different loads. Couple of years ago my dad got us a Beta Chrony for measuring the velocity of our handloads, and I can tell ya this thing is a nice tool to have. Don’t have to wonder what velocity your bullets are going just shoot through it and find out!

Like I said before if you shoot alot you will enjoy it but if you don’t it will be more trouble than its worth. But who knows the way the government is now days with all the gun laws and crap they are tryin to pass we may not be able to just go down to wal mart and get a box of ammo so that alone may be worth gettin started handloading!