Filling cases

I just finished reloading with my second son, Matthew. Matt shoots a 7mm magnum, a Savage 110 (what else?). They don't make the particular model that Matt shoots. It is a heavy barrel and was originally vouchered out by Savage as a varmint model. Savage quit putting together that model the year I bought it.

A 7mm Remington Magnum for varmints. Yeah, right.

Anyway, he can shoot that thing. He cranks that 6 X 18 scope up to 18 power and gets steady on the bipod, anything out to 500 yards is in imminent danger of perforation. The load we settled on gives him half-minute accuracy with 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. 4831 powder, CCI 250 primers. The bullet crosses the screens at 3025 fps. That isn't terribly fast for the 7 mag, but it is fast enough, and it is accurate to a fault.

Matt's best friend, John Clyde, sent a box of brass and asked if we'd load some for him. I make a practice of not loading for friends, for a variety of good reasons. Clyde is more than a friend, though. He's family. During the last years of high school, he probably ate as many meals at my table as he ate at his momma's. He shoots a Weatherby Vanguard in 7 mag, and Weatherbys are noted for a long throat, so this ammo ought to be just fine in his rifle. The bullet will jump to the rifling, but the load isn't a max load and pressures ought to be fine. I keep telling myself that.

The ammo I am giving him is better than factory. I put on the dog to give him good hunting ammo, with weighed charges and once-fired brass that was fired in his rifle. He'll do well with it, if he can control that flinch. He's been shooting 175 grain loads that kick like the hammers of hell. The 7 mag isn't noted for being particularly shooter-friendly in the recoil department, although 140 grain bullets are a lot friendlier than 175 grain bullets. The last time I saw John Clyde shoot, he had a classic rifle flinch. That probably affected his accuracy more than anything. That and the fact that the rifle was hammering him every time he fired it.

If I could get Clyde to a range, we'd sit for a couple of hours and work up a load that works good in his rifle. I can't get him to sit still for that long, though. John Clyde is busy. He's always been busy. John is just an average shot, although he is a fine hunter. He always manages to kill a couple of deer during the season.

Yeah, that ammo will be just fine.