Hey guys! Been a while since I’ve been on here but now I have a reason to be! I’m picking up a near new Horizons Custom in 7mag. I’m know there are many of you on here with lots of experience loading and shooting 7mags. This will be my first in this cartridge. I know the rifle will shoot factory hornady 162eldx and a handload with hybrid 180 Bergers. I’m hoping to build up a 180 VLD load but am open to other ideas. It has a SAAMI chamber and 1-8.25 proof barrel. What are your pet loads for similar rifles and recommendations? Thanks!

Unfortunately, my pet load for 180's in a 7 Rem Mag is with H-Retumbo. And it is rare as hen's teeth right now. You will want a fairly slow burn rate, so it will do best around that H-Retumbo burn rate. The stuff is just hard to come by right now. Yesterday, we saw some H-1000 finally come available. It will work, also. It is a slightly faster burn rate than H-Retumbo, but it will work. If you can get some, work your way up to a fairly full case of powder, looking for pressure signs as you go. The belted magnums come to life when they are 95% (or more) full of a slow powder.

I was hoping you would respond. I actually do have a few lbs of Retumbo and prob 7 lbs of H1000.

I normally use Retumbo.... but have also used Reloder 26 and Reloder 25 and 4000MR. As far as pure velocity goes Reloder 25 then Retumbo then Reloder 26.
I have noticed recently load data showing with the heavies Reloder 33 gets more speed than all above but work up your lad while its hot outside as its more temp sensitive than all the above IMO.

R-33 is temp sensitive enough I won't touch it.

Judd did some experimenting with it fir Russ last year. April had a decent load, June it was blowing primers.

Look at the Vihtavuori powders, time to think out tha box

If you already have Retumbo and H-1000 you should be set. Retumbo would be the first powder I tried. I have also had consistent results with H 4831. You should be able to achieve velocities similar to H 1000. Neither generated the velocity of Retumbo for me. H 4831 is faster burning but is well suited to the 7RM. A max load for me ends up just in the bottom of the neck. To further Buzz’s recommendation of vitavouri. I have had the most consistent results with
N 165 in 7RM. I could not get it to make enough speed to suit my desire for magnum performance before I started getting pancaked primers and ejector swipes. It is the cleanest burning powder I have ever shot though.

Bummer bc I have a couple pounds of it I think.

I’m thinking I’ll try Retumbo maybe with the 180s and a different powder for a 168 load potentially.

Good plan. Your H-1000 for the 168's.

Being the first time I’ve reloaded a belted cartridge, what’s different regarding case life and resizing the brass?

Nothing really. It headspaces off the belt, but I still set the sizing die to push the shoulders back .001" to .002". Really with all cartridges, I like to get the bullet just off the lands, as long as it will still fit in the magazine. Especially important on the long magnums to create powder space, for the slow burning powders.

And in my experience, a compressed, or near compressed load is where they come to life. It is rare for me to have a compressed load with a short action .473" bolt face.

I wouldn’t be scared of Reloder 33 just be aware that your pressures will rise a little in extreme heat.
All the loads I have developed with it have shot amazing with very low ES. Just don’t push it to maximum in moderate temps and expect not to have issues if it’s 100F in the shade and you are running several rounds and getting your barrel/ chamber hot.

7 RM is an easy cartridge to load for. Most hand loaders, like Fireman suggests, bump the shoulder .001-.002. In sizing this way, you head space off the shoulder rather than the belt. It will give you a little more case capacity. More important to me, it will give you a longer case life.

Thanks Smokey. I generally bump mine that much when resizing on all of my loads so I’m glad it won’t be a change. I like to make sure they all chamber comfortably since all my rifles are hunting rifles.

I’ve got some I’ll swap you out of

My experience in a 28 Nosler is its more than a little...talking a tight bolt in April to needing to put the handle on the bench to pry it open in June.

Anyone notice which brands of brass have been best for the 7RM?

Done well with cheap ones, such as Remington.

As is usually the case. Lapua, Nosler, Norma, A.D.G. are higher quality brass, and they require a little less prep. I've not observed significant changes in how well the end result shoots though. Just less work in brass prep.

Anyone tried the Gunwerks brass?

I think its ADG brass so good stuff. I have used Atlas in 6.5 SAUM and 28 Nosler. I doubt you can buy better.
Get it here...

https://atlasdg.com/product/7rm/

Uniforming your brass pays dividends. With premium brass the manufacturer does more of the work for you. The price reflects that. I use a lot of Nosler and Lapua and they are my favorites. With that said I also load a lot of Hornady. It requires more work to uniform. Another bargain brass that I go to, especially for a little more internal capacity when chasing velocity is Winchester. It requires more work than the Hornady and I will likely cull more cases than the others but if I want to tip the powder can it is a go to for me. Results with cheap brass can equal premium brass but it is more work.
Don’t overthink brand too much. If you hate the prep work, buy premium. If you want to save a dollar and don’t mind the extra one time prep work of uniforming and culling, you can load premium ammo with less expensive brass.

Anyone try the 195vld out of a 7RM?

Yup. You are better off with a 180 gr going faster. The 7 Rem Mag does not have the case capacity to drive the 195 to a level where it out-performs a 180 gr going much faster. Chad borrowed my 7 Rem Mag to test this, and he got it shooting the 195 gr well at 2800 fps.

180 gr @ 3000 fps MV
195 gr @ 2800 fps MV

I ran the numbers to 1000 yards, and the 180 gr is doing better. To get the 195 gr to equal it, it needs to come out at 2850 fps or more, and the 26" long 7 Rem Mag cannot safely do that.

Now, put a 195 gr in a 28 Nosler at 3000 fps MV, and Oh Baby! It is bad to the bone!

Thanks! That’s exactly what I needed to hear. My barrel will only be 24” so even more in favor of the 180