Ramshot powder and 7x57

[thomas243]

wonder if anyone using ramshot hunter powder with 140grn soft point bullets ?
i am about to start on my 7x57 journey with a rigby .275 mauser rifle, does anyone use this combination as i have a good stock of r/shot hunter already, i can source ramshot big game if needed, any advice greatly appreciated
also standard large rifle primers or magnum primers

 

[HandB]

I have used stout loads of the Ramshot hunter equivalent made by Vihtavuori (49.5gr of N160) frequently in my 7x57 with 140gr bullets, It is accurate but weedy in velocity terms, only managing about 2700fps. So I now prefer N150 as it uses less powder and is producing approximately 200fps more velocity with 47gr of powder. I do find 48gr of N160 is good for 160gr bullets though.

 

[25 Sharps]

I have used stout loads of the Ramshot hunter equivalent made by Vihtavuori (49.5gr of N160) frequently in my 7x57 with 140gr bullets, It is accurate but weedy in velocity terms, only managing about 2700fps. So I now prefer N150 as it uses less powder and is producing approximately 200fps more velocity with 47gr of powder. I do find 48gr of N160 is good for 160gr bullets though.

N160 is not a ‘hunter equivalent made by Vihtavuori’ one is a single based extruded powder (as is N150) the other a double base ball powder.

Apart from being the same cartridge your post has nothing to to with the OP!

 

[25 Sharps]

wonder if anyone using ramshot hunter powder with 140grn soft point bullets ?
i am about to start on my 7x57 journey with a rigby .275 mauser rifle, does anyone use this combination as i have a good stock of r/shot hunter already, i can source ramshot big game if needed, any advice greatly appreciated
also standard large rifle primers or magnum primers

I use hunter in creedmoor and .280, which is basically 7x64, it will work well in your 7x57. You don’t need a magnum primer, I do use them in the .280 but that is purely because I am saving the standard primers for cartridges of lower capacity, so standard or magnum will be fine.

Big game will also work well so I’d look at the data on the hodgdon website, see which gives you the case fill and velocity that you want and go from there.

Ramshot powders are great, just a shame they’ve reached £70/lb they were £28/30 when I started using them!

 

[HandB]

N160 is not a ‘hunter equivalent made by Vihtavuori’ one is a single based extruded powder (as is N150) the other a double base ball powder.

Apart from being the same cartridge your post has nothing to to with the OP!

It's not quite that simple as the burn rate is equivalent (see data below) and I found with side by side testing that equivalent burn rates in different powders from different manufacturers can be successfully interchanged (with the usual caveat of always making sure to work up through the charge weights as per the standard reloading method). But I am a relative novice as I have only fired 1,201 shots of 7x57 thus far, so I no doubt still have a lot to learn about its reloading quirks and foibles and it would be great to hear more from other forum members with experience of this great cartridge

 

[25 Sharps]

It's not quite that simple as the burn rate is equivalent (see data below) and I found with side by side testing that equivalent burn rates in different powders from different manufacturers can be successfully interchanged (with the usual caveat of always making sure to work up through the charge weights as per the standard reloading method). But I am a relative novice as I have only fired 1,201 shots of 7x57 thus far, so I no doubt still have a lot to learn about its reloading quirks and foibles and it would be great to hear more from other forum members with experience of this great cartridge

No it is that simple, they are different types of powder that have a similar burn rate. There is no standard method for measuring burn rate, the size of the chamber influences it. That is why you will see variance between different manufacturers’ burn rate charts for the same powders. Burn rate charts all state that they should not be used for substituting powders, which is exactly what you are suggesting.

It may have a similar burn rate but it is not an equivalent. Nosler don’t list N160 for 140 grain bullets but they do list it for 150s. There is a 1.5 gr difference in max load and just shy of 100 fps. If the powders were equivalent the data would be, well, equivalent!



Add another 10 grains to the bullet and the difference is even more apparent, 2.5 grains between max loads for 150 fps.


The n160 data is higher in both cases so using the n160 data for hunter means you could end up over pressure.

You are also stating you are getting 200-250 fps more with N150 than either viht or nosler’s max loads by going 2 to 2.5 grains over max. Not very clever really.

 

[25 Sharps]

wonder if anyone using ramshot hunter powder with 140grn soft point bullets ?
i am about to start on my 7x57 journey with a rigby .275 mauser rifle, does anyone use this combination as i have a good stock of r/shot hunter already, i can source ramshot big game if needed, any advice greatly appreciated
also standard large rifle primers or magnum primers

Have had a look this morning, neither ramshot or hodgdon list 7x57 data.

Nosler do however list data as below, I can’t comment on how well the combination will work but I have used hunter in several cartridges and it has been very accurate, as have tac and exterminator in others.

Although it does look a tad slow, though viht’s data for 140 and 150 is no better. That’s said I have killed plenty of deer with a 140 gr at 2600 from my 6.5x55 so it’ll work!

 

[thomas243]

thanks for all the replies lads, very helpful