7mm rem mag bullet choice

Z.Co

FNG
Joined
Dec 15, 2021
Looking for recommendations for bullet choice for 7mm rem mag on Antelope. Anyone have experience with Barnes TTSX 120 gr? If so what powder did you find gave you the best results? Open to any suggestions
 
I usually load a little heavier for my 7mm. I used mine for an antelope a decade ago and if memory serves I killed it with a 160 grain nosler partition at 150 yards. I was running the max load of H1000 and it obviously went cleanly through and the antelope tipped over quickly. They are easy to kill if your rifle shoots the lighter bullets well go for it. My experience with Barnes TSX was they open up slowly which is great for things like elk bear moose. But maybe a little too slow for antelope. The light 120 grain bullet may behave differently than the 170 grain TSX. If your rifle shoots the 120 well you'll not be disappointed. I have also have had good luck with H4350 in my 7MM.
 
I'd be looking at the 160 Tipped Matchking, 162 ELD-X, or 168 Berger Classic Hunter.

Considering the winds I experience in pronghorn habitat, I won't go with a less aerodynamic bullet than my rifle can handle. And you don't need a "tough" bullet for pronghorn sized creatures.

I've had good experiences with the Tipped Gamekings in other calibers and would also consider the 165gr for 7mm. It's probably tougher than you need for pronghorn but killing them isn't rocket science.
 
With a 7 mag on a pronghorn, I would use a copper bullet. They are pretty small to begin with, so you might as well minimize your meat loss. I would certainly steer clear of any highly frangible lead core bullets.

In my experience, if you have a powder that works well out of your gun with another load, it'll usually perform with a different bullet. I'd start there anyway.
 
I use RL19 with the 120 TTSX. Shot one whitetail with them and worked well. Shot some antelope with 150gr Ballistic Tips which performed fantastic.
 
With a 7 mag on a pronghorn, I would use a copper bullet. They are pretty small to begin with, so you might as well minimize your meat loss. I would certainly steer clear of any highly frangible lead core bullets.

In my experience, if you have a powder that works well out of your gun with another load, it'll usually perform with a different bullet. I'd start there anyway.
Agreed. I've killed several few pronghorn with a 154g SST, and the meat loss was usually very high. I switched to a 150gr TTSX for my last two pronghorn. Both were quick kills and meat loss was minimal.
 
An ever-so slightly different flavor of 7MM is the 280Ai that I'm putting together.
Would the 140gr Accubond be a good pronghorn & mule deer bullet?

Thank you.
 
120 gr in a 7mm rem is a barrel burner. May as well drop down to a 7mm-08 if you are going to be shooting such a light bullet
 
Guy gets a 180 Scenar doing somewhere between 2875 and 2950 fps, you just use it on everything. Pretty easy. RL26, H1000, both will do it.
 
I’ve got a WY antelope hunt in sept and am regretting selling my 7mag. My only hunting rifle is a 300 win, which I fear is too much fun for these little critters. Best of luck out there!
 
Thanks all. Luckily, I inherited a few boxes of copper bullets. Time to get the load development rolling 👍
 
An ever-so slightly different flavor of 7MM is the 280Ai that I'm putting together.
Would the 140gr Accubond be a good pronghorn & mule deer bullet?

Thank you.
Yes - I've shot many of both out of my diminutive 7-08. All have performed as billed if I do my part - I usually recover about 135 grains if I find the bullet.

The only concern I'd have would be touching the shoulder blades with a bullet going that fast... those Accubonds are hard, but ramming into hard bone at 280 speeds can still cause fragmenting.
 
I think the 160 gr AB is a better choice than the 140 in a .280AI or 7mm RM for pronghorn or deer. Especially on pronghorn you want to shoot thru the ribcage if possible to avoid meat loss. Both are a lot of gun for pronghorn.
 
Looking for recommendations for bullet choice for 7mm rem mag on Antelope. Anyone have experience with Barnes TTSX 120 gr? If so what powder did you find gave you the best results? Open to any suggestions
I love RL19 as per Barnes. But can't find it these days.
 
Barnes 139gr LRX. I've used this for several years with both whitetail and elk. Excellent performance and accuracy either handloaded or factory.
 
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