100 grain bullet performance in 7/57

[ahlosojoe]

My go to rifle with I get serious is a Ruger 77 tang safety in 7/57. For years I have loaded 140 grain bullets with good results. Recentally I came into a box of Hornady 100 gr. HP. Anyone had any experience with this bullet? For some reason there is not much in print about the 100 grain in the 7/57. Would this be a good deer cartridge? Any info appreciated.

 

[Okie4570]

I've got a bunch of those still loaded for my .280. I never shot a deer with them, but they destroyed coyotes. The 7x57 doesn't move along quite as fast, the bullet may have a better chance of staying together, but I'm thinking it will still come apart. What's the velocity?

 

[ahlosojoe]

The published velocity runs between 3000 and 3200 fps.

 

[swampratt]

It may not be real scientific but may shed some light on the matter.

New bullet i found very accurate in my .308. 168Gr tipped match king.Literature states not a hunting bullet as penetration will be minimal.
OK so I have tested other 168 gr bullets on deer, Cows and coons and they work awesome.
That bullet was the 168gr Amax.

So to see what this NEW tipped match king(TMK) does i set up a test.

Gallon milk jugs full of water. The TMK actually penetrated 1 more jug than the A-Max.
You could set up a test with wet newsprint or gallon jugs or even plywood or sheet rock stacked in layers to see if your current hunting bullet that you like performs the same as this new one you found.

Now I had a 7.62x39 and killed a deer with the 123gr FMJ HP which i would not really consider a great deer bullet.
But 1 shot to the neck and that deer never took a step..

I like a bullet that expands inside the animal,, care less if it exits or not as long as most or all of that bullet energy is left in the deer.
Bullets that pencil through make for a bit of tracking a lot of the time.
Heck my 150gr 30-30 soft point usually pencils through..people would consider that a great hunting bullet.. but my results are what you would think.

Head shot between the eyes and I do get expansion.. but that slow sucker through both rib sides always left 2 tiny holes. Better get lungs or heart or spine with the 30-30. In my experience.

Now get to testing.

Maybe someone near you like a deer processor or another hunter will give you a head and a little section of neck to test the bullet on.
I tested my 60gr Vmax for the .223 on a neck and i will say i will definitely shoot a deer with that bullet and not question it's ability

 

[Gus Petch]

My go to rifle with I get serious is a Ruger 77 tang safety in 7/57. For years I have loaded 140 grain bullets with good results. Recentally I came into a box of Hornady 100 gr. HP. Anyone had any experience with this bullet? For some reason there is not much in print about the 100 grain in the 7/57. Would this be a good deer cartridge? Any info appreciated.

You're giving up kinetic energy and sectional density by dropping down to a lighter bullet of the same diameter. At 3100 feet/second, a 100-grain bullet will deliver 2132 lb-ft of energy at the muzzle versus a 140-grain bullet traveling at 2800 feet/second delivering 2435 lb-ft of energy at the muzzle. A lower sectional density -- the ratio of the bullet's weight (in pounds) to its diameter (in inches) squared -- is a good predictor of how much energy will be retained down range when a bullet strikes its target. A 100-grain 7mm bullet (0.177 lbf/in[SUP]2[/SUP]) that left the muzzle traveling at 3100 feet/second will theoretically still be delivering 1323 lb-ft of energy at 200 yards, while a 140-grain bullet (0.248 lbf/in[SUP]2[/SUP]) traveling at 2800 feet/second from the muzzle will theoretically still be delivering 1742 lb-ft of energy at 200 yards.

(I've preferred fairly heavy slugs in my 7x57s -- 160-grain and 175-grain -- just because.)

However, most deer are shot well within 200 yards and certainly well within the distances where loss of kinetic energy becomes a concern. If you're happy with the accuracy these bullets give you, then wail away.

 

[swampratt]

I feel you can toss those calculations out the door if the bullet leaves the animal after being shot.
If the bullet stops inside the animal then all that energy is administered to the animal.

If the bullet passes through then you may have only left a tiny amount of energy in the animal.

 

[Okie4570]

It may not be real scientific but may shed some light on the matter.

New bullet i found very accurate in my .308. 168Gr tipped match king.Literature states not a hunting bullet as penetration will be minimal.
OK so I have tested other 168 gr bullets on deer, Cows and coons and they work awesome.
That bullet was the 168gr Amax.

So to see what this NEW tipped match king(TMK) does i set up a test.

Gallon milk jugs full of water. The TMK actually penetrated 1 more jug than the A-Max.
You could set up a test with wet newsprint or gallon jugs or even plywood or sheet rock stacked in layers to see if your current hunting bullet that you like performs the same as this new one you found.

Now I had a 7.62x39 and killed a deer with the 123gr FMJ HP which i would not really consider a great deer bullet.
But 1 shot to the neck and that deer never took a step..

I like a bullet that expands inside the animal,, care less if it exits or not as long as most or all of that bullet energy is left in the deer.
Bullets that pencil through make for a bit of tracking a lot of the time.
Heck my 150gr 30-30 soft point usually pencils through..people would consider that a great hunting bullet.. but my results are what you would think.

Head shot between the eyes and I do get expansion.. but that slow sucker through both rib sides always left 2 tiny holes. Better get lungs or heart or spine with the 30-30. In my experience.

Now get to testing.

Maybe someone near you like a deer processor or another hunter will give you a head and a little section of neck to test the bullet on.
I tested my 60gr Vmax for the .223 on a neck and i will say i will definitely shoot a deer with that bullet and not question it's ability

That's why FMJ for deer is illegal in OK.

 

[swampratt]

Do not know where you got that information.
at least 55gr soft nose or hollowpoint bullet and having an overall cartridge case length of 1.25" or longer is what is legal.

Back in 1988 when I used that FMJ HP it was perfectly legal as it is today, if you read regs that I have not read please post where you found that information.

 

[Cedar Creek]

I use light bullets in my .280 - my current load is IMR 4350 topped with a Sierra 120 grain bullet. It works well on whitetail deer, but so did the 125 grain and 150 grain Remington bullets I bought at a gun show 30+ years ago. I used one box of 139 grain Hornady bullets and (in my limited experience) they seemed to be the most frangible of the bullets I've used.

My .280 is an old Ruger 77 - one of the neatest rifles I've ever seen was a Ruger 77R with a Leupold 3X with a 20mm objective. There's a picture of it in Ronnie Burke's book on the Ruger 77.


Cedar Creek

 

[DRC458]

To the best of my knowledge, FMJ bullets have never been legal for deer in Oklahoma ... soft-nosed or hollow-point just like you said.