7mm 08 bullets

[kevinbear]

Reply to post that was deleted:
I wasn't making reference to drop tubing powder, some years back I discovered that I could start a long bullet with my redding B.R. seater then finish seating it in a Wilson straight line seater upside down. Gravity forces the powder to the shoulder area and there is much less powder trapped between the two flat surfaces { bullet base and bottom of the case } to compress, try it works!

[Quonset Hut]

...Being somewhat of a traditionalist as far as the hunting rifle concept in silhouette goes I am keenly aware of what goes on at matches that I attend. It is a rare event for me to witness another shooter load the magazine during the ready, a few still use 700 DBM's {like myself} but most are single loading thier custom "hunting rifles" . Most heavy for caliber match bullets when seated to touch the rifling will not fit in the magazine with the exception of the shorter than 308 cartridges like the IHMSA's. I have never seen a match director enforce the rule that cartridges must be able to feed from the magazine and I agree with that. They start that and with all the other shenanigans going on the protests could last all day.
Load your 162's to touch the rifling and one will fit in the magazine at an angle.

How come those ranges don't follow the rules? Laziness? Lack of Honor? They want to cheat when they shoot? There are so few Hunter Rules left how could one forget? So we've went from a $300-600 off the shelf rifle, to a $2,500+ franken-meister, now to illegal ammo for what purpose?

[rogersptl]

Last I knew it was OK to load one at a time as long as they were pressed into the mag. That still allows the ammo to be longer than the mag box would allow inside by allowing the bullet tip to rest on the loading ramp. I have been disappointed that the Silhouette board has not approved loading of the high power detached mags before the 'ready' period, as is OK with smallbore. The reason I got was safety; how can it be a safety issue with HP and not with SB? So if the competitors are pressing the cartridge into the mag lips, they are OK to go. Feel free to call it to the attention of the match director and get an opinion. Thats also why a jury should be selected before the shooting starts. Just my 2cents worth.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Roger,I think you are correct in assuming it is OK to single load from the magazine. The latest rule as of July 2008 states: " Magazines may not be loaded with more than five rounds. During the match all cartridges must be loaded into the chamber from the magazine." That is it. Period.

The last time I saw a more decisive description was in the '97 book stating: "All magazines must be loaded to factory capacity, not to exceed five rounds. Magazines not capable of holding five cartridges may be reloaded as required. No cartridges may be loaded into the chamber without first having been inserted in magazine."

This is just another hunter rifle rule that was eroded or relaxed along with a host of others over the years. So, firing longer than mag box ammo seems perfectly acceptable to me.....as long as it was fed from the magazine first.

If you will remember, at the 2007 Nationals in Raton, we were all told to load magazines to capacity. No ands ...ifs...or buts! I'll bet many competitors single loaded any way as their ammo was too long to function in the mag. There is plenty of room for misinterpretation on the mag loading rule. Makes you wonder why they dropped the "loaded to factory capacity" wording.

At our monthly club level matches here in Co. I could care less how the cartridge gets to the chamber. We have enough trouble just getting enough shooters together to even hold a match. No need ruffling feathers over a silly ,questionable loading rule. I doubt that anyone has a distinct advantage on their ability to hit targets whether firing from a full mag, single from the mag or even loading direct to the chamber.


Any thoughts or opinions from the group? What was the mag ruling at Ridgway last year?

[kevinbear]

Rogersptl, I seen a rule book recently that said that all the cartridges were supposed fit in the magazine at once. I believe that I read it correctly but I'm sure someone out there knows for certain.
I actually hunt with both of my hunting class rifles but never use those heavy match bullets to shoot game with because there inapropriate. 140 Noslers Ballistic tip and Accubonds are really fantastic on game but won't knock silhouette rams down. Therein lies the dillema, Remington couldn't have forseen that people would be using there rifles for silhouette when they designed the 2.800 magazine 20 years before anyone in the U.S. even knew what silhouette was. So you have hunters like myself that want to keep their shooting skills in tune but don't want a custom rifle dedicated to that discipline.

[sobrbiker883]

Rule book I have says "all rounds must be loaded from the magazine" not "into the magazine". Most hunting rifls with a blind mag cannot fit 5 rounds in the magazine, so you would have to top off anyway.

I find it interesting that this thread has spun off into a "cheater hunter rifle" complaint session.

I started shooting silhouette 2-3 years ago, and I shoot Pharr stocked custom rifles both SB and HP.
I guarantee that if the rules are changes to make these illegal you would have one less younger silhouette shooter.
I don't have the funds to enjoy a sort that changes the rules once I've put all I can into making a rifle that fits me. No matter what the regulations are, silhouette (esp HP) is about the shooter. As long as the rules are two feet on the ground and no support, the sport will be a rfileman's sport, as gear cannot make up for poor technique.

As long as my rounds are caught by the bolt out of the feed lips, I feel they are being loaded from the magazine.

[kevinbear]

I've argued with other shooters so much over the years on the Hunting rifle rules that I'm not going to beat the dead horse again tonight. If you've read any of my previous posts you know where I stand on it, if you haven't here's the short version: Hunting rifle was supposed to be the discipline for the shooters that didn't want to get caught up in the equipment race with the idea that they could use guns they already had and be content shooting hunting rifle or go for the full blown target rifle in standard class later on.
This is where I'm at a loss for understanding what's going on now, instead of pushing/bending the rules on the standard rifle and lobbying for hooked but plates, palm rests and ect. they've highjacked the hunting rifle class. I'm sure someone has already suggested it and won't be long until there's a new hunting rifle class or sporter rifle class or whatever so we can all buy a third rifle and the stock salesmen and custom rifle builders will have some more business and a party after they come back from the bank.
I cannot begrudge people that have gotten into the sport recently {and spent alot of money on custom rifles} because they were unaware of all the issues.

[Jim T.]

deleted

[Bulletman]

Did you know/ever see any of those 162's with an Aluminum tip instead of plastic? They discontinued them in a short time. I'm sure they were expensive and a PAIN to make.

Bulletman

[kevinbear]

I still have a few that I kept when I noticed that the first change was made, I keep thinking I'll find a box in some out of the way gunshop or garage sale someday. They were really great looking bullets, the .50 calibers Hornady made looked just like them.

[Bulletman]

I never shot any myself but know of a past Silhouette champion that shot a lot of them and they "seemed" to knock the rams down better than the plastic tipped one's.

Bulletman

[kevinbear]

I had the same perception, at the time I had a varmint special in 7-08 that my wife used as well so I seen the hits and subsequent falls in the spotting scope, they were impressive. Back in the early eighties we had 20 shot "magnum silhouette shoots" a couple of times a year. I didn't remember there being a big difference in the results on target between those 162 aluminums and most 7mm mag loads, although I never seen them side by side because there was a 7-8 year difference. I used my .264 win mag and it definitly got the job done!

[Bob Mc Alice]

TIme to put this magazine loading issue to rest. I called Greg Conner at the NRA this morning. He confirmed that : Single cartridge loading of the hunting class rifle, from the magazine, is acceptable per the current rules. You are no longer required to have multiple rounds inserted into the magazine. Of course, you still may load up the magazine just like the old days.

[kevinbear]

Thanks for the clarification Bob, good work.

[Quonset Hut]

Whoops - I didn't see the change from the "load magazines to full capacity". Any history on who asked for it and why? BTW, when you are shooting your $2,500 custom jobs in Hunter, just wait for me to show up with my Swedish Mauser in a plastic stock (The 1994 $199 Century Hunter's Special) which I used to shoot in Standard. Let's see if I get denied in Hunter and bounced to Standard because the taper on my 109 year old barrel is military instead of "Hunter Style". So much for any of the rules changes helping the entry or low-cost shooter.

I know I got off topic - for the new guy shooting Pharr, etc,. no matter how the rules got to where they are, I'm unwilling to make last year's OK rifle illegal this year. This happened to me in two different NRA rifle sports...